ORUalum Posted February 8, 2019 Share Posted February 8, 2019 1 hour ago, ORU82 said: The ESPN broadcast crew pointed out during the game that we lead the nation at the D-I level for the most minutes playing time of freshman. In other words, NO TEAM at the D-I level utilizes or plays that many freshman that often this year as we do. Hopefully we are laying a firm foundation for the years to come. That only pays off if they stick around. See the class of Jeffries, White, Martin, and Crawford (and Crawford's scholly produced E-Man at semester when he left after 5 games). How good could that staring 5 have been with a solid PG added??? Scott Sutton would still be coaching at ORU. 46 minutes ago, ORUTerry said: I hope Malone does not take his shooting success as a green light for future games.... that is one strange shot. It's more of a heave/shot put than a classic jump shot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Cornelius Posted February 8, 2019 Share Posted February 8, 2019 3 hours ago, ORUalum said: That only pays off if they stick around. See the class of Jeffries, White, Martin, and Crawford (and Crawford's scholly produced E-Man at semester when he left after 5 games). How good could that staring 5 have been with a solid PG added??? Scott Sutton would still be coaching at ORU. True, player retention has to be priority number one but I think Obanor has WAY more upside than any of those players. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORU82 Posted February 9, 2019 Share Posted February 9, 2019 Totally agree Dr. C! I also think these guys will stay. I could be wrong but I think they are starting to bond together as a family. At least for Weaver he is here for basketball as well as for who we are and what we represent as a University. Time will tell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORUParentLurker Posted February 9, 2019 Share Posted February 9, 2019 Player retention in college basketball is a tricky beast. I keep wondering what this team would look like if Javan and Jontray stuck around. We would have had 4 our of 5 starters being vets instead of all these freshman. I went and looked at the year they are both having and it's been pretty subpar. Neither are starting. Tray is playing more minutes than Javan but still less than last year here. In general, I would say its never a good idea to always look at the future in basketball. Its a year to year sport and anything can happen. That being said, we have a lot of positive signs leading into next season. That is all potential. Of course, when you get all that potential on campus somebody ends up unhappy and wants to leave. That's the way it is nowadays. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted February 9, 2019 Share Posted February 9, 2019 21 hours ago, ORUalum said: That only pays off if they stick around. See the class of Jeffries, White, Martin, and Crawford (and Crawford's scholly produced E-Man at semester when he left after 5 games). How good could that staring 5 have been with a solid PG added??? Scott Sutton would still be coaching at ORU. Assuming that's not a rhetorical question, I would sincerely say maybe good enough to win 16-17 games and finish third or fourth in this year's mediocre Summit League? No go-to shooters, no point guard, no size in the paint, etc. Not to mention none of those guys played any defense to speak of (maybe Jeffries). Simply put, these guys were not that great, either. They were/are just better in some regards than the current bunch. The depth of ORU's present state naturally leads to speculation re: individual talents here and there, without much regard for whether the whole would exceed the sum of the parts. But success is ultimately about building a true TEAM, not just a fantasy league roster. It's no coincidence that the successful ORU teams we all remember with such fondness were well-oiled (and well-coached) machines with formidable combinations of stars AND role players working as one unit. That requires a lot more than just a couple of guys who, given the right circumstances, occasionally score(d) 15 points in a game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORU GRAD Posted February 9, 2019 Share Posted February 9, 2019 Unless someone is unhappy we only have one more Scholarship. Everyone is playing minutes so that is good. I would believe that if people are unhappy like last year, then leave because this has given four of the five freshmen a chance to have great playing time experience. As we saw with other freshmen such a Green and Tutt, that was a good thing for years. I hope Eman stays for his final season but who can tell. South Dakota State seems to do well in this department of retention. The grass is not always greener on the other side of the fence but Coach Mills and Staff recognize talent and even Smith although he doesn't score that much is good for this mix on the floor with great upside on the defensive side of the ball. D'Mauria Jones will add to this excellent mix of talent along with Kylen Milton and both bring excitement to the court. I would like to use that last Scholarship for a big man and maybe even a Senior Graduate. I don't know, maybe I am liking the Cool Aid, Ha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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