04's Attempt: OU vs Idaho State Recap

[garyeb2]

As good as Newell was last night, I still want him coming off the bench for Pledger. As thin as we are as far as depth, he'll still get a lot of minutes.

And keep him mind that while it sure seemed like he shot it well last night, he did need 11 three point shots to hit the 4 he did. That is only 36%. When you evaluate him in that regards, I sure wish he'd be a little more selective in the shots he takes. But last night we didn't have many other options. I'm hoping that isn't the case most night. With Pledger and hopefully an improved Cam most games, that should limit Newell some.

As long as you keep beating your drum, I'll keep beating mine. Isn't 36% better than Pledger's 3pt shooting pct. last year?

Pledger is a pretty good catch and shoot guard. If some body thows it to him when he is open, he is apt to make it. However, the better teams on the schedule. The ones with quick aggressive defenders won't just let him sit out there and pop open 3's. They didn't last year and they won't this year.

I know everyone wants him to be better this year and so do I. But, there is no evidence what so ever that he has the ability to get himself open and create his own shot. That is the reason that a good shooter like Pledger has such a low game shooting pct. His lack of quickness neutralises him when he is well defended.

What about defense? I also hope that good coaching will sharpen his skills. But, once again there is no current evidence that he will be anything other than a defensive liability like he was last year. Mayby even worse with the aggressive attacting style that Kruger likes.

Calvin is certainly not the finished product. He seems to currently have only one gear. But, Calvin is quick,he can score, he is a fine on ball defender, and he can do it when the game is on the line.

While there is often a time and a need and a legitimate use for a good catch and shoot guard like Pledger, there is just as often a need for the ones like Calvin. I'm sure Kruger will find the right balance beween the two.

 

[DenverSooner]

3. Andrew Fitzgerald: Our point guards out-rebounded him 12-1. You won’t need an abacus to tally up those final figures. He out-rebounded George Mikan tonight, but just barely.

Last night my first take was he did a horrible job on the boards but I did not watch the game. However, I would note that Arent didn't do any better and the 7'4" guy for Idaho State only had 5 boards for the game. Perhaps (I did not see much of the game) Fitzgerald and Arent did a respectable job of blocking this guy out and letting their teammates get the rebounds? I will hold off on calling Andrew Andrea based on my desire to have a positive attitude and hope I have figured out why he only had one board last night.

 

[jmizzy4ou]

As long as you keep beating your drum, I'll keep beating mine. Isn't 36% better than Pledger's 3pt shooting pct. last year?

Pledger is a pretty good catch and shoot guard. If some body thows it to him when he is open, he is apt to make it. However, the better teams on the schedule. The ones with quick aggressive defenders won't just let him sit out there and pop open 3's. They didn't last year and they won't this year.

I know everyone wants him to be better this year and so do I. But, there is no evidence what so ever that he has the ability to get himself open and create his own shot. That is the reason that a good shooter like Pledger has such a low game shooting pct. His lack of quickness neutralises him when he is well defended.

What about defense? I also hope that good coaching will sharpen his skills. But, once again there is no current evidence that he will be anything other than a defensive liability like he was last year. Mayby even worse with the aggressive attacting style that Kruger likes.

Calvin is certainly not the finished product. He seems to currently have only one gear. But, Calvin is quick,he can score, he is a fine on ball defender, and he can do it when the game is on the line.

While there is often a time and a need and a legitimate use for a good catch and shoot guard like Pledger, there is just as often a need for the ones like Calvin. I'm sure Kruger will find the right balance beween the two.

No doubt we will need both of those guys to play well, in order to be as good as we all hope we can.

 

[jmizzy4ou]

Last night my first take was he did a horrible job on the boards but I did not watch the game. However, I would note that Arent didn't do any better and the 7'4" guy for Idaho State only had 5 boards for the game. Perhaps (I did not see much of the game) Fitzgerald and Arent did a respectable job of blocking this guy out and letting their teammates get the rebounds? I will hold off on calling Andrew Andrea based on my desire to have a positive attitude and hope I have figured out why he only had one board last night.

He does seem to do a decent job of putting a body on someone, but when the ball comes off, he has no ability to move his feet and go get it. Blocking out is only part of the job, and he did appear to be improved there. Now he just needs to make more effort to go and get the ball off the rim.

Alot of rebounding is positioning and desire. Larry Bird averaged 9 or 10 boards and never jumped more than a few inches off the ground, nor did he blow by people going to get it. He blocked out, and went after the ball like a lunatic.....

 

[Crocker's Long Sleeves]

I always love reading 04's recaps, great job sir and keep them coming:clap

 

[MsProudSooner]

He does seem to do a decent job of putting a body on someone, but when the ball comes off, he has no ability to move his feet and go get it. Blocking out is only part of the job, and he did appear to be improved there. Now he just needs to make more effort to go and get the ball off the rim.

Alot of rebounding is positioning and desire. Larry Bird averaged 9 or 10 boards and never jumped more than a few inches off the ground, nor did he blow by people going to get it. He blocked out, and went after the ball like a lunatic.....

Some people just have a great instinct for where the rebound is going to go and timing their jump. I don't think that's one of Fitz's strong suits.

 

[SoMuchDramaInTheLNC]

I always love reading 04's recaps, great job sir and keep them coming:clap

+1

 

[NormanPride]

Sometimes good players (especially scorers) need to come off the bench. Look at Ginobili for the Spurs. Energy guys are great coming off the bench to break a funk.

Good to get a W!

 

[Sam]

Great stuff 04, glad to have you doing recaps again.

 

[WTSooner]

As long as you keep beating your drum, I'll keep beating mine. Isn't 36% better than Pledger's 3pt shooting pct. last year?

How in the world is comparing Pledger's % last year, to Newell's for one game, fair? What does that prove? I don't think Newell will shoot 35% on the year.

Pledger is a pretty good catch and shoot guard. If some body thows it to him when he is open, he is apt to make it. However, the better teams on the schedule. The ones with quick aggressive defenders won't just let him sit out there and pop open 3's. They didn't last year and they won't this year.

A couple of points. First, Pledger doesn't have to be wide open to get his shot off. He has a shot that works just fine with a guy on him pretty tight. That is why he is a "shooter", and not just some dude that can hit open threes. Big difference. Hollis was a shooter. Kelly Newton a shooter. Michael Neal a shooter.

And anyways, isn't that EXACTLY what Newell has shown to be this year? Where are all the drives to the basket? Against NSU he actually took some two pointers, but he wasn't very successful with them (3 of 9). Against Washburn, he didn't shoot it much, but he did take as many 3's as he did 2's. And we all know what he did against Idaho State.....11 threes taken, vs 3 two's. Zone had a little to do with that, but I don't see that Newell has had much success this year doing anything but standing outside and knocking down shots. The difference in he and Pledger is that Newell goes 4 of 11, and people call that a good shooting game. Pledger on the other hand has the ability to go 5 of 7. MUCH more efficient.

 

[garyeb2]

Of course it is not fair. Just like trotting out the 36% and representing it as a shortcoming on Calvin's part.

When Pledger had a good day hitting open 3's in an exibition game against a D11 opponent the basketball world was right again and the debate settled.

I hope Pledger, in the future, will be able to replicate his stroke when he is defended or rushed, but, there is scant evidence that he has been able to do that in the past.

We could have used Pledger Friday. Having him out there firing at will against that zone in the first half would have been a much better option that shooting 24%. But, we didn't have Pledger. He was suspended again. We had Carl. He came up big in a game that was close. Without him we would have lost.

How about waiting untill Pledger comes up big in a tight one this year before we claim his performance is somehow superior to Carl's

 

[bocabull]

Why does anybody care if it's Pledger or Newell?

I hope they both play a lot and have the green light and take 15 3s between them and average making 36% on the year. I hope we take 20-30 3s a game as a team and make 35% of them and when teams take that away then Osby and Fitz make them pay down low.

Newell is a better athlete who can create his own shot. Pledger has a little better size and a more fundamental stroke. They compliment each other well.

 

[NickZepp]

If Clark is inconsistent I wouldn't mind Newell starting and Clark coming off the bench.

 

[Sooner04]

Thanks for all the kind words everyone. A few things:

Boca:

But, no way no how was Newell a "minus" in any regard. The play you mention he stole the ball and took it down for a slam. I like the pizazz and without Newell we lose the game.

I looked at it as a big negative because we were finally starting to put a little separation between us and Idaho State. That technical zapped our momentum and gave them, if memory serves, a quick four-point possession. Other than that, a fantastic performance by Newell.


In regards to Fitzgerald, he is fairly solid at blocking out....but his ball skills are just atrocious.

In regards to Pledger, it would've been nice to have our "best" shooter against a pretty decent zone. Oh well.

 

[MercedeSooner]

Fitz is the kind of player that's hard to appreciate until he's gone.

 

[WTSooner]

Fitz is the kind of player that's hard to appreciate until he's gone.

I don't mean this as a knock on Fitz, but I'd be pretty surprised if LK couldn't recruit capable replacements for him. Meaning, I hope there is never a time that we're sitting there saying "geez, sure wish we had Fitz instead of Player A starting at the 4/5 spot."

 

[thebigabd]

Fitz is the kind of player that's hard to appreciate until he's gone.

I couldnt possibly disagree with that more. Its hard to appreciate the worst rebounding big guy in the nation.

 

[DenverSooner]

I don't mean this as a knock on Fitz, but I'd be pretty surprised if LK couldn't recruit capable replacements for him. Meaning, I hope there is never a time that we're sitting there saying "geez, sure wish we had Fitz instead of Player A starting at the 4/5 spot."

There is some truth to this as a rebounder and defensive player but you have to give Andrew Fitzgerald his due as an offensive player. He plays like a man on that end of the court. Unfortunately, he has a tendency to sub for his sister Andrea once the offensive shot is taken.

 

[Big Old Booger]

Of course it is not fair. Just like trotting out the 36% and representing it as a shortcoming on Calvin's part.

When Pledger had a good day hitting open 3's in an exibition game against a D11 opponent the basketball world was right again and the debate settled.

I hope Pledger, in the future, will be able to replicate his stroke when he is defended or rushed, but, there is scant evidence that he has been able to do that in the past.

We could have used Pledger Friday. Having him out there firing at will against that zone in the first half would have been a much better option that shooting 24%. But, we didn't have Pledger. He was suspended again. We had Carl. He came up big in a game that was close. Without him we would have lost.

How about waiting untill Pledger comes up big in a tight one this year before we claim his performance is somehow superior to Carl's

I've been pretty vocal in the past about my feelings on Pledger's game. Very inconsistent shooter who is a big liability on the defensive end. If he's not hitting shots, it's like playing 5 vs 4 on the court because he completely slips out of the game.

I have also been very vocal that Newell should be playing over Pledger and many on here thought I was nuts. Newell is not great by any stretch but like you said he can create a shot, he is quick and he can play defense.

 

[Big Old Booger]

I don't mean this as a knock on Fitz, but I'd be pretty surprised if LK couldn't recruit capable replacements for him. Meaning, I hope there is never a time that we're sitting there saying "geez, sure wish we had Fitz instead of Player A starting at the 4/5 spot."

I think you could make the same statement about Pledger. Both Pledger and Fitz were recruited based on scoring ability with no thought to whether they could do the other things (play defense, rebound, etc.). I think Lon will be able to get meaningful minutes out of both and both will help us win some games they just won't be as depended upon as last year, IMO.