Central Arkansas

[Soonerguy06]

Continually impressed by Murcer, Williams and Robertson. Pellington finally woke up and Simpson was herself. Now I will say this is probably the worst if not one of the worst teams we played this year, so how much does that really say? I guess we will find out against DePaul. I hope we step up and surprised those girls because I guarantee you they think we will be an easy 'W!'

 

[SoonerSpock]

Much needed win but 29 TO's is rediculous. Good to see us hit 10-13 from the line in the second half after only making 3-8 in the first half. Nice games by EJ, Shaina and Murcer.

 

[Oliver Hardy]

Take the W. Keeping practicing hard and trying to get better individually and as a team. There is a lot to do. Turnovers are out of control. It is ridiculous.

Sherri has got to set some picks for Robertson. DePaul and UConn are going to be all over her from the tip and it’s going to be very hard for her to get an open shot.


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[sybarite]

I would like to see the stats to clarify some things. The final stats posted immediately after the game didn't make sense. Those now are quite different.

Worst first half I have seen OU play in years. Played well for about three minutes late in the first quarter. Then, we did well about two minutes in each of the third and fourth quarters.

Were we actually traveling, or was the official whistle happy? Announcers missed one. I had no idea how he called four.

Shaina looked determined in the third. Played well when fired up.

Not unhappy with Aspen.

Third worst team we have played. Glad that we played in Norman.

 

[Oliver Hardy]

I unblocked you, SYB, just to see what you would say about this game. I agree about the traveling calls and the worst game comment.

Frankly, I can't think of one I've seen since Sherri became HC that was this bad.

I understand the youth of a team and the "newness" of playing at a big-time school with a Hall of Fame head coach. That's enough to get into the heads of most athletes.

But the FT and the turnovers and the just unfocused play; even the worst team I've every seen Sherri Coale put on the floor didn't make so many rudimentary mistakes.

The next few games are probably going to be very similar to what games were like before Sherri arrived.

We're just going to have to live with it and hope they get their acts together and become a real team by end of season.

Robertson is one of the purest shooters I've ever seen, but Depaul and UConn are going to be all over her like white on rice. She isn't going to get a single open look.

Anyway.

 

[j2d2]

I seem to recollect that Sherri doesnt use screens or picks no matter how good the shooter is. I dont understand that with '
Robertson because she's such good shooter. We've had good shooters before, but this year Robertson's scoring is so critical.

 

[sybarite]

We had been using Mandy to screen for Taylor.

It kept loooking like we should be breaking this game open. After getting a little lead, we had turnovers. Seems like Central Arkansas hit some horrible shots under the basket, shots that had no right to go in. But, they did. They were better athletes than I had thought. But, they couldn't shoot. But, we really had a bad night shooting as well.

We did well when we dialed up the defense. We didn't do well when we tried to run too fast.

Frustrating game. I think one ref may be calling traveling all the way home.

 

[MsProudSooner]

Frustrating game. I think one ref may be calling traveling all the way home.

Remember back to the HoopScoop board. Who was the ref voted the worst by the fans of every Big XII team?

1. Scott Yarbrough

2. Scott Yarbrough

3. Scott Yarbrough

 

[rocjunkie]

Central Arkansas played a high school defense on Taylor. They shadowed her the whole game forgetting any fundamental defense which should have left us with drive after drive on the weak side and of course we did not take advantage of. I thought Taylor played well in spite of the "junky" defense being played on her. When we did screen for her (twice) she did a nice job of getting her shot,and she created opportunities for herself.

It seems obvious to me this team is not going to make taking care of the ball a priority. Sloppy passes come in bunches and there is no accountability. The talent we actually have is pretty good, but raw and young. I like what I see as far as potential, but this will be a very long season for these kids. If free throw shooting doesn't improve, if I were an opposing coach in the Big XII, I would "hack-a-shack" the Sooners to death, until they could prove they can hurt teams with their free throw shooting. This game should have been a 30 plus point win, there will be a lot of growing pains as we go forward.

It also became apparent that we have absolutely no post presence what so ever. EJ does not how to finish at the rim, Aspen is totally lost on offense and defense, and Dee improves each game she plays, but is a year away. As much as I hate it, I would go small, stay with Mandy and Madi and just screen, screen, screen for our shooters and pound the boards as best we can. When we decide to play defense, we are not too bad, but we have to play for 40 not when we feel like it. Here's hoping for improvement sooner instead of later.

 

[SoonerinNC]

The usual story is that freshmen have to learn to handle the speed of the game. With this group they have to slow down to the normal speed of the Div I game.

Otherwise it is OU basketball 1. Impossible shots and passes, dribbling into a crowd, playing too far off to close on three point shooters, forcing the play and long runs and long droughts.

But, this is a fun group to watch. If and it is a big if they develop their games and play smart this could be a very good group.

Robertson was face guarded all night and still managed to contribute. Not sure when we had a player with a better basketball IQ.

Murcer was Ms Cool when it counted, EJ showed some unusual spark, Mandy hustled all over the place and I saw a new hope for the inside defense and rebounding.

Aspen Williston. In three minutes of play a rebound and two steals and showed suprising quickness, hands and speed for her size. One very wild shot but with her size she could develop something of an offense. In her short stint she dominated the middle. I would like to see her a lot more often and certainly more than having EJ and Mandy in the game together. We don't need much offense from Williston. Put backs would be enough. We have plenty of other scoring options.

The free shots will come to some degree. Williams needs to put more arch on her shot but I think she will make adjustments to become a solid free shooter. But when EJ, Madi, Lampkin, etc are getting a fair number of free throws our percentage will be not so good.

I'm afraid DePaul and UConn will rain treys on us at record pace. Those are not going to be fun games. UConn's Williams just destroyed Notre Dame and DePaul scored 100 points on us last year with a ton of treys.

 

[sybarite]

Remember back to the HoopScoop board. Who was the ref voted the worst by the fans of every Big XII team?

1. Scott Yarbrough

2. Scott Yarbrough

3. Scott Yarbrough

I don't know why. But, I expect to watch a game without thinking about the officiating. It irritates me when it becomes too involved, or too uninvolved. I think Enterline was supposed to be the bad one?

I watched last night with the impression that I would have had if Sherri had hired some officials to work an intra-squad game, which she has done, in order to get them to pay special attention to some things. Some of the calls on Madi seemed straight from the twilight zone. The calls seemed to out of reality that it was like watching a (non) reality show. I don't know how much influence it had on the game. Maybe our freshmen just need to see that these guys are nuts. They make as many turnovers as do our freshmen.

I keep seeing a lot of things that are really good. It would be nice if they learned to string some of those together. We had about three spells last night of really good play, lasting about two minutes each. We must have scored ten points in two minutes. Then, we would turn the ball over twice and do nothing for about five minutes.

I do think Central Arkansas was better as a team than I had thought they would be. I guess they were 4-2, although over weak competition. They just couldn't shoot. Made some unique shots under the basket. Bricks from more than five feet.

 

[Oliver Hardy]

I think some of the traveling calls on us were bogus. At one point, I thought, I can’t remember which it was that they called us for traveling in the second half. I couldn’t see it and wondered did she carry the ball, which seemed the more likely call to me.

I don’t know. I don’t disagree with you, Syb, the officiating was suspect to say the least, but it always is in Big 12 WBB.

We had a lot more problems than that.

I would like to know, sincerely, what do you think about free throws and the problem not getting seemingly any better.

I know they practice them. I’m sure the coaches teach and preach on form, follow-through and taking a deep breath and relaxing.

What would your solution be?

The turnover situation is a years-long problem with Sherri’s squads and I’ve given up on that ever being corrected (although a Hall of Fame coach and her staff should have beaten it into every team with an “or else” mentality).

What do you do to fix that?


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[sybarite]

Free throws: I think it is more of an individual responsibility. It reveals something about the attitude of the player. Griner, DRob,------improved greatly. Courtney, Ashley---never did. It was probably an individual desire to improve, or not a focus. Chamberlain got much worse in the pros. Hield got to the point where he almost never missed.

You can hire free throw coaches. They work if someone tries. It takes a lot of work and focus.

Turnovers: over-rated. I'd like to keep them around 17 or fewer. But, that's about normal. Active offenses tend to have turnovers. There is almost a direct correlation between turnovers and scoring, as there is between field goal percentage and winning.

When you have 27, that is too many. Inexperience. If you watch the freshmen, the turnovers are while they aren't paying attention. They aren't just off a little. They pass to absolutely nothing. They pass right to the outreached arms of an opponent. Often, they appear calm, almost asleep as they are making a turnover.

I think they have their minds everywhere except on exactly what they are doing now. They are one step ahead of themselves in thought.

I have seen officials call turnovers by mistake. An athlete gets such a quick start that the officials think they left before the snap, or took a step before dribbling. It is too quick for the official, used to a slower start.

I officiated in a summer league for men one summer. Dragged me into it. Had to take some "courses" on the rules. What I saw, I saw. If we had had ten officials, we would have missed a lot. You got this guy over here pushing on this guy over here, that guy over there pushing on some guy who is pushing back.. Got ten guys pushing on each other. Having a difficult time keeping up with any one of them. And, I've got time to worry about a three-second call? A five second held ball?

 

[MsProudSooner]

I don't know why. But, I expect to watch a game without thinking about the officiating. It irritates me when it becomes too involved, or too uninvolved. I think Enterline was supposed to be the bad one?.

Enterline probably came in 4th in the poll.

 

[Oliver Hardy]

Turnover numbers for women do far exceed the men's game. As far as turnovers go, the NCAA turnover numbers this season show 50 programs are turning the ball over 15 times per game or less.

We have rarely been below 20 in Sherri's tenure, if ever, and we are now approaching 30 per game. Even for women, that is far too high. I can't believe our players, even this season when we are very young, can't react better.

That goes to the theory that the high levels are caused by youth, experience, adapting to the D-1 college game, positive reinforcement for fewer turnovers, and lack of sufficient penalty for repeatedly turning the ball over.

Maybe we need a turnover medal or belt to give the player/players who have the fewest turnovers per game. Or maybe we need to bench some people and cut back playing time for repeatedly turning the ball over like a crowd is rampaging through a turnstile.

While players are certainly the root of the problem, I believe a failure to correct an unending problem such as this should be lain at the feet of our coaching staff.

 

[Sweetest OU Girl]

Remember back to the HoopScoop board. Who was the ref voted the worst by the fans of every Big XII team?

1. Scott Yarbrough

2. Scott Yarbrough

3. Scott Yarbrough

What do you expect out of the owner of an insurance agency in Austin, Texas? Was it jealousy over the recent defeat of his Longhorns in the Big-12 championship game? Or total frustration over the play and injuries of his shorthorn's women's BB team?

He was horrible last night. Much of the blame falls on SC. She should have already banned him from calling any games OU is involved in.

 

[sybarite]

2018 478/31 = 15.42
2017 515/33 = 15.61
2016 541/33 = 16.39
2015 553/33 = 16.76
2014 526/33 = 15.94
2013 566/35 = 16.17

You can go back through the statistics through the years if you wish. The "more than turnovers per game" issue is apparently a myth. OU is very consistent in averaging around 15-16 per game over the years.

 

[Oliver Hardy]

If your stats are correct, I stand corrected. I believed it was around 20, but didn’t check. I should have.

However, 15 a game is still far too high, wouldn’t you say?

The point remains true. Sherri’s teams still make far too many turnovers a game, historically, and this season that number is steadily climbing well past 15 or 16 reaching nearly 30 the other night.

Simply an unacceptable level of turnovers for years that goes uncorrected. A coach’s job is to correct mistakes and emphasize correct, smart play of the game.

Is Sherri successful at that? I would say she is not in regard to reducing turnovers.


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[SoonerSpock]

Very few games played so the data has a lot of error factor associated with it but the top 101 programs are averaging 15.0 TO's or less for the season. YTD OU is averaging 23.0 and is ranked #346 out of 349 programs. Not a good start if your top 12 players were freshmen all from 2A high schools. Fundamentals are fundamentals.

https://www.ncaa.com/stats/basketball-women/d1/current/team/289/p7

 

[j2d2]

The fact remains that, if we continue to turn the ball over at this pace and continue to miss free throws at this rate, we will be at or near the bottom of the conference and so far this season there are no signs of improvement.