OU has one advantage in Final Four: Buddy Hield

Going into this Saturday’s Final Four double-header, Oklahoma will have one major advantage over Villanova, and if it takes the National Semi-final game over the suburban Philadelphian school, and its next opponent, an ACC representative.  The name of National Player of the Year, Buddy Hield, a senior from the Bahamas, is the ringer, the known, the devestator..  Villanova, North Carolina, nor Syracuse have the big time player of a Buddy Hield to rely on to put thirty on the stat sheet on a regular basis.  Sure, the other three Final Four participants are wonderful examples of top notch college basketball teams and any of the three could win it all, denying the other three (including OU) the title for 2016.  But for the money, there is only one Buddy Hield going to Houston this year, and that could be enough to bring the Sooners its first NCAA National Basketball Championship.

The deal with Buddy Hield is that he compliments the play of Isaiah Cousins, OU’s senior point guard and with the third guard Jordan Woodard, a junior, giving  OU the best three guard line-up in college ball this year.  They have over 100 starts together along with forward Ryan Spangler, the Sooners other starting senior.  With Heild, each of those three can carry the team on offense and beat you with a hot shooting performance. If all three are on, OU is not going to lose in this Final Four.  If two of the three are on, it will take a supreme performance by the other team for OU to go down.  And with just Buddy doing his thing, the Sooner have as good a chance to win as the other three.  Buddy Hield opens the floor for the other Sooners, and that can be as deadly as just Buddy doing his thing.

Yes, some have talked about how great the guards are for Villanova, but in an earlier meeting between the two team, OU proved who could and would be the team to beat.   Nova couldn’t hit the side of the barn that day in Pearl Harbor, going four for 32 from behind the arc.  OU shot just under 50 percent hitting 14 three’s in the twenty plus point rout.  That kind of repeat performance would not be expected by the national media, but if OU is making threes Saturday, Nova has to match serve.  It won’t be easy.  This meeting between the Villanova Wildcats and the Oklahoma Sooners goes through Buddy Hield.

Feature Photo:  Oregon Ducks forward Dillon Brooks (24), fights for a loose ball against Oklahoma Sooners guard Buddy Hield (24), in the NCAA West regional final at the Honda Center, March 26, 2016, in Anaheim, California. Thomas Boyd/Staff  Oregonlive.com