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View Full Version : Rivals Ranks OU #7 for 2008/9 Season



cheezyq
6/19/2008, 08:55 AM
Impressive. It's much higher than I would have expected, but we should be a very good team next year. Oddly, I didn't see oSu anywhere on this list....hmmmm. ;)

http://collegebasketball.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=818641



7. OKLAHOMA
Big man Blake Griffin was considered a first-round lock, but chose to stay in school. A glance at his supporting cast next season may have played a role. The Sooners are adding five-star guard Willie Warren, who likely will be playing with Griffin in the NBA someday. Experienced guards Tony Crocker (11.3 ppg) and Austin Johnson (8.6 ppg) are back, and UCLA transfer Ryan Wright will help make up for the loss of center Longar Longar.

soonerfan28
6/19/2008, 09:10 AM
I can only hope that we aren't that high when the season starts. I wouldn't want that to go to our heads. I really hope we're like 20 or 21.

Eielson
6/19/2008, 10:37 AM
and UCLA transfer Ryan Wright will help make up for the loss of center Longar Longar

That is nice to hear. Apparently they think fairly highly of him. Of course, you just can't replace a name like that.

IronHorseSooner
6/19/2008, 11:03 AM
and UCLA transfer Ryan Wright will help make up for the loss of center Longar Longar

Well, they are both foreign players and really tall, so, there's a start!...Seriously, I agree that OU is the team to beat next year in the Big XII...As well, don't be surprised if Blake has a better year than Hansborough.

badger
6/19/2008, 11:13 AM
Well, they are both foreign players and really tall, so, there's a start!...Seriously, I agree that OU is the team to beat next year in the Big XII...As well, don't be surprised if Blake has a better year than Hansborough.

Blake is more talented than Hansborough. Psycho T or whatever they're calling him is yet another college star that will flop at the next level. He's the type of player that might have developed more of a mid range shot if he had spent a few years in Europe like Dirk Nowitzki, not to mention might have had a harder skull for Dukies to crack had he grown up in the land of soccer and rugby. Tyler is an accident waiting to happen and will likely have a shortened stint in the league due to injuries because of his style of play. When an NBA player punches him instead of a softie d00ker, he is going to stay down.

Blake is a very talented player that has not had the chance to show what he can really do yet. He will be picked ahead of Tyler and have a much longer career in the NBA.

starrca23
6/19/2008, 01:24 PM
Tyler Hansbrough=Eric Montross

badger
6/19/2008, 02:10 PM
Tyler...
http://media.scout.com/Media/Image/26/262822.jpg
is...
http://assets.espn.go.com/photo/2008/0317/ncb_ap_laettner_65.jpg
Christian Laettner. :)

Eielson
6/19/2008, 05:03 PM
When an NBA player punches him instead of a softie d00ker, he is going to stay down.

Outside of Kermit Washington, I'm not impressed with the punches I've seen in the NBA.

the_ouskull
6/19/2008, 07:14 PM
Of course, you just can't replace a name like that.

I pray to all things holy that you are referring, literally, to his name, and not in any way, shape, or form, referencing trying to replace his on-the-court aptitude. If that's the case, I have a suggestion on how to replace Longar's "production." We should play 4-on-5. Think of all of the turnovers we'd save... not to mention the increase in ball movement. We'd sacrifice a little bit of rebounding... around what, 4 or 5 a game... and never more than 5 or 6 in a game that meant something...?

To paraphrase a great OU coach...

"I think we can find someone to catch 8 rebounds a game."

the_ouskull

Eielson
6/19/2008, 08:21 PM
I pray to all things holy that you are referring, literally, to his name, and not in any way, shape, or form, referencing trying to replace his on-the-court aptitude. If that's the case, I have a suggestion on how to replace Longar's "production." We should play 4-on-5. Think of all of the turnovers we'd save... not to mention the increase in ball movement. We'd sacrifice a little bit of rebounding... around what, 4 or 5 a game... and never more than 5 or 6 in a game that meant something...?

To paraphrase a great OU coach...

"I think we can find someone to catch 8 rebounds a game."

the_ouskull

1. Yes, at that moment I was referring to his name
2. Shut up. He didn't suck and team struggled without him. He was probably our best player when healthy outside of Blake.

the_ouskull
6/20/2008, 01:48 AM
1. Yes, at that moment I was referring to his name
2. Shut up. He didn't suck and team struggled without him. He was probably our best player when healthy outside of Blake.

1. Yes, I know. I was performing jokeration.
2. That says a lot more about the quality of the rest of our team than it does the ability of Longar Longar. There are some disillusioned souls out there that think he actually has a chance of going in the NBA draft; first round. (I could see him going late 2nd round at the very, very best, and even then to a team like the Spurs, who aren't afraid to let someone try to prove themselves in the "minor leagues," either overseas or the D-League.

Also, I wouldn't necessarily say "best," so much as "most consistent." You knew he was going to get 15/10 against the North South West Tech State's of the world, and he was going to get about 6/3 against any team that could remotely match up with him, either height or strength-wise.

He played his heart out here at OU, and I'll respect him for that for as long as I'm able to remember him. But, I'm also always going to view him as unfulfilled potential. I think that we're going to be a much better offensive team this season without him in the lineup, and, frankly, defensively, he was mostly tall and fairly athletic. Not particularly strong. Not particularly "savvy." Just tall and fairly athletic. I think that we can coach someone else up to do the same thing for us... He started developing offensively late in his career, and was a decent (but no better) post option for us at times. But, when the guy's entering his senior season and people are still talking about his "potential..." It's time to move on to the next whiskey bar, ladies and gents.

the_ouskull

stoopified
6/24/2008, 10:28 AM
1. Yes, I know. I was performing jokeration.
2. That says a lot more about the quality of the rest of our team than it does the ability of Longar Longar. There are some disillusioned souls out there that think he actually has a chance of going in the NBA draft; first round. (I could see him going late 2nd round at the very, very best, and even then to a team like the Spurs, who aren't afraid to let someone try to prove themselves in the "minor leagues," either overseas or the D-League.

Also, I wouldn't necessarily say "best," so much as "most consistent." You knew he was going to get 15/10 against the North South West Tech State's of the world, and he was going to get about 6/3 against any team that could remotely match up with him, either height or strength-wise.

He played his heart out here at OU, and I'll respect him for that for as long as I'm able to remember him. But, I'm also always going to view him as unfulfilled potential. I think that we're going to be a much better offensive team this season without him in the lineup, and, frankly, defensively, he was mostly tall and fairly athletic. Not particularly strong. Not particularly "savvy." Just tall and fairly athletic. I think that we can coach someone else up to do the same thing for us... He started developing offensively late in his career, and was a decent (but no better) post option for us at times. But, when the guy's entering his senior season and people are still talking about his "potential..." It's time to move on to the next whiskey bar, ladies and gents.

the_ouskullI think you are being just a tad harsh on L2.He IS not a great player but a very solid college player and I think would have shown more this season if he hadn't played half the season on a fractured leg.He was a good passer in the post and had 15 foot range on his J which helped create room for Blake.That ability to play away from the basket is what OU WILL miss the most.Wright will give OU a stronger second lowpost option to Blake than L2 but has no range(according to all I have heard,read) and that COULD create space problems down low.

As for the assesrtion that L2 played bad D? His biggest problems came when he faced multiple big bodies on one team without any bigs to back him.IMHO at WORST he was an average defender. As for the assertion that he was turnover prone,he only had 11 more turnovers in 33 games than Blake(.3 per game).

I do not believe he will be a star in the NBA but I think he COULD be a contributor(4-5 ppg,4-5rpg) .I think if for no other reason than he is tall and athleic he will be in the NBA at least a couple of years on the end of someone's bench.I have seen far worse players sitting on NBA benches.

To get back to the point of the thread,I think that ranking and the favorites role in the Big 12 is premature.I think we COULD be a TOP 10 team and COULD compete for the Big 12 title but I think it is more realistic to temper OUr expectaqtions.I'm thinking 2nd-3rd in the conference and Sweet 16.If we do better,it will be a pleasent surprise.

the_ouskull
6/24/2008, 11:53 AM
The current NBA player most similar to Longar is probably Saer Sene. I'm going to have to loo...

...okay, got him.

He's of similar size (6'11", 230) to Longar, and of similar athleticism. He also only averaged 2.3 ppg, 1.2 rpg, and 0.5 bpg in a shade under 5 minutes per. Nowhere NEAR the 5 and 5 you're saying, which would, frankly, be VERY optimistic in regards to Longar.

In order to be more of an NBA than Sene, Longar would have to spend the next few years in the weight room, going crazy, basically. Steroids, HGH, whatever... but, at that point, Longar would be 27-28 years old, and still unproven at the professional level. There are always going to be athletic, tall guys who teams will take a look at, yes, but the trend is to go younger, not older. The list of guys who made the NBA for the first time at age 28 is a small one, to be sure. The list of guys who made the NBA with a history of injuries at age 28 is even smaller. He's been in a great weight room for the past five years, and he's managed to gain only 20ish pounds, almost no athleticism, and very little in the way of offensive awareness and footwork, and very little in the way of defensive discipline. (How many times has he had to sit for foul trouble over the years...?)

I love Longar for being a Sooner, and for what he gave OU while he was here... but I've read about his "potential" for years, and about his pro potential for the past few as well, and it's just NOT happening.

His one chance...? Go D-league now, prove himself there. However, he's not a great offensive rebounder for his size, and in the D-league, without any ball-handling ability, he's going to have to hope he lands on a team with an unselfish backcourt. A LOT of the guards in the D-league are there BECAUSE they're selfish...

I would LOVE to be wrong about this guy and his pro potential, but I'm not. He grabbed double-digit rebounds twice in his whole senior year, against Gardner-Webb and TCU, and only nine times in his whole four-year career. (Chaminade, Coppin State, and SMU were three of the other seven...) Yes, he may have played part of the season injured, but it's not like he was set to break out and turn into Dwight Howard before the injury. It's not like he was a drop-step away from being Shaq on Jenny Craig.

I wish him all the best, and I thank him for leaving it all on the court at OU, but I'm glad that we have an opportunity to move on to the next project now.

the_ouskull