Preseason Clues Point To Oakland Again (Mike Brown's blog)

[TrueBlue82]

5 losses by 12 points when your chasing a team that has won 24 of their last 25 confrence games is a gap so big you could build a Home Depot in it. (Do you have those in Tulsa), how boring is baseball.....this is fun

Yep, Tulsa's got Home Depots... but they must be a heckuva lot smaller up north, because the gap between ORU and OU is WAY closer than you may think.... and when's all is said and done, you may be surprised to see who will be chasing who...

[ron]

Yep, Tulsa's got Home Depots... but they must be a heckuva lot smaller up north, because the gap between ORU and OU is WAY closer than you may think.... and when's all is said and done, you may be surprised to see who will be chasing who...

Are those the portable Home Depots that you can fold up and put in the back of a pick-up? I am looking forward to the competition this year. It's great to see the levels improving. If Sutton says he has the best back court ever, he means it. We will compete for the title. I think this may be this best year for the Summit League ever as well. Oakland might even win the odd non-conference game, although that is a bit of a stretch .

[ron]

BTW, how many days until the beginning of classes? Any chance that Sutton will still surprise us with another big man or is that not a mathematical possibility? I remember OT saying a couple of years back that the roster usually has a few surprises on it come school start.

[ORUJason]

Overall good comments by Eagleman and Maniac Alum. I do disagree with Maniac Alum concerning Larry Wright. He appeared to be a pretty solid player when I saw him. He may also benefit from the extra attention that Benson draws.

Unfortunately, I don't recall Javier Nasarre ever showing much offensive potential last year. He looked pretty good cutting to the basket on the youtube recruiting videos though. He has dealt with injuries and I suspect that if he can remain healthy this year then he will be able to gain confidence and show some offensive skills. I have no idea about Tim Morton because we have seen so little of him on the court. I think mainly he has played in the blue/white scrimmage.

I agree that Rod Pearson is fairly similar to Adam Liberty, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Adam was a solid PG who distributed well and could sneak up on the opponent with a few baskets here and there when you really needed them. Rod may also have more upside than Adam as it seemed that he was improving with each game played before he went down with the ACL injury.

If Hunter can return from the ACL injury with the same quickness and agility that he displayed in the blue/white scrimmage, then he will be something special. He was clearly the best player on the floor in that game last year. The teams were evenly distributed but Hunter's team was dominating because of his PG play. IMO he is at least as good as Ben Woodside (PG from NDSU from 2 years ago) and will probably prove to be better. He should be able to move seamlessly between PG or shooting guard depending on the lineup and I may end up preferring him at the SG spot because then we will truly have 2 PGs on the floor at the same time. That could really raise the level of play of Craion, DBH, Morrison, etc. I suspect we may also run some 3 guard lineups next year w/Niles, Morrison and Pearson on the floor at the same time.

The big question for me this year is whether we can establish a post scoring threat. At times last year DBH looked a little slow and methodical with his footwork but also showed some flashes of athleticism. I suspect that DBH will develop over the next couple of years under this coaching staff, I just hope he develops sooner rather than later. If we had one other consistent big man then I would feel that we were comparable to Oakland. As it is, I see us as close to where Oakland is, but not quite there yet until another post threat emerges. I understand that in the Summit League, Craion can represent another post threat. But against non-Summit opponents with more height, we need another taller post threat that can spell DBH, especially if he gets in foul trouble.

[Former SID]

Remember a couple of things about Damen... because of all the injuries last year he spent the bulk of his practice time working with the scout team, meaning he never got much of a chance to work on his own game. He rarely got first team reps. Also, playing 15 minutes a game isn't going to help anyone develop. He'll be just fine, and he's likely to be a much more consistent player than Kevin Ford.

[Old Titan]

IMO (Hunter) is at least as good as Ben Woodside (PG from NDSU from 2 years ago) and will probably prove to be better.

Ya know, I love good hyperbole just as much as the next sunshine-pumper, but I must say: that's a whopper.

[ManiacAlum]

Yep, Tulsa's got Home Depots... but they must be a heckuva lot smaller up north, because the gap between ORU and OU is WAY closer than you may think.... and when's all is said and done, you may be surprised to see who will be chasing who...

There must have been a huge Home Depot built in that decade gap between Oakland wins at the Mabee Center

I don't expect to give away two close losses at home again this year. One to the "greatest team in the history of the Summit" by only 3pts.

Unless Oakland can win 17 games again, then that gap's already been closed IMO

[theeagleman5]

Kevin Ford was a decent player but TheEagleman thinks that by Christmas time....DBH will be making Ford look like the Burger King....

[ORUTerry]

I am anxious to see how talented Steven Roundtree is and whether he can contribute this year. I am hoping he can provide some help at the small/power forward positions and grab some rebounds. The coaches seem to like his potential (Link) and he played his senior year with McClintock - so there is some familarity there.

In digging around trying to find out some information about Roundtree, I read where the Patterson School has closed as a result of financial difficulties. They had been around a long time (approx 100 years).

[theeagleman5]

Roundtree does sound like he's got the potential to be a very good player for ORU and perhaps a DoMo replacement two years from now.....not that he won't see playing time before that but it would seem that Steven and DoMo both play the 3 position....having played with McClintock at Prep school isn't a bad thing either.....the familiarity should be a big plus for those two over the next couple of years.....

[LarryL]

I can see it now - the Green family steps in, and we have ORU Prep. We need a good feeder school.

[vcboy2000]

Sad to hear that Patterson School is closed down. You would think all of the pro athletes they helped produce would give back to help the school stay afloat. Maybe they tried.

[Old Titan]

I can see it now - the Green family steps in, and we have ORU Prep. We need a good feeder school.

You laugh, but I've wondered before why Victory Christian High School, right across from The Praying Hands, doesn't have a post-graduate prep program - at one time, adding that level of education/athletic competition seemed like all the rage at private Christian schools in Texas.

That's really a shame about The Patterson School - from what I had read about the school on their website, they came across as one of those venerable, ivy-covered institutions that seems timeless. Where are a century's worth of alumni when you need them in a financial pinch?

[lakesbison]

Not 1 mention on NDSU huh? thats ok. we'll talk come March.

Zastrow

Tveidt (should be a top 3 player in league)

Coleman (back for 5th year, solid player)

Carlson (8th in the conference in scoring, 5th in rebounding, 2nd in offensive rebounds

Bjorklund (MN AP player of the year

[theeagleman5]

Why no mention of NDSU?...because the Bison won't be in the top four this season in the Summit....5th maybe 6th at best for your boys....but good luck in football....you guys should have a decent team on the gridiron....by the way, the Eagles traded ex-Bison star LB Joe Mays last week to the Denver Broncos....he will make that team....would have struggled to hang on with Philadelphia this year....

[ttowncount]

Class, please come to order and prepare for today's lesson contrasting "your" and "you're."

"Your" essentially means "belonging to you." It is often incorrectly used for "you're." "You're" is a contraction substituting for the two words "you are." Now let's see how that applies to the example below:

He can play. OT, [1] your right, never seen him play, [2]your right, [3] your coach knows what he is doing, saying.............but on this..[4] your wrong and he's wrong,,,,,,better then Tutt, Spencer-Gardner and Bluit. No Chance, no way.. Come Feburary save this post and if you believe I'm wrong I will buy you and any of your buddies lunch at next years tournament. As for ORU Blue the only people buying that you have the best backcourt in the league is you people on this board,(which is ok, after all it is [5] YOUR board).......[6] your right that reggie came from a bad UMKC team.

[1] Incorrect: you're

[2] Incorrect: you're

[3] Correct!

[4] Incorrect: you're

[5] Correct!

[6] Incorrect: you're

Now go and practice, practice, practice YOUR understanding on these new concepts. Hopefully, YOU'RE better prepared for the next quiz life brings.

Class dismissed.

[theeagleman5]

Ouch....I guess we have seen the value of an Oakland University education....

[oruvoice]

Grammar class...

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