David Prince

Oklahoma St @ Texas A&M Takeaways: - Josh Irving, Wow! where have you guys been hiding this kid? Hidden gem right here, the activity, the power, the bounce ooooweee. Hits a 3, steals it, gets an offensive board, finishes the possession with a dunk. Then later he’s recovering PJ’s blocked shot and giving it right back to him for a bucket. There’s some feel to go with all that athleticism. We got ourselves a diapah dandyyy. - Haggerty is going to make a lot of defenders miserable. Those and-ones in the 2H, you can survive the initial pressure and still have to deal with him finishing through contact at the other end. Love having that option for Bucky when a game settles down. PJ can get you a bucket without needing the whole game to turn into a track meet. - Pope finding Griffen for a 3, then coming back and hitting one himself. Tough stretch for OK St. Really like this pairing w/ PJ, and the six assists from Pope are encouraging. Would keep letting both initiate. Don’t let a defense spend the whole night loading up on the same guy. - Clemence hitting those two 3s to open the 2H is exactly why he fits here. If you want your center waiting around the basket for Haggerty, you have a decision to make. Doesn’t need a bunch of post touches to complicate your defensive game plan. - Felesi, EIGHT offensive boards from a guard. Come on. A couple of steals that led to open court slams. Probably the biggest bright spot on the roster right now. Said after Wisconsin that he would push for a starting role, feel even better about him now. One of the guys I’d be building these lineups around. - Clary gave them some hope with the back to back 3s, but ten of his 13 attempts coming from deep isn’t the balance I want. They need more penetration and creation for others. He’s still working his way back, so some patience there, but I don’t want this becoming the usual shot diet. - Walker’s shot wasn’t there, but five assists to one turnover against this pressure is respectable. Wouldn’t lump all the guard play together. He was finding people, including Clary during that little push in the 2H. - Bogavac, we talked about how badly they needed his shooting. Nine minutes with three fouls and three turnovers makes that difficult. He hits a 3, then it’s foul, turnover, foul. Gotta be able to string some possessions together. His availability alone isn’t going to fix the spacing. - Allmond, another frustrating one. Four fouls in 13 minutes, only one shot. Would like them to manufacture an early touch for him. A cut, a seal, something around the basket. Give him a chance to use his body and finish before asking him to figure everything else out. Still believe in the kid. - OK St forced 19 turnovers and got 20 offensive boards. Still lost by 19. They created plenty of chances to stay in this game. Converting those chances and finding a lineup that can defend while keeping enough shooting out there are bigger concerns for me. - The type of opponent I’d watch for against A&M is one with two dependable ball handlers and bigs who can catch and pass behind the pressure. Make them rotate, then attack the offensive glass. A&M gave up plenty of extra possessions here. A team that finishes those opportunities could give them a rough night. Just slowing the pace wouldn’t be enough for me, bc you still have to guard PJ and Pope. OK St, I gave them some room after Wisconsin bc of who was missing. Still no Fallah or Ragland, but Clary and Bogavac were out there this time. New Mexico, Wisconsin, now this. Starting to feel like a trend against better competition. Felesi and Halaifonua are guys I still like, but I’m less comfortable assuming everything comes together once everyone is available. A&M, I think this team will be ranked soon. Bucky has a backcourt I trust, and Irving gives me another reason to be excited about where this goes. Football? What sport is that?