MMBest5 - Best all time starting five

[BoulderSooner]

MUCH MUCH better?

That is a dumb statement. No other way to put it.

one guy was 2 time big 12 player of the year a 2 time all american and NATIONAL PLAYER of the year

the other was a 1 time AA Hollis was a really really good college player

Buddy was a super star ..

I would put Hollis over Buddy for the first 3 years. Hollis was a cold-blooded winner -- maybe more so than anybody we've ever had. That senior year Buddy had was off the charts, though. Can't keep him off.

buddy has better numbers than hollis in all 4 years although they are close as freshman

 

[thebigabd]

Put Trae on that ou team and we are cutting the nets down. We would have mopped the floor with Indiana and Maryland.

Trae would have likely been a cancer and never worked on a real championship team... he would have to play defense, stop jacking 40 footers, play within a team instead of just solo ball for himself, etc.

Quannas White shot 46% from 3 in Big 12 games... Trae Young shot 30%... He shot 50% from the field in Big 12 games... Trae shot 39%.... He had a 2.9 assist to turnover ratio. He was probably the best defensive player in the Big 12.

He went 58-12 as a starting point guard at OU.... Went to the Final Four and Elite 8. He won two Big 12 tournaments. There are banners hanging from the rafters in the arena on teams that Quannas White led....

Two totally different players obviously... but TY led a total dumpster fire and Quannas White led a championship basketball team.

 

[BoulderSooner]

Trae would have likely been a cancer and never worked on a real championship team... he would have to play defense, stop jacking 40 footers, play within a team instead of just solo ball for himself, etc.

Quannas White shot 46% from 3 in Big 12 games... Trae Young shot 30%... He shot 50% from the field in Big 12 games... Trae shot 39%.... He had a 2.9 assist to turnover ratio. He was probably the best defensive player in the Big 12.

He went 58-12 as a starting point guard at OU.... Went to the Final Four and Sweet 16. He won two Big 12 tournaments. There are banners hanging from the rafters in the arena on teams that Quannas White led....

Two totally different players obviously... but TY led a total dumpster fire and Quannas White led a championship basketball team.

i would like to have seen trae coached by kelvin ... he would have either gotten tougher or quit ..

 

[soonertravis]

Trae would have likely been a cancer and never worked on a real championship team... he would have to play defense, stop jacking 40 footers, play within a team instead of just solo ball for himself, etc.

Quannas White shot 46% from 3 in Big 12 games... Trae Young shot 30%... He shot 50% from the field in Big 12 games... Trae shot 39%.... He had a 2.9 assist to turnover ratio. He was probably the best defensive player in the Big 12.

He went 58-12 as a starting point guard at OU.... Went to the Final Four and Elite 8. He won two Big 12 tournaments. There are banners hanging from the rafters in the arena on teams that Quannas White led....

Two totally different players obviously... but TY led a total dumpster fire and Quannas White led a championship basketball team.

Does anyone else remember that it was Quannas who defended Luke Walton in the tournament in 2002? He was the smallest guy we had and he disrupted Walton all day long.

I won't discuss he and Trae because Trae has tremendous ability and talent. He was a Freshman and Quannas was an upperclassman. But for that 2002 team, it is difficult to say what difference there was.

Honestly, we may not make it to the Final Four if Q wasn't on that team. They could have won it all that year, and hit some bad luck in the FF game. We shouldn't ever discount anything they did by suggesting a certain player would have made a difference.

 

[skyvue]

Trae would have likely been a cancer and never worked on a real championship team... he would have to play defense, stop jacking 40 footers, play within a team instead of just solo ball for himself, etc.

How much longer will we have to endure you trashing TY? Just wondering whether I should block you now or if you'll soon grow bored with it and taper off.

The word "cancer" should be used very carefully in describing a college player, and you'd darn well better have some true inside info when you use it (and unless you were at practice on a daily basis -- and I'm confident you were not -- you likely don't have any such info).

Trae led the nation in assists as a true freshman and if his teammates had hit a decent percentage of the wide-open shots he set them up with, there's no telling how high his assist average might have climbed. Sorry, but by no definition is that solo ball. And I've got news for you, Harmon has said he hopes to emulate TY in having the offense run primarily through him, so perhaps you should start sharpening your knives for him now.

 

[Sooner04]

And I've got news for you, Harmon has said he hopes to emulate TY in having the offense run primarily through him, so perhaps you should start sharpening your knives for him now.

I hope Harmon plans to play a little D on the side.

 

[skyvue]

I hope Harmon plans to play a little D on the side.

I do too.

My point is not that Trae was perfect; he certainly wasn't, but he was also a true freshman. We'll never know how he'd have progressed if he'd stayed at OU longer. But the idea that he was our biggest problem last season -- and worse, labeling him a cancer -- is ridiculous.

 

[jaymOU]

Nope. My bad. I said I might be missing some folks - he would be a folk.

 

[jaymOU]

I would take Quannas White over Trae Young any day of the week, if my objective is to win a championship and not get some guy drafted.

Quannas never had a chance at NBA basketball obviously, but that doesn't mean he isn't a better college point guard on a championship team.

Quannas had way more talent to play with than Trae. Trae with the talent Q had around him would make Trae be a different player. Trae > Q any day. I love Q and loved how he played, but Trae is better - dude lead the nation in scoring and assists on a team that could not shoot!

 

[WTSooner]

buddy has better numbers than hollis in all 4 years although they are close as freshman

Counting stats?

Oh brother.

 

[WTSooner]

he was great in his system and had a really good year ... but there is a reason that one guy was a lotto pick and the other never sniffed the nba

That is a poor argument. The skill set required to be good in college, and what is required to be good in the NBA are not all that similar.

History is full of great college players that weren't really cut out for the NBA. Doesn't make them worse college players.

 

[thebigabd]

How much longer will we have to endure you trashing TY? Just wondering whether I should block you now or if you'll soon grow bored with it and taper off.

The word "cancer" should be used very carefully in describing a college player, and you'd darn well better have some true inside info when you use it (and unless you were at practice on a daily basis -- and I'm confident you were not -- you likely don't have any such info).

Trae led the nation in assists as a true freshman and if his teammates had hit a decent percentage of the wide-open shots he set them up with, there's no telling how high his assist average might have climbed. Sorry, but by no definition is that solo ball. And I've got news for you, Harmon has said he hopes to emulate TY in having the offense run primarily through him, so perhaps you should start sharpening your knives for him now.

1.) Young is a controversial player. In fact, the sports media has used that term (controversial) to describe him many times. They still do.

2.) Just because a guy played at OU doesn't mean he automatically earns the love of the fans. A lot of people (not just me) didn't like the style of basketball Kruger put in place as a result of Trae, and I doubt I am the only one that thinks Trae wasn't a team player. Now, I will admit I should probably direct more criticism at Kruger than TY, given that Kruger allowed the 40 footers, allowed the bad defense, allowed him to go out there and do whatever he wanted, etc.

3.) Surely you can tolerate a different opinion than your own.

4.) To answer your question directly, I imagine I will post a lot less about Trae Young. He is gone, off to Atlanta... His one year at OU is over and it's time to move on. Like all young people pursuing their professional interest, I wish him the best. Hopefully he matures in Atlanta and has a great and lucrative career.

5.) Lastly.... I hope Kruger doesn't plan on using Harmon in that way.

 

[thebigabd]

That is a poor argument. The skill set required to be good in college, and what is required to be good in the NBA are not all that similar.

History is full of great college players that weren't really cut out for the NBA. Doesn't make them worse college players.

Absolutely right..... Same is true in football.

1. Josh Heupel
2. Jason White
3. Quentin Griffin (who had an average NFL career but was a total stud at OU)
4. Rocky Calmus

I could probably put a list together of dozens and dozens of football and basketball who were great at OU and were not pro prospects or were not highly desirable professional players.

Hell, on the same team as Quannas White there weren't any NBA prospects on the team. Hollis, Ace, Ebi, etc were never going to play NBA basketball. Those guys are mentioned among the greats, and together had one of the better teams OU has ever had. Certainly the best team Sampson ever had, and they didn't have any pro players.

Oddly enough, things starting getting iffy for OU when they tried to take the next step... Lavendar, Gallon, Keith Clark, Trae Young, Willie Warren... Many of these guys had serious problems and didn't have particularly memorable careers at OU. Damion James and Scottie Reynolds were sources of pain for OU and its fans...

OU had a really good team with Blake Griffin, because he was a total freak of nature and they had a nice cast around him, plus he's just a great human being from a great family.... but I'd be curious to look at years OU didnt have MCDAA's and when they did. Buddy and Cousins were more traditional OU recruits... diamonds in the rough, etc.

 

[BCSooners]

Not that being the 2 or 3 make much difference in college but Buddy was the 3 his senior year.

 

[skyvue]

Surely you can tolerate a different opinion than your own.

Sure I can -- a fair-minded, well-reasoned opinion that differs from my own. But I have no desire to endure a lengthy string of posts (which has become your trademark of late) trashing a young man (honestly, a cancer?) who did nothing during his time at OU to deserve such enmity.

Sure, last season was frustrating, but it was frustrating primarily because we had our hopes raised by Trae carrying the team on his back for the first half. Trae wasn't the primary reason we struggled in conference play. Heck, he wasn't in the top five reasons. But for some fans, it has to be simple, cut-and-dried; they need a single person to blame, ignoring the fact that it's a team game, so if we're in the early stages of you ripping TY for a couple of weeks running, just let me know and I'll take appropriate action to save myself the aggravation.

 

[thebigabd]

Sure I can -- a fair-minded, well-reasoned opinion that differs from my own. But I have no desire to endure a lengthy string of posts (which has become your trademark of late) trashing a young man (honestly, a cancer?) who did nothing during his time at OU to deserve such enmity.

Sure, last season was frustrating, but it was frustrating primarily because we had our hopes raised by Trae carrying the team on his back for the first half. Trae wasn't the primary reason we struggled in conference play. Heck, he wasn't in the top five reasons. But for some fans, it has to be simple, cut-and-dried; they need a single person to blame, ignoring the fact that it's a team game, so if we're in the early stages of you ripping TY for a couple of weeks running, just let me know and I'll take appropriate action to save myself the aggravation.

I really don't plan to post about TY anymore. I will refer back to point #4 that I posted above.

That being said, if you choose to block me that is your decision. I welcome opposing views and always enjoy reading your contributions, whether I agree with them or not. I disagree with some of the points you made in this very post, but we should probably just move on to 2018 and follow TY as a professional.

 

[SoonerBounce13]

Buddy over Hollis all day. I love both of them though.

 

[BoulderSooner]

That is a poor argument. The skill set required to be good in college, and what is required to be good in the NBA are not all that similar.

History is full of great college players that weren't really cut out for the NBA. Doesn't make them worse college players.

but buddy was the BEST player in college basketball

 

[WTSooner]

but buddy was the BEST player in college basketball

THAT year.

And semantics, but having the best season and being the best player aren't necessarily the same thing. Just want to make that point.

 

[BoulderSooner]

THAT year.

And semantics, but having the best season and being the best player aren't necessarily the same thing. Just want to make that point.

and he was the best player in the leage the year before .. how many big 12 POY's did hollis win?