******Soonersports: Men's Basketball Signs Three******

[Boomer-D]

Buford is the perfect replacement for Cam and will play starter minutes. If they continue to go with the small athletic lineup I think he starts. Either way he'll get starter minutes. Heild is such a good rebounder and plays bigger than 6-4 that it gives you the ability to go small at the four and not lose much. What really excites me is the athletic bench depth inside of Bennett, Lattin and McNeace next year! We could run that length out in our second group and have Hornbeak and Booker shooting...:woot

 

[AdaSooner]

Buford is the perfect replacement for Cam and will play starter minutes. If they continue to go with the small athletic lineup I think he starts. Either way he'll get starter minutes. Heild is such a good rebounder and plays bigger than 6-4 that it gives you the ability to go small at the four and not lose much. What really excites me is the athletic bench depth inside of Bennett, Lattin and McNeace next year! We could run that length out in our second group and have Hornbeak and Booker shooting...:woot

Good point about our depth next year, BoomerDAB!

I don't think we'll see Hield at the four next season. Unlike this year, we have plenty of depth at the power positions. Buford, on the other hand, is a versatile athlete with the size and skills to play more than one position. One thing no one has talked about much is that he is averaging better than 43% from three point range. I think he could easily swing from the three to the four and back again, much like Cam does now.

One thing is certain, LK will have a lot more options to go big or small to match up with the majority of the teams on our schedule. If we sign another impact player or two in the spring, it will only get better.

 

[Boomer-D]

Good point about our depth next year, BoomerDAB!

I don't think we'll see Hield at the four next season. Unlike this year, we have plenty of depth at the power positions. Buford, on the other hand, is a versatile athlete with the size and skills to play more than one position. One thing no one has talked about much is that he is averaging better than 43% from three point range. I think he could easily swing from the three to the four and back again, much like Cam does now.

One thing is certain, LK will have a lot more options to go big or small to match up with the majority of the teams on our schedule. If we sign another impact player or two in the spring, it will only get better.

Oh I didn't mean Heild at the 4... I meant having him at the 3 allows you to play a smaller 4 like Cam/Buford.

 

[AdaSooner]

Oh I didn't mean Heild at the 4... I meant having him at the 3 allows you to play a smaller 4 like Cam/Buford.

My bad. Having read what you said again, I get it now.

I agree, the big guards on this team will give us a lot of options next season should LK decide to go small. Buddy is averaging 5 rebs per game. Hornbeak is at 4 rpg and Cousins is average just under 3. Even Woodard and Booker have been around 2 rpg so far. Those are nice numbers from our backcourt.

We should be in a position next year where we don't have to send four and sometimes five players to the boards to compete with bigger teams. That will allow our guards to get back quicker to defend in transition.

 

[thebigabd]

Dante Buford = Daryan Selvy
Khadeem Lattin = Longar Longar
Jamuni Mcnease = Jabhari Brown

 

[garyeb2]

Dante Buford = Daryan Selvy
Khadeem Lattin = Longar Longar
Jamuni Mcnease = Jabhari Brown

We can only hope.

 

[Stikboy]

I'm not trying to rain on anyone's parade or anything. I love this recruiting class that Lon, staff, and players have brought in, it surpassed my expectations. But I feel we may need to tap the brakes a little on expecting these guys to come in and be immediate starters or even difference makers. I mean, hopefully Buford can come in and start in Cam's place. Hopefully McNease and Lattin can be impact... But these guys will be freshmen. Physically the two posts look like they have a ways to go and are pretty raw. I know it's not football, but physically and mentally it's gonna be a whole new adjustment from HS. I don't know, maybe they are good enough... I sure hope so. I'm just not getting my hopes up and I'm expecting they may need a year of seasoning then as sophs and with our super soph guards as seniors, we'll have a great team. That's also why I'm wondering if we need a JC big who's ready now to play with Spang and Bennett next year while these pups grow their teeth. We'll see I guess.

 

[thebigabd]

We can only hope.

Yea... it took Longar and Brown a few years to develop, and I expect the same from these two guys. They are both pretty raw, and one of them has only been playing basketball for a couple of years, pretty similar to both Brown and Longar.