#StayWoke can suck on deez...
We're talking Trae Young, Tre Brown and Ruffin McNeill.
1. This is what Trae Young's season is going to be
If you missed it last night, Trae Young had one of dem nights in just his third NBA game of his career. The former Norman North/OU star went off for 35 points and 11 assists in Atlanta's 133-111 victory at Cleveland.
Just feel like this is going to be the norm for Young. There's gonna be some 15-point games where he's like 4-15 shooting. And then there's gonna be games like Sunday where he pours in 35 points on 6-14 shooting from 3-point territory.
When he was at Norman North, it was like he'll be good at OU but never have the freedom or cajones to shoot those long bombs. Then when he did it in Norman, yea, he'll be a great one-year story, but the NBA could swallow him up.
He now joins LeBron James and Steph Curry as the only rookies in the last 20 years to have a 35-point, 10-assist performance. So... not bad.
You know what? Just enjoy the ride. Understand the love/hate relationship about Young might be too fresh for some OU fans but what he is as a player is something special and what he can mean to OU in recruiting is huge.
Turns out his legacy won't have much to do with on-court success as a Sooner, but he's paving the way for guys like De'Vion Harmon to even look in OU's direction. When they see how malleable Lon Kruger is toward adjusting to his personnel, it's getting recruits excited.
Every time Young is dropping dimes or launching bombs, it keeps OU a bit in the limelight, especially if Young turns out to have that same hometown feel connection as Blake Griffin in terms of always wanting to return to Norman/OU and support the community.
***
2. How did Tre Brown do that?
Honestly, have no clue how OU sophomore cornerback Tre Brown was able to perform the way he did in OU's 52-27 victory against TCU.
Less than a week after his mother, Beverly Brewer, died, real powerful stuff. A lot of have asked how Brewer died. It's my belief that it was the result of cancer and that it was a long battle so not unexpected but obviously still incredibly devastating.
Brown wasn't made available to the media after the game Saturday. We'll ask, for sure, to talk with Brown on Tuesday evening. But if he declines then, hey, no complaints.
Talked last week how people grieve in different ways. Brown wanted to be back out there, and he showed why he deserves to stay out there with another solid performance.
Brown got beat for one long ball, but he won his fair share of 50/50 balls, too. That's all Mike Stoops asked. That's all Ruffin McNeill is going to ask. Brown got the job done.
***
3. Ruffin McNeill and simplification
We've had some fun and will continue to have fun about the "players being the call" line by McNeill in the last week.
But this? This makes sense.
"Today we made a couple of minor changes. Some things they liked. I thought execution was there. And I’ve always done that. We don’t add anything after Wednesday noon. Only remove. Then the final time for the game draft call sheet is to go back to the boys and see what they feel comfortable with. If they don’t, it’s erased immediately, by any one of the kids who is not comfortable with the call."
Oh, really? So the plan is put in place, and you're adding nothing after Wednesday. We've talked about how to simplify things would be a best option.
It's interesting thought, just if even one person is unsure of what their assignment is or how the defense is supposed to run, welp, take it out. You have to find that balance of not being too simple that you're picked apart and not being too complex that nobody is quite sure of their role in everything.
It worked vs. Frogs. Communication seemed better. Alignment wasn't an issue. Execution still needs improvement, but again, just saw the signs of a work in progress.
Dance, Ruffin, dance (or whatever you wanna call this by Ruffin):
We're talking Trae Young, Tre Brown and Ruffin McNeill.
1. This is what Trae Young's season is going to be
If you missed it last night, Trae Young had one of dem nights in just his third NBA game of his career. The former Norman North/OU star went off for 35 points and 11 assists in Atlanta's 133-111 victory at Cleveland.
Just feel like this is going to be the norm for Young. There's gonna be some 15-point games where he's like 4-15 shooting. And then there's gonna be games like Sunday where he pours in 35 points on 6-14 shooting from 3-point territory.
When he was at Norman North, it was like he'll be good at OU but never have the freedom or cajones to shoot those long bombs. Then when he did it in Norman, yea, he'll be a great one-year story, but the NBA could swallow him up.
He now joins LeBron James and Steph Curry as the only rookies in the last 20 years to have a 35-point, 10-assist performance. So... not bad.
You know what? Just enjoy the ride. Understand the love/hate relationship about Young might be too fresh for some OU fans but what he is as a player is something special and what he can mean to OU in recruiting is huge.
Turns out his legacy won't have much to do with on-court success as a Sooner, but he's paving the way for guys like De'Vion Harmon to even look in OU's direction. When they see how malleable Lon Kruger is toward adjusting to his personnel, it's getting recruits excited.
Every time Young is dropping dimes or launching bombs, it keeps OU a bit in the limelight, especially if Young turns out to have that same hometown feel connection as Blake Griffin in terms of always wanting to return to Norman/OU and support the community.
***
2. How did Tre Brown do that?
Honestly, have no clue how OU sophomore cornerback Tre Brown was able to perform the way he did in OU's 52-27 victory against TCU.
Less than a week after his mother, Beverly Brewer, died, real powerful stuff. A lot of have asked how Brewer died. It's my belief that it was the result of cancer and that it was a long battle so not unexpected but obviously still incredibly devastating.
Brown wasn't made available to the media after the game Saturday. We'll ask, for sure, to talk with Brown on Tuesday evening. But if he declines then, hey, no complaints.
Talked last week how people grieve in different ways. Brown wanted to be back out there, and he showed why he deserves to stay out there with another solid performance.
Brown got beat for one long ball, but he won his fair share of 50/50 balls, too. That's all Mike Stoops asked. That's all Ruffin McNeill is going to ask. Brown got the job done.
***
3. Ruffin McNeill and simplification
We've had some fun and will continue to have fun about the "players being the call" line by McNeill in the last week.
But this? This makes sense.
"Today we made a couple of minor changes. Some things they liked. I thought execution was there. And I’ve always done that. We don’t add anything after Wednesday noon. Only remove. Then the final time for the game draft call sheet is to go back to the boys and see what they feel comfortable with. If they don’t, it’s erased immediately, by any one of the kids who is not comfortable with the call."
Oh, really? So the plan is put in place, and you're adding nothing after Wednesday. We've talked about how to simplify things would be a best option.
It's interesting thought, just if even one person is unsure of what their assignment is or how the defense is supposed to run, welp, take it out. You have to find that balance of not being too simple that you're picked apart and not being too complex that nobody is quite sure of their role in everything.
It worked vs. Frogs. Communication seemed better. Alignment wasn't an issue. Execution still needs improvement, but again, just saw the signs of a work in progress.
Dance, Ruffin, dance (or whatever you wanna call this by Ruffin):
