Oklahoma Basketball: Breakdown of 2019-20 live team scrimmage

Yesterday, the Oklahoma Basketball team held a live scrimmage. Here are my notes on certain things I saw during the game.

The scrimmage was a short one. Just a few three-minute periods, but any Oklahoma Basketball is good basketball, and I really got to see a little bit about what this team would be like.

Last season near the end of the year we got to see a lot of Kristian Doolittle, and at the beginning of this scrimmage, I saw a lot of him as well, as in one of the first possessions he grabbed a defensive rebound and took it upon himself to start the break by handling the ball himself. In that same possession, he grabbed two offensive rebounds by an early aggressive, yet off-target, De’Vion Harmon, and ended that long possession with a three-point basket.

I spoke about in my Roster rotation breakdown about how If Kristian Doolittle could develop a consistent shot, along with continuing his rebounding and passing prowess, for a guy his size at the small ball 4-position, that he could have a legit shot at being drafted in day two of the NBA draft.

https://twitter.com/OU_MBBall/status/1181666516875374592?s=20

Another thing that stood out to me was the starting rotation or the “Red” team in this scrimmage. Coach Kruger had De’Vion Harmon, Jamal Bieniemy, Austin Reaves, Kristian Doolittle, and Brady Manek sharing the floor in the starting rotation, with legitimately four guys who can handle the ball well and facilitate on the court, and with Doolittle shooting more threes, FIVE players that are able to shoot it from three-point land as well.

I suggested in my rotation breakdown article, that this lineup was my “death lineup”, and my favorite I’d like to see Oklahoma use near the end of games. I didn’t think we’d see it due to the team being a little thin at the point guard position, but it appears that Jalen Hill and Alondes Williams took care of much of the ball-handling ability for the 2nd unit, along with Anyang Garang.

Speaking of the second unit, Kur Kuath, and Williams both got time on the red team yesterday, as Williams had a nice steal and breakaway dunk on a fast break. Williams should have a nice role with this team, as he adds a much-needed sweet shooting stroke, but coach Kruger really likes his versatility. Williams, as I said earlier, was accepting more of a ball-handling role with the white team, and can handle the ball and facilitate well. He’s not just a spot-up shooter, which is news to coach Kruger and this offense’s ears. Williams can also switch onto and guard multiple positions which is something Kruger will utilize, as he likes to switch on the defensive side of the ball a ton.

Kur Kuath shocked me with his range. Kuath attempted TWO threes and made one, which is something I really didn’t think he had in his bag of tricks. Kuath being able to come in and hit threes, even though he’s a 6’10 big man with a 7’4 wingspan is amazing and will give the Sooners five shooting threats on the court at all times.

Kuath and Williams will have and obvious role coming off of the bench, but I expect Jalen Hill to have a large role as well. The Nevada player of the year looked great as he was handling the ball and facilitating the offense, and there was a portion of the game where he and fellow freshman De’Vion Harmon traded bucket after bucket, rallying off about 12-14 straight points between the two.

The video stopped before Harmon pulled up from three right in Hill’s face, just an awesome sequence. I think both freshmen will have a huge impact this year.

Fellow freshman Victor Iwuakor didn’t participate with a knee injury, but will definitely get minutes off of the bench thanks to his versatility. Just listen to what coach Kruger says in this interview.

He brings up depth and versatility when answering a question about the versatility on his team. He goes on to say that there will be essentially four “point guards” out on the court with the way that Doolittle or as he says “Doo” can handle the ball and the way that “Victor” can handle the ball. It appears to me that a healthy Iwuakor will come in for Doolittle, or shift him to the three, and take over the role that Doolittle was playing, by being a small ball four that can rebound, facilitate, and score when he has the appropriate mismatch, and might even toss-up some three pointers.

The scrimmage was short, and the coaches stopped play at certain points, but even with the little bit of full speed play I watched, I can already see how the rotation will end up.

You’ll see my “Death lineup” of Harmon, Bieniemy, Reaves, Doolittle, & Manek be utilized a lot more than my suggested eight minutes or so a game, as it appears that’s the teams starting lineup. The backups will be a good core group of Kur Kuath, Alondes Williams, Jalen Hill, Victor Iwuakor, and Rick Issanza.

I’m excited to see how this team uses its depth and versatility this season. Catch the Sooners play University of Texas-San Antonio, November 5th, at 7:00 PM