Let's talk talent....

[Seymore Cox]

Are you drunk? Cade Davis averaged 4 points and 1 rebound on a good team last year. Cade is the "gritty", "heart" player if there ever was one. He practically defines what that player is. Come on, man.



Dude, every team has a guy labeled "the shooter"... For OU, that is Stephen Pledger. That isnt bad, every team needs a shooter. I can name the Pledger role on every team in the Big 12. The guy who was recruited to come in and hit perimeter shots, the specialist, etc. Most teams have one, and I think every team in the Big 12 has one. He isnt some exceptional player, he is an exceptional shooter (or at least he will be)....

your problem abd is you look at a stat line and come to a conclusion. he can average 4 points if he negates 8. He's 2nd best defender, 2nd best shooter, 2nd most versatyle, and best conditioned. There's a reason pledger is getting little minutes and Willis is getting none.

 

[MO]

Having said that, DM, Cade is still an average player and an undependable shooter. If he is our second best player, and maybe he is, then that goes a long way toward explaining the competitiveness of this team. And, not that is not a slam on Cade. You have to love a player that shows his effort and plays toward the top of his ability.

 

[Seymore Cox]

Having said that, DM, Cade is still an average player and an undependable shooter. If he is our second best player, and maybe he is, then that goes a long way toward explaining the competitiveness of this team. And, not that is not a slam on Cade. You have to love a player that shows his effort and plays toward the top of his ability.

Cade defends, Cade get's the concept, Cade will do the little things to get a win. he and Crocker are the only guys that I think would do the little things like take a charge and sacrifice for the betterment of the team. If being an undependable shooter was a knock, there would only be a handful of players nationally that would live up to being above average. Right now, Pledger doesn't get the whole picture outside of floating for his shot. Willis is totally out of the loop.

 

[MO]

All of that is true. If, however, you have one player that plays at the top of his ability and another that is scratching the surface of his ability, don't you have to go with the upside if your team IS NOT CURRENTLY COMPETITIVE?

 

[buttermaker1]

UTEP was better at 4 of the 5 positions yesterday enough said.

 

[thebigabd]

your problem abd is you look at a stat line and come to a conclusion. he can average 4 points if he negates 8. He's 2nd best defender, 2nd best shooter, 2nd most versatyle, and best conditioned.

He isn't the second best player on the team, and I would guess you are the only person on this board, team, country, world, solar system, galaxy, and universe who thinks that other than his parents.

Having said that, DM, Cade is still an average player and an undependable shooter. If he is our second best player, and maybe he is, then that goes a long way toward explaining the competitiveness of this team. And, not that is not a slam on Cade. You have to love a player that shows his effort and plays toward the top of his ability.

Exactly, if Cade is your second best player (and he isnt) you will finish last place in the Big 12. Period.

 

[Big Old Booger]

I don't think you can throw Pledger, Davis, and Fitzgerald to that list. Cade Davis is a TU type of player (not that its bad, but thats what he is) and Fitzgerald cant even get off the bench on a team that needs his position more than anything. Like I said in the original post, I think Fitzgerald and Pledger will have fine careers but they are nothing special. Every team has a shooter (Pledger) and an undersized power forward who can bang and has some skill (Fitzgerald)... They are not "extremely skilled and talented" and should not be in the same boat as Willie, Gallon, and TMG. They are the types of players everyone has. Davis is a mid-major player with a huge heart, and I am glad he is on this team but he is not extremely talented and skilled as you described.

The local sportstalk station here in KC has Mike DeCourcy, the college basketball guru for Sporting News, on every week. A few weeks back they were previewing the Big 12 season, and he stated he had picked WW as his Big 12 POY. They asked him about OU with WW and some young HS studs (TMG and Tiny), and he basically said "OU has WW and that's it. Everybody talks about them signing Tiny Gallon and Mason Griffin, but those 2 guys are just very good HS players. They aren't Xavier Henry's or John Wall's."

 

[sybarite]

I didn't expect as much as you guys coming into the year. Thus, I am not as upset.

I didn't see anything out of Warren last year that made me think that we would overcome losing Blake. I thought this team would go about as far as Crocker and the freshmen would take it, and they are freshmen.

I'll let Capel figure this out. He's close to it. I'm not. I might suggest that if he really has a problem with Warren that he should bench him. You don't want a problem child to be the definition of your program. You will notice that I said, "if."

What I am not seeing is a basketball TEAM. I'm not as concerned about the lack of talent, which I don't think is the problem, as I am about the lack of any commitment to teamwork, either on offense or defense. I would like to see Quannas White at point guard and let his attitude run this team.