The Civil Willie Warren Discussion Thread

[thebigabd]

Expectations on this board were EXTREMELY high for WW. I'm not saying it's totally unwarranted because the guy is a Top 5 pick, but he lost the POY from last year and a bunch of other good players and replace them with freshman it will tend to make you look worse.

I think he's just trying to get his bearings.

I think with Blake gone he is playing like we expected him to out of high school. Volume shooter and so on...

 

[sybarite]

Rising expectations/relative deprivation---huge demotivator.

If Willie Warren were the typical sophomore star or a freshman, everyone would probably be happy with his performance, or at least not disturbed. If TMG or Pledger had taken over the game in the second half, we would be ecstatic. We would forgive their shot selection and turnovers and ineffective effort on defense. We don't expect it of them, ----yet.

The point of these threads has often been that Willie Warren is a top five lottery pick. If so, you judge him based on that performance. Since his first half was so ineffective that we probably would have been better with TMG and Pledger on the court, it's kind of hard to see him as a top five pick.

Now, did he pick up and make some fine plays in the second half? Yes. Of course, he also made a couple of really bad turnovers.

Someone mentioned that they are not using their best defenders on him. I had not noticed that, nor had I paid any attention to it. He isn't as heavily defended as Blake was. He can get open fairly easily. They aren't double-teaming him.

The discussion kind of turns on that "top five lottery pick" standard. I rather hope that he will become that. He isn't now.

 

[playmakr]

I think with Blake gone he is playing like we expected him to out of high school. Volume shooter and so on...

Speak for yourself.

Actually, you're right, he is playing like I expected out of high school, which is at a high level with a lot of passion and energy. The guy bleeds the will to win, and he gets spit on for it.

They aren't double-teaming him.

This should be debated.

 

[SoonerNorm]

I still love the guy!

 

[sooneronas]

i think you play whatever role the team needs you to be, i think willie's role right now is the right one

he won't be a volume shooter on an nba team

 

[OU918]

I feel like some of you aren't getting what I'm saying. He is a GREAT athlete. I want the ball in his hands with 5 seconds left. But he still plays really immaturely at times. Maybe he will catch on fire later in the year but his jump shot has been soooo off. He got to the line a lot so that helped him score (Scorer not a shooter, I guess).

 

[GParker]

I still love the guy!

I feel the same way. He took some huge poundings on those drives in the second half, and he just got back up, and calmly sank FTs. Really impressive.

I really like the toughness in general on this team. It is now starting to rub off on the freshmen.

 

[BigTime]

I am really proud of the way he took control when the team needed him most.

Big time stuff, WWIII! :williew

 

[MO]

Willie is a great talent and a great, great player in the making. I didn't believe it last year, but I am a convert.

Besides, I think he is playing the way his coach wants him to play.

 

[12th Street Baller]

To Willie: I sometimes cringe at the thought that you might be reading a lot of the posts about you on this site. Please know that you are appreciated and it is only a VERY small minority of OU fans that think you aren't doing your best to win. Just keep your head up man! Don't let them get you down!

 

[sheepdogs]

I'm just overly glad we won the game in a "hostile" environment and will in the future not hold posters, hostile or not, accountable for the comments which they state.

 

[sooneronas]

To Willie: I sometimes cringe at the thought that you might be reading a lot of the posts about you on this site. Please know that you are appreciated and it is only a VERY small minority of OU fans that think you aren't doing your best to win. Just keep your head up man.

i wouldn't call anyone a <removed for language>, but i would just say people exaggerate

so i'm going to self-promote here and say look at my post earlier this evening:

all-or-nothing

 

[Sooner Quick]

Willie must remind some people of a jock who stole their girl in high school. It's the only explanation I can think of how anybody can watch this stud and constantly pick him apart.

The color announcer was raving about him as a POY stud the entire game. But what does he know?

boca I completely agree with what you are saying. How many of you guys actually know him that accuse him of having a bad attitude and what do you mean by he has a bad attitude? I have met the guy several times, had lunch and dinner with him on occasion, and him having a bad attitude was never an impression I got from him. On the contrary he was someone who his teammates got along great with, went out of his way to sign autographs for kids, and was a great kid.

I think he is trying to learn to play without Blake and he is having trouble with whether or not to take more a role on the team without being considered a ball hog and where that happy medium is. Along with that he is trying to learn to play with new Freshmen who are coming off teams in high school where they were the goto guys! Right now I see each player starting to play into their role and therefore the team is playing better together and it has translated to better play on the court.

 

[Seymore Cox]

WW has to develop into more than just a guy that can score points. He has to be a pressence on the floor. Today he went a long way into becoming that pressence, that force.

 

[Arkboysooner]

Great player, but needs to become a more efficient scorer. Also needs to work on being the type of player that makes everyone else on the floor better. He's not there yet, but I have no reason to believe he won't.

 

[opsooner]

Great talent. He has IT but he just needs to work on the consistency and decisions. I think it is just more coaching and experience, and believe he will benefit by staying through his senior year.

I also think he is adjusting to being the leader of the team and will continue to mature before our eyes. Very glad he is a Sooner and his future is bright.

 

[SoonerfanTU]

This should be debated.

Nothing to debate. When he drives, and gets by his guy, sure there is help sometimes. But he isn't getting guarded any differently then 99% of the other guards in college hoops. That alone should tell you how well he is playing.

 

[SoonerfanTU]

I feel the same way. He took some huge poundings on those drives in the second half, and he just got back up, and calmly sank FTs. Really impressive.

How is that impressive? That is what 99% of college players do. That is what they should do. None of those fouls were illegal, or dangerous. None of them were cheap. Willie knows when you go to the rim, you SHOULD end up on the ground. I wish OU defended that way.

 

[okienole3]

The color announcer was raving about him as a POY stud the entire game. But what does he know?

That guy was AWFUL. So, I wouldn't put a whole lot of stock in what he said.

 

[okienole3]

I just don't like the attitude. There was one moment where he got fouled and was on the ground. His teammates tried to help him up and he just stayed down. Also, in the first half TMG said something to him and Willie made a face and gestures. Maybe it is just a will to win or maybe it is a piss poor attitude. I can't say for sure.