Grizzlies In April
April 27, 2008 by BrianSeems I posted something last April, so why not keep the pattern intact? We’ve all heard something about this year’s recruiting class. Incoming freshmen Jay Thames, Blake Cushingberry and Drew Maynard aren’t quite the Rochester equivalent of Boston’s NBA troika of Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, but much has been said about the Grizzlies new faces and expectations are high.
Yet, this spring, I’m wondering how the frosh class is going to fit in? The problems, from my limited perspective, for Oakland this past season consisted of playing any kind of quality defense, rebounding and passing. Now, here’s where I could use your assistance. Will any of the new faces help in those three aspects of the game?
I’m led to believe that Cushingberry and Maynard are perimeter players and Thames falls into the category of lanky frontcount player. Now, none of these descriptions preclude the possibility that they could all help OU’s defense. Yet, my first thought when hearing “perimeter player” and “frontcourt player that needs to add weight” isn’t strong defense or rebounding. Again, not that all three couldn’t provide immediate support in these areas, but that’s not the impression these titles give me.
In addition, finding someone to give Jonathon Jones a breather might be a good thing. Here, again, none of the new class sound like they are ready-made to fill that role. Could someone already on the roster fill that void? Perhaps.
Here’s where my off-season pondering leads me. While we are all excited about this recruiting class and their potential impact on the program (and, hopefully, the Summit League) the three new players seem to have skill sets similar to what several current Grizzlies have. Where they fit into the rotation is the question.
Cushingberry, Maynard and Thames would, on the surface, appear to be vying for minutes at either the two or three spot. I guess Thames might be a four, but I’ll leave you to correct me on that. The issue is that OU already has veterans Erik Kangas and Derick Nelson at the shooting guard and small forward slots. Both could be on preseason all-conference teams. Add talented Tim Williams, whose minutes should be on the rise, into the mix at both spots and you’ve got a crowded field.
In fact, even if Thames is more of a low-post presence, OU’s returns Keith Benson, Shane Lawal, Dave Waterstradt and Wil Hudson to compete for minutes at the four and five. Again, that’s a number of returning players to beat out.
Is it possible that any or all of the freshmen could be talented enough to get significant minutes right out of the gate? Of course. Yet, history tells us that freshmen generally don’t do that.
I’m like every other Oakland basketball fan and I’m happy to have a quality recruiting class show up on campus. I’m looking forward to seeing their OU careers play out. While I’m confident that OU will have a better, more consistent season next year, I think it might be best to lower our immediate expectations for this incoming class.