Season Musings

[pnkranger]

My assessment heading into the season:

• We are VERY good but VERY thin at the 1/2 spots if Jadon Jones doesn't get healthy.
• We have an embarrassment of riches at the forward spots. Davis, Reid, Nwankwo, Jones, Atak, Blair. Lots of interchangeable guys with a lot of athleticism.
• As long as the right guys are taking the bulk of the 3s (Pack, Brown, Forsythe, Atak), we should be a consistent outside shooting team. Those guys can all clearly shoot it.
• Wague can be a difference maker. Jury is out on Rogers. He did some good things in the Wisconsin game, but not sure how well he can defend in space against elite teams night in and night out. That will be the question all year.
• When we lock in on defense, we are clearly very good, but starting both the Wiscy and St Francis games with awful defensive first halves is concerning.
• It was Saint Francis, but 10 blocks and 42 rebounds is a good sign.

We know what we'll get from 4/5 starters and Forsythe. Rogers will improve but he'll be a depth player all year. That leaves, Atak, Nwankwo, Jones, and Reid -- can they elevate the team?

From what I've seen, Atak has that ability on offense, but I think Nwankwo will be the real key. He is a GREAT defender, strong rebounder, good passer, and doesn't do too much. He is a great athlete and has really good instincts / IQ. I think he's going to surprise a lot of people this year. If that prediction is true and Atak even does a poor man's version of how he played against St. Francis, we're going to be very very good.

Still, a ton of question marks in terms of frontcourt and ball-handler depth, Reid's impact, Jones's health, OOB plays, and Atak's actual ability to contribute against elite teams.

 

[cbertus6]

Defending teams with high level guards could be a problem for us this season. Neither Brown nor Pack have impressed there so far, but if one of them is to step up my money would be on Brown. Getting Jones back could help there a bit, but that will be something to watch as we play the better teams on our schedule.

Defensive rebounding seemed to be a bit of an issue, as we gave up too many offensive boards and 2nd chance points. Getting Rogers back will help, but we are going to need to get a big lift from guys like Davis, Reid, Nwankwo, and Atak on the boards.

 

[WichitaSooner]

I think that when SEC play starts, we will be reminded that even though we are way more athletic than last year (man, a roster with Goodine, Sam, Luke, Kobe, etc., was a wild idea, thank God for Fears!), there will be plenty of teams that have an edge on us there. Our three ball handling guards are good players but they aren't particularly athletic by SEC standards. Davis is a good athlete and so is Reid, but it remains to be seen if Reid gets his athleticism into the game. JN is a good athlete. Mo is in some regards, but also sometimes seems a bit slow off the floor. And Rogers is probably a better athlete than I expected based on some of the scouting reports, but I wouldn't say that he is above average in that department.

I liked the pump fake, driving basket by Atak. I think he will need to be able to do that occasionally to keep defenses honest. If not, teams will be able to just stand on his toes at the three-point line.

Kevin Henry has said this will definitely be Moser's best shooting team. If Atak can play well enough to get consistent minutes, I think that is probably accurate. If not, it would mean Brown, Pack, and Dayton would be the three guys I would really trust as 3-pt options. Guys like Reid and Davis might be ok, but they won't be marksmen. I haven't seen enough of JN to know what he will be as a shooter at this level. And Jones is a nonfactor until proven otherwise. He obviously could be a major shooting threat, but it's hard to make shots from the bench in street clothes.

 

[CoachTalk]

reminder-
Ball handlers (1’s)
Wings (2-3-4’s)
Post (5)


We switch 90% of the time.

Jn is just as much a 2 as he is a 4. He isn’t posting up mag plays.

It’s all about who can you defend.

 

[Eielson]

The talent is there! Definitely feels like basketball had an influx of NIL. No excuses for Moser this year if he doesn't deliver.

 

[BCSooners]

My assessment heading into the season:

• We are VERY good but VERY thin at the 1/2 spots if Jadon Jones doesn't get healthy.
• We have an embarrassment of riches at the forward spots. Davis, Reid, Nwankwo, Jones, Atak, Blair. Lots of interchangeable guys with a lot of athleticism.
• As long as the right guys are taking the bulk of the 3s (Pack, Brown, Forsythe, Atak), we should be a consistent outside shooting team. Those guys can all clearly shoot it.
• Wague can be a difference maker. Jury is out on Rogers. He did some good things in the Wisconsin game, but not sure how well he can defend in space against elite teams night in and night out. That will be the question all year.
• When we lock in on defense, we are clearly very good, but starting both the Wiscy and St Francis games with awful defensive first halves is concerning.
• It was Saint Francis, but 10 blocks and 42 rebounds is a good sign.

We know what we'll get from 4/5 starters and Forsythe. Rogers will improve but he'll be a depth player all year. That leaves, Atak, Nwankwo, Jones, and Reid -- can they elevate the team?

From what I've seen, Atak has that ability on offense, but I think Nwankwo will be the real key. He is a GREAT defender, strong rebounder, good passer, and doesn't do too much. He is a great athlete and has really good instincts / IQ. I think he's going to surprise a lot of people this year. If that prediction is true and Atak even does a poor man's version of how he played against St. Francis, we're going to be very very good.

Still, a ton of question marks in terms of frontcourt and ball-handler depth, Reid's impact, Jones's health, OOB plays, and Atak's actual ability to contribute against elite teams.

I like JN but I honestly thought he was the one with the worst instincts/IQ out of the top 7 that's played the last 2 games. He's a good on-ball defender and athletic as crazy, but I thought he took some questionable shots and his defensive positioning left a lot to be desired. I'm not trying to knock him, he played really well during the run and is obviously a good player, just what I saw the last two outings.

Mo looks like a completely different player, much better balance and defensive presence. Davis and Reid flip flopped from the last 2 games. I think Dayton needs to let some of those 3s fly. Brown looks like he has the ability to be a very good point guard. Atak went OFF, but I'm going to pump the brakes before I freak out on one game. I thought Pack gave great defensive energy for being small and considered just an offensive player.

 

[SoonerBounce13]

I don't think JN will be much of a factor come conference play

 

[daqman]

I don't think JN will be much of a factor come conference play

disagree. i think he has shown more than enough capability to play in the sec.
in fact....i will predict there will be a game in the sec where he will be high scorer.

 

[CoachTalk]

I don't think JN will be much of a factor come conference play

Disagree as well. He has some tools that aren’t acquired. God given talent. He can be a plus defender. Physical and knack for scoring.

He’s a stat sheet stuffer at times.

 

[SoonerBounce13]

Its only one game but he didn't look comfortable out there to me. A bit awkward. Hopefully I'm wrong and yall are right

 

[Boom Soon]

It’s only one game but he didn't look comfortable out there to me. A bit awkward. Hopefully I'm wrong and yall are right

In an ideal world, Atak and Dayton account for a majority of the bench points and JN comes in to make the tough plays that matter. Rebounds, assists, hustle plays, etc. Then maybe knocks down a couple of shots. There is a problem if OU depended on him to score a bunch imo.

 

[cbertus6]

Its only one game but he didn't look comfortable out there to me. A bit awkward. Hopefully I'm wrong and yall are right

He looked a bit rusty, but that's to be expected in his third game environment back in two years. His shot looked a bit flat, but he shot something like 37% from 3 in JUCO so if we can just get 33% out of him that should be sufficient. He offers a ton for us as a dirty work/glue guy type player that defends/rebounds well and makes the hustle plays. That's what I foresee for him this year. A tertiary scoring option at any given time with a lot of work that doesn't necessarily show up in the box score

 

[Boom Soon]

Disagree as well. He has some tools that aren’t acquired. God given talent. He can be a plus defender. Physical and knack for scoring.

He’s a stat sheet stuffer at times.

If he can average like 7 points with few turnovers and few fouls OU will be in a good shape.

 

[skyvue]

I think assessing anyone at this point in the season might fairly be termed premature. His performance in Monday's game is fair game, but his potential contributions on the season? We've seen many other players not light it up from the jump who later were solid contributors.

 

[mict085]

I’m excited about this team but I’m going to wait and see once conference play starts. That’s a different level of competition than what we will see in noncon.

 

[OULad]

To be fair, when we wanted to start playing defense we did. We arent going to be elite but we dont have to be given our ability to score.

 

[cvangild]

This roster reminds me of some of the Tubbs' rosters that we had after the Stacey King era. We've got several athletic guys in the 6'6" to 6'10" range that all seem to be able to score in some capacity. We may not have a dominate true center, but Wague can be serviceable if he can stay out of foul trouble. I remember the early 90's team that had Skeeter, Jackie Jones, Cheese Davis, Damon Patterson, etc...a bunch of athletes that could run and score. I do wish our guards had a little more size to them...but Terry Evans and Brent Price weren't big either, but were effective. Jones will be a very welcomed addition at 6'5". He could guard some of those bigger, more physical guards that we'll see this season.

Really looking forward to see how this team progresses the rest of the way.