What last night tells me....

[thebigabd]

1.) OU is young, but very talented. They will have games where they look great, and have games where they really struggle.

2.) Willie Warren is a volume shooter. It's not bad, lots of great players are volume shooters. He is in the same mentality as Allen Iverson, Tracy Mcgrady, etc. Physically (and to provide a more recent example), he is like OJ Mayo. Volume shooter, great scorer, etc... He took twice as many shots as anyone else last night, and that will be a common theme all year. OU will go as Willie goes this year, IMO.

3.) OU shouldnt expect much production from Wright. I was hoping he had improved, but he is the same player. They should start working Fitzgerald in ASAP. Wright will be a nice player off the bench for fouls and rebounds.

4.) Pledger will pass Cade and Ray, and probably already has. What a career Pledger will have. It will be like having 4 years of a healthy Mike Neal. Pure shooter at 6'4''. He is worth his weight in gold.

5.) Mason-Griffin can also shoot really well. He should have a great 4-year career here at OU. He will be tough to defend, especially as he gains experience.

 

[Mr.B!!!]

I think that #2 is accurate on all counts, except that I think that WW is a "big game" type player that can hit another gear when the lights are brightest. Last year EVERYBODY related to the program said that he deferred to Blake too much, this year, he get's to carry that weight, and I think that he will do well with it. My concern is likely similar to yours [and I am guessing here] that there will be a road game against a team that we are clearly better than, but that WW will only bring his C game and we will get knocked off. No biggie IMHO, happens to every team every season at one time or another.

#3 is the one that is VERY disappointing to me. I thought that Ryan did a nice job last season considering what he was asked to do, and truthfully thought that he could possibly be a 12-8 guy solely on effort in rebounding and on put-backs. Still a possiblity as I expect this game for Capel was all about finding what roles that our guys will play. Not too comfortable in throwing two true freshman in the post night after night, but agree that if we are going to do that, we need to do it early and often to get the kids ready for conference play.

 

[OKURanger]

Nice write-up. Since it's guard heavy in evaluations, I thought I'd add a bit about the freshman posts.

I agree that Wright is going to be a role player for the team...and that's okay with me because after watching Tiny and Fitz, I think OU could develop into a very lethal post team. Both players showed moments of solid rebounding. Both have strong offensive moves out to the mid-range which should cause problems for other teams trying to defend a motion-oriented offense.

I feel that as Tiny and Fitz learn to become more solid defensively, they'll spend more time on the floor allowing them to threaten opponents with their offensive game. As long as OU perimeter players can continue to hit their shots, OU is going to score a lot of points this season because of a solid inside-outside game. I was very pleased with what I saw from them last night.

 

[NickZepp]

I think it's a little hard to evaluate against a team that's so bad. But we did what we should have done unlike another highly thought of school I can think of. We'll find out a lot about this team soon enough because of the tough schedule we play.

 

[thebigabd]

and truthfully thought that he could possibly be a 12-8 guy

Not possible... I mean, 12-8 is only a point or two away from what Taj Gray did here at OU. Wright just doesnt have that type of talent or ability.

 

[RonMexico]

2.) Willie Warren is a volume shooter. It's not bad, lots of great players are volume shooters. He is in the same mentality as Allen Iverson, Tracy Mcgrady, etc. Physically (and to provide a more recent example), he is like OJ Mayo. Volume shooter, great scorer, etc... He took twice as many shots as anyone else last night, and that will be a common theme all year. OU will go as Willie goes this year, IMO.

dude, I'm not sure what you mean by volume shooter. do you mean somebody that is going to lead his team in shot attempts? then, by all means, WW sure as hell better be a volume shooter. however, the guys you list are the type of guys that REQUIRE a lot of shots to score points. all of those guys are 43ish% career FG shooters. WW shot over 47% from the field last year and shot 50% last night. "volume shooter" inherently has a negative connotation for streaky shooter type guys. I dont think WW took the kind of shots last night that are prone to streaks.

 

[sys]

if 4) holds true, do you expect willis to transfer? he hardly played last year, and if he is already about to be surpassed by a freshman...

 

[thebigabd]

however, the guys you list are the type of guys that REQUIRE a lot of shots to score points.

Willie is that type. He will take 20 shots to score 25 points. I think thats what type of player he is on most nights.

I know what a volume shooter is, and listed a few volume shooters. To me, he is like OJ Mayo. Thats not bad, he went in the top 5 and is one of the most lethal scorers in the NBA right now.

 

[SoonerNorm]

dude, I'm not sure what you mean by volume shooter. do you mean somebody that is going to lead his team in shot attempts? then, by all means, WW sure as hell better be a volume shooter. however, the guys you list are the type of guys that REQUIRE a lot of shots to score points. all of those guys are 43ish% career FG shooters. WW shot over 47% from the field last year and shot 50% last night. "volume shooter" inherently has a negative connotation for streaky shooter type guys. I dont think WW took the kind of shots last night that are prone to streaks.

To me, Curry was a volume shooter but when he lit us up for 44 pts last year, that description didn't have much of a 'negative' connotation to me.

 

[RonMexico]

Willie is that type. He will take 20 shots to score 25 points. I think thats what type of player he is on most nights.

I know what a volume shooter is, and listed a few volume shooters. To me, he is like OJ Mayo. Thats not bad, he went in the top 5 and is one of the most lethal scorers in the NBA right now.

Points per shot (stats during college, where applicable):

WW = 1.44
AI = 1.31
OJ = 1.28
TMac = 1.20

 

[thebigabd]

Points per shot (stats during college, where applicable):

WW = 1.44
AI = 1.31
OJ = 1.28
TMac = 1.20

Yea, lets wait for an entire season where Willie is the leader. Mayo and Iverson didnt have Blake Griffin taking a ton of shots when they were in college. Willie will drop down into that range, no question.

It's not bad... I don't know why you think its an insult to Willie to be a volume shooter. Thats just what kind of player he is. He will be that way in the NBA too.

 

[Mr.B!!!]

If a guy gets 30 muinutes a game (say 15 minutes a half) on a jumpshooting team, 12-8 doesn't seem to me to be that tought to get. Six points and four rebounds a half? I know it is not that simple, but just being an effort guy on the offensive glass and running the floor hard should get you those kinds of numbers IMHO. Like I said though, I probably over-valued Wright's ability to contribute in system that would be primarily perimeter based.

 

[cwilson]

I have to say the most intriguing story line in my mind is Steven Pledger. To me I think he will be the X-factor for this team. In his presser after the game Capel mentioned SP's defensive effort. That combo of exceptional shooting and solid defensive will translate into tons of minutes for him. The kid plays with great effort and has a hair trigger shot (his release is SO quick). I think we can expect a very good season with this team probably peaking in March, which never hurts...

:ed

 

[jmill1200]

The best players in the NBA are volume shooters, Kobe and the King James. WWIII's job is to make buckets, which he did. He also has to get his team involved, he would have had a few more assists last night had Drew finished strong. But even when he is having an off night, he will still get to the free throw line. Just imagine if BG's free throw abilities were better, he would have had an extra 4 points a game. From WWIII, I want to see his assists, rebounds and steals, I know he can score. I don't really care how many shots he takes a night or what his %'s are, if we're winning and he's consistant in the other areas, I'm more than happy.

I had fun watching BG put on a show last year, but WWIII and all the 3 point shooters, should make for some fireworks. This team will have a shooters chance in any game. With the ability to really jump out on teams and make some good runs.

 

[OUsky]

1.) OU is young, but very talented. They will have games where they look great, and have games where they really struggle.

2.) Willie Warren is a volume shooter. It's not bad, lots of great players are volume shooters. He is in the same mentality as Allen Iverson, Tracy Mcgrady, etc. Physically (and to provide a more recent example), he is like OJ Mayo. Volume shooter, great scorer, etc... He took twice as many shots as anyone else last night, and that will be a common theme all year. OU will go as Willie goes this year, IMO.

3.) OU shouldnt expect much production from Wright. I was hoping he had improved, but he is the same player. They should start working Fitzgerald in ASAP. Wright will be a nice player off the bench for fouls and rebounds.

4.) Pledger will pass Cade and Ray, and probably already has. What a career Pledger will have. It will be like having 4 years of a healthy Mike Neal. Pure shooter at 6'4''. He is worth his weight in gold.

5.) Mason-Griffin can also shoot really well. He should have a great 4-year career here at OU. He will be tough to defend, especially as he gains experience.

I agree... except for the "volume shooter". I prefer "Go to guy". Volume shooter has such a negative connotation. And there was nothing negative about Willie's agressiveness yesterday. He made a few great assist after they adjusted and tried to take away his penetration with double teams.

 

[OsoonerU]

Cade looked awefully good last night. I think there will be plenty of minutes for both he and pledger, depending on who is hot.

 

[Bk2X]

I think it's a little hard to evaluate against a team that's so bad. But we did what we should have done unlike another highly thought of school I can think of. We'll find out a lot about this team soon enough because of the tough schedule we play.

Unless Canadian basketball is absolutely pathetic, UBC is not that bad.

08-09 they went 21-2

CanWest Pacific Division positions:
05-2, 06-1, 07-2, 08-1, 09-1

 

[Sam]

After watching how UBC played I'm going to go ahead and say UBC is pretty bad. They had a couple good kids but their depth was nothing and they blew a lot of easy shots. This one big kid made Loomers (sp) look like an All American as far as a basketball talent.

 

[campbest]

Unless Canadian basketball is absolutely pathetic, UBC is not that bad.

08-09 they went 21-2

CanWest Pacific Division positions:
05-2, 06-1, 07-2, 08-1, 09-1

CanWest Pacific Division...that's a real tough league.

 

[Bk2X]

After watching how UBC played I'm going to go ahead and say UBC is pretty bad. They had a couple good kids but their depth was nothing and they blew a lot of easy shots. This one big kid made Loomers (sp) look like an All American as far as a basketball talent.

Haha yeah I was watching him run up and down the court and was quite amusing. But hey I am just trying to pump up our very young team. Many occasions last night we had 3 fresh and 2 soph on the court!