Saturday's scrimmage

Maybe I am crazy but I don't see how Grooms doesn't get regular minutes at PG even if he is the backup. I recognize his shooting is a liability but he led the Big XII in assist to turn over ratio. That is a key statistic for pgs. I am still not that familiar with Kruger but most coaches like pgs that don't make mistakes and Grooms certainly fits that description.

I think we are going to see a lot of mixing and matching with lineups early in the season. It seems like Coach has his top 8 set but I think there are 2 starting spots still up for grabs. Also, I think the rotation is far from set. I think all 11 available players will get time until a solid 9 man rotation reveals itself.
 
I think we are going to see a lot of mixing and matching with lineups early in the season. It seems like Coach has his top 8 set but I think there are 2 starting spots still up for grabs. Also, I think the rotation is far from set. I think all 11 available players will get time until a solid 9 man rotation reveals itself.

KB, IMO the 9 man rotation is pretty much set. In no particular order, I see it as: Osby, M'Baye, Fitz, Grooms, Cousins, Hornbeak, Pledger, Clark and Hield.

Neal and Arent will be duking it out for playing time, depending on match ups, or if one of our bigs gets into foul trouble. IMO, Tyler and Casey are all but out of the competition for a place in our nine man rotation right now. We may see more of those two early on. But when the season begins in earnest, the nine I listed above will get the bulk of the minutes.

I hope Gary is right in that two of our freshmen will start from day one. I wasn't really surprised when I read what he had to say. All you have to do is to watch Saturday's scrimmage from start to finish to see that the three newbies are competing at a high level right now.

If he's right, and I believe he may be, that means this year's team is already better than anything we were able to put on the floor last year. The biggest problem we had was quality depth, something we don't have to worry about this season.
 
Definately expect Hornbeak and Cousins to start. Sam right now is the ninth or tenth guy in the rotation. Very nice to have him available that far down the bench. I would expect us to be more up tempo and play at least 9 and maybe 10 guys a bunch this year.
 
KB, IMO the 9 man rotation is pretty much set. In no particular order, I see it as: Osby, M'Baye, Fitz, Grooms, Cousins, Hornbeak, Pledger, Clark and Hield.

Neal and Arent will be duking it out for playing time, depending on match ups, or if one of our bigs gets into foul trouble. IMO, Tyler and Casey are all but out of the competition for a place in our nine man rotation right now. We may see more of those two early on. But when the season begins in earnest, the nine I listed above will get the bulk of the minutes.

I hope Gary is right in that two of our freshmen will start from day one. I wasn't really surprised when I read what he had to say. All you have to do is to watch Saturday's scrimmage from start to finish to see that the three newbies are competing at a high level right now.

If he's right, and I believe he may be, that means this year's team is already better than anything we were able to put on the floor last year. The biggest problem we had was quality depth, something we don't have to worry about this season.

Ada, I think it is Grooms who has to prove he belongs. I think Neal or Aren't are competing for the final spot. Grooms looks like this years Blair, outside looking in
 
I think they go 10 deep with Neal getting the fewest minutes and the other 9 (Osby, M'Baye, Pledger, Fitzgerald, Grooms, Clark, Hornbeak, Heild, Cousins) getting a fair number of minutes. Osby and MBaye getting the most.

I'm beginning to think we will have a freshman point guard. Both Cousins and Hornbeak are solid, take good shots and hit open shots. They seem to play a solid all-around game. Heild is probably instant offense off the bench. He can score but sometimes plays like a freshman.

Clark, Grooms and Neal miss more open shots than the freshmen but Clark and Grooms play tough defense and that will give them minutes. Clark has to get more productive on offense or he is going to lose minutes to the frosh.

Arendt will get minutes with the walkons.

I'm pretty convinced that Bennett will redshirt but I think he would contribute more than Neal. Neal should shoot better. We know he has the touch but he misses far too many open and easy shots.
 
I think they go 10 deep with Neal getting the fewest minutes and the other 9 (Osby, M'Baye, Pledger, Fitzgerald, Grooms, Clark, Hornbeak, Heild, Cousins) getting a fair number of minutes. Osby and MBaye getting the most.

I'm beginning to think we will have a freshman point guard. Both Cousins and Hornbeak are solid, take good shots and hit open shots. They seem to play a solid all-around game. Heild is probably instant offense off the bench. He can score but sometimes plays like a freshman.

Clark, Grooms and Neal miss more open shots than the freshmen but Clark and Grooms play tough defense and that will give them minutes. Clark has to get more productive on offense or he is going to lose minutes to the frosh.

Arendt will get minutes with the walkons.

I'm pretty convinced that Bennett will redshirt but I think he would contribute more than Neal. Neal should shoot better. We know he has the touch but he misses far too many open and easy shots.

It's tough to find minutes for 10 guys each night. I think 9 is reasonable with the pace we are going to play at. That 9th guy might be determined by match ups or foul trouble...
 
It's tough to find minutes for 10 guys each night. I think 9 is reasonable with the pace we are going to play at. That 9th guy might be determined by match ups or foul trouble...


The only time that has ever happened was the 1989-90 team. It did not have a superstar, but an incredible amount of depth. The 6th man from the best OU team ever (T Mullins), was sometimes that 11th guy who didn't get a whole lot of playing time just two years later. This could be a poor man's version of that team. There are no superstars on this roster, but enough good players that Lon may consider going 10 deep.
 
The only time that has ever happened was the 1989-90 team. It did not have a superstar, but an incredible amount of depth. The 6th man from the best OU team ever (T Mullins), was sometimes that 11th guy who didn't get a whole lot of playing time just two years later. This could be a poor man's version of that team. There are no superstars on this roster, but enough good players that Lon may consider going 10 deep.

Interesting comparison...
 
Back
Top