Porter Moser notebook: Scrimmage a good primer for OU
The OU basketball season is less than a week away, but head coach Porter Moser wanted to do a little something for the fans.
The Sooners had a free scrimmage Wednesday night at Lloyd Noble Center, as sort of setting the stage for what the real thing will be Monday evening.
OU played two 10-minute quarters. Then a seven-minute third quarter and a five-minute fourth quarter. Players signed autographs following the event.
It was a transfer kind of night, led by guards Javian McCollum and Rivaldo Soares and center John Hugley. McCollum (4) and Soares (5) combined for nine three-pointers.
“We had two close scrimmages, and I wanted to have something out here that’s routine,” Moser said. “Some of the newcomers had never played on this floor in a live game. Javian gives us speed. He’s another guy with Los who can handle the ball. You can see his speed and quickness and can make shots.
“Just blending the newcomers in. You see Jalon Moore gives us an above the rim athlete. Rivaldo has been an older, veteran guy, doing well. Good to see Javian get out there. We tried to mix the lineups out there. A lot of times we play him and Los against each other. But we wanted to play them a lot together, too, because they’re going to play a lot together.”
McCollum led all scorers with 20 points.
Quick-hit notes
*Scary moment in the first quarter when guard Le’Tre Darthard injured his ankle. He attempted to come back in later before calling it a night. Moser said it’s just a sprain, the X-Ray was negative.
*A couple of combinations to watch were when Los Uzan and Javian McCollum got to play together. And when Hugley and Luke Northweather got to play together. They’ve been battling each other for months now, but those combinations could see playing time. Especially Uzan and McCollum.
“We’ve played Sam with Luke and Luke with John. We don’t really play John and Sam together. But Luke can stretch you. I mean, it was good that he hit one or two down here because I know he started off… just, he’s a redshirt freshman too. He’s got some nerves going. So I was glad to see he hit it. He missed his first couple.
“The other day in practice, he was 6-for-6 and he was smiling, he was bouncing and I go, I pulled him aside, I said ‘Luke, you gotta act like you’re 6-for-6.’ I go, ‘great shooters, if they’re 0-for-3, they still act like they’re 6-for-6.’ And it was good to see Luke hit one, but we can definitely play Luke and John together, Luke and Sam together. Gives a different dynamic.”
Northweather and Hugley each hit two three-pointers.
*No other way to say it – Uzan is the leader. He’s going to do things that show up in the box score and things that not necessarily will. But he’s going to get the job done.
“I’m gonna watch the tape, but like, Milos, he made some little things that we really like tonight,” Moser said. “Like it might not have been in the box score, but just little things that we did. He’s, even though he’s a sophomore, he played so many minutes in crucial times.
“He’s got a feel for what we want at a young age. But Milos will be one of those guys that he’ll help you win games sometimes it might be you’ll see it in the scoring column, you might not. He does a lot of things to make other guys better and definitely like those guys playing together. They’re gonna be doing a lot of good things together.”
