Recruiting: We need players like A Roberson

[Larry72]

Lon and his staff need to pickup some quick and long athletes like 6' 7" Andre Roberson of the Thunder.
He was a 3 star coming out of the San Antonio area.
He played at Colorado and was the PAC 12 Defensive player of the year. He can guard everyone, rebounds well, and plays under control.
Lon can teach guys like him to shoot.

 

[SoonerTraveler]

Lon may be trying to do this already. Don't know about the quickness factor, but these guys have a chance to develop:

Sophomore Dante Buford … 6-7, 221, F
Freshman Kristian Doolittle ... 6-7, 215, F

Andre Roberson played all 4 years at Colorado, but he was already All-PAC-12 first team by his sophomore season.

 

[okienole3]

He played three years. Was top three in the country in rebounding his sophomore and junior year.

 

[NYC-Fool]

We could use players like R Westbrook too...

 

[bgrch1350]

I take more players like Durant.

 

[CMSOONER]

Lon may be trying to do this already. Don't know about the quickness factor, but these guys have a chance to develop:

Sophomore Dante Buford … 6-7, 221, F
Freshman Kristian Doolittle ... 6-7, 215, F

Andre Roberson played all 4 years at Colorado, but he was already All-PAC-12 first team by his sophomore season.

Exactly my thoughts

 

[SoonerTraveler]

He played three years. Was top three in the country in rebounding his sophomore and junior year.

Yes; thanks for the correction. I scanned his OKC Thunder bio too quickly ...

http://www.nba.com/playerfile/andre_roberson/bio/?ls=iref:playerCompleteBioLink

 

[scrybe]

So, are Roberson, Westbrook and Durant (or any combination of the three) available? :ez-laugh:

 

[Larry72]

Maybe Skeeter Henry or his son could come back.

 

[sperry]

Most teams could use guys good enough to start on NBA finals teams. Dude hasn't been a great NBA player so far (although having a great postseason), but he is an absolute athletic freak. Not many of them floating around.

 

[Soonerinkc]

understand your point...guys that fly under the radar as far as the blue bloods.

Buddy, Cousins and Spangler fit that...although only 1 could be an NBA star.

Course, we had our Tiny and Willie, studs that ended up either not playing or not playing well (Warren?).

I guess I see Buford a little more of a banger..than a sprint fluid guy..just me.

 

[furge]

Lon may be trying to do this already. Don't know about the quickness factor, but these guys have a chance to develop:

Sophomore Dante Buford … 6-7, 221, F
Freshman Kristian Doolittle ... 6-7, 215, F

Andre Roberson played all 4 years at Colorado, but he was already All-PAC-12 first team by his sophomore season.

Don't sleep on Rashard Odomes, either. Not as stoutly built as those two but a more natural wing, and has that Roberson slash/dunk mentality. I hope Kristian Doolittle is the same kind of fluid, high-motor player as Roberson. Buford seems a little more like a Draymond Green, thick-set and pesky with some range to his face-up game.

 

[OUballer]

We need more size period. 6 8 to 6 10

 

[OUballer]

Small ball will only get you so much you need a rim protector and rebounder. Looke at the thunder. Size does Matter.

 

[furge]

Small ball will only get you so much you need a rim protector and rebounder. Looke at the thunder. Size does Matter.

All due respect, but
1) the Thunder are getting it done this postseason with versatility and perimeter defense. The turning point against the Warriors was Donovan's decision to invert Ibaka and Roberson's roles on offense, letting the latter cut to the rim and score on the catch, and his quick trigger to go small with the Russ/Dion/Dre/KD/Serge lineup which is just mutilating Golden State's "Death Lineup" per minute in +/-. Scott Brooks, the size purist, had trouble letting go of lineups with Kendrick Perkins until the Kanter trade last year and the 2012 Finals should have ended the fantasy for him either way.

2) Khadeem Lattin lead the Big 12 in blocks/36min as a sophomore. Jamuni, in limited minutes, has shown a knack for pinning 'em to the glass. Rim protection is a skill, and you can never have too many skilled guys who are 6'8-6'10. But that's why Kentucky, Duke, UNC, Kansas, UCLA etc. always seem to have them all. It's a premium recruiting commodity.

A Roberson - lite player, whose versatility and motor and strength relative to size lets him overcome 6'7/210 measurements as a college post, gets you wins in college. Orlando Allen and Casey Arent do not.

 

[Larry72]

All due respect, but
1) the Thunder are getting it done this postseason with versatility and perimeter defense. The turning point against the Warriors was Donovan's decision to invert Ibaka and Roberson's roles on offense, letting the latter cut to the rim and score on the catch, and his quick trigger to go small with the Russ/Dion/Dre/KD/Serge lineup which is just mutilating Golden State's "Death Lineup" per minute in +/-. Scott Brooks, the size purist, had trouble letting go of lineups with Kendrick Perkins until the Kanter trade last year and the 2012 Finals should have ended the fantasy for him either way.

2) Khadeem Lattin lead the Big 12 in blocks/36min as a sophomore. Jamuni, in limited minutes, has shown a knack for pinning 'em to the glass. Rim protection is a skill, and you can never have too many skilled guys who are 6'8-6'10. But that's why Kentucky, Duke, UNC, Kansas, UCLA etc. always seem to have them all. It's a premium recruiting commodity.

A Roberson - lite player, whose versatility and motor and strength relative to size lets him overcome 6'7/210 measurements as a college post, gets you wins in college. Orlando Allen and Casey Arent do not.

Furge
You are dead on. We need better perimeter defense. We need better pressure on the ball and also need to reduce penetration. Villanova did it well enough to win it all.
We do not have enough great athletes that can play D and be versatile on O.

 

[sperry]

Furge
You are dead on. We need better perimeter defense. We need better pressure on the ball and also need to reduce penetration. Villanova did it well enough to win it all.
We do not have enough great athletes that can play D and be versatile on O.

We were a very athletic team last year. Hield, Cousins, Buford, lattin, McNease are all plus athletes. Woodard and Spangler were passable athletes. Really not sure about James yet, although I suspect his athleticism is decent to good.

 

[furge]

I never said we weren't athletic or good at perimeter D! This group of young wings will have a lot to prove, but Lon's system gives them lots of opportunities to prove it - i.e. keeping the fast and versatile athletes on the floor instead of just camping a bulky pivot down low for the optics. This is like a dream offense for the college version of Roberson.

Length, activity, and deflections are triggering OKC's defensive advantage right now and there's a lot of reason to believe our strengths on D next season will look awfully similar based on personnel.

 

[tmeyer3307]

Woodard is a pretty damn good athlete! I put him up there with anyone off of last years team.

 

[OUballer]

Woodard is a pretty damn good athlete! I put him up there with anyone off of last years team.

We still need that rim protector and scorer inside. the wings or covered with this incoming team and athleticism included but we still need that inside game too keep the outside honest. Spreading the floor will be great but one more big will certainly help Lattin and Mcneace.