Minutes

[Stikboy]

Shoot it down or add to it, I know nothing..

Woodard-30
Cousins-30
Hield-30
Spangler-26
Manyang-22
Lattin-24
Buford-18
Odomes-11
Walker-5
James-2
McNeace-2

I think that adds up correctly. Obviously alot depends on James' rehab and what position Buford plays. Thought it'd be fun to speculate...

 

[BCSooners]

James will redshirt before playing 2 minutes a game.

 

[DenverSooner]

I hope James gets more than 2 minutes a game. My hope is that OU has several games where Odomes and James can get significant minutes.

 

[Max Power]

Shoot it down or add to it, I know nothing..

Woodard-30
Cousins-30
Hield-30
Spangler-26
Manyang-22
Lattin-24
Buford-18
Odomes-11
Walker-5
James-2
McNeace-2

I think that adds up correctly. Obviously alot depends on James' rehab and what position Buford plays. Thought it'd be fun to speculate...

I would tweak Spangler down to around 22 and put those 4 between Buford, and Manyang. I think we need to limit Spangler's minutes so he doesn't get worn down by the end of the year again.

 

[SoonerinNC]

If the idea is to rest Spangler more then you will see more of McNeace. Maybe even a five man rotation.

It is really hard to predict the newcomers. At least we have some experience with McNeace and the reviews have been pretty good from practice.

James or Odomes could be the first guard off the bench. Particularly with James rep from downtown. Or either or both could get very limited minutes or even redshirt. Kruger seems to be willing to redshirt and James injury makes him a candidate. One thing for sure. Kruger has a keen eye for talent and if he thinks one of the freshmen will be a contributer by the end of the season he is going to get minutes.

Buford is the wildcard. Not sure if he is a 3 or a 4 but he probably will get his share of minutes. Guys that redshirt for Kruger usually come on pretty strong.

 

[j2d2]

I would tweak Spangler down to around 22 and put those 4 between Buford, and Manyang. I think we need to limit Spangler's minutes so he doesn't get worn down by the end of the year again.

Absolutely. He can be rested in purportion to the contributions the new bigs can make. Surely between Buford and Lattin they can give him 10 minutes off per game. I'd prefer 15.

 

[AdaSooner]

James will redshirt before playing 2 minutes a game.

Agreed. I think the four at the top will see fewer minutes than Stikboy predicted, while the bottom six or seven will see more playing time.

James may have to shake off some rust due to his injury, but he is too good to come off of the bench at mop up time for an entire season. A lot will depend on his progress during the summer workouts and how quickly he is at full speed again.

 

[Stikboy]

I certainly think that James is talented enough to get MUCH more than 2 minutes a game. That number was from the perspective of being behind due to overcoming injury. None of the minutes I placed on any of those guys had anything to do with percieved talent level, but everything to do with age/experience/opportunity/etc..

 

[campbest]

I expect Woodard/Cousins/Hield to play more than 30min a game, especially toward the end of the season. All three might not every night, but one or two of them is going to have to play more than 30.

 

[AdaSooner]

I understand, Stikboy. I don't really think you're off that much on your minutes. I think at least three of the top four guys will see fewer minutes due to the pace Kruger wants to play. We'll also have more depth to spread out the playing time a little more this season. I think LK knows that Ryan in particular was experiencing fatigue as well as a variety of aches and pains toward the end of the season.

Thus, he will do everything he can to avoid that this year...more because he can with the kind of depth we'll have. As you know depth is not about putting bodies on the floor, it's about bringing in players who are capable of at least holding their own on offense and defense. I think we'll have that this year.

 

[usedtobe1]

I have no way of knowing but suspect Buford might play more than any of the newcomers. It will interesting to see who wins out mini-battles between Manyang versus Lattin, Buford versus Odomes, and Walker versus James. By the end of the year, we will likely be down to an 8 or 9 man rotation for meaningful minutes. I agree Buddy, Cousins, Woodard, and Spangler will get 120 of the 200 minutes during big games.

Minutes per game during conference play will be a lot different than December when they experiment with various lineup combinations. I think we will break the trend of the past 2 seasons of the same starting lineup in every game, however it's more important to me to see who finishes a tough game than who starts.

 

[colston15]

I think Walker will be a pleasant surprise next season, bet he plays more like 15 minutes per game.

Don't forget he has a full season of D-I play under his belt that these freshman will not.

 

[usedtobe1]

I would be shocked if Walker gets 15 minutes/game. Every minute Walker plays takes a minute away from James or Odomes. Cousins will be the backup PG again.

 

[colston15]

I would be shocked if Walker gets 15 minutes/game. Every minute Walker plays takes a minute away from James or Odomes. Cousins will be the backup PG again.

Again, you're assuming both those freshman will be ready to play. I think that's risky.

I think one, or maybe even both will contribute solidly, but I'd surprised if it weren't a process.

By contrast, Walker has already gone through that. He'll be much more comfortable next season.

 

[AdaSooner]

Again, you're assuming both those freshman will be ready to play. I think that's risky.

I think one, or maybe even both will contribute solidly, but I'd surprised if it weren't a process.

By contrast, Walker has already gone through that. He'll be much more comfortable next season.

I hope you're right about Walker. He came to OU with the reputation of being a guard who could score and shoot a high percentage from three point range. Unfortunately, he only demonstrated the ability to do that in spurts. The biggest disappointment for me was his 26% shooting from behind the arc, compared to the 40% he averaged at the juco level.

Walker is not without skills. He had some success early last season in driving the lane. But not so much when OU got into conference play where the scouting reports caught up to him. He can be a big asset to the team this fall if he is more consistent and proves he can make better decisions from the point guard position.

I would love to see him stay ahead of the two freshmen for playing time this season. I'm not convinced that will happen until I see it with my own eyes, though. He's going to have a hard time keeping Odomes at bay. James, too, when he is at full speed again.

 

[usedtobe1]

Again, you're assuming both those freshman will be ready to play. I think that's risky.

I think one, or maybe even both will contribute solidly, but I'd surprised if it weren't a process.

By contrast, Walker has already gone through that. He'll be much more comfortable next season.

There will be at most 80 minutes a game available after the 4 returning starters get theirs. Walker, Buford, Lattin, Manyang, Odomes, James, and McNeace will all contend for some of those minutes. 50 of them will be allocated for post play. You have a whole lot more faith in Walker than I do if you think he is going to get the lion's share of the backup wing minutes. If he does, I'll be disappointed in Buford, Odomes, and James. I honestly expect he has been "recruited over".