I will be TICKLED PINK if we finish better than 6th or so and will happily come back here and proclaim what an idiot I was.
That said - it's not gonna happen. I'm afraid our talent level was just ridiculously low for such an esteemed program.
I don't know that I agree with this. On paper OU actually has a respectable level of talent but OU also has some obvious flaws. Starting with positives, OU has three top 100 high school players that will start next season in Fitzgerald, Pledger and Cam Clark. Honestly, that is a pretty high number of top 100 starters for OU on a historical basis. Additionally, OU has Osby and Grooms. It seems the whole world has raved about Osby for an entire year. Capel called him the best player on the team last year. He was supposed to be a star at Mississippi State but things didn't work out for him. On paper Romero is more talented than a lot of guys that played at OU in the past. Grooms is a Juco AA. Again on paper he is as talented as many other juco transfers to come to OU.
The downsides for OU are probably (in this order) first, lack of a true bigman. Fitzgerald is a nice PF in the Big XII but he is not a center. He simply can't defend the post or rebound at a high enough level to do it all for OU. He will get his points and made honorable mention All Big XII so he is a respectable player but he has some limitations. I don't know how tall Osby is but OU lists him at 6'8";thereofre, I think it is safe to say he is shorter than 6'8". Honore, Washington and Neal are all undersized for a Big XII center. Arent seems to have the size but he has to prove it to me before I am a believer. The percentage of Juco bigs that have done well at OU and OSU over the years is a pretty low percentage. It has certainly happened but the Oleg Restovs or Joseph Szesdries are a lot more common than the Ace McGhees and Jabari Browns (Brown was not actually a juco but he did transfer in).
Second, OU needs to improve at the point guard position. I think Blair was acceptable last year. He is a legitimated D-1 pg but he is probably in the bottom half of the starting pgs in the conference. I expect him to be improved but OU probably needs Grooms to beat him out as the starter. I don't mean this as an insult to Blair. I can only dream of having the athletic ability that he has. I recognize that the vast majority of internet basketball fans were starters in high school and most were at least all-city if not all-state but I actually couldn't make my high school team and have no need to rewrite history simply because this is the internet. I admire the abilities of all the guys that play for OU.
Third, OU lacks depth. Last season OU had no one to come off the bench and score points on a consistent basis. It was questionable if OU had guys ready to come off the bench and play at Big XII level on a consistent basis. OU was extremely young. The Sooners only lost one player (Cade Davis) and add Osby, Grooms and Arent. If two of those guys start and the third contributes at a Big XII level, I have hopes that the depth issue will be vastly improved. I saw some moments for Newell, Washington and Neal. I am hoping that one or two guys on the bench step up and make it obvious to the coach that they are entitled to all of the backup minutes. There is nothing wrong with a 7 or 8 man rotation when the 6 and 7 guys are producing. It is a problem when a team only goes 7 deep and gets no production from its bench because it means the 8-13 guys are simply not ready to play.
