Roster updated on soonersports.com

[WTSooner]

osby can handle the ball better than any one on our team outside of grooms .. and mabye blair ..

and look at the nba lots of 6'8 super athletic guys can guard the 3 ..

at the 3 he is not "out of position" he is a 3 .. now will we go small and have him at the 4 sure ... but he is a 3 not a 4

You are confusing an NBA 3, with a college 3.

As somebody said above, all those great 3's in the NBA, they were 4's in college. There aren't enough of those types of players for the college game to be stacked with big, athletic 3's like the NBA. Those guys are a dime a dozen. In the NBA, of course the 6'8 super athletic guys can guard the 3, b/c that is where the rest of the 6'8 super athletic guys play. In college, playing the 3 means you are going to be matched up with guys in the 6'4 range a lot of the time. And if you play man defense, and switch on guard screens, it means you have to be able to guard pg's too.

Sorry, but I don't want to see Osby guarding another team's pg after a guard on guard screen.

 

[garyeb2]

osby can handle the ball better than any one on our team outside of grooms .. and mabye blair ..

and look at the nba lots of 6'8 super athletic guys can guard the 3 ..

at the 3 he is not "out of position" he is a 3 .. now will we go small and have him at the 4 sure ... but he is a 3 not a 4

Now, that is exactly right. And WT, first some commom ground. I agree about Neal. The only reason he played inside in high school was because he was taller than the other guys. He handles the ball pretty good and was a decent 3 pt shooter in high school. He didn't show much as a freshman. But there is no reason to be down on him. Kruger has hinted that he liked him. If Kruger likes him, I like him. For Arent, He is a post player. He has always been a post player. The only reason he took some three's was because he was the best player on the team and they got got him the ball wherever he was. His head coach said "he is a tough bue collar kid who will take a charge with the best of them." He is alittle slow. But, the only negative thing I ever found on his game was a San Jose State (who offered him and wanted him badly) recruiting report that said that he was easily frustrated when trapped on the baseline with a double team. Since he isn't good enough to be double teamed in the Big 12, that shouldn't be a problem. Let me simplify this. If for no other reason, he will start at the post for the same reason Blair started at the point last season. He is the only one we have. His greatest threat for playing time over the next 2 yrs. does not come so much as players on the current roster, but moreso from some unsigned future recruit.

 

[garyeb2]

Oh, and by the way. Who would you like to see guarding the other teams point guard after a guard on guard screen? Blair? Pledger? Newell? Basketball isn't some abstract theory. Osby is likely the best player on the team and we would be better off with him in that spot than the the altenative.

 

[jerry]

No Kyle Hardrick

Great news!!! The guy couldn't play at Division 1 level.

 

[DenverSooner]

I bet our starting lineup looks more like this:
Blair/Grooms, Pledger, Clark, Osby, Fitz

I don't see how anyone can say Pledger is on the bench he is probably our best and most experienced player right now.

Pledger is the best player and most experienced? I don't know I would agree with either of those statements. Technically, he may have the most experience at OU because he played less than Fitzgerald this year but more last year but it is darn close because they played very similar minutes both seasons. Blair played substantially more minutes as a freshman so he technically has more experience (although it was UNO). Clark played more minutes last year than any player other than Cade Davis. I would say Pledger's experience is not substantially more or less than Fitzgerald or Blair and Clark has sufficient experience that it doesn't matter.

As to best player, I would say Clark and Fitzgerald are both better players. This one is purely opinion but I cannot agree that Pledger is the best returning player. Pledger scored slightly more points than Clark but Clark was a true freshman and rebounded much better. Fitzgerald out scored and out rebouned Pledger. I do think Pledger will play a lot next season. I see Fitzgerald, Pledger and Clark all playing starter type minutes. Perhaps one of them comes off the bench but I think they play 20-30 mintues a game.

I would contend that Osby, Fitzgerald, Clark and Pledger will all play a lot minutes next season. Either Grooms or Blair will be the starting pg. Hopefully Arent can play substantial minutes (like 20 a game). I also hope that Newell and either Neal or Washinton are able to contribute nicely in a 10+ minutes per game role.

Ultimately, if this group of guys does not learn how to defend it won't really matter. They all must play better defense both individually and as a team.

 

[Soonerman]

Wasn't Blair listed at 214 prior to last season? Looks like he dropped some weight like I hoped he would. Excellent.