- Joined
- Oct 22, 2008
- Messages
- 9,345
- Reaction score
- 0
Let me preface this by saying:
I love the game, but I'm no expert. I'm wrong on predictions/comparisons more than I'm right. Nevertheless, I've watched about three hours of practice (online) the last two days and have some observations.
Sam and garyeb have watched a lot more than I have and probably have better informed opinions at this point, so go easy on me guys.
Oh yeah, I'm a glass half-empty kind of guy so take that into account when reading. Here we go.
---
* First off, if you can you really need to take the time to watch a practice online. I'd watch every minute of every one if I could. Can't stop giving props to OU for making that happen. Incredible.
* Cam Clark looks to be an improved player. He's ballhawking more on the perimeter on defense and his jumpshot no longer has that knuckleball spin at times. He also looks to have matured more physically. Looks like a full grown man now.
* The first day I watched, Grooms wasn't consistent with his open jumper or his runners in the lane. The second day he didn't attempt any but had a good day driving to the rim and scoring. I'm really afraid his jumper is going to be what it has been. We'll see. Hope I'm wrong.
* Amath M'Baye is obviously very skilled and athletic, but he hasn't blown me away as the potential "one and done" player some have hinted at him being. He definitely shoots it well, has some nice low-post moves and is very athletic off the dribble too. When they have him inside, he's going get some nice tomahawks taking bigger guys off the dribble. He's also going to be very effective blocking shots helping out when he's the weakside defender down low. Have seen him flying across the lane to block shots at least five times in the two days I've watched. He has thrown up a couple of left-handed jump hooks that haven't been close. Good that he's working on it though.
* Hate to use cliches, but the freshmen guards are going to show flashes of being very good and also have those freshmen moments. But down the road these guys are going to be very good and they're all going to complement each other well on the court with the variances in their games. They also all really get after it on defense, have the quickness to be ballhawks out there and already show signs of being effective at it. They also all handle it well and don't seem bothered/hesitant when pressured defensively. Kind of like how Newell and Blair seemed scared at times bringing the ball up against a tight man coverage, and at times had to back their way up the floor with the ball. These guys aren't like that. They are versatile guards and will shake those situations.
* It's hard to say who's been the most impressive of the three freshmen guards. Cousins has had a lot of time at the point and handles it very well. He's never going to have any problems shaking a tough defender. Haven't seen him shoot it much in team situations, but he's money when going around the perimeter just catching and shooting in those drills. This may be a reach, but he looks like a better version of Bobby Maze. He's the slightest in build of the three but a legit 6-3 I think. I might not even be sold on that comparison myself, but thought I'd throw it out there.
* Have heard a lot about Hornbeak at the point, but in the time I've watched I've only seen Grooms and Cousins handling it. Fraschilla runs it for the walkon/redshirt team. Hornbeak is a guy who is just very solid all the way around. He can hit the open jumper, has some nice pull up moves in the lane and goes chest to chest defensively. He's gonna be a perfect glue guy on the perimeter. He can guard the wing, the two guard and the point. Again, very versatile.
* Buddy Hield is going to be the scorer of the freshmen. And his physique is definitely the most D-1 looking of the three, IMO. He can shoot it, drive it (with both hands) and surprisingly handles it very well shaking tough defenders on the perimeter and looks comfortable doing so. Hornbeak does that too. Saw him get into the lane multiple times off his left-handed dribble with good quickness. I think he's got something special and should step in and help pick up the scoring slack when Pledger leaves. He had some trouble with perimeter defense today off the dribble and Kruger was on him, but the quickness and agility is there and it shows at times as he fills lanes and gets steals. Hornbeak too.
* I'm sure this will be controversial, but here it goes anyway. Pledger, Osby, Fitz and Neal haven't shown much different than what I saw last year. And I'm not saying that in a bad way because they're good players. They just look the same to me. Fitz did step out and hit a couple three's today, so there's that. And Fitz works his ass off, there's no question about that, but he's still a step slow at times on defense and rebounding. Pledger was filling it up as usual, Osby is Osby and Neal was hot today hitting three's. But you know how that goes with him. They do have Neal playing inside almost exclusively. Not sure if that was the case last year or not. The last half of the season is a blur to me.
* Casey Arent doesn't look much different from last year either, in my limited view this week. Had a nice drop-step spin move for a bucket the other day that was encouraging when he got the ball in the post, then had a couple of layup opportunities today and blew them. Not sure what to think about him. Kruger was really encouraging him throughout today's practice.
* DJ Bennett is very athletic and is going to give good minutes off the bench defensively and get some garbage/fastbreak buckets. He's got a long wingspan and definitely can block/alter shots. His offensive game isn't anything special, but that's not going to be his role. Think Johnnie Gilbert type down the road. I've heard there's a chance he may redshirt, with the thinking that it would be a waste of a year for him to get just 5-10 spot minutes off the bench. I don't know. I think he would give this team better defensive minutes than Arent, but it seems that Casey may be ahead of him now.
* I really like what I've seen from Ryan Spangler. He's not just a rebounder, he's got some low post game and he converts opportunities when he has them under the basket. Runs pretty well, good passer, decent handles, decent jumper, really good footwork and touch catching it at the rim and quickly finishing. He's not going to be a superstar, but he'll be a very quality role guy off the bench and possibly even a starter down the road depending on how the recruiting class turns out. Had he been here last year, he would've been the first big off the bench and I believe would play over Bennett and Arent this year.
* C.J. Cole has got something. I can see why Davidson (and other schools of that kind) wanted him. He's a perfect player for those types. I could see him finding a role off the bench down the road. He's not the quickest guy out there, but he does everything well and can step out and shoot the three. He's much, much better than your average walk-on practice player.
* I haven't watched many D-1 practices in my day so maybe this is standard, but they seem to be focusing a lot and working on backdoor cuts when the defense overplays them on the perimeter. They also spent some time, defensively, on how to overplay and recover to prevent backdoor cuts. Also, in their defensive drills, they worked the bigs hard on denying the ball at all costs, even when their guy flashes out to the perimeter. Lots of fullcourt press work too. They are definitely going to be an aggressive defensive team. I thought they started out that way last year, then backed off once they lost Newell. I think they've got more quickness and depth to go back to that again this year if they want to.
* I'm really impressed with Lon Kruger's coaching style and how he's very encouraging in his criticism. Not in a Mack Brown clapper type way, but he just seems to make his point in a respectful/encouraging manner why still getting his point across. At one point, Fitz's man got open on the block, got the ball and hit a layup before he could fight threw a screen to get to him, and as he's running down the court Kruger is yelling, "Drew! Incredible! Drew!" Kruger also hits the court at the beginning of practice and chats with the fans and also gives the student female trainer a "How are you today?" as he walks buy. This is a hell of a coach and a hell of a nice guy. He's also mic'd up during practice so you can hear just about everything he says when watching online.
---
Anyway, that's that. Again, these are total knee-jerk reactions to watching three hours of practice online. Not in person. I'm really hoping to take a practice in live on Thursday, and I'll be at the scrimmage Saturday too. They're off tomorrow I believe.
I love the game, but I'm no expert. I'm wrong on predictions/comparisons more than I'm right. Nevertheless, I've watched about three hours of practice (online) the last two days and have some observations.
Sam and garyeb have watched a lot more than I have and probably have better informed opinions at this point, so go easy on me guys.
Oh yeah, I'm a glass half-empty kind of guy so take that into account when reading. Here we go.
---
* First off, if you can you really need to take the time to watch a practice online. I'd watch every minute of every one if I could. Can't stop giving props to OU for making that happen. Incredible.
* Cam Clark looks to be an improved player. He's ballhawking more on the perimeter on defense and his jumpshot no longer has that knuckleball spin at times. He also looks to have matured more physically. Looks like a full grown man now.
* The first day I watched, Grooms wasn't consistent with his open jumper or his runners in the lane. The second day he didn't attempt any but had a good day driving to the rim and scoring. I'm really afraid his jumper is going to be what it has been. We'll see. Hope I'm wrong.
* Amath M'Baye is obviously very skilled and athletic, but he hasn't blown me away as the potential "one and done" player some have hinted at him being. He definitely shoots it well, has some nice low-post moves and is very athletic off the dribble too. When they have him inside, he's going get some nice tomahawks taking bigger guys off the dribble. He's also going to be very effective blocking shots helping out when he's the weakside defender down low. Have seen him flying across the lane to block shots at least five times in the two days I've watched. He has thrown up a couple of left-handed jump hooks that haven't been close. Good that he's working on it though.
* Hate to use cliches, but the freshmen guards are going to show flashes of being very good and also have those freshmen moments. But down the road these guys are going to be very good and they're all going to complement each other well on the court with the variances in their games. They also all really get after it on defense, have the quickness to be ballhawks out there and already show signs of being effective at it. They also all handle it well and don't seem bothered/hesitant when pressured defensively. Kind of like how Newell and Blair seemed scared at times bringing the ball up against a tight man coverage, and at times had to back their way up the floor with the ball. These guys aren't like that. They are versatile guards and will shake those situations.
* It's hard to say who's been the most impressive of the three freshmen guards. Cousins has had a lot of time at the point and handles it very well. He's never going to have any problems shaking a tough defender. Haven't seen him shoot it much in team situations, but he's money when going around the perimeter just catching and shooting in those drills. This may be a reach, but he looks like a better version of Bobby Maze. He's the slightest in build of the three but a legit 6-3 I think. I might not even be sold on that comparison myself, but thought I'd throw it out there.
* Have heard a lot about Hornbeak at the point, but in the time I've watched I've only seen Grooms and Cousins handling it. Fraschilla runs it for the walkon/redshirt team. Hornbeak is a guy who is just very solid all the way around. He can hit the open jumper, has some nice pull up moves in the lane and goes chest to chest defensively. He's gonna be a perfect glue guy on the perimeter. He can guard the wing, the two guard and the point. Again, very versatile.
* Buddy Hield is going to be the scorer of the freshmen. And his physique is definitely the most D-1 looking of the three, IMO. He can shoot it, drive it (with both hands) and surprisingly handles it very well shaking tough defenders on the perimeter and looks comfortable doing so. Hornbeak does that too. Saw him get into the lane multiple times off his left-handed dribble with good quickness. I think he's got something special and should step in and help pick up the scoring slack when Pledger leaves. He had some trouble with perimeter defense today off the dribble and Kruger was on him, but the quickness and agility is there and it shows at times as he fills lanes and gets steals. Hornbeak too.
* I'm sure this will be controversial, but here it goes anyway. Pledger, Osby, Fitz and Neal haven't shown much different than what I saw last year. And I'm not saying that in a bad way because they're good players. They just look the same to me. Fitz did step out and hit a couple three's today, so there's that. And Fitz works his ass off, there's no question about that, but he's still a step slow at times on defense and rebounding. Pledger was filling it up as usual, Osby is Osby and Neal was hot today hitting three's. But you know how that goes with him. They do have Neal playing inside almost exclusively. Not sure if that was the case last year or not. The last half of the season is a blur to me.
* Casey Arent doesn't look much different from last year either, in my limited view this week. Had a nice drop-step spin move for a bucket the other day that was encouraging when he got the ball in the post, then had a couple of layup opportunities today and blew them. Not sure what to think about him. Kruger was really encouraging him throughout today's practice.
* DJ Bennett is very athletic and is going to give good minutes off the bench defensively and get some garbage/fastbreak buckets. He's got a long wingspan and definitely can block/alter shots. His offensive game isn't anything special, but that's not going to be his role. Think Johnnie Gilbert type down the road. I've heard there's a chance he may redshirt, with the thinking that it would be a waste of a year for him to get just 5-10 spot minutes off the bench. I don't know. I think he would give this team better defensive minutes than Arent, but it seems that Casey may be ahead of him now.
* I really like what I've seen from Ryan Spangler. He's not just a rebounder, he's got some low post game and he converts opportunities when he has them under the basket. Runs pretty well, good passer, decent handles, decent jumper, really good footwork and touch catching it at the rim and quickly finishing. He's not going to be a superstar, but he'll be a very quality role guy off the bench and possibly even a starter down the road depending on how the recruiting class turns out. Had he been here last year, he would've been the first big off the bench and I believe would play over Bennett and Arent this year.
* C.J. Cole has got something. I can see why Davidson (and other schools of that kind) wanted him. He's a perfect player for those types. I could see him finding a role off the bench down the road. He's not the quickest guy out there, but he does everything well and can step out and shoot the three. He's much, much better than your average walk-on practice player.
* I haven't watched many D-1 practices in my day so maybe this is standard, but they seem to be focusing a lot and working on backdoor cuts when the defense overplays them on the perimeter. They also spent some time, defensively, on how to overplay and recover to prevent backdoor cuts. Also, in their defensive drills, they worked the bigs hard on denying the ball at all costs, even when their guy flashes out to the perimeter. Lots of fullcourt press work too. They are definitely going to be an aggressive defensive team. I thought they started out that way last year, then backed off once they lost Newell. I think they've got more quickness and depth to go back to that again this year if they want to.
* I'm really impressed with Lon Kruger's coaching style and how he's very encouraging in his criticism. Not in a Mack Brown clapper type way, but he just seems to make his point in a respectful/encouraging manner why still getting his point across. At one point, Fitz's man got open on the block, got the ball and hit a layup before he could fight threw a screen to get to him, and as he's running down the court Kruger is yelling, "Drew! Incredible! Drew!" Kruger also hits the court at the beginning of practice and chats with the fans and also gives the student female trainer a "How are you today?" as he walks buy. This is a hell of a coach and a hell of a nice guy. He's also mic'd up during practice so you can hear just about everything he says when watching online.
---
Anyway, that's that. Again, these are total knee-jerk reactions to watching three hours of practice online. Not in person. I'm really hoping to take a practice in live on Thursday, and I'll be at the scrimmage Saturday too. They're off tomorrow I believe.
