Travis Ford

[Mr.B!!!]

If OU signed a guy like Jawanza Poland and Aziz Ndaiye, and maybe another post like Antione Lundy (averaging 20 and 14 in Jayhawk Conference, leads league in rebounding) to go along with Cameron Clark and TJ Taylor I think it would be a great class.

I think if OU signed a class like that they would sign 5 guys that would be contributing next year.. Two of them might start, so it would obviously be a good class.

OU's class would be better than OSU's if they were able to land the above guys...

Or get Terrence Jones, either way.

I wouldn't complain about that class either...my ONLY concern is that nobody has apparently seen Ndaiye play and yet have him as coming in and contributing right away (even though he is injured).

I sort of liked what I saw out of the Majok Majok kid myself (above the rim leaper that could finish). Now if Ndaiye is a player like that, I'm there. To Ndiaye's credit, he does have a pretty solid list of schools looking at him.

 

[soonernation75]

I think he is a good coach and is doing a great job in recruiting... The recruiting class they have coming in this year fills all their needs and makes them considerably more athletic.

I think Ford has a lot to prove. They have one of the best players in the country and they are still on the bubble.

 

[OULad]

Great, a Travis Ford thread on an OU message board. Dont we have another board for this?

 

[thebigabd]

Great, a Travis Ford thread on an OU message board. Dont we have another board for this?

23 posts, people obviously care.

 

[Mr.B!!!]

But doesn't Capel still currently have 5-star talent on the team?

There are many on this very site who argued all last year that Willie Warren was superior to James Anderson.

All last year, just about everybody would have been right, and if both had declared for the draft, the NBA scouts would have said the same thing. That said, Anderson has DEFINATELY improved and I expect that his draft status [as pertains to Warren] will reflect that.

And yes, there is certainly still some 5* talent on the team [although only one guy played last Saturday], but I read the OP as Ford is doing a bang-up job recruiting while Capel has his head up his a** r something...and I only wanted to point out that Ford's best players have come from a prior regime.

 

[Sam]

First off, I totally disagree with the silly notion that Capel can't bring in "impact" players... that's obviously ridiculous.

But I do have a few comments:



It probably depends on how you define "impact"...

From my perspective, Gulley is an impact player because he is starting as a true freshman. It's true that he's only starting because Penn was injured, but he was playing a good amount before the injury, and it's not like Ford has to start him.

He could easily start both Moses and Pilgrim and have Page run the point.

Point being that Ford sees reason to have Gulley start, and so he is adding value to the team, mostly with his defense, which I won't discount.

Of course, the other big "impact" players are Penn, Pilgrim, and (to a lesser extent) Roger Franklin.

All of those guys have been or are major contributors to the team's success in their first season.

That, to me, is the definition of "impact."

I'll be honest I haven't paid a whole lot of attention to Gulley this year, all I know is has a reputation as a good defender and I can only assume he is doing that job well. Just like some on here argue that for OU to be a good team a guy like Cade Davis shouldn't be key contributor (not agreeing with it, just using it as an example) I don't think Gulley is going to be have an impact in that regard. He really seems to be limited offensively so unless he develops into a J.T. Tiller style defender I don't think he will ever be more than a good role player for OSU if they are going ton continue to be a consistent NCAA tournament team.

But doesn't Capel still currently have 5-star talent on the team?

There are many on this very site who argued all last year that Willie Warren was superior to James Anderson.

If that were the case, shouldn't he have been "carrying" the OU team earlier in the season, the way that Anderson is "carrying" this OSU team?

I don't think anyone can deny that TMG and Gallon are 5-star talent, even if they are freshmen.

As for OSU next year, I think you will see Penn and Pilgrim become a formitable inside/outside combination.

I wasn't as much comparing Capel and Ford as giving an example of how Ford is going to do without those guys creating offense. I will admit Ford has surprised me in regards to running his offense as I figured his run and gun style would flounder in Big 12 play. But I think similar to how people complain Capel hasn't had success without Blake the same argument could play out for Ford next season if he struggles in his first season without either Eaton or Anderson. On paper they don't have a real good dynamic story to fill the hole, but we'll see who steps and improves before next season.

 

[SoonerfanTU]

oh, and since when did basketball become a high-jumping contest?

I sort of liked what I saw out of the Majok Majok kid myself (above the rim leaper that could finish).

Posted 9 minutes apart. LOL

 

[Mr.B!!!]

Posted 9 minutes apart. LOL

Is this going to turn into some stalking thing because you are mad over another thread? A post player that can get up and finish above the rim (which is something we obviously don't have) vs. two shooting guards with dubious verticle numbers and you can't see a difference.

I guess you get to point something "wrong" with somebody else, right? If I had the time (or was a stalker) I'd go quote the 500+ posts you have *****ing about the state of OU basketball with the post of "it's just a game" on another thread.

 

[HoHum]

You got a link to them having 40+ inch verticals?
Grand total of one guy had a 40 inch vertical at the draft combine last season.

http://basketballrecruiting.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=730879

It's 'premium' content or whatever. But Markel Brown had a 39.6 in October 2007 at the Nike SPARQ team challenge.

He was the only one out of 33 listed competitors with one higher than 37.6. 39.6 is pretty darn close to 40, and I'd bet he's become a higher jumper in the last 2 years.

As for Williams, I don't know about any verified vertical jumps, but I've seen some videos where the bottom of his head is about to touch the bottom of the rim as a 16 year old. (I think he's still 16, even as a senior in high school).

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSQfyRGxr8I"]//www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSQfyRGxr8I[/ame]

Skip to 1:30 if you want to see him dunk. Although the entire thing is pretty interesting about AAU vs High School basketball.

 

[MVPx2]

I think Ford has done an okay job to this point. He had a lot of holes to fill when Sutton was fired, namely PG. The cupboard was completely bare once Eaton was finished, and I think he recruited the 3 freshman PG's so he could throw them against the wall and see who stuck. Looks like Penn and Gulley will be retained, and Dowell will be looking for a new school. We got pretty lucky with Pilgrim...he looked lost out there at the beginning, but has really elevated his play the last few weeks.

According to some of the supposed insiders, OSU is in on some big names in 2011 and even bigger names in 2012. I believe one poster stated that OSU is currently at the top of the list for 3 2012 Top 25 kids. Who those kids are, he didn't name any names, just said they are sons of former players with whom Ford has a connection.

I am very interested to see if Ford can land Nash. It was no secret that Momma Eaton hated Sean Sutton, and was very thankful for the the job Coach Ford did with getting Byron to buy into the idea of losing weight and becoming the player everyone thought he could be coming out of high school.

 

[thebigabd]

HoHum,

Great info... Those two are great athletes, and so is Michael Cobbins. I think they will all be critical for OSU's basketball future.

Olukemi and Darrell Williams will help a lot next year right off the bat, IMO. Williams is the leading scorer and rebounder for the #1 team juco team in the country. Olukemi is obviously a high level talent.

 

[seniorsooner]

Great, a Travis Ford thread on an OU message board. Dont we have another board for this?

:clap

 

[SoonerfanTU]

Is this going to turn into some stalking thing because you are mad over another thread? A post player that can get up and finish above the rim (which is something we obviously don't have) vs. two shooting guards with dubious verticle numbers and you can't see a difference.

I guess you get to point something "wrong" with somebody else, right? If I had the time (or was a stalker) I'd go quote the 500+ posts you have *****ing about the state of OU basketball with the post of "it's just a game" on another thread.

It's not personal. But when you put two comments like that so closely together, it sticks out. Don't flatter yourself.

And we don't necessarily need a post that can play above the rim. We need a good post. Period. I think we'd all take Bookout, Ace, Najera, Minor, Abercrombie, Gilbert, or even Renzi Stone at this point. None of those guys were "high flyers".

 

[Mr.B!!!]

It's not personal. But when you put two comments like that so closely together, it sticks out. Don't flatter yourself.

And we don't necessarily need a post that can play above the rim. We need a good post. Period. I think we'd all take Bookout, Ace, Najera, Minor, Abercrombie, Gilbert, or even Renzi Stone at this point. None of those guys were "high flyers".

Fair enough.

 

[oSuJeff97]

I think Ford has a lot to prove. They have one of the best players in the country and they are still on the bubble.

One of the best players in the country surrounded by a very inexperienced supporting cast. OSU is the youngest team in the Big 12.

And I would be willing to put forward the idea that had Penn not been injured, OSU wouldn't be on the bubble... we most likely would have beaten Texas at home, Tech in Lubbock and quite possibly Mizzou in Columbia.

Poor PG play and turnovers are what lost all three of those games for us.

Since Penn was injured, we are averaging something like 7 more turnoers per game. That's pretty significant.

I don't think Gulley is going to be have an impact in that regard. He really seems to be limited offensively so unless he develops into a J.T. Tiller style defender I don't think he will ever be more than a good role player for OSU if they are going ton continue to be a consistent NCAA tournament team.

Well again he's only a true freshman. From my perspective, if you are contributing as a true freshman to your team's success, you have made an impact.

I think Ford has done an okay job to this point. He had a lot of holes to fill when Sutton was fired, namely PG.

I think the biggest thing that Ford did after Sutton was totally change the attitude/behavior of the team.

Under Sean, we looked uninterested half of the time. Ford seemed to be able to get them to just flat out provide more effort.

 

[MVPx2]

One of the best players in the country surrounded by a very inexperienced supporting cast. OSU is the youngest team in the Big 12.

And I would be willing to put forward the idea that had Penn not been injured, OSU wouldn't be on the bubble... we most likely would have beaten Texas at home, Tech in Lubbock and quite possibly Mizzou in Columbia.

Poor PG play and turnovers are what lost all three of those games for us.

Since Penn was injured, we are averaging something like 7 more turnoers per game. That's pretty significant.



Well again he's only a true freshman. From my perspective, if you are contributing as a true freshman to your team's success, you have made an impact.



I think the biggest thing that Ford did after Sutton was totally change the attitude/behavior of the team.

Under Sean, we looked uninterested half of the time. Ford seemed to be able to get them to just flat out provide more effort.

I agree with this. You could tell the guys were uninterested in listening to Sutton or anything he had to say....after everything that has happened the last few days, it isn't difficult to see why.

 

[Mr.B!!!]

One of the best players in the country surrounded by a very inexperienced supporting cast. OSU is the youngest team in the Big 12.

And I would be willing to put forward the idea that had Penn not been injured, OSU wouldn't be on the bubble... we most likely would have beaten Texas at home, Tech in Lubbock and quite possibly Mizzou in Columbia.

Poor PG play and turnovers are what lost all three of those games for us.

Since Penn was injured, we are averaging something like 7 more turnoers per game. That's pretty significant.



Well again he's only a true freshman. From my perspective, if you are contributing as a true freshman to your team's success, you have made an impact.



I think the biggest thing that Ford did after Sutton was totally change the attitude/behavior of the team.

Under Sean, we looked uninterested half of the time. Ford seemed to be able to get them to just flat out provide more effort.

Normally I can't stand your posts, but it is instructive that you have a couple more wins and thus have hopes for a guy like Gulley and are willing to label him as an impact player vs. OU fans who are ready to bench Gallon and label the other freshmen we brought in as busts [excepting TMG]. The only real difference in my view between oSu and OU is experience [two 5* upperclassmen] and that is what has made them nominally better than OU this season. If anything, OU's freshmen have been much more impressive overall [but are downgraded because more was expected of them].

If you could have an old-school JV game between the two programs freshmen and sophomores, who ya got?

 

[SoonerBounce13]

OSU is the youngest team in the Big 12.

really?

Penn--Freshman
Pilgrim--Junior
Obi--Senior
Page--Soph
Gully--Freshman
Anderson--Junior
Sidorakis--Junior
Franklin--Freshman
Moses--Junior

Tiny--Freshman
Crocker--Senior
TMG--Freshman
WW--Soph
Cade--Junior
Wright--Senior
Pledger--Freshman
Fitzgerald--Freshman

 

[Mr.B!!!]

I'd like to do the JV Game, just for giggles:

Gallon vs. [?????]
Fitzgerald vs. [?????]
Pleger vs. Franklin
Warren vs. Gulley
TMG vs. Penn

Can an oSu fan help me with the [????].

 

[Stikboy]

Great, a Travis Ford thread on an OU message board. Dont we have another board for this?

Can someone please forward me the rulebook on what threads one can and cannot start on this board? It appears some other people thought it was interesting... I wasn't going to respond but it always cracks me up how it seems some people just wait around for threads to ***** about. No one is forcing you to read it?

In recruiting, you cant say the class is good or bad until they've played a couple of years. But, what you go off of at the beginning is all you can at that point, potential. If a guy is highly sought after when he signs, that means he has good potential, does it not? I apologize for not being able to see into the future. LOL