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View Full Version : Keys to the Upcoming Season



stoopified
7/17/2005, 01:18 AM
While there are may to be sure two jump out at me point guard developement and post defense.Regarding Point guard development I think Sampson can be more patient ten you might guess at first glance.Everett was often our best point operator last year and wiill be in the lineup .IF wilson progresses quickly he may swiftly join Everett in the starting lineup ,if not a shooter such as Neal may get the early nod.I personally would not discount Johnson as a point because he averaged 7.7 ast a game in hs so he does KNOW how to pass.
As for post defense what I am about to suggest may sound crazy but here goes.I would start Gray and Longar and bring Book in off the bench. Longar is quicker,longer(no pun),more athletic,better shot blocker. Book is smarter,more mature,a true team player.I think he would fill the Gilbert role well and then some.We would also have Griffin and Carter( I really do not know how their game fits yet) I like the idea of having at least one young post starting to set up next years' team as well as give veteran leaderhip off the bench to this team..Just food for thought.

OUgradJeff
7/19/2005, 10:43 AM
While there are may to be sure two jump out at me point guard developement and post defense.Regarding Point guard development I think Sampson can be more patient ten you might guess at first glance.Everett was often our best point operator last year and wiill be in the lineup .IF wilson progresses quickly he may swiftly join Everett in the starting lineup ,if not a shooter such as Neal may get the early nod.I personally would not discount Johnson as a point because he averaged 7.7 ast a game in hs so he does KNOW how to pass.
As for post defense what I am about to suggest may sound crazy but here goes.I would start Gray and Longar and bring Book in off the bench. Longar is quicker,longer(no pun),more athletic,better shot blocker. Book is smarter,more mature,a true team player.I think he would fill the Gilbert role well and then some.We would also have Griffin and Carter( I really do not know how their game fits yet) I like the idea of having at least one young post starting to set up next years' team as well as give veteran leaderhip off the bench to this team..Just food for thought.

First off, I think you meant Walker, not Wilson. I read the season preview in the new Sooners Illustrated & Sampson said he expects Walker to start from day 1.

I'm excited that all of our guards are tall & athletic. None of them are shorter than 6-3.

The problem with starting Longar w/Gray is on the other side of the court. Opposing defenses will just double team Gray. It'll be very interesting to see how much progress Longar has made. I love Sampson as our coach, but his track record of developing Big guys isn't good.

You know Sampson doesn't like using more than a 8 man rotation, so who's the odd man out? It'll will be interesting to see who Sampson redshirts. It'll either be Godbold, Johnson, or Griffin (maybe Longar if he has a redshirt left). Sampson has said that Johnson will be our most athletic guard this year & called Griffin an absolute man down low, so it's not a shoe-in that it'll be a true frosh. I'm sure it'll be based on team chemisrty as to who'll redshirt & he's got a lot of options. Look at the roster for the upcomming season:

PG Walker, 6-3 (only true PG, won't redshirt, will start)
G Everett, 6-4 (can do alot, has experience, Sr, won't redshirt)
G Johnson, 6-3 (can do a lot, better shooter than Everett, True Fr, redshirt possible)
SG, Neal, 6-4 ("A much more athletic Kelley Newton"-KS, 1st team JuCo all-American, won't redshirt)
SF Godbold, 6-5 (solid all-around, a little raw, lot's of upside, still young, true Soph, redshirt possible)
SF Carter, 6-6 (solid all-around, not as good of an outside shooter as Godbold, but can play inside more than Godbold, think taller Nolan Johnson w/more shooting range, can't redshirt [already used it])
PF Griffin, 6-6 (short, young, inexperienced, but very athletic/physical/strong, probably redshirts)
PF Bookout, 6-8 (will start)
PF Gray, 6-9 (will start)
PF Longar, 6-11 (will he improve? I believe he already used his redshirt)

The potential just oozes off of this roster. We're tall & athletic, have good outside shooters & great inside scoring. Injuries should play a big role in who our team will be by conference season.

King Crimson
7/19/2005, 11:39 AM
hopefully, the increase in size at the guard position will translate into improved perimeter D--and not getting abused by teams with big guards--like Tech last year.

i'd say dealing with other teams sagging on Taj is also a key--judging from last year post-OSU we did this sometimes well, sometimes not usually depending on 3 shooting. if people want to go straight man like Eddie did, interior passing with Gray and Book should be a strength.

being small on the perimeter also allowed teams to push us out on the O end, so we were trying to start the offense 40 feet from the basket--usually after letting 10 needless seconds run of the shot clock playing catch at the timeline.

Sybarite
7/19/2005, 01:11 PM
I don't know that Kelvin objects to using more than an eight-man rotation. It's just that we've never had more than eight. In fact, we've never really had eight that were dependable. I tend to think that if he had ten, he might use all ten in a pressure defense.

OUgradJeff
7/19/2005, 04:45 PM
I don't know that Kelvin objects to using more than an eight-man rotation. It's just that we've never had more than eight. In fact, we've never really had eight that were dependable. I tend to think that if he had ten, he might use all ten in a pressure defense.

It used to be true that we never had more than 7-8 who could play, but that hasn't always been the case the last several years. We'd have players, they'd get frustrated my little playing time, then leave. (Foust, Turner, Tobias, etc...).

KS is big on team chemistry & it's his philosphy that it's much easier to maintain chemistry in-game if only 7-8 guys are used. Not saying an old dog can't learn new tricks, but he has said this before.

Whatever happens, it's probably going to be good.

Sybarite
7/19/2005, 05:23 PM
Foust left before he could become eligible. Tobias had some strange reason involving his father. Turner was simply not ready for major minutes.

You need people you can count on. These weren't reliable people.

stoopified
7/27/2005, 02:45 PM
Jeff .you are right I meant Walker.While I wnderstand what everyone is saying about Gray being double-teamed if he paired as a starter with Longar, what I am thinking of is that Kelvin continually talked about how gifted L2 is and how much more of an impact he would have this year.Just because I am suggesting L2 ro start does not mean he would get the majority of playing time,just more playing time.Book is the player mature enough ( like Gilbert) to handle coming off the bench as a senior and not let it affect hjm.
As for the point guard play and our guards in general I am very excited.While Sampson will give Walker every chance to be our floor leader my point was simply that we have other options should Walker be slow to develop or not pan out. That has happened before and Walker WAS a last minute recruit.The athletism and size of our guards should make switch-offs on D easier for us to avoid mismatches and taller guards traditionally penetrate zones better from 1-4 set(for example Nolan Johnson, Terreii Everrett .Did I mention that improved play by Gray( USA trial play) should allow him to pass to our cutting,slashing ,tall guards for easy baskets when the double-team is used.
While in looking at other Big 12 recruiting classes I see collections of stars, not parts to a team,Kelvin 's class and team may not have the flash that is in Austin,Lawrence,or Stillwater but it was good enough to win a Big 12 Title and I think he can do it again.Our new asst coaches (Hoffman,McCallum) were hired IMHO to help Kelvin with developement of offense and big men which have been a weakness for uss.
That all stems from the humble coaching beginngs at Montana Tech and WSU, where Kelvin said it was hard to recruit big men and talented ball players.He learned to win with D and a three guard offense.( This is all in is book )I think to a large degree Kelvin still thinks that way.Which is why I think Hoffman and McCallum were hired as they have HC time and a different point of view,namely offense.It must of hepled some as we increased our fg% by about 8 % and our 3pt% by about 4%.
In any case I like our chances at another title and hopefully at least a SWEET 16 run .BOOMER SOONER