Lineups

[Stikboy]

The board is dead and i'm on a small vacay.. So, i'm going to give you my hopeful prognostications. Here is what I hope the lineup will be:

1- Jordan Goldwire--Hopefully very good ball handler/distributor and great defensively. Not sure his 3 pt acumen, but hopefully he works on his shooting and offense this summer. It's only an assumption that he can't shoot because he's constantly being labeled a defensive guy. Hey if he can run the team and lock down guys that'll be great.

2- Harkless--Good showing last year. Had spurts that were really good. Is a tough guy and very good on defense. Scored some. Needs to work on his handles to handle more like a 2. Love his rebounding and intangibles though. Would also like him to take a step forward scoring.

3- CJ Noland--This may be a fantasy but that's why I labeled this thread "hopeful". CJ seems to have some dog in him and looks to have a knack for scoring. Creating mismatches. If he's really 6-4 that would be great. Not sure about his overall athletic ability. Can he guard smaller quicker guards. Does he play D? Would be great if he was a player right off the bat.

4- Mawein--Possibly another pipe dream. 6-10 230? That would be incredible to have a stretch 4 that size. Many have put him way at the back of the lineup but he looks really good to me on film. I realize it's Navarro, but to me he looks like an athletic dunking machine with a stroke from 3. Looks agile. Rebounding totals seem low. But if he can defend a little and score sign me up.

5- Groves--Just hope he's not over hyped from the KU highlights. Score inside, get some caroms from our hopefully suffocating defense... Excited about him.

Bench:

Hill--Moser keeps saying he's going to have an expanded role and has been working hard. I've really like Jalen from the beginning, but seems to have some early Doolittle-like shyness towards scoring. He gets his stuff thrown inside alot. Hopefully he improves alot and plays tons of minutes. I don't know if Moser has him pegged as a wing or post, though.

Umoja--Hope he carves out a niche off the bench as a sharpshooter and steals guy.

Ethan Shagwah--Hopefully has a great last year spelling Groves and is a presence inside.

J Groves--I have no idea what to expect. He's 6-7, does he have guard like skills or is he more prone to inside/physicality? I really don't know. I have a feeling he's more of a guard. Moser in interviews really seems to think he has the potential to get alot better..

Bijan/Mason--Would love it if these guys were good enough to play alot. Would seem like they both would be learning from Goldwire this year while they get bigger/adjusted.

Rick--I don't know. What can Moser and staff do for him?

Last signee--Would love to sign an Alondes Williams-sized(and as athletic) scorer and slasher, and that might drastically change my view on the starting lineup.

Thoughts?

 

[Darwin]

Groves
Chargois
Harkless
Gibson
Goldwire , Defense and seniors for starters.

If we don't add a starter type with the last ship, then I'm fine with a 1 year guy or save it.

 

[NYC-Fool]

Would be huge if Noland is good enough to start and contribute off the bat.

 

[Darwin]

Add now Marvin Johnson. I really hope we are allowed to watch practice, so much competition. Got to be in top 2 or 3 teams with the most experience. Real tough for a freshman to start.

 

[soonerbms]

Last signee--Would love to sign an Alondes Williams-sized(and as athletic) scorer and slasher, and that might drastically change my view on the starting lineup.

Thoughts?

You may have gotten your wish in Marvin Johnson.

 

[Stikboy]

You may have gotten your wish in Marvin Johnson.

Got that right! Nice!

 

[BCSooners]

Groves
Hill
Harkless
Gibson
Goldwire

 

[psk2080]

It looks like this team now has some good interchangeable parts and multiple lineups, depending on how big or small Coach Moser wants to play.

Scoring from Gibson, Harkless, T. Groves and Johnson. Rebounding from from multiple positions. Defensive stoppers in Goldwire and Harkless. Size with 6 players 6'7 or taller, and a guard that's 6'6. Plenty of experience. If the pieces fit together and Moser can adapt his system to the collective strengths of this team, I see some good potential with this groupl

 

[WichitaSooner]

You may have gotten your wish in Marvin Johnson.

I don’t think he will be nearly the athlete Alondes is (no disrespect to him, few college guards are), but likely a better overall contributor. This is a nice addition, I’m absolutely thrilled with the way our roster looks.

 

[soonerbms]

I don’t think he will be nearly the athlete Alondes is (no disrespect to him, few college guards are), but likely a better overall contributor. This is a nice addition, I’m absolutely thrilled with the way our roster looks.

Looking at his highlights he seems to have to same slashing and finishing capabilities with a much better shot. He may not be as good on defense, though.

 

[CoachTalk]

Looking at his highlights he seems to have to same slashing and finishing capabilities with a much better shot. He may not be as good on defense, though.

Alondes biggest problem was his defense.

 

[SoonerinNC]

Alondes was a one on one guy without good enough handles to consistently be effective. Lot of athletic ability but short on overall effectiveness.

I believe that OU under Moser will be a much less one on one team. Williams would probably not been a great fit.

In the Johnson highlights didn't see any distribution skills. Maybe they just didn't show them with all of the athletic dunks.

 

[MJSooner]

Alondes biggest problem was his defense.

agreed as Alondes got lost a lot on defense. He also had a big problem with consistency, and at times, consistency in effort.

I think Alondes is/was like a lot of JUCOs that try to rely on their athleticism at the D1 level as they did in JUCO. Most of the time that doesn't translate to success. I think Alondes would have been better with another year of development but it just won't be here.

Did we get the better more explosive athlete with more upside between Johnson and Williams? No, probably not close. But did we get the better basketball player that fits better in Moser's system? Yep, I think we did.

 

[Stikboy]

Alondes was a one on one guy without good enough handles to consistently be effective. Lot of athletic ability but short on overall effectiveness.

I believe that OU under Moser will be a much less one on one team. Williams would probably not been a great fit.

In the Johnson highlights didn't see any distribution skills. Maybe they just didn't show them with all of the athletic dunks.

I agree he almost looks like a ball hog in some highlights. But I’ve seen him actually listed as a PG. I also looked at some of his early boxes last year and there were some nice assist totals. Also some TOs. But, he ended the year with more assists than TOs so that’s good. Not saying he’s PG material but maybe he can back up in some situations as well as be a wing.

 

[WichitaSooner]

I agree he almost looks like a ball hog in some highlights. But I’ve seen him actually listed as a PG. I also looked at some of his early boxes last year and there were some nice assist totals. Also some TOs. But, he ended the year with more assists than TOs so that’s good. Not saying he’s PG material but maybe he can back up in some situations as well as be a wing.

He led his team in assists so I can’t imagine it will be a big issue, especially since he will play the point sparingly for us, if at all.

 

[OKURanger]

I think Goldwire, Harkless, and Groves are good bets as starters. I'm excited to see the competition for the other two starting spots! Although who starts may not matter as I'm guessing Moser uses a deep bench to wear other teams down.

 

[AdaSooner]

I think Goldwire, Harkless, and Groves are good bets as starters. I'm excited to see the competition for the other two starting spots! Although who starts may not matter as I'm guessing Moser uses a deep bench to wear other teams down.

As he should. This team is so deep, I think OU can put two legitimate starting lineups on the floor and still have a player or two on the bench in reserve.

IMO, Moser’s greatest challenge might be giving starter caliber players enough minutes to keep them happy. It’s definitely a good problem to have.

 

[psk2080]

8 of the 13 players have been starters at the D-I level, and a 9th player was an All-American juco player. Only the 3 true freshmen and Issanza probably won't compete for starting positions.

 

[lexusooner]

8 of the 13 players have been starters at the D-I level, and a 9th player was an All-American juco player. Only the 3 true freshmen and Issanza probably won't compete for starting positions.

This ^^^^^ is big time - 8/13 have been D1 starters and 1-13 was a JUCO AA.

T Groves will need to bring it every night vs better competition than he’s used to...
A.M.will likely need a year to get adjusted from JUCO to D1
Shagwah had a better sophomore season statistically in D1 than A.M. did as a Soph in JUCO which was his best season.
It’s likely Groves and Shagwah play plenty of the minutes from both the four and five spot but spots 1-3 should have plenty of competition...
5 Groves/Shagwah/Issanza
4 Shagwah/ Mawein/ JGroves/ Hill/
3 Harkless/ JGroves/ Hill /Johnson/Noland
2 Gibson/ Johnson/ Noland/ Hill
1 Goldwire/Noland/Johnson/Cortes/Mason

 

[tmeyer3307]

This ^^^^^ is big time - 8/13 have been D1 starters and 1-13 was a JUCO AA.

T Groves will need to bring it every night vs better competition than he’s used to...
A.M.will likely need a year to get adjusted from JUCO to D1
Shagwah had a better sophomore season statistically in D1 than A.M. did as a Soph in JUCO which was his best season.
It’s likely Groves and Shagwah play plenty of the minutes from both the four and five spot but spots 1-3 should have plenty of competition...
5 Groves/Shagwah/Issanza
4 Shagwah/ Mawein/ JGroves/ Hill/
3 Harkless/ JGroves/ Hill /Johnson/Noland
2 Gibson/ Johnson/ Noland/ Hill
1 Goldwire/Noland/Johnson/Cortes/Mason

You are saying Jalen Hill doesn't play at all really then?? I think Hill splits time at the 4 or possibly starts there. If Mawein is not ready at all or close, Hill will play lots of minutes at the 4 spot with Ethan Chargois. If Big Rick isn't ready I believe Chargois plays more backing up Groves and a little at the 4 spot behind Hill and Mawein. All depends on Big Rick or Mawein. My guess is one of those guys will be the odd man out.. From the guard spot I think Groves or Noland will be odd man out or limited minutes if I had to pick.