Jordan Brand Classic

[soonerfan28]

Anybody think Warren will have the most points again? Anybody think he'll actually get some recognition? Anybody going to be watching?

[Curly Bill]

Watching what?

[soonerfan28]

The Jordan Brand Classic Saturday night.

[stoopified]

If I have the chance,I'll watch.To all the other ?,I have no idea.

[sooner2b09]

Bold prediction: 123 points, mark it down

[soonerfan28]

Bold prediction: 123 points, mark it down

How many assists?

[Curly Bill]

How many assists?

with 123 points I'm gonna say he's doing more shooting then passing, so I'll say...about....ZERO.

[sooner2b09]

with 123 points I'm gonna say he's doing more shooting then passing, so I'll say...about....ZERO.

agreed

[jccouger]

Yes. No. Yes.

[soonerfan28]

Yes. No. Yes.

That was my thought exactly.

[birddog]

any updates on ww?

[Big Red Ron]

Anyone watch the game? Was it yesterday?

[sooner2b09]

watched about 2 min. WW wasnt in the game, I cant find the box score all I can find is articles and he isnt in any of them.

[mizzOUstu702]

2-7 with 4 points in 19 minutes. 0-2 from long-range, 2 assists, 3 offensive/total boards, no steals, but 1 block! Meh, not as good as the McD's game, but oh well.

http://www.nike.com/jumpman23/classic/pdf/08NatBox.htm

[the_ouskull]

It's to be expected. Only the truly elite players have consistently good games against the highest levels of competition. He's a really good player, and I'm incredibly excited about his choice of college. PLEASE do not misunderstand that. However, a large part of why players choose the schools that they choose comes down to coaching. Only a handful of kids each year would be able to do the prep-to-pro thing, even if it were still allowed. The last year they allowed it, I happened to be (lucky enough, ohmyGodness to be) at a couple of the practice sessions that they were holding at OkCU. I got to see most of those kids that declared out of high school and were drafted in 2004; and I got to see them going up against each other. It was glorious. But, here's what I saw/thought about them...

-- Rudy Gay - Man, he's going to be really good if he ever learns how to shoot.
-- Al Jefferson - At the time of the McDonald's game, I thought that he was the most NBA-ready out of that whole class. He was unstoppable in practice. Howard, Davis, Morris (lol), etc... none of those guys could stop him. However, his issue was the same as "Big Baby's..." Conditioning.
-- J.R. Smith - I thought I was looking at the next M.J. No kidding. This guy had some of the sickest dunks I've ever seen. He had (has) a 48" vertical. He was the first person on the practice court, for either team, every time I saw them, and he was the last one to leave. He shot 3's, with accuracy, from 10' behind the arc. He pulled up mid-range jumpers with stop-on-a-dime accuracy, and the height from which he released the ball was Jordanesque. (Seriously...) It's a shame they paid him BEFORE the NBA season started... (How much better would that make the NBA...? You don't get paid until AFTER each game... and, you only get paid based on your contribution to the team, in practice as well as the games. That'd be awesome. Then Stephon Marbury's money could go to David Lee like it deserves to.)
-- Sebastian Telfair - I thought the same thing about him that I thought all throughout his junior and senior years of high school... He's good, but he can't shoot... at all... and he only plays defense when his "rep" is on the line. i.e. - he's no Darius Washington.
-- Darius Washington - I loved this kid from jump. When he missed those free throws and nobody knew who he was, I felt soooo bad for him. I feel like those misses are the reason that nobody knows who he is now. He used to KILL Telfair in their individual matchups. It's a lot easier to guard someone when you know that, under no circumstances, will they ever hit a jump shot. But, Washington was a good defender on players OTHER than Telfair too.
-- Shawn Livingston - Every time I saw him play, I thought, "Man, he just doesn't look healthy." Then, I actually had a chance to meet him. Then I thought, "Man, he's tall and athletic. BUT, he's also about 150-160 pounds, which at 5'9" is okay. He's 6'8". That could be a problem at some point." And, the kicker... "It's a good thing he's going to college. Maybe Coach K will be able to put some weight on him." Heh. Oops. I guess he went straight to the NBA, and was involved in as many YouTube videos views as Vince Carter's dunk over Fredrick Weis... only Livingston's video was, to say the least, NOT the good kind of highlight.

So, I guess what I'm saying is, we can't judge all of Willie's ability (which I am not saying anybody was doing) based on his dominating one game, OR his playing poorly in another. He's going to get a lot of coaching between now and the first time we see him in the Crimson and Cream. Let's not anoint him our savior or start nay saying just yet.

- What he isn't: Hollis Price
- What he IS: A highly-talented, athletic player who is capable of handling the ball, perhaps even at the elite college level. He is young, and he is enthusiastic. He will be given a chance to earn the starting job at a position at which we NEED someone to assert themselves as a starter; and one that can play at least at a CONSISTENT level, if not a high one. And, given time to develop, he could be all of that and more.

I'm pretty excited about next season. I think we're going to do good things, post-Longar.

the_ouskull

[Big Red Ron]

To be fair, Hollis wasn't really Hollis until he was a soph. Mostly because he was so dang little and he needed to figure out to get his shot off when defended by a bigger player (almost every game).

I think Warren has the size to be a contributor as a frosh. I'm thinking 10 ppg, 4 apg and 1.8 spg