And this is why we lost...

[hoopsaustin]

Sounds more like an excuse than the actual reason for the loss

Kids sometimes talk out of the side of their neck

Wouldn’t put much stock in it. Doo played hard

Agreed. Ita just player-speak. But its terribly timed lol

 

[WichitaSooner]

Sounds more like an excuse than the actual reason for the loss

Kids sometimes talk out of the side of their neck

Wouldn’t put much stock in it. Doo played hard

Exactly. No different than a player saying they don't pay attention to tourney projections, etc. Just a canned reply to a question they get asked a million times after every game.

 

[Big Old Booger]

I'm surprised he didn't snap his head to an official for a foul to be called with a look of complete shock on his face.

Perfect example is James playing like trash in the first half and coming to the time out with the camera on him. Crutch was pissed and said something to him and James just had a look on his face like what did I do? Come on man.

Both of these highlight James largest problem and why he's never improved. He mopes and complains more than any OU player in recent memory. I grew tired of it 2 seasons ago and the main reason I am glad he's graduating. He seems like a nice kid, very bright too, and I hope he does something with his life. However, he has to get better about reacting to adversity or he will end up working a minimum wage job somewhere in Houston. Life is much more difficult than not getting a foul call or missing a shot in a basketball game.

 

[Leroy]

Manek is a good player in out of conference games but not a good player in conference games. TOO SOFT on post defense and rebounding. Our big men recruiting sucks. Freeman and another post player that I can not name are not Big 12 post men. We need post men that are tough and can rebound.

 

[AdaSooner]

Manek is a good player in out of conference games but not a good player in conference games. TOO SOFT on post defense and rebounding. Our big men recruiting sucks. Freeman and another post player that I can not name are not Big 12 post men. We need post men that are tough and can rebound.

You may be surprised to learn that I agree with you. If Manek works hard in the weight room in the off season, he could make a huge jump as a junior. On the whole, he was more aggressive this season. Bigger, stronger players just wore him out down low. Doolittle may not have a big man’s size, but there is nothing soft about him. IMO, he’s our best player this season.

That said, I’m anxious to see what the bigs we’ve got coming in next season can do. I’m giving our coaches one more year to prove they can recruit better post players.

 

[OU92Grad]

Manek is a good player in out of conference games but not a good player in conference games. TOO SOFT on post defense and rebounding. Our big men recruiting sucks. Freeman and another post player that I can not name are not Big 12 post men. We need post men that are tough and can rebound.

Leroy you obviously have something personal against Manek. He had double doubles against both Kansas and Tech this year. Why don’t you ever talk about how our guards never block out? In fact who gave up 12 rebs to Haley and 8 to Matthews? Has Christian James blocked out this year? Or in his entire career? We lost the game when Kruger pulled Manek out after he had hit three straight shots to put us up 45-40 in the second half. West Virginia went on a 13-2 run and the score was 53-47 when he came back in. We never regained the lead. That loss is on Kruger. When Jamuni got injured during the run by WV Kruger even went to Freeman instead of putting Manek back in.

 

[Eielson]

The quote sounds bad, but if you read just about any article following a loss, by any team, you'll hear similar things. Athletes very rarely say, "man, we played as hard as possible and just came up short." Players get asked to explain losses and this is one of the most frequent answers. That said, I do agree that simply by what I saw on TV, we didn't have much emotion. A completely different demeanor than last week against KU when the players clearly knew they needed a win.

I was about to make a sarcastic comment about how if we could just find players that took games seriously we'd go undefeated every year, but you beat me to the point. This is announcer/coach talk that is only slightly less annoying than the "confidence" talk. Granted, there's really not much else you can say as a player, so in this situation I don't mind it as much. At least he's taking ownership, even if it is overly cliche.

 

[BoulderSooner]

Manek is a good player in out of conference games but not a good player in conference games. TOO SOFT on post defense and rebounding. Our big men recruiting sucks. Freeman and another post player that I can not name are not Big 12 post men. We need post men that are tough and can rebound.

He was a much better player in conf games the stats 100% show this.


And that fact that you can’t name players on OU’s team tells us all we need to know

 

[WTSooner]

Manek is a good player in out of conference games but not a good player in conference games. TOO SOFT on post defense and rebounding. Our big men recruiting sucks. Freeman and another post player that I can not name are not Big 12 post men. We need post men that are tough and can rebound.

Manek is a "solid" offensive player. And by that I mean shooter/scorer. I think he is a liability in every other aspect. Not good on D. Not a good rebounder. Can't create for himself or others. Doesn't seem to have a great feel for the game, or killer instinct. Isn't really talked about as a leader.

People want to point to his scoring and some counting stats as suggesting otherwise, but I don't see it. I'm certainly not saying he alone is the problem, just saying that he is a perfect example of what the team's problem is. Too soft. And too many guys that aren't what I could call basketball players (good all around bball guys).

 

[SoonerinNC]

I will not be suprised if we miss the NCAA. Hope we make it but the West Virginia loss really hurt.

Our biggest problem was that they killed us with offensive rebounds and second chance points. I didn't see their Tech game but they were doing the same to Kansas early in the game but maybe a few whistles cut down their agression on the boards as the game went on. Kansas can get those whistles but we don't seem to.

Our weakness this year was our senior class. All but Odomes deteriorated from their early season play and Odomes had more so-so games than good ones.

The best news for next year is that the three players who improved this year will be back. Doolittlel, Manek and Bieniemy. Manek did not rebound well in the West Virginia game buy by and large was much improved there this season. Also I felt his defense was pretty good away from the hoop. He did have a problem letting the opponent bigs get too deep inside. Freeman was also better this year but still not really good enough to be a consistent contributor.

 

[skyvue]

I will not be suprised if we miss the NCAA. Hope we make it but the West Virginia loss really hurt.

It was definitely painful for us fans, but we lost by one point to the team that just beat KU for the championship by 12 points. The Cyclones also routed Baylor in KC and beat the conference co-champs, too. Why would our one-point loss to the conference tourney champs convince the committee to leave us out when we were solidly in the field entering Wednesday's game?

 

[mict085]

I will not be suprised if we miss the NCAA. Hope we make it but the West Virginia loss really hurt.

Our biggest problem was that they killed us with offensive rebounds and second chance points. I didn't see their Tech game but they were doing the same to Kansas early in the game but maybe a few whistles cut down their agression on the boards as the game went on. Kansas can get those whistles but we don't seem to.

Our weakness this year was our senior class. All but Odomes deteriorated from their early season play and Odomes had more so-so games than good ones.

The best news for next year is that the three players who improved this year will be back. Doolittlel, Manek and Bieniemy. Manek did not rebound well in the West Virginia game buy by and large was much improved there this season. Also I felt his defense was pretty good away from the hoop. He did have a problem letting the opponent bigs get too deep inside. Freeman was also better this year but still not really good enough to be a consistent contributor.

OU is in the tourney, although likely losing in the first round.

Manek needs to add some strength and toughness in the offseason. He needs to quit pouting so much and grow up. He needs to stop being a boy and learn how to be a man. And he needs to play with that edge every day.

 

[Max Power]

It was definitely painful for us fans, but we lost by one point to the team that just beat KU for the championship by 12 points. The Cyclones also routed Baylor in KC and beat the conference co-champs, too. Why would our one-point loss to the conference tourney champs convince the committee to leave us out when we were solidly in the field entering Wednesday's game?

West Virginia won the conference tournament?

 

[WichitaSooner]

I will not be suprised if we miss the NCAA. Hope we make it but the West Virginia loss really hurt.

Our biggest problem was that they killed us with offensive rebounds and second chance points. I didn't see their Tech game but they were doing the same to Kansas early in the game but maybe a few whistles cut down their agression on the boards as the game went on. Kansas can get those whistles but we don't seem to.

Our weakness this year was our senior class. All but Odomes deteriorated from their early season play and Odomes had more so-so games than good ones.

The best news for next year is that the three players who improved this year will be back. Doolittlel, Manek and Bieniemy. Manek did not rebound well in the West Virginia game buy by and large was much improved there this season. Also I felt his defense was pretty good away from the hoop. He did have a problem letting the opponent bigs get too deep inside. Freeman was also better this year but still not really good enough to be a consistent contributor.

Is your opinion of our tournament chances based on thinking that the experts are lying, or do you just think they are incompetent? One of those would have to be true for us to miss the tournament.

 

[WTSooner]

West Virginia won the conference tournament?

He's so quick to jump in and defend OU basketball that he doesn't even care about the facts at this point. DEFEND! DEFEND!! DEFEND!!!

 

[WichitaSooner]

He's so quick to jump in and defend OU basketball that he doesn't even care about the facts at this point. DEFEND! DEFEND!! DEFEND!!!

He obviously made a mistake. You, on the other hand, INTENTIONALLY ignore facts. You tell me which is worse.

 

[skyvue]

Yes, I made a glaring mistake. I'm under the weather and on medication today but didn't know it made me that spacy. Perhaps I'll stop posting for a day or two till I'm more myself.

 

[SoonerTraveler]

Yes, I made a glaring mistake. I'm under the weather and on medication today but didn't know it made me that spacy. Perhaps I'll stop posting for a day or two till I'm more myself.

Hope you get well soon. Have a blessed and healthy Selection Sunday.