ORUTerry Posted October 3, 2014 Share Posted October 3, 2014 Practice starts today (October 4th) and I thought it might be interesting to consider what holes we have in the lineup and what we have coming back – as well as how the new players might contribute. I use conference statistics to compare/contrast players. First, we lost four players from last year’s squad: Glover, Jackson, Kaufman and Byford. Combined, they provided 32.2 ppg – or 44.4% of our scoring and 29.7% of our rebounding. Glover and Jackson were the biggest producers. Glover averaged 22.5 ppg with a 52.7% FG% (60.0% from the 3-point line). He grabbed 6.5 rebounds per game and shot 82.1% from the free throw line. Jackson averaged 4.4 points per game (32.8% FG% and 25.0% from the 3-point line). He shot 89.7% from the free throw line and grabbed 1.9 rpg. Glover’s points and FG% will be important to replace. He was a definite matchup problem and could consistently make the baseline jumper. Jackson was the best distributor - until he was hurt late in the season. Returning Players Obi Emegano is arguably our most important player – but saw limited action because of an early season injury. From what we saw in those games (and when he was at Western Illinois), Obi is a tough defender, rebounder and scorer. He is an important piece for ORU’s season. Korey Billbury averaged 18.2 points per game (47.0%) and shot 38.2% from behind the 3-point line. He also led the team in rebounds (7.3 rpg) and had 2.8 assists per game – or 0.08 per minute. Billbury is a very good all-around player and, along with Emegano, will be key for ORU’s season. Bobby Word averaged 9.1 points per game (42.1%) and shot 42.2% from behind the 3-point line. He developed into a long range threat that ORU needed against zone defenses. He needs to work on his defense and ball handling. He did well considering he was a freshman. Brandon Conley averaged 6.0 points per game (64.5%) and 4.8 rebounds per game or 0.26 per minute. He shot 57.1% from the free throw line and was 2nd (behind Glover) in blocks (1.6). We need Conley to stay on the floor to provide rebounding and a defensive presence in the block. Our guards need to find him and get him the ball in the post. Conley plays hard and provides the team with energy. Jabbar Singleton averaged 4.50 points per game (36.8%) and shot 35.3% from behind the 3-point line. He only shot 54.3% from the free throw line – not good, especially for a guard. He was 3rd (behind Jackson and Billbury) is assists (2.72 apg) - or 0.10 assists per minute. His role needs to be at point guard, but I’m not sure if he has that mindset. He is a tough kid (football player) and that is helpful. Drew Wilson is a very athletic player who should provide us with a defensive presence under the basket and grab rebounds. He averaged 2.9 rpg – or 0.19 per minute. He will not be called on to score (averaged 2.8 ppg) but will get ‘garbage’ baskets given his athletic ability. His poor free throw shooting (29.2%) will keep him out of late game situations – until he can improve. Adrion Webber was an enigmatic player last year. He was supposed to be a ‘zone’ buster, but I think adapting to D-1 from juco took him a bit of time. Webber is a strong player who can play defense – and his shooting improved as the season wore on. He ended up shooting 40.0% (FG%) and 40.6% from behind the 3-point line. (Those numbers are better than I remember.) I expect him to be a more consistent contributor this year. Denell Henderson was out for most of the season (2nd semester), but we will need his height and rebounding – and hopefully toughness in the post. We are not a tall team, so we need all of the help we can get. New Players We have a lot of new faces (again) this year. This could cause a lot of shuffling in the line up as the coaches try to evaluate player combinations. Guards Aaron Young: 5’11†juco (sophomore) from Edmond, OK (Memorial) who is a possible point guard. If he can distribute the ball and get it into the post, Young will get a chance at playing. Aaron Anderson: 6’3†juco (junior) from Edmond, OK (Santa Fe) who is a combo guard. Played on a strong, talented high school team that won a state championship. Dederick Lee: 6’2†red-shirt FR from Clarksville, AR. Prolific scorer in high school. Coaches spoke very highly of him from practices last year. Hopefully will be another scorer from the outside. Darrian Harris: 6’6†red-shirt FR (Creighton transfer) from Springdale, AR. Played AAU bball with Dederick Lee. Harris is supposed to be a good outside shooter and obviously provides size on the perimeter. We recruited him heavily before he chose to go to Creighton. Center Albert Owens: 6’9†freshman from Cedar Hill, TX (Trinity Christian HS). We need Owens’ size and rebounding in the post. Hopefully he will catch on to things quickly and be able to contribute minutes early in the season. Forward Jackson Bart: 6’5†freshman (walk-on) from Bartlesville, OK. Nice high school player whose father is a former ORU basketball coach Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUTerry Posted October 3, 2014 Author Share Posted October 3, 2014 Starting line up against TU: Point guard: Korey Billbury Shooting guard: Bobby Word Guard/Forward: Adrion Webber Small Forward: Obi Emegano Power Forward: Brandon Conley That is a small line up. Lots of unknowns concerning the new players and how they fit into the mix - especially early on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUalum Posted October 3, 2014 Share Posted October 3, 2014 Adrion Webber was an enigmatic player last year. He was supposed to be a ‘zone’ buster, but I think adapting to D-1 from juco took him a bit of time. Webber is a strong player who can play defense – and his shooting improved as the season wore on. He ended up shooting 40.0% (FG%) and 40.6% from behind the 3-point line. (Those numbers are better than I remember.) I expect him to be a more consistent contributor this year. that's because it is better than you remember. FG: 27/87 (31%); 3PT: 17/60 (28.3%) thanks for taking the time to put all that together ORUTerry. a very good read. i'll go with starting lineup for TU of: Singleton Billbury Emegano Conley Henderson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUTerry Posted October 3, 2014 Author Share Posted October 3, 2014 Ha! You're right - but you are using full season stats and I only looked at conference stats. I guess that proves my point; he got better as the season progressed. With the wide disparity, his non-conference stats must be really ugly. edit: went back and did the math non-conference: FG% 7 of 37 or 18.9%; 3-point FG%: 4 of 28 or 14.3% I think that qualifies as really ugly. Quite an improvement during conference play. He also is a physical player and can play defense. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 Aaron Anderson has to redshirt this season after transferring from Central Oklahoma. And I agree with ORUalum on the starting five: Singleton, Bilbury, Emegano, Conley and Henderson. But I think Singleton will be on a short leash, similar to D.J. Jackson last year. Lee, Young or even Word could end up seeing significant minutes at the point if Singleton falters and the others are up to the challenge. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.