By itself, not a terrible loss...

[WTSooner]

I'm not ready to throw in the towel just yet, but I can't deny that I am disappointed as well as baffled by the up and down performances we have seen since our win on the road in Austin.

Me neither. Not entirely on this season, and certainly not on LK as a whole.

I think we need better players, and I think LK knows that. He just hasn't been able to get them. He is doing what Kelvin kind of did. Building a solid base that can win at this level year after year. Kelvin struggled to get those star players, or better talent at the 2nd and 3rd best player on the roster level, same as LK is. And LK is trying. All we have to do is look who he went after in the 2015 class. James and Odomes are nice consolation prizes, but LK really wanted Trier (#15 in the country), McClure (#35), Grandstaff (#50), McQuaid (#67), and Shake (#74). Those guys have a chance to be real difference makers. And while we are bringing in some solid players, none are top 100 types, let alone top 50 types. LK doesn't need a roster full of those guys, but he needs one or two on the roster to be able to compete at the level we all want to compete at. That's 5 top 75 guards that we missed on in this class alone. That's alot. Lon doesn't throw out a bunch of offers.

 

[AdaSooner]

Me neither. Not entirely on this season, and certainly not on LK as a whole.

I think we need better players, and I think LK knows that. He just hasn't been able to get them. He is doing what Kelvin kind of did. Building a solid base that can win at this level year after year. Kelvin struggled to get those star players, or better talent at the 2nd and 3rd best player on the roster level, same as LK is. And LK is trying. All we have to do is look who he went after in the 2015 class. James and Odomes are nice consolation prizes, but LK really wanted Trier (#15 in the country), McClure (#35), Grandstaff (#50), McQuaid (#67), and Shake (#74). Those guys have a chance to be real difference makers. And while we are bringing in some solid players, none are top 100 types, let alone top 50 types. LK doesn't need a roster full of those guys, but he needs one or two on the roster to be able to compete at the level we all want to compete at. That's 5 top 75 guards that we missed on in this class alone. That's alot. Lon doesn't through out a bunch of offers.

All good points I agree with.

LK and his staff are off to a good start with the commitment of Payton Pritchard in 2016. Landing a high-profile point guard like Pritchard could be the shot in the arm we need to lure in more top fifty recruits in that class.

Kristian Doolittle is a nice piece, too. But if our coaches can add a player or two like Terrance Furgeson, Marques Bolden, Joey Brunk, or one of a dozen or so players we're in on in 2016, the prospects for the future could turn around in a hurry.

 

[bgrch1350]

All good points I agree with.

LK and his staff are off to a good start with the commitment of Payton Pritchard in 2016. Landing a high-profile point guard like Pritchard could be the shot in the arm we need to lure in more top fifty recruits in that class.

Kristian Doolittle is a nice piece, too. But if our coaches can add a player or two like Terrance Furgeson, Marques Bolden, Joey Brunk, or one of a dozen or so players we're in on in 2016, the prospects for the future could turn around in a hurry.

I agree...landing Pritchard is finally his signature recruit. Hopefully Kruger can continue with that class.

 

[bgrch1350]

The program was a dumpster fire due to JC's recruiting of players who were trying to use OU as a stepping stone to the league. That experiment failed miserably and OU suffered the consequence.

JC spent too much time recruiting the Harrison Barnes players of the world (kids who weren't coming here) and not enough time on players he could sign and develop.

Capel was trying to recruit to win a National Championship and Its obvious that Kruger is recruiting to make it to the tournament every year.

Had any of the combination of Warren, TMG, and Gallon returned the following year...I think everyone here would be singing a different tune around here.

 

[jerry]

There were whole lot more issues with Capel behind the scenes than OU ever elaborated on
All 3 could have come back and he still would have been fired.

 

[AdaSooner]

Capel was trying to recruit to win a National Championship and Its obvious that Kruger is recruiting to make it to the tournament every year.

Had any of the combination of Warren, TMG, and Gallon returned the following year...I think everyone here would be singing a different tune around here.

No doubt about it, there was a lot of excitement surrounding the signing of TMG and Tiny to team with WWIII that season. I remember how pumped I was back then. And, with good reason. Who wouldn't be excited about a coach who brought in four McDonald's AAs in just three years? Little did we know that the "dynamic trio" would be the beginning of the end for Jeff Capel.

He's not to blame for everything that happened that season. But when you're the man in charge (the CEO if you will), you're ultimately responsible for the bad as well as the good.

 

[chuckb]

My main gripe probably has to do with the style of ball we play which is really hard to like. Living and dying by the 3 with no semblance of a half court offense or inside game and no toughness on D is just a bad, bad recipe.

We will turn it around and the way things work 2 wins in March can turn a throw up season into a success (such is the nature of the tourney) but it's really unsettling how we just aren't improving as a team and the same flaws that were there 2 years ago are as evident as ever.

This is a pretty absurd statement. The team's defense, by nearly any measure, has been fantastic this season. It's also pretty ridiculous to state that this team isn't any better than it's been the last couple of seasons. It pretty clearly is. You're either misremembering how good this team was or you're over rating them.

There's a whole lot of overreacting to a road loss to a good team when our 2nd best player got injured and missed half the game. The bottom line is that shots didn't fall. If they had, the game would've been closer or we'd have won and the attitude here would be a whole lot different.

 

[papaP]

Agree with you Chuck B

 

[bgrch1350]

No doubt about it, there was a lot of excitement surrounding the signing of TMG and Tiny to team with WWIII that season. I remember how pumped I was back then. And, with good reason. Who wouldn't be excited about a coach who brought in four McDonald's AAs in just three years? Little did we know that the "dynamic trio" would be the beginning of the end for Jeff Capel.

He's not to blame for everything that happened that season. But when you're the man in charge (the CEO if you will), you're ultimately responsible for the bad as well as the good.

Totally agree. His replacement players, outside of Osby redshirting, weren't good enough to recoup the loss of the trio

 

[DenverSooner]

He never got to coach the solid foundation he put together to recover from what truly was a dumpster fire ... The WW, TMG, Tiny Gallon implosion. But history shows he had put together a foundation to quickly overcome that mess.

X&O's coaching is pretty overrated in college sports. It really is the jimmys and the joes.

It amazing that an OU fan can be this ignorant. It is all about the coach and Stoops proved that to e Roon of us in 1999.

 

[stormspencer]

Nothing here I disagree with, WT. Buford would have been a nice piece this season. He was being counted on to replace Cam. Nearly everyone here, including me, thought Bennett would be much improved this year. That's the usual MO for juco players their senior season. Thomas was a good addition, but he has been far more inconsistent than I could have imagined. By all accounts, Buddy was going to be the go-to player on this team. But while he has been really good in some games, he has all but disappeared in others. When arguably the best player on the team and a projected high draft pick goes 0-7 from three and commits 5 turnovers, winning on the road in the Big 12 is a major task at best.

I'm not ready to throw in the towel just yet, but I can't deny that I am disappointed as well as baffled by the up and down performances we have seen since our win on the road in Austin. I wish someone would explain how this team could run UT out of their own gym by playing superb defense for nearly 40 minutes on the road at Texas, only to try and coast to a win against K-State on their own floor the following week?

That's not the only thing that has had me frustrated lately, but it's a good place to start.

This pretty much mirrors my thoughts on this team. I simply can't begin to understand their psyche and what makes them do what they do (or what they don't do). I'm disappointed in their performance in close game and thus, dialing back my expectations until this team proves otherwise. I simply don't expect anything better than 10-8 in conference and maybe a 7 seed (and that may be a stretch at this point). I thought we might have a chance at 12 wins at the start of conference, but this team simply doesn't appear to have the tools, smarts or the moxie to make that happen.

And maybe they will surprise us all and win a postseason or tournament game. I'm just not going to get worked up about it anymore.

 

[AdaSooner]

This pretty much mirrors my thoughts on this team. I simply can't begin to understand their psyche and what makes them do what they do (or what they don't do). I'm disappointed in their performance in close game and thus, dialing back my expectations until this team proves otherwise. I simply don't expect anything better than 10-8 in conference and maybe a 7 seed (and that may be a stretch at this point). I thought we might have a chance at 12 wins at the start of conference, but this team simply doesn't appear to have the tools, smarts or the moxie to make that happen.

And maybe they will surprise us all and win a postseason or tournament game. I'm just not going to get worked up about it anymore.

I'm dialing my expectations back as well. Maybe they were too high in the first place. If so, that's on me. It certainly wouldn't be the first time I have set the bar too high to begin the season, or after a couple of impressive wins in conference.

If this team wins a game or two in the post season, I'll be here to cheer them on.