Where Does Khadeem Lattin Fit With Oklahoma Sooners? >>> HoopsHabit

[BigTime]

Where Does Khadeem Lattin Fit With Oklahoma Sooners? >>> HoopsHabit

http://hoopshabit.com/2014/08/08/khadeem-lattin-fit-oklahoma-sooners/

 

[BCSooners]

Re: Where Does Khadeem Lattin Fit With Oklahoma Sooners? >>> HoopsHabit

The way this guy talks you think we're going to be 10-20 next year.

 

[BoomSoon]

Re: Where Does Khadeem Lattin Fit With Oklahoma Sooners? >>> HoopsHabit

Look at what Kruger and this staff did with Joel Anthony at UNLV. He's been in the NBA something like 6 or 7 years as an "undersized" 6-9 center. I have a feeling they know what they are doing.

Oddly written article.

 

[skyvue]

Re: Where Does Khadeem Lattin Fit With Oklahoma Sooners? >>> HoopsHabit

Oddly written article.

There's a very good chance it was written in his parents' basement.

I have nothing against bloggers -- I'm a blogger myself -- but I don't like sites that don't let you know up front exactly what they are.

 

[AdaSooner]

Re: Where Does Khadeem Lattin Fit With Oklahoma Sooners? >>> HoopsHabit

Oddly written article.

If that's another way to say this is not a well written article, I agree 100%.

I also question the writer's knowledge of his subject matter. Khadeem is listed as a forward on Soonersports.com, the position Daniel's chose to write about as a self-appointed advisor to Lon Kruger. The only player on our roster who is listed as a center is Jamuni McNeace (a name he spelled incorrectly in this article).

As for Khadeem Lattin, I think he has a much brighter future in basketball than Cody Daniel's does as a sports reporter. Khadeem is the perfect fit for this OU team, as well as Coach Kruger's style of play. Sure, he needs to add a few pounds of muscle to his frame so he can bang with the bigs in the Big 12. Aside from that, I believe he has all of the tools to be a star someday.

Okay, I'll admit that I have been a little harsh in my criticism of Mr. Daniel. I'm sure he's a fine young man. But, if he wants to attract readers to his web site, he needs to do a better job of researching the things he writes about. If he continues to write articles like this, his web site will not be "habit" forming for this Sooner fan.

 

[bocabull]

Re: Where Does Khadeem Lattin Fit With Oklahoma Sooners? >>> HoopsHabit

Cut the kid some slack. He tried to spice up his article with a little flamboyance. But his general thesis was accurate.

 

[Salt City Sooner]

Re: Where Does Khadeem Lattin Fit With Oklahoma Sooners? >>> HoopsHabit

I guess this guy's definition of a non-"feeble" lineup is the '83 Sixers.

 

[AdaSooner]

Re: Where Does Khadeem Lattin Fit With Oklahoma Sooners? >>> HoopsHabit

Cut the kid some slack. He tried to spice up his article with a little flamboyance. But his general thesis was accurate.

I admitted that I was a little tough on the kid. It just struck me as funny that he based the points he made on the notion that Lattin was being brought in to play the five spot. If he had done his homework before he sat down to write the article, he would have known that OU's coaching staff doesn't see him that way.

Not that it matters all that much, but Khadeem is listed as a forward. College players are so versatile these days, it's hard to separate the two in most offenses. True college centers have been a rare commodity the past couple of decades.

 

[usedtobe1]

Re: Where Does Khadeem Lattin Fit With Oklahoma Sooners? >>> HoopsHabit

I doubt if Ryan Spangler was ever recruited as a center or to play the five. Sometimes you just do the best you can with what you have. That's why I'm hopeful for Thomas to play this coming season. After that we will have Manyang to play the five for a couple of years.

 

[bocabull]

Re: Where Does Khadeem Lattin Fit With Oklahoma Sooners? >>> HoopsHabit

To be fair both Rivals and ESPN recruiting services list Lattin as a center. The kid says he's not ready to play center now and will end up at forward in a Cameron Clark role ... which is exactly what's expected.

 

[skyvue]

Re: Where Does Khadeem Lattin Fit With Oklahoma Sooners? >>> HoopsHabit

To hear him tell it, you'd also think the majority of the teams in D1 had three seven-footers as returning starters. We're not all that undersized, for pete's sake. College hoops is not really a big man's game these days (and it hasn't been since this kid was in diapers, I'm guessing), so his point is at best overstated.

 

[SoonerTraveler]

Re: Where Does Khadeem Lattin Fit With Oklahoma Sooners? >>> HoopsHabit

How many D1 teams have even one (1) "true center" on their roster?

How many teams in the Big-12?

OU's group of freshmen give the Sooners added size, length and athleticism. There is no downside to that!

 

[BigTime]

Re: Where Does Khadeem Lattin Fit With Oklahoma Sooners? >>> HoopsHabit

Plus we have a true "center" coming next year!

 

[SoonerTraveler]

Re: Where Does Khadeem Lattin Fit With Oklahoma Sooners? >>> HoopsHabit

Plus we have a true "center" coming next year!

Yes, but we will have to wait and see if he will become good enough to be a starter.

 

[MNsooner]

Re: Where Does Khadeem Lattin Fit With Oklahoma Sooners? >>> HoopsHabit

To hear him tell it, you'd also think the majority of the teams in D1 had three seven-footers as returning starters. We're not all that undersized, for pete's sake. College hoops is not really a big man's game these days (and it hasn't been since this kid was in diapers, I'm guessing), so his point is at best overstated.

Yeah. The days of Sampson and Olajuwon are long gone.

I think the reason is that bigs usually take longer to develop and the moment they show potential the NBA will come knocking. So very talented "true" centers play college for more than a year and most of them aren't ready to contribute much other than their size.

 

[SoonerinNC]

Re: Where Does Khadeem Lattin Fit With Oklahoma Sooners? >>> HoopsHabit

It just seems a bit unusual to form the kind of judgment the blogger has developed on a player who has yet to see his first Div I minute. Those kind of analyses are usually reserved for the players that Kentucky "recruits".

He is also not considering the type of game Kruger coaches. He wants long athletic players who can run the floor. Lattin seems to fit that mold. Further Kruger does a great job of adjusting his defenses to offset the size disadvantage.

Last year there were 3 tough centers in the conference. Ridley, Embiid and Austin. The first time we played them they averaged 10.7 points and 7.7 rebounds. Six of the total points were treys by Austin.

The second round was a different story as they averaged 17.3 and 11 rebounds with 9 of Austin's 21 points from behind the arc. Possibly the difference was the wearing down of Spangler late in the season.

He also seems to just focus on Lattin's weight rather than his overall game.

Just seems like a strange article, like he was hard up for something to write.