Sooner04
Well-known member
- Joined
- May 15, 2009
- Messages
- 2,399
- Reaction score
- 248
It's been discussed around here a little bit over the past few weeks, but I thought about it quite a bit on my trip home from the Mizzou game....and that is this: when do you begin playing for next year?
I ask that because the Missouri radio dudes made a comment that I hadn't been able to deduce on my own while watching the game through gnashed teeth but became plain to see when they verbalized it over the airwaves. It went something like this: "Tyler Neal today, 14 points in 18 minutes. He was really the best player for Oklahoma. Especially in the second half."
I'd been trumpeting getting Neal and Newell some experience for a while, but that proved to be folly when Calvin showed just how green he really was. But Tyler Neal, well, he's starting to produce. In the last three games he's been on the court for 50 minutes, and in those 50 minutes he has scored 26 points and grabbed 15 boards. Those average out to 8.7 points and five rebounds per game in just a shade under 17 minutes per pop. Factored out to 30 minutes of court time those averages jump to 15.6 points per game and nine boards. Excellent production from a true freshman.
But where do those minutes come from? There's the rub, because those minutes are really only going to be chopped from one source: Cade Davis.
Cade Davis is everything you want in a Sooner Basketball uniform. He takes care of his business and handles himself properly in all situations, and we all know that ANYBODY could've popped from frustration over this last season and a half. But we've seen nothing but strong leadership from Cade.
But Cade won't be here next year. The progression of young guys like Tyler Neal means more to our program (and to the prospects of Capel's job) going forward than the last six conference games of Cade Davis's career. Cameron Clark and Tyler Neal learning to work alongside Carl Blair and Andrew Fitzgerald will pay more dividends in 2012 than 35 minutes of floor time for Cade.
But how do you do that? If you slice Cade's minutes way down then you're sending your unquestioned leader to the shelf. You're taking another captain and marooning him to the bench. We already have two like that, and now you're going to make it three? Hmmm. How in the world do you do it? How do you play for next year when it means letting go of somebody who's done nothing but answer the bell everytime it was sounded?
There's a reason I work in the oil and gas business and don't coach basketball for a living. Me, personally, I feel it's a sound decision to give Neal more minutes. Lots more. I think it'll help us much more in 2012 to do so. We're talking jobs, careers and programs here, and these are the difficult decisions that come with the territory.
I'm anxious to see how Capel handles it.
I ask that because the Missouri radio dudes made a comment that I hadn't been able to deduce on my own while watching the game through gnashed teeth but became plain to see when they verbalized it over the airwaves. It went something like this: "Tyler Neal today, 14 points in 18 minutes. He was really the best player for Oklahoma. Especially in the second half."
I'd been trumpeting getting Neal and Newell some experience for a while, but that proved to be folly when Calvin showed just how green he really was. But Tyler Neal, well, he's starting to produce. In the last three games he's been on the court for 50 minutes, and in those 50 minutes he has scored 26 points and grabbed 15 boards. Those average out to 8.7 points and five rebounds per game in just a shade under 17 minutes per pop. Factored out to 30 minutes of court time those averages jump to 15.6 points per game and nine boards. Excellent production from a true freshman.
But where do those minutes come from? There's the rub, because those minutes are really only going to be chopped from one source: Cade Davis.
Cade Davis is everything you want in a Sooner Basketball uniform. He takes care of his business and handles himself properly in all situations, and we all know that ANYBODY could've popped from frustration over this last season and a half. But we've seen nothing but strong leadership from Cade.
But Cade won't be here next year. The progression of young guys like Tyler Neal means more to our program (and to the prospects of Capel's job) going forward than the last six conference games of Cade Davis's career. Cameron Clark and Tyler Neal learning to work alongside Carl Blair and Andrew Fitzgerald will pay more dividends in 2012 than 35 minutes of floor time for Cade.
But how do you do that? If you slice Cade's minutes way down then you're sending your unquestioned leader to the shelf. You're taking another captain and marooning him to the bench. We already have two like that, and now you're going to make it three? Hmmm. How in the world do you do it? How do you play for next year when it means letting go of somebody who's done nothing but answer the bell everytime it was sounded?
There's a reason I work in the oil and gas business and don't coach basketball for a living. Me, personally, I feel it's a sound decision to give Neal more minutes. Lots more. I think it'll help us much more in 2012 to do so. We're talking jobs, careers and programs here, and these are the difficult decisions that come with the territory.
I'm anxious to see how Capel handles it.
