Big Old Booger
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I'd love to have Baylor's roster. Kruger coaching those cats or even OState's would be dynamite.
Yep, I agree too.
I'd love to have Baylor's roster. Kruger coaching those cats or even OState's would be dynamite.
Picking against a 10-time champ is laughable, sorry.
It makes no difference that it's OSU.
I'm sure as a fan of OSU you're optimistic you can win the league. That makes sense with the talent returning, but you aren't the favorite, no way.
OState was a 3rd place Big 12 team last season in a down year and, if Iowa St and OU had not gacked some very winnable games down the stretch, they would have been in 4th or 5th. Please don't color me impressed.
I get that they're Kansas, but they're losing all 5 starters, including 4 senior starters. Self is good, but he's not bringing in full classes of one-and-done guys like Calapari is. There is no way that they don't have a drop-off from this year.
I would bet a large sum of money that we will be the favorite. The posters on OUhoops will be just about the only people not picking OSU to win the league next year.
Oh... so we get to play the "if" game? Well "if" OSU had made one more shot against KU in Stillwater, we would have been conference co-champs.
And you can say the "league was down" and that's fine. But KU had 4 senior starters, plus the guy who's probably going to go #1 overall in the draft, and OSU finished one game behind them in the conference.
OSU returns everyone from that team while KU loses all five starters.
If OSU were any other team in the conference, you would be saying they are the easy favorites, just like everyone else will in the preseason.
I understand that. My point is that it's not "laughable" to pick OSU to win the conference, considering that most expert will be picking them.
This whole "Ford is a mediocre coach" thing is an interesting phenomenon. Is Ford considered mediocre because he didn't make the tournament with two teams that were completely devoid of talent?
Yeah, well, analysis is all in the details, isn't it?
- The "third-place team" was actually one game away from being conference co-champs.
- The team "without the pedigree of Self and Kansas" beat them in Lawrence and lost by 1 in double-OT at home.
- And yeah, they lost in the first round, to a team that everyone agreed was massively under-seeded. The same team that beat an SLU team that almost everyone was picking to make a deep tournament run.
So you can find all the reasons you want to pick against OSU, but this is going to be a really good team next year.
I'd love to have Baylor's roster. Kruger coaching those cats or even OState's would be dynamite.
I get that they're Kansas, but they're losing all 5 starters, including 4 senior starters. Self is good, but he's not bringing in full classes of one-and-done guys like Calapari is. There is no way that they don't have a drop-off from this year.
I would bet a large sum of money that we will be the favorite. The posters on OUhoops will be just about the only people not picking OSU to win the league next year.
Oh... so we get to play the "if" game? Well "if" OSU had made one more shot against KU in Stillwater, we would have been conference co-champs.
And you can say the "league was down" and that's fine. But KU had 4 senior starters, plus the guy who's probably going to go #1 overall in the draft, and OSU finished one game behind them in the conference.
OSU returns everyone from that team while KU loses all five starters.
If OSU were any other team in the conference, you would be saying they are the easy favorites, just like everyone else will in the preseason.
Doubt if you must, but return next spring and admit you were wrong.
Again, this really isn't an anti-OSU thing, it's all about respect for KU.
They didn't sign a bunch of bums to replace the guys they lost. Two 5-stars and three 4-stars.
Sorry, Jeff, but I don't think they are easy favorites. You can't discount what KU has done and what Self is capable of doing. You seem to be dismissing all that as easily as you think we are dismissing OState as an 'easy' favorite. I love their talent but I still think they have issues inside. I need to see what they bring in. I think they have talent to win the league, maybe by multiple games but I just don't trust Fords ability to coach and win at a high level. The league will still be down, talent wise, so this might be the year. In a normal Big 12 year, this OState team probably finishes about where they were last season, 3rd, 4th, or 5th. I don't know what you want us to say, several on the board picked them to finish 1st. I picked them 2nd and I think they will be a top 15 team. You seem to be a reasonable person and so am I. Is what I've said not fair? What do you really expect on an OU basketball message board? Regardless, I've spent too much time already on your team. Lets talk about mine, ok?
Fair enough.
Just for clarification, it certainly wouldn't surprise me if KU won the conference again. We have 9 straight years of data that tells us that woudn't be a surprise. I just think that, knowing what we know for sure right now, that OSU is the smart pick to win the conference.
OK... let's talk about OU...
What do you consider the biggest keys for next year? It seems to me that with Osby and other leaving, OU will be a much more guard-oriented team; what are your thoughts on that?
I would say we will be more wing oriented as the new bigs find their way offensively. I think a big key is how early we can get flow offensively. I think OU will be one of the best defensive and rebounding teams in the conference but the offense will be a bit of a work in progress. I expect big improvements from all our returnees, including Spangler and Bennett, and I expect Woodard to impact the team positively and immediately. What this means record wise is difficult to forecast. If we can get to 20 wins again, the program is further along than even an optimist like myself would have expected. An NCAA bubble team with a top half finish in a down year for the Big 12 should be a fair expectation. Had MBaye stayed, I would have us solidly in the tournament, finishing in the top 3 of the conference, and potentially a top 25 team. His departure affected my expectations somewhat.
Cousins won't start over Woodard if Cousins is playing ball like he did the 2nd half of the season.
I may be in the minority, but I just don't like Cousins as a pg. He doesn't have the handles to be effective, IMO. He is probably okay as the backup, which is what I'd like to see. But that all mostly depends on how "ready" Woodard is when he gets to campus.
Jelon can run the point and move cousins to an off gaurd
I like Hornbeak at pg more than I like Cousins there, but Hornbeak has a chance to be really good starting the 2 spot for us. That is where he needs to play. I'm confident LK and staff can get one of Woodard/Cousins ready to run the point. I'd just as soon lock Hornbeak and Hield into the starting 2/3 spots in our lineup for the next 3 years.
I wasn't being clear. I don't want Jelon to start at point, I want him and buddy to start at the wings with Woodard. I would want him to play some point to give Woodard a break and then have cousins running the 2 in those cases. See some lineups with Woodard and Cousins and Jelon and Cousins to go with Jelon and Woodard on the court at the same time. Spread all 40 minutes between those three lineups.
I wasn't being clear. I don't want Jelon to start at point, I want him and buddy to start at the wings with Woodard. I would want him to play some point to give Woodard a break and then have cousins running the 2 in those cases. See some lineups with Woodard and Cousins and Jelon and Cousins to go with Jelon and Woodard on the court at the same time. Spread all 40 minutes between those three lineups.
No Booker at all?
i think Cousins and Woodward are the only 2 who play point gaurd..with one getting 25 min and the other 15.