A few things I liked and one I didn't like in today's game

[AdaSooner]

_Team defense. This was a much better effort as a "team" than anything we saw last season, which usually had the appearance of disorganized chaos. I like what I saw in only the second outing of the season. More importantly, perhaps, this team did not slack off, even with a big lead. We got out of sorts a little, early in the second half, but quickly found our way and stretched the lead back out to thirty again.

_Perimeter and short range shooting. Thanks to Pledger's 5 of 7 from behind the arc, OU ended the game at 50% from three. But we were also good with short-range jumpers. This appears to be a much improved shooting team, even without CD around this year.

_Rebounding. Despite Drew's pathetic zippy-do-da showing on the boards, we still had a +20 edge on a better team than the one we played in our first exhibition game. We were only + 6 against a smaller, less-experienced NSU. Arent was definitely a bright spot with 10 rebs (5 on each end) in only 14 minutes. It will be interesting to see how he rebounds against bigger, better teams, but I liked what I saw in today's game.

There were other positives, including the play of Clark and Pledger, as well as Osby with a good game. But the three areas I highlighted stood out to me.

On the negative side, 24 turnovers is way too many against lesser competition. And it wasn't because we played a lot of subs. Twelve of the twenty TOs came from Pledger and our two point guards, Blair and Grooms, who had 4 each of the 20 total. That has to be corrected if we expect to have any chance of beating the really good teams on our schedule.

 

[OKUman]

Coach Crutchfield talked to the Tip In Club members before the game and I asked about the ships and what coach Kruger had in mind. He didn't answer much on what they were thinking, but did say that to expect another commitment within the next 48 hours. He didn't say who, guess that is against the rules.

 

[NormanPride]

It looked like the guys were trying a lot of stuff they weren't used to in real game time. That lead to a lot of turnovers... I think they're all correctable, though. You've got to remember that even though we only lost Davis last year there are a lot of new faces out there that need to get used to playing with each other. We're also subbing a LOT so we don't have one rotation that is getting in a rhythm.

 

[MsProudSooner]

The nice thing about this time of year is there is usally a full week of practice between games. At this time of year, lots of improvement can be made in a full week of practice.

 

[AdaSooner]

Good point, MsProud! The improvements from Tuesday to Saturday were obvious. Our offense was smoother and our defense was noticeably better. If LK can continue to bring out the best in our players week to week, I can't wait to see what December and January will bring.

You're right, NormanPride, some of our turnovers were the result of a variety of combinations Kruger experimented with. He substituted freely, almost from the opening tap, even played a walk on or two in the first half, which I don't recall ever seeing before. Still, the majority of our TOs were committed by guys like Blair, Grooms and Pledger, with 4 each, as well as Newell, Neal and Clark, who had 3 each. That's way too many for players who are now viewed as the "veterans" of this team.