Blake IS a basketball god

[stoopified]

I have followed OU basketball since the Bliss days and do not ever recall as dominant a rebounding performance by a Sooner as Blake has had in his first THREE games this season'I do not recall Tisdale or King or anyone else getting 18+ boards in a game much less doing it 3 times in a row.I know he can't continue this pace but still....


I understand the #1 pick talk now,before I thought well he is a good college player but so was Sheldon Williams.I am so glad we didn't lose Blake to an out of state school like we did Cartwright,Williams,Hopgood and other Oklahoma big men.

[Boomer.....]

He is definitely a very impressive player. You never see a big man with the speed, power and agility that he has. Plus he can dribble the ball up the court.

[Rock Hard Corn Frog]

IMO Blake has to stay at least 3 years (which won't happen) in order to be compared to Tisdale, who was simply so good for 3 years it was ridiculous. I will say even if Blake is here just 2 years he might be the best of the rest...and that includes some damn good players Mookie, King,Adams, etc.

He might turn out to be a better pro than even Tisdale though.

Don't want to hex him though. He has to stay healthy.

[soonervegas]

If he gets us to the final four in Capel's 3rd year....I put him at even par with Tisdale.

[Sooner04]

If he gets us to the final four in Capel's 3rd year....I put him at even par with Tisdale.

I respectfully disagree, mainly because I don't believe Blake will be able to get us there by himself. He'll need help from the other cogs.

2,661 points in three seasons. Consensus All-American as a true freshman, sophomore and junior. The greatest player in the history of the Big 8 Conference.

I don't think Blake can get there. Blake's All-World, Wayman was All-Galaxy.

[stoopified]

First of all I don't think getting to the Final Four is an accurrate measure of how good an individual player is,that is a team accomplishement.Second WT never made it to a Final Four,Elite Eight his junior year was the end of the line as OU was ousted by BJ Armstrong and Iowa.

IMHO measuring the greatness of a basketball player based largely on team accomplisments is a poor measuring stick.It would be like measuring QBs based on NCs.In that case the 2 best QBs in OU history would be Jimmy Harris ,Steve Davis.Likewise if Final Fours are the criteria for individual greatness than King,McGehee are the two best big men in modern OU history.

In football many think Heupel,White (and yes Bradford) are the best QBs in modern history even though Heupel is the only one with an NC.IMHO in basketball the greatest big men in modern OU history are Tisdale,Adams,King, in that order with Blake figuring to be in there after this year.

[Sooner04]

First of all I don't think getting to the Final Four is an accurrate measure of how good an individual player is,that is a team accomplishement.Second WT never made it to a Final Four,Elite Eight his senior year was the end of the line as OU was ousted by BJ Armstrong and Iowa.

We lost to Iowa in the Sweet 16 of '87 at the Kingdome in Seattle. I can't remember the name of the clown who hit the shot to beat us, but I ran across it on Youtube the other day. Ugh. UNLV was waiting on the winner, and I'm not sure we could've beaten them again. Arman "The Hammer" Gilliam, Freddie Banks, Mark Wade. Tough!

Wayman lost to Keith Lee and the Memphis State Tigers at Reunion Arena. I think Baskerville Holmes was on that team too for MSU. Billy sure would've enjoyed crashing the Big East party in Lexington that year.

[King Crimson]

Blake is unreal...and we're lucky to have him. But, 2 games into his sophomore season is a little early to rolling out the superlatives.

i ain't going to blame the young people for getting hyped, but don't jump ship as quickly when we don't go undefeated.

[stoopified]

We lost to Iowa in the Sweet 16 of '87 at the Kingdome in Seattle. I can't remember the name of the clown who hit the shot to beat us, but I ran across it on Youtube the other day. Ugh. UNLV was waiting on the winner, and I'm not sure we could've beaten them again. Arman "The Hammer" Gilliam, Freddie Banks, Mark Wade. Tough!

Wayman lost to Keith Lee and the Memphis State Tigers at Reunion Arena. I think Baskerville Holmes was on that team too for MSU. Billy sure would've enjoyed crashing the Big East party in Lexington that year.

You are right it was Memphis who beat us BUT my point is the same ,WT did NOT make aFinal Four.

KC normally I would agree that 3 games into a sophomore season is a little early to put Blake on OU's basketball Mt. Soonermore BUT what he has done against NCAA tourney team opposition is something NO ONE else at OU has ever done PERIOD aginst ANY team.Barring injury I think he will break all single season rebounding records.IF he stayed at OU for 3 years he would own all career rebounding marks and proably be a TOP 10,maybe even Top 5 scorer.

IF OU makes it to a Final Four this year, it will be a team accomplishment just lke Kennedy,McCalister,Tisdale,Bowie made the Elie Eight,Grant,King,Blaylock,Grace,Seiger, and company was a team effort.Brewer,White,McGehee,and crew in the Final Four was also a team effort..No man makes it into the Final Four alone unless his name is BIRD.

[King Crimson]

You are right it was Memphis who beat us BUT my point is the same ,WT did NOT make aFinal Four.

there's no comparison b/ween OU hoops after Billy Tubbs' and Kelvin's success to then.

what Tisdale did for OU basketball is unmeasurable.

we beat the #22 team in the nation *at home* in the first month of the season and we're already talking about this team better than '85? that's ridiculous.

[Sooner04]

You are right it was Memphis who beat us BUT my point is the same ,WT did NOT make aFinal Four.

I think we're going to have to agree to disagree here. I can't get past the three-time consensus All-American honors. Wayman was as good as it gets, regardless of whether we lost to Memphis by two or beat those dogs by 30.

[soonervegas]

We can all come back in April and talk about how I was right.....

[badger]

His dunking power is certainly sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet

[ouwapiti]

agree with most of what has been said....although......he's got a long way to go to be a 'back to basket, low post player'...ala tim duncan.....that being said, the low post is probably not his best position given his mobility and ball handling ability...definitely like his explosiveness on the boards....foul shooting has got to improve although it was very good against davidson....if not, the other team will use about 15-20 fouls on him per game

[8timechamps]

A couple of things:

First, (as was mentioned by King Crimson), beating the #22 ranked team, at home, very early in the season doesn't mean a whole lot right now. HOWEVER, if Curry is as good as everyone thinks he is (and given his performance last year, and already into this year), I think Davidson will be ranked the entire season. You take him off that team, and the game is put away by halftime.

Second, Comparing Griffin to Wayman is reaching at this point. I was fortunate enough to watch WT play in the Big 8 tourny in '85. I think he ended that season close to 60% average in fg. When Bookout had a big season in '04, I thought he could be the next coming of WT (not to knock King), and he was never able to become that player. I don't know how much of that was due to injuries or even the system, but there has yet to be another WT. Blake could be that guy, but I doubt he'll stay around long enough for us to find out.

On a side note, I don't know how much success Griffin will have in the NBA. He's certainly going to have much more difficulty being able to be more physical at the next level.

[stoopified]

there's no comparison b/ween OU hoops after Billy Tubbs' and Kelvin's success to then.

what Tisdale did for OU basketball is unmeasurable.

we beat the #22 team in the nation *at home* in the first month of the season and we're already talking about this team better than '85? that's ridiculous.

I agree that between Bruce Drake and the Tubbs -KS era OU basketball was non existant and WT coming to OU put OU b-ball on the map BUT do you not think Blake is doing the same for the Capel era?Because of Blake(and the coaching of Capel) we are getting top-notch recruits to OU in unprecedented numbers(especially for a three year period).

I have not and do not suggest that this team ranks with the '85-'86 Tisdale team or the '87-'88 NC runnerup team,what I am saying is that it is a great start on the road to that level and COULD be reached this year.Look at my preseason pick(season as I see it,hope it goes),I have OU competing for the Big 12 and going Sweet 16, not going Final Four.

I do proclaim that even though it is only 3 games into his sophomore year Blake has shown the skill level he has to be up there with WT,Adams,King.While Blake will not be a 3-time AA,in fact will not even be at OU for three years he is is showing a glimpse of greatness and over the season I think he will prove worthy INDEED of #23.

[8timechamps]

I agree that between Bruce Drake and the Tubbs -KS era OU basketball was non existant and WT coming to OU put OU b-ball on the map BUT do you not think Blake is doing the same for the Capel era?Because of Blake(and the coaching of Capel) we are getting top-notch recruits to OU in unprecedented numbers(especially for a three year period).

I have not and do not suggest that this team ranks with the '85-'86 Tisdale team or the '87-'88 NC runnerup team,what I am saying is that it is a great start on the road to that level and COULD be reached this year.Look at my preseason pick(season as I see it,hope it goes),I have OU competing for the Big 12 and going Sweet 16, not going Final Four.

I do proclaim that even though it is only 3 games into his sophomore year Blake has shown the skill level he has to be up there with WT,Adams,King.While Blake will not be a 3-time AA,in fact will not even be at OU for three years he is is showing a glimpse of greatness and over the season I think he will prove worthy INDEED of #23.

There's no doubt that Capel is bringing in recruits that could raise OU to never-before-seen levels (wow, did I just say that?). And, I agree that we will be competing for the conference title this year (and apparently for years to come).

Blake is a stud (I've been more impressed with his rebounding than anything else). IF he gets the help that I think the supporting cast is capable of, this team could make a serious run in March.

We won't see another player with the abilities of Curry. Even though Texas has Abrams, I don't see him as the threat Curry was/is. Even though Texas is ranked higher (and we all know how good preseason rankings are), I think we take the Big XII this year.

My question is, are we good enough to think #1 seed this year?

[Taxman71]

I think Blake will likely have a greater impact in the NBA player than Tiz, but I don't plan on seeing a better college player than WWT at OU in my lifetime. I was fortunate to attend most of his games in Norman and watch every televised game of his career and I am telling you, he was the best player on the court every game of his career, including the very first one.

[8timechamps]

I think Blake will likely have a greater impact in the NBA player than Tiz,

Really? I'd love to see that, but I just don't think he'll be able to "out-physical" players at the next level, like he does now.

[stoopified]

Really? I'd love to see that, but I just don't think he'll be able to "out-physical" players at the next level, like he does now.

If you think Blake is only about out-physicalling people,you haven't been paying attention.However that is the way WT played for around 12 years in the NBA and Blake is equally equipped to do the same.He is grabbing boards,and driving with finesseas well,and passing the ball(no offense but once WT got the ball it was GONE).

I agree that Blake COULD be a better NBA player than WT.IMHO Blake is a better ballhandler,plays harder and has a greater skill set than WT and yes I saw him play many times too.I loved WT,Choo,David Johnson and those guys(not McCalister so much).Is Blake a better player than WT?My answer at this point is NOT yet.

What I really love is that we have a passonate BASKETBALL thread going on and football season is still going hot and heavy.I don't recall a whole lot of passionate basketball talk around here even after football is over.