Oklahoma junior guard Buddy Hield was not overly efficient in the Sooners’ 69-60 win over Albany in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Friday evening. In fact, he was rather erratic.
But if we know anything about the Big 12 Player of the Year, it’s that no one will be more important in a potential Sweet 16 run for Oklahoma than him.
Hield fell short of his season averages in both points and rebounds against Albany (those averages are 17.4 points and 5.5 rebounds a game), but one has to think that he will bounce back accordingly as OU prepares to take on Dayton in Columbus, a place that has turned into quite the home-court advantage for the Flyers.
While Archie Miller continue to work his magic for UD, it’s fair to say that he hasn’t quite dealt with a dynamic talent like Hield, at least not recently.
Hield is a three-level scorer, capable of hurting defenses from deep, mid-range and also at the rim. His ball handling and aggressiveness allows him to create for teammates inside the three-point arc, and also get to the line at an efficient rate.
The most important development in his game was on the defensive end. Hield gets out in passing lanes to create transition opportunities, and helps out his big men to finish off each defensive possession on the glass.
Sure, it’s reasonable to assume that Dayton will have a proper game plan for the highlight worthy guard. On the flip side, could we really expect Hield to go down softly, despite the pro-UD crowd many are expecting?
No, and that’s why I’m buying stock in Oklahoma’s Player of the Year.
