Travis Ford impressed with Ray Penn...

[thebigabd]

"Ray has been very impressive in practice, being able to score the basketball. Really distributing and finding the open man and playing at a high level of speed. And being able to play at that high level of speed and making good
decisions. He's probably physically -- even though he's 5'9", he's physically very, very strong. He's probably got the most complete package right now.

I think as we put Keiton Page and Ray Penn out there, you're extremely dangerous from the perimeter. And I'm going to say James Anderson, those three guys. I don't think there's a better three-guard shooting lineup in the country."
-Travis Ford

http://www.big12sports.com/fls/1041...9.pdf?SPSID=106110&SPID=13134&DB_OEM_ID=10410

 

[Sam]

Willie Warren would go to town on whichever midget that would end up guarding him.

 

[OU918]

TMG and WW will be breaking some Poke ankles. They have 2 guards that are barely 5'9 and 5'7. Ha, can't wait for Bedlam.

 

[coolm]

Ray Penn IS very good. Give proper credit where it is due.

 

[playmakr]

Ray Penn IS very good. Give proper credit where it is due.

Is there a better 3-guard lineup in the country than Page, Anderson, and Penn? Actually, is there a better one in the state?

 

[SoonerBounce13]

Is there a better 3-guard lineup in the country than Page, Anderson, and Penn? Actually, is there a better one in the state?

yes there is. to be fair though, he did say they were the best 3-guard shooting lineup

 

[furge]

yes there is. to be fair though, he did say they were the best 3-guard shooting lineup

I still say that WW, TMG, and T-Crock at least rival that. And what would happen if it were Pledge instead of Tony?

 

[coolm]

OSUx has a rather explosive lineup of guards.

I prefer ours because of their builds, defense, and IMO more versatility ... but you could do much worse than what they have in stoolwater. They should expect to have a good season.

 

[Seymore Cox]

The problem they will have is Keiton Page is very defendable. For all we know Ray Penn probably is as well. So if you can defend those guys with a Crocker and Warren, it will cause a huge defensive mismatch on the other end for the cowboys. No doubt in my mind Crocker and Warren can do this.

The other thing is will one of those guys be able to penitrate. If not, you have three guards who cant create of the drive in Penn, Page, and Anderson. In essence, with no penitrating guard, the only way they will have any sort of creation of open perimeter shots is through ball reversal and screens. So if a team rotates and swith and hedges correctly, OSU will have a very hard time creating. They have some kinks to work out.

 

[HoHum]

I really think Anderson being the focal point of the offense this year will be just fine at creating his own shot.

Keep in mind he scored 37 in Norman last year and only made 2 three pointers the whole game. He has the ability, I think.

 

[BigTime]

Here is my issue with Ray Penn: He was a sleeper recruit that had a monster weekend at the Reebok tournament (sounds like he had a great reason to play inspired ball from his rivals article). He then went on to have a subpar senior year. A guy that I talk to from the Houston area tells me that he is really streaky as a shooter, but can catch fire and shoot the lights out. The problem is that he is 5'8 with shakey handles and a score first pg. He also doesn't have the bulk that TMG does, so it will be interesting to see what kind of defender that he can be against taller and stronger guards.

I think OSU fans need to use some caution before they crown him. Ford called Eaton the best PG in the country before the start of last year, so he has a history of talking up his guys (not that there is anything wrong with that)....

 

[Seymore Cox]

I really think Anderson being the focal point of the offense this year will be just fine at creating his own shot.

Keep in mind he scored 37 in Norman last year and only made 2 three pointers the whole game. He has the ability, I think.

um, he's not a guy that is prolific at creating his own shot. That was the biggest knock on him during the olympic games where he had huge stretches of struggle.

 

[HoHum]

Here is my issue with Ray Penn: He was a sleeper recruit that had a monster weekend at the Reebok tournament (sounds like he had a great reason to play inspired ball from his rivals article). He then went on to have a subpar senior year. A guy that I talk to from the Houston area tells me that he is really streaky as a shooter, but can catch fire and shoot the lights out. The problem is that he is 5'8 with shakey handles and a score first pg. He also doesn't have the bulk that TMG does, so it will be interesting to see what kind of defender that he can be against taller and stronger guards.

I think OSU fans need to use some caution before they crown him. Ford called Eaton the best PG in the country before the start of last year, so he has a history of talking up his guys (not that there is anything wrong with that)....

Subpar compared to whom? From looking at stats he and Mason-Griffin had very similar seasons.

Note: All stats are from Maxpreps.com, which from what I understand is updated by coaches...

22.9 to 21.7 points in favor of Mason-Griffin.
4.2 to 3.8 assists in favor of Penn

Both playing the same level of basketball. Penn's team went 25-10, and Mason-Griffin's went 15-11 (with 5 games with scores not reported).

I think both teams have question marks at the point guard position, replacing multi-year starters. And by all accounts both teams have players more than capable of filling those roles.

 

[HoHum]

um, he's not a guy that is prolific at creating his own shot. That was the biggest knock on him during the olympic games where he had huge stretches of struggle.

Then how does he score 31 non-behind the arc points against OU a top 5-10 team in the nation? I seem to remember a lot of driving and getting to he line. I'm not saying he's great at it, but I'm saying he can do it.

 

[BigTime]

Subpar compared to whom? From looking at stats he and Mason-Griffin had very similar seasons.

Note: All stats are from Maxpreps.com, which from what I understand is updated by coaches...

22.9 to 21.7 points in favor of Mason-Griffin.
4.2 to 3.8 assists in favor of Penn

Both playing the same level of basketball. Penn's team went 25-10, and Mason-Griffin's went 15-11 (with 5 games with scores not reported).

I think both teams have question marks at the point guard position, replacing multi-year starters. And by all accounts both teams have players more than capable of filling those roles.

I am not talking just stats. His attitude was poor and got him ejected out of several games. Look at his FT%. Look at his 3point%. I am more so going by what I was told. He could have progressed as a PG more than he did....

As for TMG, he was the gatorade poy in Texas, so I think he did alright. Madison didn't have much around him especially regarding bigs.

 

[BigTime]

Then how does he score 31 non-behind the arc points against OU a top 5-10 team in the nation? I seem to remember a lot of driving and getting to he line. I'm not saying he's great at it, but I'm saying he can do it.

No offense, but OU's help defense left a lot to be desired last year. Not the best measuring stick imo. I hope that improves this year.

 

[Seymore Cox]

Subpar compared to whom? From looking at stats he and Mason-Griffin had very similar seasons.

Note: All stats are from Maxpreps.com, which from what I understand is updated by coaches...

22.9 to 21.7 points in favor of Mason-Griffin.
4.2 to 3.8 assists in favor of Penn

Both playing the same level of basketball. Penn's team went 25-10, and Mason-Griffin's went 15-11 (with 5 games with scores not reported).

I think both teams have question marks at the point guard position, replacing multi-year starters. And by all accounts both teams have players more than capable of filling those roles.

I honestly hope that's not how you evaluate players vs. others. I Anyone with any knowledge of the game knows that TMG is closer to a true PG than Penn. TMG is a guy that can go in with the trees and finish some, where as Penn is a guy who is much like Page and can't do that. No ball creators will give OSU a huge disadvantage. I suspect OSU will employ a matchup mismatches with Obi going after post players with the dribble.

 

[BigTime]

Well according to max's site, some of the stats were different than what I received....Max has him at 71% from the line and 37% from deep both were higher than the stat list I got. Strange.

Edit: looks like OSU's official site matches up with Max's stats, so I guess mine may have been incomplete. "averaged 21.7 points and 4.2 assists per game as well as 2.4 rebounds and 1.8 steals per contest.
• shot 46 percent from the floor, 37 percent from three-point range and 71 percent from the free-throw line."

 

[BigTime]

Here are TMG's complete stats: Averaged 22.8 points, 5.3 assists, 4.4 rebounds and 3.7 steals per game as a senior for 19-9 James Madison High School ... Shot .451 (82-for-182) from 3-point range ... Career single-gamescoring high at Madison was 49 points (made 11 3-pointers) ... As a junior averaged 23.1 points (26.6 in playoffs) and 7.0 assists per game ... Led Marlins to regional tournament appearances his last two seasons ... Coached by Craig Maura.

Madison lost both bigs and another guard going into TMG's senior year. Look at how many dimes he had as a junior! sick.

 

[Seymore Cox]

I think Penn may stat better than TMG because of such a void.