I'm clueless...

[YCN]

Last year the Sooners played 36 games and 3 starters who started a grand total of 108 times - every game last year - are gone. The 3 lost starters were all WNBA first round draft picks.

The remaining players had 72 starts last year, 36 by super-frosh Dionnah Jackson and 35 by perennial starter Caton Hill. Shannon Selmon got 1 start when Caton Hill couldn't play. Caton has 102 starts in 103 games in her 3 years at OU.

So a huge chunk of that national runner-up team is gone. Bye-bye, but never forgotten. So we enter the unknown zone for the first time in 4 years at OU.

Many questions need to be answered between now and when the season (especially the conference season) begins.

With so many fine players with minimal playing experience returning for OU, will any of those players step up into a leadership role for the Sooners? Or will they be satisfied at this point in their careers to be supporting players throughout their careers?

Many of these players were stars, the focus of their teams at the previous level. Will they have the desire and ability to step up to the next level? Or will some of them will be satisfied knowing that they pushed some of the newer recruits to levels of achievement they might not otherwise have achieved? Is is far too early to concede starting roles to mere freshmen? What is the level of desire of the ladies-in-waiting?

OU is overloaded at guard - so what's the outcome? Do we see Dionnah at point, or Chelsi, or even Maria? Just who is the best candidate for the 2, and the 3? Is Chelsi the likely 3, or Maria (a deadeye shooter) right for the swing? Or maybe the Sooners try a dual-point, not favoring any player?

{I'm so confused...}

I think the Sooners feel fairly confident that Theresa (Schuknecht) can step right in - at the 4? Or does Caton migrate to her natural position and let the relatively slight Schuknecht assume the post? And what about our new 6-3 towers, Beki Preston and Casey Walker? Can Beki do a Cisti Greenwalt this year, and surprise and astound? And does anyone have an objective and personal opinion on the abilities of Casey? What's the deal here!

And OU has some other recruits that might take exception to the pecking order of the expectation of fans, players like Erin Higgins and Laura Andrews.

Just what in the heck is a fan supposed to do?

I am so excited about this new year! It is better than picking up a new book from a favorite author, because the pages are going to be written while we are reading.

I AM PUMPED!

[Jennifer]

YCN, I too am excited about what next year will bring. I'm sad that Dales, Caufield, Ross, Talbert, and Co. will no longer be wearing an OU uniform, but they left something really special.
Oh, and you forgot Talbert in your starting counts. I don't think Jackson ever did start this year, and Selmon started for Caton on Sr. night.
I think Jackson is a natural at the point, as she usually ran it when she was in the game.
How long till October??? http://hoopscoop.net/ubb/smile.gif

[YCN]

You are absolutely right, Jennifer!

I kept thinking that there were 143 starts lost from this year, and then I edited the post to 107, assuming Dionnah as the starter. Stupid me! I knew DJ was our sixth man!

Can I correct my original post, or do I have to just wallow in my stupidity?

Either way, it emphasizes my point that OU is losing a tremendous amount of experience this year, although all is far from lost.

Thanks, Jen. I need help in this feeble corner!

[YCN]

Oh, and Jennifer, my thoughts are that if she can make the transition that Chelsi is more the natural at point. She seems to be the difference-maker as opposed to the play-maker that I see Dionnah to be. Chelsi was picked by the Texas coaches as the top player in the state this year, and she has been baptized by fire in what may be the toughest girls' conference in the country.

An the thought of Maria at the 3 leaves me weak-kneed - she was ONLY a 70+ percent shooter in juco last year, and extremely athletic!

Wow, I just can't wait. Unfortunately, October is about 3 years away.

[swok34]

YCN.....

Caton Hill has been a team captain for the past 2 years.....
and I suspect Dionnah will be another captain....Dionnah learned from the best, I think she'll take the reins.

Schuknecht, I would suspect would be the 5 and move Caton back to the 4 spot. Beky Preston is a skinny thing, and I've heard comments that it may take her a year to adapt to DI ball. I haven't heard anything about Casey, but she is "bigger" than Preston in stature.

This is gonna be SUCH a fun team to watch, and interesting to see how the chemistry unfolds.....the year Whaley left OU, a lot of folks were discounting OU, then Stacey got back from the Olympics and she had improved 10 times over. It amazes me how much players improve over the summer. Cunningham went through the same transformation, though we were cut short by those weak knees of hers....it will be interesting to see how Shoush improves over the summer.

I don't know that we will see a "freshmen" come in and play the way Dionnah did, she is a truly special player. By that I mean, most freshmen just about hit the wall come February and they are STILL playing basketball. Jackson didn't ever go through that, will some of our freshmen next year experience that?

[YCN]

Hard to say, swok.

It seems like Coach Coale made a strong push this year to recruit "competitors" as opposed to just pure athletes. It will be interesting to see what the results of this experiment are, although I've always favored the competitor myself.

[KSUron]

Naturally the Kansas State team this year has warped my brain so you can call me crazy but I think freshman CAN play Big 12 ball if they are good enough. I think some of yours are good enough to do quite well, thank you. Goofy things do happen like the injuries to both our top freshman point guards this year. As odd as it sounds to say this, we could have been quite a bit better without those injuries. The point I am trying to make is that it looks to me that OU has enough extra resources coming in that some things can go wrong and you will still be fine.

Jackson & Hill are a first rate base to build around, the talent is there in the rest of the team and your coaching staff are master builders. If I were an OU fan, and in a limited way I am, I too would be "pumped" and "excited".

No matter who plays the point on offense I expect Jackson to be the best outside defender. I expect she will spend up close and personal time with Lori Koehn and/or whoever coach Coale wants to frustrate or stop. Jackson was a first rate player and IMHO an all-star defender by the end of the year. Trust me, I did NOT rejoice when a starter left the game and Jackson came in.

The only way I see the OU season as a bust is if you have too many injuries and/or a bad start and the confidence gets drained out of the players. I do NOT see that happening. OU won't be quite what they were last year, but they will be exciting and they will be a force. It will be fun time in Lloyd Noble.

Go Big XII!

[35TangoTango]

KSURon, why don't you start a similar thread on your team - give us a rundown who the prospects are by position, etc. I didn't know you had two point guard types injured. I wondered why none were being recruited, because it seemed such the missing piece last year.

In fact, now that spring signing seems to be about over, it would be fun to have a thread on each team, started by someone knowledeable about their personnel

[This message has been edited by soonerman (edited 05-08-2002).]

[CYNIC]

KSURon, you are correct about Jackson's defense. The OU coaches think she was the best perimeter defender in the Big 12 this past year. They totally respect Koehn but were not to concerned knowing that Jackson would be more than a match for her. OU's sub pattern this year was to put Jackson in at the four minute officials time out of each half. In the Big 12 tourney game, I don't think Sherri waited that long to put Jackson in after Koehn hit those two early threes. I think that was a big factor for OU. Jackson's defense took KState out of their offense. I have no doubts that if KState had Jackson to run point and defend for them, they would walk to the Final Four.

[schooner2]

You are right about the sub pattern Cynic. What was more impressive to me is she always got the assignment of the other team's toughest perimeter player: Koehn - KSU, Lambert - BU, and then even in the championship game she gave Sue Bird fits at times.

She utilizes her speed well. What a great feeling to know she will be around 3 more years!

[metromaniac]

I said it a month ago and will again----OU will be better than most predict and will contend for the Big 12 title and end up ranked nationally, top 15 or above.

Jackson is one of the best on ball defenders in the country.

[ChipperF1]

Top 25? Sure! Top 15, metro? Iffy, very iffy. Oklahoma has a lot of kids who are question marks this year. And even the returning vets are questions. Dionnah Jackson was awesome as a spot player, but now she gets the keys to the cars. Can she keep the efficiency of a Dales up for 30, 32, or 35 minutes? She's got the game, but know she really has to learn the game.
Also, Caton Hill. She's an excellent supporting cast member, but now she has to step up into a greater frontline role. Can she do that or can one of the bench bunch move in and stake a claim to enhanced playing time?
I don't doubt the coaching at OU, Sherri Coale built something out of nothing, and here she has lot more than nothing, but asking for Top 15 and contending for the championship, that's a bridge too far for Oklahoma next year.
In my opinion, IF Texas Tech has their heads screwed on right, everybody else is playing for second place.

[metromaniac]

Chipper---you are probably right. However, I stand by my statement. We will talk in late Feb, 2003.

[This message has been edited by metromaniac (edited 05-09-2002).]

[This message has been edited by metromaniac (edited 05-09-2002).]

[35TangoTango]

Chipper- Yes, Dionnah Jackson can give us 30 minutes good minutes. She's the best returning point guard in the big 12. Even as a freshman, she didn't ever seem to wear down. In high school, all her points came from steals and layups - now she's developing an outside shot.

Caton Hill doesn't have to step up to a greater role. She will have far more frontline help this year than she did last. Schuknecht will provide a genuine offensive threat at center, and Wadsworth will be a quality sub that brings some leaping ability to the post that Caton lacks. Caton should be able to play with a lot more freedom this year.

OU's season will depend heavily on talented incoming players on the perimeter. Who knows if Chelsi and Maria will meld into the system as fast as Ross or Jackson did? Can this year's Texas player of the year match last year's Missouri player of the year?
Can Maria shoot 70% at this level? Will Erin or Laura be the surprise of the year? Can OU make the top 15? You bet - truth is, they could be 4th in the conference and still be in the top 15!

I agree that Texas Tech should be the front runner, but I think we need to play the season anyway. They will be depending on a point guard that has not played a minute of D1 ball, and Perkins is good but not great. I remember when she had to be pulled from games against OU last year because she was giving up points faster than she was making them. the post combination of Pierson and Greenwaldt will be deadly, but perimeter play wins championships. They will be good, but the Techies vision of UConn west will not be met.