Practice 10/15/12

[garyeb2]

Breaking news. They switched jersey's around and the 1's, 2's and 3's are easily defined. The red's are Grooms, Pledger, Cam, Osby, M'Baye, and Fitz.

They had a long scrimmage with refs today. The first five of those to hit the floor were Grooms,Pledger,Cam, M'Baye,and Osby. Fitz was soon in for Osby. Then Osby came back in and Pledger went out. That was an odd lineup. But, it worked fine. Mostly, it was the 3 bigs rotatating with each other liberally.

The best player in the gym award goes to Cam today. He was really good in the scrimmage. He scored mayby 12/14,rebounded, and defended. Pledger was around 8/10 pts. It took awhile, but, he got his shot going pretty good. M'baye may have gotten 6. But, he showed a couple of flashes of really good. He is a huge difference maker on defense. Grooms shot poorly and mayby only scored on a floater in the lane. I don't recall Osby or Fitz scoring.

The freshman of the day award goes to Heild. Playing for the 2's, over one 6 possesion span, he scored 10, got 2 assist, and had 2 steals. As time goes along, I don't know how they will keep him off the floor. Cousins and Hornbeak look good enough. But, they can not get a shot to drop. Today, I would say the Hornbeak is ahead of Cousins. At this point I don't think either one of them are presently a threat to Grooms. I don't know what will happen if Grooms goes into another long shooting slump.

They rotated all three groups through the scrimmage just like they do in drills. Arent did a good job for the 2's. Defended and rebounded good enough and got around 6 pts. Spangler was solid for the 3's. Bennet looked really bad in a couple of spots. He got pulled out to the peremiter to defend and he just isn't ready for that.

There were several bright spots today. But, they just don't look very good right now. I'm not saying they won't look better in a couple of weeks. I'm just saying that I expected them to be further along.

 

[Stikboy]

Thanks again Gary. I live in Houston and i can't make it to any games or practices. I eat your reports up. If you have the time keep em comin!

 

[luckyc1423]

Thanks again Gary. I live in Houston and i can't make it to any games or practices. I eat your reports up. If you have the time keep em comin!

Agreed...I'm in Houston as well....

 

[globecode]

Thanks Gary.

I was watching for a bit today and when they were running the controlled 5 on 5 where one team would run a possession against both the other groups depending on which end of the floor they were going to, who was playing the point for the black team?

I think it was Cousins but I don't know them well enough to be sure.

 

[garyeb2]

Thanks Gary.

I was watching for a bit today and when they were running the controlled 5 on 5 where one team would run a possession against both the other groups depending on which end of the floor they were going to, who was playing the point for the black team?

I think it was Cousins but I don't know them well enough to be sure.

I'm not for sure. Cousins and Hornbeak are both on the black. It could have been either one of them.

 

[CoachTalk]

Breaking news.
There were several bright spots today. But, they just don't look very good right now. I'm not saying they won't look better in a couple of weeks. I'm just saying that I expected them to be further along.[/QUOTE]

Coming from a coach, The first few days are rough, It will only get better. No matter how much pickup you play or indv drills. When coaches get in there and start doing what we do best, kids get frustrated, confused, annoyed,etc..

They'll be fine.

 

[MNsooner]

Gary - Thank you for the practice reports. Great stuff.

 

[hoopsaustin]

love these recaps! Keep 'em going Gary!!

 

[DenverSooner]

The freshman of the day award goes to Heild. Playing for the 2's, over one 6 possesion span, he scored 10, got 2 assist, and had 2 steals. As time goes along, I don't know how they will keep him off the floor.

If this turns out to be true (OU can't keep him off the floor), OU is going to have a good basketball team. That will be a really good 7 man rotation with depth provided by the freshman, Neal, Arent and Bennet. That might not be a Big XII championship team but it is a Tournament team. We just need Heild to be a player.

 

[SoonerinNC]

I watched most of the practice on the net. One thing to remember is that their concentration has been on defense so far so a good defense makes any offense look worse than it is. Also they are working hard on pressure and trapping defenses.

They are not going to look good on offense for awhile. But there were some pretty good individual offense moves.

I was impressed with the quickness of the three freshman guards. That will go a long way toward allowing Kruger to play the kind of game he wants. I think they all will play. Neal couldn't hit the side of a barn.

 

[garyeb2]

I watched most of the practice on the net. One thing to remember is that their concentration has been on defense so far so a good defense makes any offense look worse than it is. Also they are working hard on pressure and trapping defenses.

They are not going to look good on offense for awhile. But there were some pretty good individual offense moves.

I was impressed with the quickness of the three freshman guards. That will go a long way toward allowing Kruger to play the kind of game he wants. I think they all will play. Neal couldn't hit the side of a barn.

While everything you said is accurate, the context of my observation is that the red team consisted of 5 seniors and M'Baye. For large chunks of last season they didn't look very good as a group. And as a group, they didn't look very good yesterday.

 

[garyeb2]

If this turns out to be true (OU can't keep him off the floor), OU is going to have a good basketball team. That will be a really good 7 man rotation with depth provided by the freshman, Neal, Arent and Bennet. That might not be a Big XII championship team but it is a Tournament team. We just need Heild to be a player.

I had been hearing stories about Heilds exploits over the summer. But, as an observer for most of 3 practices, what I was seeing was a close to ready to play freshman with some potential. I wasn't expecting the flurry he delivered yesterday.

Earlier in the day he got the best of Cam in 1 on 1 one drills. That is not an easy thing to do. He had done several things that would catch an observers eye. He didn't do much before or after that short stretch in the scrimmage. But, that 6 possession span was very good.

Neither of the steals were deflected passee that fell in his lap. Both times he just took the ball away from someone. The first one he got Osby bringing the ball across the midline. He made Osby look bad. That isn't easy to do either.

Both of the asssist were nifty passes to Hornbeak on backdoor cuts. If your scenerio needs a freshman guard to step up, you may have found your man.

 

[Mr.B!!!]

Both of the asssist were nifty passes to Hornbeak on backdoor cuts. If your scenerio needs a freshman guard to step up, you may have found your man.

I think we need two of them to step up, backup pg and wing off the bench.

 

[AdaSooner]

Well done, Gary! Your reports have been invalauble in giving fans who can't be there, or can't see the entire court as you're able to do from the stands, an enlightening look at how the team is shaping up in the practice sessions to this point.

I read the reports about Hield a few months back, but really didn't think he would be the freshmen who would shine this early. I thought Cousins or Hornbeak would be the first to step up, and maybe they will before the season gets underway. It's good to know, though, that all of our newbies are competing hard for playing time, and that they have a chance to help the team, if they continue to progress as expected.

I'm encouraged by your comments about Cam. Is he ready for a breakout season where the hype he received coming in finally matches his performance? Sure hope so.

What are you seeing in Fitzgerald? Has he expanded his game to be more than a spot-up shooter from fifteen and in? Has his footspeed and his positioning on the boards improved?

 

[WTSooner]

Did Cam change his shot again this offseason? The way he was shooting it last year, he was never going to be consistent. Too many mechanical flaws.

 

[garyeb2]

Did Cam change his shot again this offseason? The way he was shooting it last year, he was never going to be consistent. Too many mechanical flaws.

Yes, his shot used to be kind of a stiffed armed wrist flick from straight above his head. He has moved his release point down, alittle forward, and slightly to the right. It isn't a silky smooth Pledger like stroke. But, he looks good shooting the ball.

 

[garyeb2]

Well done, Gary! Your reports have been invalauble in giving fans who can't be there, or can't see the entire court as you're able to do from the stands, an enlightening look at how the team is shaping up in the practice sessions to this point.

I read the reports about Hield a few months back, but really didn't think he would be the freshmen who would shine this early. I thought Cousins or Hornbeak would be the first to step up, and maybe they will before the season gets underway. It's good to know, though, that all of our newbies are competing hard for playing time, and that they have a chance to help the team, if they continue to progress as expected.

I'm encouraged by your comments about Cam. Is he ready for a breakout season where the hype he received coming in finally matches his performance? Sure hope so.

What are you seeing in Fitzgerald? Has he expanded his game to be more than a spot-up shooter from fifteen and in? Has his footspeed and his positioning on the boards improved?

I'm happy to do it. Irreguardless of conflicting opinions on many topics, the thing we all have in common is being OU basketball fans. I'm trying to give a fair assesment of what I think I am seeing. My biases are well known. So, posters can run my comments through whatever filter they want.

To this point, Cam is easily the most improved returning player. He looks bigger and stronger. He is making shots, jumping out of the gym, and his release looks alot better.

As far as Fitz. It is hard to tell. It has been mostly defense so far. But, yesterday was really my 1st good look at offense. It doesn't have the same look as last seasons offense. While setting up in the same high/low, it seemed that Kruger had both bigs flaring out wide for face up looks from time to time. Twice Fitz ended up in the corner shooting a 3. He made 1.

I'm not enough of an X's and O's guy to say for sure exactly what Kruger is doing on offense. Mayby I'll figure it out as time goes along. I think Fitz would be fine doing something like that. He seems to be running and moving alittle better.

 

[WTSooner]

Yes, his shot used to be kind of a stiffed armed wrist flick from straight above his head. He has moved his release point down, alittle forward, and slightly to the right. It isn't a silky smooth Pledger like stroke. But, he looks good shooting the ball.

That is good.

 

[SoonerinNC]

I agree. Clark looks much improved and his shot much smoother. Since the freshmen are wearing black shirts with no numbers or numbers that you can't pick up on the screen I don't know which are which. They all look very quick to me.