Senior Night OU vs Cincinnati 7pm CST on ESPN+

[WichitaSooner]

When Buddy got to OU, he was all athlete. He had to work HARD to become a basketball player. And no one outworked him.

My guess, based on progression, is Oweh and Uzan are not working as hard...

You’re right about him working hard, but his athletic ability isn’t top notch compared to elite college wings. I mean, do you recall many highlight reel dunks from him? He wasn’t a good shooter, but he was a solid overall player as a freshman who worked his butt off for four years and became the best in the country. But I doubt his vertical or any of his testing numbers at the combine really stood out.

 

[dksooner]

When Buddy got to OU, he was all athlete. He had to work HARD to become a basketball player. And no one outworked him.

My guess, based on progression, is Oweh and Uzan are not working as hard...

This is true.

 

[SoonerDutch]

When Buddy got to OU, he was all athlete. He had to work HARD to become a basketball player. And no one outworked him.

My guess, based on progression, is Oweh and Uzan are not working as hard...

In Uzan/Oweh’s defense, LK’s offense is also probably much more of a showcase for someone like BH who put the time in shooting-wise.

 

[WTSooner]

Buddy is not athletic. That is why in college and in the NBA the guy is a shooter. He may have looked athletic, may have had a little size to him, but he was never fast/quick/explosive. I feel very strongly about that.

Buddy worked hard to become an elite shooter. He was already showing some skill as a freshman, and quite a bit more as a soph (39% three point shooter). He exploded when he was able to go from 39% and 36% from three, to 46% from three on nearly 10 attempts for game. That is unheard of.

 

[BoulderSooner]

Buddy is not athletic. That is why in college and in the NBA the guy is a shooter. He may have looked athletic, may have had a little size to him, but he was never fast/quick/explosive. I feel very strongly about that.

Buddy worked hard to become an elite shooter. He was already showing some skill as a freshman, and quite a bit more as a soph (39% three point shooter). He exploded when he was able to go from 39% and 36% from three, to 46% from three on nearly 10 attempts for game. That is unheard of.

buddy as a freshman was not a good shooter .. .238 from .388 overall .. he couldn't really dribble very well .. (this only got a little better) ... and wasn't a skilled passer ..

he was a good rebounder for a guard ..

he was a good defender and hustled a bunch ...

he turned himself into a basketball player

 

[WTSooner]

buddy as a freshman was not a good shooter .. .238 from .388 overall .. he couldn't really dribble very well .. (this only got a little better) ... and wasn't a skilled passer ..

he was a good rebounder for a guard ..

he was a good defender and hustled a bunch ...

he turned himself into a basketball player

He didn't shoot it well his freshman year, for sure. But he was great his sophomore year. I think he was probably better than his stats showed as a freshman, but nobody will doubt that he worked his butt off to have the Senior year that he had.

My original post was worded as recruiting kids that were already ball players. That was meant to incorporate kids that have the work ethic, drive, and ability to become SKILLED basketball players. I'd still rather recruit a kid that can develop basketball skills (or has them already) then an athlete that likely won't.

Put another way, WTSooner appreciates basketball skills more than he does athleticism.

 

[TEvans4Three]

Buddy Hield Career:

 

[BoulderSooner]

He didn't shoot it well his freshman year, for sure. But he was great his sophomore year. I think he was probably better than his stats showed as a freshman, but nobody will doubt that he worked his butt off to have the Senior year that he had.

My original post was worded as recruiting kids that were already ball players. That was meant to incorporate kids that have the work ethic, drive, and ability to become SKILLED basketball players. I'd still rather recruit a kid that can develop basketball skills (or has them already) then an athlete that likely won't.

Put another way, WTSooner appreciates basketball skills more than he does athleticism.

i agree with your original point ..

i would argue that Los had far more "basketball skills" coming in then buddy did ..

 

[bearcreekfan]

If you think him showing up in a thread that had been civil all morning and making the post he did is good for the board, I can't help you.

I could have been the bigger person, but I'm sick of his crap. I literally stopped posting here for months, mostly because of him and one or two others that don't know how to have differing opinions without being aholes about it.

Some of us like Moser. Some of us want to give Moser more time. Some of us want Moser gone yesterday. There is a way for all to co-exist here, but it's not by making posts like that (coach).

You apparently need thicker skin if you think he's toxic or an ahole with his comments. Coach didn't quote or even reply to you. He just made a general comment that I'm sure many agree with after an exhilarating (and frustrating) win. There's an entire thread about the future and coaching ability of Moser but, as has happened many times before, this game thread ended up on that topic...sigh.

 

[Eielson]

Anybody saying that Buddy wasn't a good athlete in college is nuts. NBA is a different beast, but we've had very few guys since Blake and WW went pro that were clearly more athletic than him.

 

[WTSooner]

You apparently need thicker skin if you think he's toxic or an ahole with his comments. Coach didn't quote or even reply to you. He just made a general comment that I'm sure many agree with after an exhilarating (and frustrating) win. There's an entire thread about the future and coaching ability of Moser but, as has happened many times before, this game thread ended up on that topic...sigh.

Maybe you need thicker skin if talking about our coach who was seconds away from likely missing the NCAA Tourney for a third straight year bothers you.

I don’t know how the topic turned to Moser in this thread, but I can guarantee you I didn’t turn it that direction. So save your lecture for somebody else.

 

[SoonerBounce13]

I guess I’m in the middle. He wasn’t unathletic but he wasn’t a high level athlete either imo

 

[CoachTalk]

If you play in the nba for 10 years. You are an athlete. Is he an above the rim athlete… no. Is Luka no. Is TY no.

 

[Sooner04]

Buddy ran a sub-5 mile as one of his first acts as a Sooner. There was a scrimmage at the FH right before a football game when Buddy was a freshman and I texted my brother "this Hield kid is going to be a star" before I made my way to Owen Field. I watched him hit four or five threes in the first half of his first road game at UTA when nobody else on the team was doing squat. We cheered him into the locker room and he pointed right at us.

Whatever "IT" is, Buddy had it in large quantities. Bucketful of the stuff.

 

[MercedeSooner]

buddy as a freshman was not a good shooter .. .238 from .388 overall .. he couldn't really dribble very well .. (this only got a little better) ... and wasn't a skilled passer ..

he was a good rebounder for a guard ..

he was a good defender and hustled a bunch ...

he turned himself into a basketball player

That squad with Buddy and Cousins worked harder than anybody out there, they made themselves good basketball players.

I’d argue the transformation Buddy made from being an athletic defensive player his freshman year to superstar shooter by the time he left OU is one of the most remarkable transformations there’s been in terms of a player. Credit has to go to the assistants on that staff also, Henson and Hill were fantastic teachers. There was a big drop off in terms of development once they left after the final four run.

If we want to talk about the work ethic of the guys on this team and the lack of improvement, most of that falls on the player. How many of the young guys on this roster are putting up 400 shots a day like Buddy did every morning ? Not hard to guess the answer, NIL/Portal and “philosophical differences” are great buzzwords for college athletes right now.

 

[SoonerBounce13]

If you play in the nba for 10 years. You are an athlete. Is he an above the rim athlete… no. Is Luka no. Is TY no.

Well of course. In the spirit of the conversation, luka would not be an athlete

We aren’t talking literal athletes

 

[BoulderSooner]

That squad with Buddy and Cousins worked harder than anybody out there, they made themselves good basketball players.

I’d argue the transformation Buddy made from being an athletic defensive player his freshman year to superstar shooter by the time he left OU is one of the most remarkable transformations there’s been in terms of a player. Credit has to go to the assistants on that staff also, Henson and Hill were fantastic teachers. There was a big drop off in terms of development once they left after the final four run.

If we want to talk about the work ethic of the guys on this team and the lack of improvement, most of that falls on the player. How many of the young guys on this roster are putting up 400 shots a day like Buddy did every morning ? Not hard to guess the answer, NIL/Portal and “philosophical differences” are great buzzwords for college athletes right now.

and Cousins from out of control freshman to starting PG for a top 10 final 4 teams is right up there as well ..

those dudes lived in the gym and grinded

 

[soonerchuck]

Maybe you need thicker skin if talking about our coach who was seconds away from likely missing the NCAA Tourney for a third straight year bothers you.

I don’t know how the topic turned to Moser in this thread, but I can guarantee you I didn’t turn it that direction. So save your lecture for somebody else.

If it was just this year you have been ragging on Moser it would be one thing but you were ragging on him last year and probably the year before also. You just seem to be that type of person.

 

[dksooner]

and Cousins from out of control freshman to starting PG for a top 10 final 4 teams is right up there as well ..

those dudes lived in the gym and grinded

Agreed, many times at this level it's up to the player to improve as an individual.

 

[WTSooner]

If it was just this year you have been ragging on Moser it would be one thing but you were ragging on him last year and probably the year before also. You just seem to be that type of person.

The type of person that wants us to have a better basketball program?

Damn straight.