Oct. 8 Intrasquad Scrimmage to Be Streamed

[skyvue]

Well, that was shorter than I'd hoped, but what fun to get to watch it. I liked what I saw!

 

[OU92Grad]

I was at practice yesterday Victor practiced and looked pretty good. Reeves was banged up and sit out towards the end and Manek rolled his ankle pretty bad about midway thru the practice. Surprised Manek played today. Not surprised about Victor sitting out today since yesterday was his first day back.

 

[AdaSooner]

Love the size and athleticism on this team! Harmon is the only player under 6’ 5”. Wish the scrimmage had been longer, but glad to finally get a look at most of our players!

 

[StoopsBros]

Reaves, Harmon, Manek, Doolittle, and Bienemy. That's a really, really good lineup.

Need Hill, Iwuakor, Williams, Issanza, Kuath, and others to play well behind them.

Should be a fun team to watch and I think they'll be better than expected (nationally).

 

[usedtobe1]

It went about like I expected. My only overall concern was we don’t look very physical, but that will pick up in games.

All 3 of the returning starters looked good. Doo had a nice stroke... even hit a 3 pointer. Bienemy looks much improved. Manek looked good but sounded like he rolled an ankle in practice yesterday.

Both redshirt returners looked good. Reaves has a smooth stroke and will get all the minutes he can handle this season. I thought Kuath looked like the best new big man.

Harmon and Hill looked really good for freshmen. That was a fun scoring sequence to follow. Harmon is a stud and Hill looked better than I expected. Iwukakor didn’t play, and Issanza and Garang didn’t really stand out. Rick did hit one short put back. Of course, Garang is going to redshirt but he is obviously athletic.

Williams is going to help a lot as the season progresses. That was a nice steal and dunk he made. I liked that they called him “bouncy”. I really didn’t see much from Merritt, but he was just in for 1 short sequence.

Of course, seeing them all together for the first time just left me wanting to see more.

 

[Darwin]

I was there today. Harmon starting to break out. Williams is stepping up and also Hill. Trouble with scrimmages, every good play has someone on the other side. Doo was near dominate at times which tells me there is quite a gap between him and our bigs. Austin was good and apparently not 100%. I was hoping our small lineup would be a bit unpredictable as to when the opponents would see it. I am now thinking it will be very common until Kur or another big can take crunch time minutes down the stretch in games. That is not to say just more of last year, no, no, no, the small lineup is going to be badass. A lot of the small lineup means some minutes for Hill with Doo and Brady needing to stay out of foul trouble. In a way I am fired up but I really want to have a credible big lineup.

 

[slappy in OP]

Not sure if anyone besides me watched the event until the end (after the scrimmage). Several players stayed out for some practice on their own. Victor was one of those. That kid was filling it up. Very nice mid to short range game. Of course this was against air, but looked like he has a nice shot. :OUbball-logo:

 

[thebigabd]

Not sure if anyone besides me watched the event until the end (after the scrimmage). Several players stayed out for some practice on their own. Victor was one of those. That kid was filling it up. Very nice mid to short range game. Of course this was against air, but looked like he has a nice shot. :OUbball-logo:

Back when I was in high school I remember going to some scrimmages that OSU, TU, and ORU were having in Tulsa at a place called "Champions" in Bixby... It's not there anymore, but the learning experience was that scrimmages can be extremely deceiving.

These guys, against air in a non-competitive setting, are very good at things they will likely never do in a real game.. They even appear to be good when they are actually scrimmaging against other D1 players....

Couple of examples:

Ivan McFarlin... many OU fans will likely remember him from OSU. He was drilling 3's all over the place in this scrimmage. I was attending with an OSU fan friend of mine, and after watching that was convinced he had expanded his game. Not sure he even attempted a 3 in a game that year.

Kelvin Sango... Played at ORU.. Watching him scrimmage against TU and OSU players you would think this guy was like Willie Warren.. Dunking on everyone... hitting jumpers... hitting 3's.. We thought for sure ORU had found a diamond in the rough like Caleb Green (who was also in these scrimmages)... He averaged 3 points per game and shot like 15% from 3pt line at ORU on his career.

Frans Steyn... OSU's 7'3'' rugby project... couldn't even get on the floor in a real game. In a scrimmage setting he was pretty disruptive though. Even hitting 3's and what not... Blocking shots... dunking with ease... etc.

This is not to discredit what you guys saw in a scrimmage... I am just saying, these guys can do things in these settings that they can't or won't do in a game.

 

[WichitaSooner]

I'm really intrigued by Hill. It feels like it has been a while (a LONG while) since we have had someone with his combination of size/skill. Most of the elite teams around the country seem to always have guys in that 6'6"-6'7" range who can put it on the floor and score off the bounce, shoot well enough to keep defenses honest, and defend. We have had some good wings in recent years, but they have usually been shorter and less athletic. He brings something different to the table.

 

[vbdad]

Victor will help with the physical play. He is a beast. Even our small lineup has good size just not one real tall guy.

 

[WichitaSooner]

Victor will help with the physical play. He is a beast. Even our small lineup has good size just not one real tall guy.

Great point -- I knew we had more size this year, but hearing them mention yesterday that Harmon is the only guy under 6'5" really drove home how much length this team has. There can't be many other teams, if any, who can make that claim. And with JB, Reaves, Williams, and Hill, it's not like we lack ball handlers outside of Harmon.

 

[AdaSooner]

I'm really intrigued by Hill. It feels like it has been a while (a LONG while) since we have had someone with his combination of size/skill. Most of the elite teams around the country seem to always have guys in that 6'6"-6'7" range who can put it on the floor and score off the bounce, shoot well enough to keep defenses honest, and defend. We have had some good wings in recent years, but they have usually been shorter and less athletic. He brings something different to the table.

I couldn’t agree more about Jalen Hill! I posted the following in March in response to a SoonerTraveler post. Jalen was like the forgotten recruit back then. It’s good to see him finally getting his due!

Thanks for posting, Traveler! There’s a lot to like about this future Sooner:

—Gatorade Nevada Player of the Year
—6’ 7” guard who led his team to a 25-6 season and the Class 4-A State Final
—Averaged 17.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.2 steals, while shooting 56.5 % from the field.
—Coach says he’s a “high percentage 3 point shooter” (last time I checked it was 46%)
—League MVP and First Team All State Selection.
—Coach says he’s an excellent passer and he can finish with both hands.
—Coach says “He’s got an elite-level, old school post-up game that you can’t stop and his IQ is off the charts. He’s the real deal.”
—Coach says this about his defense: “Jalen Hill might be the best on-ball defender I’ve ever seen.”
—Active in the community as a volunteer providing support for children with cancer.
—Excellent student with a 3.63 GPA

Like I said earlier, I think OU got a steal with this young man!

 

[skyvue]

I couldn’t agree more about Jalen Hill! I posted the following in March in response to a SoonerTraveler post. Jalen was like the forgotten recruit back then. It’s good to see him finally getting his due!

I'm with you guys -- I was very impressed by Hill yesterday.

 

[SoonerBounce13]

So many new guys

 

[jaymOU]

Loved this being televised - huge kudos for LK for doing this. The disparity in paranoia between Lincoln and Lon is incredible. As said above, scrimmages aren't always the best gauge, but it is all we have at this point.

Loved Hill's ball-handling and confidence - seemed like he could even play the point at some time in his career

Harmon did not disappoint, although early shot selection was a little questionable.

What I really like about this team is their length. Generally, I think of a "big" team was having several 7-footers, while OU doesn't have a rotational 7-footer yet, they have size at every position - outside of PG.

I can't wait to watch all the newcomers. If LK can convince them to dig in defensively, we could be looking at a team ready to be a factor in the Big 12.

 

[MsProudSooner]

The disparity in paranoia between Lincoln and Lon is incredible.

It's not paranoia. It's marketing. If every seat in LNC were filled for every game, Lon might not stream scrimmages, either.

 

[Sooner04]

Lon's the most open coach in the business. It doesn't matter if we're loaded for a Final Four run or bottom-feeding the conference: practice is open. Come one, come all.

He's not going to lose much sleep over a competitive advantage from the possible position change of a third-string nickelback!

 

[jaymOU]

It's not paranoia. It's marketing. If every seat in LNC were filled for every game, Lon might not stream scrimmages, either.

How does letting the public know who is going to play left tackle impact the marketing of the football team?

I get how this could help drive interest, but sure seems LK and Lincoln do things differently in terms of access to their programs.

 

[WichitaSooner]

How does letting the public know who is going to play left tackle impact the marketing of the football team?

I get how this could help drive interest, but sure seems LK and Lincoln do things differently in terms of access to their programs.

True, but more broadly, Lon is different than basically every football and basketball coach, not just Lincoln. As someone who has always loved watching practices and hearing what is said behind closed doors, I feel really lucky to have him coaching the team I have loved since I was a little kid.

 

[BoulderSooner]

True, but more broadly, Lon is different than basically every football and basketball coach, not just Lincoln. As someone who has always loved watching practices and hearing what is said behind closed doors, I feel really lucky to have him coaching the team I have loved since I was a little kid.

pete carrol had every practice open the media the entire time he was at USC