SGs & SFs

[SilliSooner]

it seems to me that we're as deep as we've ever been on talented wings:

Willie Warrren
Tony Crocker
Cade Davis
Ray Willis
Stephen Pledger

Am I delusional?

 

[luckyc1423]

I would not call cade davis "talented" he is what he is...which is a role player....the rest of the guys are very talented!!

 

[Cheno]

it seems to me that we're as deep as we've ever been on talented wings:

Willie Warrren
Tony Crocker
Cade Davis
Ray Willis
Stephen Pledger

Am I delusional?

I think we COULD be deep but we've never seen Pledger play, Davis like said is more a role player not a great talent and Ray Willis showed very little as a freshmen. The potential is there so this season will be a big step in answering this question.

 

[SilliSooner]

I would not call cade davis "talented" he is what he is...which is a role player....the rest of the guys are very talented!!

Talent is defined a few different ways. "Raw" talent is god given skills in need of refinement. Sometimes, great technique as in learned skills can be called talent.

Cade Davis has a few God-given skills but not the experience of lengthy playing time. When healthy his vertical leap is equal to Crocker and Willis. However, IMHO, his shooting form is exceptional, I might say full of talent. His finger spread on the ball is textbook but hard to achieve by many players. His wrist strength and flex gives him the ability to shoot from distance without strain. That's a talent. Plus his release height on his jump shot may be the best on the team.

Call it what you want but when I interviewed pro scouts and looked through their checklists, these are some of the things they looked for.

 

[MGB]

I think we COULD be deep but we've never seen Pledger play, Davis like said is more a role player not a great talent and Ray Willis showed very little as a freshmen. The potential is there so this season will be a big step in answering this question.

aha, casting off your ties to the dark side and becoming an OU fan then, eh?

 

[Seymore Cox]

I would not call cade davis "talented" he is what he is...which is a role player....the rest of the guys are very talented!!

He is as talented as any of the other wings.

 

[DenverSooner]

I would not call cade davis "talented" he is what he is...which is a role player....the rest of the guys are very talented!!

Why because he is white? Cade Davis is an outstanding athlete and very talented basketball player. He forced his way into playing time as a freshman and sophomore. He effectively took almost all of Omar Leary's minutes, caused Tony Neysmith to transfer (other players and probably other factors contributed to Tony's decision but having Davis beat him out for pt was surely one of the key if not the key factor in his decision to leave) and kept Ray Willis on the bench.

What do you want from the kid? He has done an excellent job in his two years at OU and should really have two more nice years. I don't mean to knock Ray Willis but you give Ray a pass on being talented and single out Cade Davis. That makes no sense. Cade kept Ray Willis on the bench.

 

[DenverSooner]

I think on paper this is clearly the most talented group. Two McD AA and 5 top 100 players is pretty loaded compared to prior years. Holllis Price was typically ranked between 75-100 when he came out of high school. He was the star of his team and OU had a solid back court then. Willis and Pledger have similar rankings coming out of high school. TMG, Crocker (Crocker was typically in the 50-75 area) and Warren (especially TMG and Warren) were all ranked significantly higher.

I would probably say the last final four team was the most talented group of backcourt players at OU ever. I would probably give Grace, Blaylock and Seiger the nod over White, Price and Ere as starters (not by much) but I think Selvy and Dietrik were better than Mullins and Jones (I think Jones was the other backup that played in 1988), therefore, I think up until this year Sampson's team had the best group. On paper this current group is clearly better than either final four team and I think their play will demonstrate that.