rotnei vs keiton highlights...

[Hollywood_HOGan45]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3Ij9-VotxI


this is probably RC's best game of the ToC.

if you havent seen RC play, you just cannot understand what kind of attention he gets from the other team's defense.

there are two people on him at all times. Sometimes three.

we are in for a treat when he gets here. Great kid and gonna be a great player before he leaves UA.

[mossfan33]

i've never seen so many short white people play basketball............ just kiddin, kinda

[Hollywood_HOGan45]

i've never seen so many short white people play basketball............ just kiddin, kinda

haha
i thought the same thing. Rotnei and Keiton were the two stars of the tournament though.

[SoonerSooie]

Man, that kid pulls up from anywhere on the floor, and buries it! But, he looks like he is like, 4 ft. 5"!  How tall is he, really?

[batmanfan]

I can honestly say I've never seen another player like Clarke before.

[COCHISE]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3Ij9-VotxI


this is probably RC's best game of the ToC.

if you havent seen RC play, you just cannot understand what kind of attention he gets from the other team's defense.

there are two people on him at all times. Sometimes three.

we are in for a treat when he gets here. Great kid and gonna be a great player before he leaves UA.

This video looks a lot more impressive than the videos from last year, it looks like RC has improved on ball handling and getting into the lane, not as many set shots either, seems to be more comfortable shooting running jumpers.  Fortson and Clarke are certainly going to be fun to watch.

[Dr Swineglove]

Thanks for the link!

I'm impressed by how well Clarke shoot off either the pass or the dribble - it seems most guys do one or the other well, but not both.

[Hollywood_HOGan45]

if you're a big basketball fan, especially oklahoma high school basketball fan this is the webpage for you

www.oksportsreport.com
he also does NBA, NFL, NCAA football and basketball posts.

has lots of info on clarke as well.

[Hollywood_HOGan45]

Man, that kid pulls up from anywhere on the floor, and buries it! But, he looks like he is like, 4 ft. 5"!  How tall is he, really?

legit 6'0

[Razor8]

i think he's around 6'

[VenturaHog]

yeah, his D game did not impress me and he is a bit slow... but the boy can SHOOT!

I'm very impressed with how well he shot off balance and his ability to create his own shot.

[Hollywood_HOGan45]

yeah, his D game did not impress me and he is a bit slow... but the boy can SHOOT!

I'm very impressed with how well he shot off balance and his ability to create his own shot.

he provides at a big time need area for us.

i believe if we had RC we would be one or two wins better right now.

[Col.Mccoy]

the boy can shoot!!!!

[sshawg]

Hollywood
He reminds me of a kid named Brandon Cole.  Played for John Brown. Broke the national record for three pointers a couple of years ago.  I work there & saw him play for four years.  THis kid looks just like him. Brandom would shoot from anywhere.  The last two years at JBU, there was always two & somethimes three people on him & he could still score.  I think he could have played anywhere but wantd to go to a Christian school.  He'll wuld help a lot this year.  CAn't wait.

[mj4president]

This may be stupid but how do you pronounce the name Rotnei?

[COCHISE]

This may be stupid but how do you pronounce the name Rotnei?

Rot-knee

[ThisTeetsTaken]

I'm glad Fortson is coming to pass the ball to him.

[3kgthog]

1. His defense scares me. Will he give up as many points as he scores?
2. How does he do against competition that's not 5'9", white, and slow?
3. How's his attitude? I'm generally a little iffy about guys that pull up and shoot immediately after crossing half-court.

4. He can definitely shoot. He'll be worth all the effort if he can become our version of Lee Humphrey.

[Hogtropolis™]

After watching that, I will be interested to see how he does on D against SEC caliber teams.  I'm not sure how good #23 was, but Rotnei was having quite a bit of trouble guarding him.

On a positive note, to say I was very impressed with Rotnei's shooting would be an understatement.  He drained 3's like it was nothing.  Whether he was open or not.  I'm very excited about getting him on campus next year.

[Hawgballz]

Hollywood
He reminds me of a kid named Brandon Cole.  Played for John Brown. Broke the national record for three pointers a couple of years ago.  I work there & saw him play for four years.  THis kid looks just like him. Brandom would shoot from anywhere.  The last two years at JBU, there was always two & somethimes three people on him & he could still score.  I think he could have played anywhere but wantd to go to a Christian school.  He'll wuld help a lot this year.  CAn't wait.

Brandon was awesome.  I watched him quite a bit in HS when he was regularly double teamed, but still found ways to get the job done.

[opineonswine]

I hate to put undue pressure on Rotnei (though I suspect he handles it very well) and jump to conclusions, but the only guard I can remember who shot like that was Pistol Pete Maravich.  WOW!!!  He had 2 at least and often 3 people in his face.

[Hollywood_HOGan45]

I hate to put undue pressure on Rotnei (though I suspect he handles it very well) and jump to conclusions, but the only guard I can remember who shot like that was Pistol Pete Maravich.  WOW!!!  He had 2 at least and often 3 people in his face.

he works at it like no one else Ive ever heard of.
he not only shoots but makes 500 shots per day.

[sasnakrafan]

I am thrilled we got the kid, but if you were his teammates would you just feel a little animosity towards him... he seems to not share the ball as much? I'm not ragging on his game, but there were couple times when he could have passed the ball to anyone that was wide open due to a double/triple team. However if the guy is on I don't care if you shoot all night, but if you're in a slump you shoot your way out of it, but sometimes you just know that if it's not your night, then it's not your night.

[Beaverfever]

His shot is amazing no doubt.  I just hope he can play D on sec guards and that he doesn't mind passing when he starts playing with some talent. 

[BrooklynRoss]

I can honestly say I've never seen another player like Clarke before.

I'm with you on that. Who's the last player you saw consistently hitting off-balance pull-up threes with one or more hands in his face? Chris Mullen? Sharif Abdule Rahim when he was Chris Jackson? Both of those guys were primarily straight up and down with their jump shot. Nobody I've ever watched does this. Unorthodox, but more power to him if he can hit it.

Ha, seriously how white where those teams? I couldn't tell anyone apart, they're all six-feet tall.  Also, where's the D? That "matador" style defense (Olay!) that Clarke's playing will end when he reports to coach Pel, that's for sure.

[Peter Venkman]

1. His defense scares me. Will he give up as many points as he scores?
2. How does he do against competition that's not 5'9", white, and slow?
3. How's his attitude? I'm generally a little iffy about guys that pull up and shoot immediately after crossing half-court.

4. He can definitely shoot. He'll be worth all the effort if he can become our version of Lee Humphrey.

To try and answer some of your questions...
1. His man-to-man defense is a big question mark. Rotnei does play the passing lanes well when he's at the top of a zone.
FYI in that youtube clip he's not guarding a random PG from Oklahoma. Keiton Page is the second best senior in the state and an Oklahoma State signee. He averages somewhere in the low to mid 30s and he was held to 28 when they played Verdigris (Keiton had 55 the next day). He's small and Rotnei has dominated him when they play man-to-man against eachother (at the Vegas Tournament in AAU ball)

2. In modern day recruiting scene this isn't as much of a question mark with the small town kids because most big time recruits are very involved in AAU. Big time coaches have seen him against the best high school players in the nation and they still recruited him hard.

3. His attitude couldn't be better. I've seen games when he's tried to defer to his teamates more and it seems like they don't know what to do once they get the ball. So what would you do if you shot 50% from 3 point range with 3 people on you and your team can't score.

It's so hard to predict how he'll turn out in college simply because his college experience will be entirely different from his HS. Many times I get exhausted just watching him try to fight to get open while being covered by two and three guys. I bet Rotnei will love playing in college because he'll only be guarded by one guy. I realize that the one guy guarding him will be bigger and more athletic, but would you rather be defended by 2 or 3 average sized guards or one guard 6'2 - 6'5''. (FYI on day one (http://oksportsreport.com/2007/12/28/2007-oklahoma-tournament-of-champions.aspx ) of the Tournament of Champions Clarke was guarded by 6'5" D-1 signee Jeffrey Merritt and he scored 28)

[jcam61]

Chris Jackson was Mahmoud Abdul Rauf not Shareef Abdul Rahim

[razorbackfan4life]

At 1:55 you hear a parent saying pass...layup.. and after rotnei makes the tough shot he said his kid was wide open.. which he was.

[LL COOL HOG]

Wheres the D and can he pass the ball.

[Calling All Hogs]

Thanks for the video Hollywood. I enjoy your posts.

Kentucky recruited Rotnei but Billie Gillespie was rather demanding that he sign
right away under the theory that he had turned Kentucky into a special place
where getting a schollie was such a big deal a kid should jump on the offer.

Thanks for the help BG.

[forrest city joe]

He reminds me of former GA.Tech PG Mark price.he can handle it. and is a pure shooter. just what we need. thanks for this great post.

[The_Bionic_Pig]

How soon we forget this guy would give Rotnei Fits in a game of Horse and he's 6'7 Observers are so caught up in his atheleticism that most forget he made about 35 3-pointers in last years tournament play along and shoots around 80% from the charity stripe.

[pigfeet]

 :razorback:

thx

[Dr Swineglove]

How soon we forget this guy would give Rotnei Fits in a game of Horse and he's 6'7 Observers are so caught up in his atheleticism that most forget he made about 35 3-pointers in last years tournament play along and shoots around 80% from the charity stripe. [/size]

Daniel Payne is going to be a stud - I can't wait to see all of these guys on the court together.

[gettinpiggywithit]

Hollywood
He reminds me of a kid named Brandon Cole.  Played for John Brown. Broke the national record for three pointers a couple of years ago.  I work there & saw him play for four years.  THis kid looks just like him. Brandom would shoot from anywhere.  The last two years at JBU, there was always two & somethimes three people on him & he could still score.  I think he could have played anywhere but wantd to go to a Christian school.  He'll wuld help a lot this year.  CAn't wait.

I had the privelage of going to High School with Brandon Cole (Hector High School). This guy had loads of talent never before seen in Hector. I believe he could have played anywhere as well...except the fact that he played in Hector (where publication is minimal). He didn't quite get the offers he should have.  Last time I talked to him, he was playing in Germany. We missed out on him for sure.

[spahoopsfan]

His shot is amazing no doubt.  I just hope he can play D on sec guards and that he doesn't mind passing when he starts playing with some talent. 

Our guards abouts baylor did not do good on D against the baylor guards.  They drove around Ervin like he wasn't there.  Help Defense is so important.  His offense will more than out weigh is lack of D, which I think will be just fine as long as we have a decent team defense which can be coached.

[TexHog188]

He looks 12 years old in those shorts.  Man can he shoot though.

[Doggtown31LCC]

After watching that, I will be interested to see how he does on D against SEC caliber teams.  I'm not sure how good #23 was, but Rotnei was having quite a bit of trouble guarding him.

On a positive note, to say I was very impressed with Rotnei's shooting would be an understatement.  He drained 3's like it was nothing.  Whether he was open or not.  I'm very excited about getting him on campus next year.

i believe 23 is that peige kid and he signed with OK st i believe.

[mbgrulz]

clarke has really filled out and is looking a lot more athletic. he has really hit the weights it looks like.

could one of the verdigris guys please hedge when keiton comes off a ball screen? make him pass the damn thing.

[BrooklynRoss]

Chris Jackson was Mahmoud Abdul Rauf not Shareef Abdul Rahim

Oh, man, sorry, I always mixed those two up when I used to catch the stats page in the paper. That's even more stupid considering how different their games were.