Eielson
3/28/2015, 03:47 PM
Last year I made a thread after our disappointing loss to ND State, and surprisingly, it wasn't too bad. Normally, pulling up old threads is painful for all, but I'm not too ashamed to post this link:
http://www.soonerfans.com/forums/showthread.php?182989-Looking-Forward&
I opened up with this statement:
Last night I vented quite a bit about Kruger. I've said plenty on that subject, so I'm not planning to use this thread to vent any further. He's not THE guy I want on my sideline for a crucial game, but if we get a good enough team, I don't expect him to sabotage it. He's certainly no Travis Ford. With that said, I think this team could be talented enough over the next two years that we could end Kansas' streak, and give Kruger his first outright regular season conference championship.
I stick by that statement 100%. Kruger did reach the Sweet 16 this year, but I can't say his coaching was that impressive. You could easily make the case that he was outcoached in all three games, but that might not be fair. Getting outdueled by Izzo isn't anything to hang your head about, and if we were looking for a new head coach, Archie Miller is the first guy I'd call. I'm not saying we should fire him; that last statement is if he were to hypothetically step away from the game, which I don't see happening anytime soon. I wouldn't say Kruger made any boneheaded decisions that cost us our game last night, but he was outmaneuvered by Izzo.
Additionally, I still stand by the statement that this team is talented enough that we could end Kansas' streak, and get Kruger his first ever outright conference championship. It's crazy to think that KSU is the team that kept us from claiming the conference crown, and that we would have shared the crown had we just held onto a 20 point lead against ISU in the second half.
I probably should wait to start a thread like this until I know what Buddy is doing, but I'm going to go ahead and assume he stays, which is far from certain. I'm also going to assume nothing unexpected happens like when M'Baye left.
Our only losses are Thomas and Bennett, and if you have followed my posts, you probably know I think of our only loss as Thomas. Bennett was so close to putting it together, but he was just too soft, and he got absolutely bullied by teams like KU and MSU. I just couldn't take it anymore. On paper, Thomas is a huge loss. He's our only low-post threat, and on a team that has very little half-court offense from its guards, that's crucial. He came up big for us on several occasions, but I never felt as if we were fully utilizing him, so his loss may not be as big as it should have been. It's definitely a noticeable hole to fill, though. Fortunately, we have a guy to replace him, and it's the guy I wrote about last year:
I expect Buford to step into Clark's role next year. He's our most highly rated recruit, and while he has plenty of things to work on, he appears our most college-ready player, and he's the only one I expect to start from day 1. I watched some highlights films of his, and I saw countless dunks. One in particular that stuck out to me was an offensive rebound that he semi-windmill dunked. He's not going to get confused with Vince Carter, but it took enough athleticism that I don't think many of our recent players could have done it other than Blake. His jump shot needs work, but apparently it is quickly developing, and he's supposedly become semi-reliable knocking down 3's as a trailer. If he can get them to respect his jump shot, he's going to be dangerous on offense, as he has a very quick first step and can get to the basket (and finish). I don't think he'll replace Cam's offensive presence as a freshman, but I'm very excited about his defense. One ESPN analyst claimed he was as good as any PF in the country at blocking shots. We sure could have used that this year, and I bet Kruger can't wait to get this kid on campus.
Most people tend to think he'll be a 3, and if we have to replace Buddy, that's certainly a reasonable idea. I like him a lot more as a 4 with range, though. I compared him to Clark last year, which made sense, because he was filling Clark's role, but I think he compares just as well with Osby. In reality, he's probably somewhere in between those two. When it comes to kids that haven't logged a single minute with us, I haven't been this excited since Willie Warren. I don't expect him to rebound as well as Spangler, but he should be a major improvement on offense, perimeter defense, and rim protecting.
I've been saying since Spangler's sophomore year here that I really like him, and that he's really helping our team, but if we want to win conference and make a Final Four run, he's going to have to come off the bench. We came surprisingly close this year, but to some extent, I'm still sticking with that statement. Almost everybody seems to have Spangler in the starting lineup, but I did pretty well with my prediction last year, so I'm going to muster up the courage to put together a different starting lineup. Khadeem Lattin was really coming on this year, and was the only quality player off of the bench for us. He's still raw, but he has the athleticism and work ethic to be great. I'm betting that he will get considerably better every year, and as I've said before, he was our best NBA prospect this year. I also think he has more offensive potential than most of us give him credit for. I, along with everybody else, cringed when he looked to score this year, but his jumper didn't look too bad. It needs some work, and I don't think he'll be a force on both ends of the court until his junior or senior year, but I think his jumper will be respectable next year. This is what I said about him last year, and it still seems about right:
As much as I think Buford will help, I think Lattin could be the real gem of this class. He is very raw, but his potential is through the roof. He's tall, athletic, runs the court really well, and has great shot blocking ability. Most of his early offense will come from transition dunks and offensive rebounds, but that's alright for now, because his defensive game is more developed. Given time, he could become quite a weapon on both ends of the floor, but we'll have to be patient with him. An ESPN analyst claimed he could develop into a player that is mentioned with Blake Griffin, Harvey Grant, and Waymon Tisdale. I wouldn't go that far, but while he isn't the best center right now, he's got as much potential as just about anybody.
As you've probably put together, this is my starting lineup:
Lattin
Buford
Cousins
Hield
Woodard
That's almost the exact same lineup I predicted for this year after last year's loss. The only difference was that Cousins outperformed my expectations, and we weren't able to pull in a big-time guard like Trier.
Speaking of Cousins, he got quite a bit of the blame for last night's loss. That's nonsense to me. Last year I said he needed develop into a lockdown defender. Not only was he one of the best defenders in the Big XII this year, but he also lead the conference in 3-Pt shooting percentage. That's his role. He locks down guys on defense, knocks down open three, and leads the team with intensity. He did a great job defensively, and only got one look from 3. It would have been nice if he'd have bailed our offense out, but just about everybody can take some blame for our offensive shortcomings other than Thomas. There's not a coach in the country that wouldn't be overjoyed to have Cousins. It's just not his role to be a big-time scorer.
Speaking of scoring, Booker had a dreadful season. I said we needed a three point shooter off the bench, and highlighted Booker as the guy. Unfortunately, he wasn't the guy. He saved our season against Dayton, and I started to have faith in him again, but more than anybody, he killed us last night. We still need that guy, and it might be Booker next year, but if Rashard Odomes comes ready to play, Booker might find his backside glued to the bench. With Christian James coming in as well, it's almost a given that we're just waiting for Walker's scholarship to run out. I don't wish ill of any of our players, and want them all to succeed, but it might be best for OU if Walker tried his luck somewhere else. James seems like he might be the better of the freshmen coming in, and could be the stud of this class long-term, but it doesn't sound like his offense is NCAA-ready yet, and we have an epidemic of that in our backcourt already.
I've got more I could say, but I've spent more time than I intended to already, so here's my predictions for next year:
30 wins, Conference Champions, Final Four. 2016 is our year.
http://www.soonerfans.com/forums/showthread.php?182989-Looking-Forward&
I opened up with this statement:
Last night I vented quite a bit about Kruger. I've said plenty on that subject, so I'm not planning to use this thread to vent any further. He's not THE guy I want on my sideline for a crucial game, but if we get a good enough team, I don't expect him to sabotage it. He's certainly no Travis Ford. With that said, I think this team could be talented enough over the next two years that we could end Kansas' streak, and give Kruger his first outright regular season conference championship.
I stick by that statement 100%. Kruger did reach the Sweet 16 this year, but I can't say his coaching was that impressive. You could easily make the case that he was outcoached in all three games, but that might not be fair. Getting outdueled by Izzo isn't anything to hang your head about, and if we were looking for a new head coach, Archie Miller is the first guy I'd call. I'm not saying we should fire him; that last statement is if he were to hypothetically step away from the game, which I don't see happening anytime soon. I wouldn't say Kruger made any boneheaded decisions that cost us our game last night, but he was outmaneuvered by Izzo.
Additionally, I still stand by the statement that this team is talented enough that we could end Kansas' streak, and get Kruger his first ever outright conference championship. It's crazy to think that KSU is the team that kept us from claiming the conference crown, and that we would have shared the crown had we just held onto a 20 point lead against ISU in the second half.
I probably should wait to start a thread like this until I know what Buddy is doing, but I'm going to go ahead and assume he stays, which is far from certain. I'm also going to assume nothing unexpected happens like when M'Baye left.
Our only losses are Thomas and Bennett, and if you have followed my posts, you probably know I think of our only loss as Thomas. Bennett was so close to putting it together, but he was just too soft, and he got absolutely bullied by teams like KU and MSU. I just couldn't take it anymore. On paper, Thomas is a huge loss. He's our only low-post threat, and on a team that has very little half-court offense from its guards, that's crucial. He came up big for us on several occasions, but I never felt as if we were fully utilizing him, so his loss may not be as big as it should have been. It's definitely a noticeable hole to fill, though. Fortunately, we have a guy to replace him, and it's the guy I wrote about last year:
I expect Buford to step into Clark's role next year. He's our most highly rated recruit, and while he has plenty of things to work on, he appears our most college-ready player, and he's the only one I expect to start from day 1. I watched some highlights films of his, and I saw countless dunks. One in particular that stuck out to me was an offensive rebound that he semi-windmill dunked. He's not going to get confused with Vince Carter, but it took enough athleticism that I don't think many of our recent players could have done it other than Blake. His jump shot needs work, but apparently it is quickly developing, and he's supposedly become semi-reliable knocking down 3's as a trailer. If he can get them to respect his jump shot, he's going to be dangerous on offense, as he has a very quick first step and can get to the basket (and finish). I don't think he'll replace Cam's offensive presence as a freshman, but I'm very excited about his defense. One ESPN analyst claimed he was as good as any PF in the country at blocking shots. We sure could have used that this year, and I bet Kruger can't wait to get this kid on campus.
Most people tend to think he'll be a 3, and if we have to replace Buddy, that's certainly a reasonable idea. I like him a lot more as a 4 with range, though. I compared him to Clark last year, which made sense, because he was filling Clark's role, but I think he compares just as well with Osby. In reality, he's probably somewhere in between those two. When it comes to kids that haven't logged a single minute with us, I haven't been this excited since Willie Warren. I don't expect him to rebound as well as Spangler, but he should be a major improvement on offense, perimeter defense, and rim protecting.
I've been saying since Spangler's sophomore year here that I really like him, and that he's really helping our team, but if we want to win conference and make a Final Four run, he's going to have to come off the bench. We came surprisingly close this year, but to some extent, I'm still sticking with that statement. Almost everybody seems to have Spangler in the starting lineup, but I did pretty well with my prediction last year, so I'm going to muster up the courage to put together a different starting lineup. Khadeem Lattin was really coming on this year, and was the only quality player off of the bench for us. He's still raw, but he has the athleticism and work ethic to be great. I'm betting that he will get considerably better every year, and as I've said before, he was our best NBA prospect this year. I also think he has more offensive potential than most of us give him credit for. I, along with everybody else, cringed when he looked to score this year, but his jumper didn't look too bad. It needs some work, and I don't think he'll be a force on both ends of the court until his junior or senior year, but I think his jumper will be respectable next year. This is what I said about him last year, and it still seems about right:
As much as I think Buford will help, I think Lattin could be the real gem of this class. He is very raw, but his potential is through the roof. He's tall, athletic, runs the court really well, and has great shot blocking ability. Most of his early offense will come from transition dunks and offensive rebounds, but that's alright for now, because his defensive game is more developed. Given time, he could become quite a weapon on both ends of the floor, but we'll have to be patient with him. An ESPN analyst claimed he could develop into a player that is mentioned with Blake Griffin, Harvey Grant, and Waymon Tisdale. I wouldn't go that far, but while he isn't the best center right now, he's got as much potential as just about anybody.
As you've probably put together, this is my starting lineup:
Lattin
Buford
Cousins
Hield
Woodard
That's almost the exact same lineup I predicted for this year after last year's loss. The only difference was that Cousins outperformed my expectations, and we weren't able to pull in a big-time guard like Trier.
Speaking of Cousins, he got quite a bit of the blame for last night's loss. That's nonsense to me. Last year I said he needed develop into a lockdown defender. Not only was he one of the best defenders in the Big XII this year, but he also lead the conference in 3-Pt shooting percentage. That's his role. He locks down guys on defense, knocks down open three, and leads the team with intensity. He did a great job defensively, and only got one look from 3. It would have been nice if he'd have bailed our offense out, but just about everybody can take some blame for our offensive shortcomings other than Thomas. There's not a coach in the country that wouldn't be overjoyed to have Cousins. It's just not his role to be a big-time scorer.
Speaking of scoring, Booker had a dreadful season. I said we needed a three point shooter off the bench, and highlighted Booker as the guy. Unfortunately, he wasn't the guy. He saved our season against Dayton, and I started to have faith in him again, but more than anybody, he killed us last night. We still need that guy, and it might be Booker next year, but if Rashard Odomes comes ready to play, Booker might find his backside glued to the bench. With Christian James coming in as well, it's almost a given that we're just waiting for Walker's scholarship to run out. I don't wish ill of any of our players, and want them all to succeed, but it might be best for OU if Walker tried his luck somewhere else. James seems like he might be the better of the freshmen coming in, and could be the stud of this class long-term, but it doesn't sound like his offense is NCAA-ready yet, and we have an epidemic of that in our backcourt already.
I've got more I could say, but I've spent more time than I intended to already, so here's my predictions for next year:
30 wins, Conference Champions, Final Four. 2016 is our year.