today's practice

[coolm]

apparently these were the lineups (according to Kegan Reneau):
Young
McGusty
Odomes
Manek
Lattin

Shepherd
Lazenby
James
Freeman
McNeace

 

[AdaSooner]

About what I would expect in a starting lineup and the next five off of the bench. I realize some think McNeace will start over Khadeem, but I'm not one of them. Lattin's defense and his experience will give him the edge, at least early on. If Muni takes his spot in the starting lineup, he'll have to earn it by playing better D and showing more toughness on the boards.

Besides, I like bringing Muni and CJ off of the bench. Keeps them hungry and relieves some of the pressure of being a starter.

 

[coolm]

with the scoring we already have with the starters I like Mcneace and James coming in for offensive punch. Trey is more apt to get Lattin an open look while McNeace has been showing a better ability to get his own.

 

[AdaSooner]

Excellent points, Coolm!

 

[opsooner]

About what I would expect in a starting lineup and the next five off of the bench. I realize some think McNeace will start over Khadeem, but I'm not one of them. Lattin's defense and his experience will give him the edge, at least early on. If Muni takes his spot in the starting lineup, he'll have to earn it by playing better D and showing more toughness on the boards.

Besides, I like bringing Muni and CJ off of the bench. Keeps them hungry and relieves some of the pressure of being a starter.

I like what you said about bringing McNeace in from the bench. It is a nice advantage to have a guy who can supply a spark off the bench. OU has rarely had that.


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[WTSooner]

Starting lineup is no surprise.

 

[WTSooner]

Hoping we just redshirt Pollo as long as Lattin and McNeace stay healthy. Both of those guys should only play the 5, and there isn't enough PT for three of them at that spot. The 4 gets crowded too when Doolittle comes back with him, Manek, and Freeman. Freeman looking like the odd man out at this point.

 

[vbdad]

I doubt Polla redshirts as most of the Euro guys will return home to play professionally as soon as they graduate. Some even go sooner. I have no knowledge of his situation but this is generally speaking.

James has been the best player on the team through the start of practice.

 

[AdaSooner]

My biggest concern about using a redshirt on Polla is that Lattin and McNeace are too light in the britches to bang with the bigs down low. They get pushed around too much by the meatier, stronger big boys OU faces in the Big 12. At 6' 11" 265, Polla gives us a five no one is going to push around. I say let him play and learn on the fly!

I agree about Freeman if he hasn't improved his defense and his rebounding since last season. That said, his spot in the rotation may depend more on how well he is shooting from the perimeter. He did not live up to his reputation as a dynamic three point shooter last season. Hopefully that will change this season.

 

[WTSooner]

There aren't many true centers in the game anymore. And honestly, I don't remember some big, strong center pushing us around last year to the point where that is the reason we lost the game. I also don't see many scenarios where you'd want to have both Lattin and McNeace on the bench, and Polla playing.

But that's just me. Maybe you let him play some b/c he'll have to play a role next year, so we need him ready. I dunno.

 

[SoonerBounce13]

James has been the best player on the team through the start of practice.

Heard the same thing last offseason...I hope it is true

 

[AdaSooner]

There aren't many true centers in the game anymore. And honestly, I don't remember some big, strong center pushing us around last year to the point where that is the reason we lost the game. I also don't see many scenarios where you'd want to have both Lattin and McNeace on the bench, and Polla playing.

But that's just me. Maybe you let him play some b/c he'll have to play a role next year, so we need him ready. I dunno.

You're right, true centers are a rare commodity these days, which is one of the things that makes Polla special. I don't expect him to dominate inside just because he's bigger than anyone else. He's still a work in progress. But, he will give us something we could have used last year...a space eater inside.

I can't point to specific games we may have lost last year because Lattin and McNeace got pushed around. That was certainly not the only reason we had a losing season. But, both of those guys found themselves out of position numerous times, usually when they were moved under the basket by stronger players with big butts. If I had the time to review the roster of last year's opponents, I could point to at least a handful of players who really hurt us inside when Muni and Khadeem were moved out of position by bigger, stronger post players. You could, too, if you think about it real hard.

 

[WaymanFan]

I also don't see many scenarios where you'd want to have both Lattin and McNeace on the bench, and Polla playing.

I can give you two reasons. One is if both Lattin and McNeace are in foul trouble (think CJ Cole last year). The other is for Polla to pick up 4-5 fouls wearing down the opponent's big man with pure physicality. I know "physicality" and "European players" usually don't go in the same sentence, but I think Polla knows he's not seeing the court without utilizing that dimension.

 

[usedtobe1]

You're right, true centers are a rare commodity these days, which is one of the things that makes Polla special. I don't expect him to dominate inside just because he's bigger than anyone else. He's still a work in progress. But, he will give us something we could have used last year...a space eater inside.

I can't point to specific games we may have lost last year because Lattin and McNeace got pushed around. That was certainly not the only reason we had a losing season. But, both of those guys found themselves out of position numerous times, usually when they were moved under the basket by stronger players with big butts. If I had the time to review the roster of last year's opponents, I could point to at least a handful of players who really hurt us inside when Muni and Khadeem were moved out of position by bigger, stronger post players. You could, too, if you think about it real hard.

I agree. Ada you already know this, but I know one of the OU staffers because his son and my grandson play on the same AAU basketball team. He told me last summer that they are very excited about Polla because they need a physical center and they know Khadeem and Muni aren't going to be able to add bulk and strength needed for the physical play inside.... no knock on either player. I saw him 3-4 weeks ago and he told me Polla is playing well.

That doesn't mean Polla is going to get equal minutes with KL and JMc. I don't think he came over here to redshirt. A recent article indicated he intends to play pro ball. Maybe in Europe. I'm not sure he even intends to stay for 4 years..... think M'Baye. He played a pretty high level of ball on the Finland national team. I rember one game he played against a top 10 kid from 2015 that played for Uconn and is transferring to Louisville. He isn't some big HS kid who played at a small school in the country. I bet he gets from 5-20 minutes per game depending on what we need that night.... which means there may be some games where he gets more minutes than the incumbents.

I see him as a younger version of Vladimir Brodziansky from TCU. Both are 6'11" big kids from Europe. Polla has the bulk to keep VB from easily posting up down low..... I'm not saying Polla is as good as VB, but he has the bulk to keep VB from controlling the paint. I just think he is a good complement to the speed and quickness of KL and JMc.

 

[MisterF]

Polla has some skills around the basket. He is going to add some scoring punch off the bench.

 

[NorthCarolinaSooner]

You're right, true centers are a rare commodity these days, which is one of the things that makes Polla special. I don't expect him to dominate inside just because he's bigger than anyone else. He's still a work in progress. But, he will give us something we could have used last year...a space eater inside.

I can't point to specific games we may have lost last year because Lattin and McNeace got pushed around. That was certainly not the only reason we had a losing season. But, both of those guys found themselves out of position numerous times, usually when they were moved under the basket by stronger players with big butts. If I had the time to review the roster of last year's opponents, I could point to at least a handful of players who really hurt us inside when Muni and Khadeem were moved out of position by bigger, stronger post players. You could, too, if you think about it real hard.

Texas and OSU absolutely abused us in the paint/rebounding. Those are two that come to mind

 

[vbdad]

Landon Lucas played a huge roll with KU last year just being a big physical body.

 

[perryj74]

I can think of a few games we lost because we couldn't secure a rebound. That's where Polla's size should help win us a few possessions a game.

 

[SuperHoops]

Hopefully with his international experience he won't be a fouling machine like a lot of young big men are.

 

[Darwin]

If Hannes can put positive stats beside his name for 5 to 9 minutes a game on average, I will be very happy about that freshman.