Coaching, recruiting, or the system?

[coolm]

I wonder which is the most responsible for OU's so-much-better-ability to score?

To me the difference is night and day going wayyyyyyy back ... and that includes a comparison to some rather good OU teams.

I am going to hafta give a lot of it to coaching. In the past our players would actually look pained that they might be forced to actually shoot the ball. Now these kids look so smooth and their shots are right in the flow of their movement.

Is it just Lon's system? Did he uncover and recruit better offensive players? If so that's rather impressive as well.

Not meaning to sound stupid. I am just trying to figure out why the offense seems so much easier for the program now. Very pleasing.

 

[p230]

Yes...probably a bit of everything. But I think the main thing is him getting them to buy into doing what he wants/needs them to do. I think talent level is up but so is the team work. They are greater than the sum of their parts.

 

[38red]

Players, so recruiting!

 

[AdaSooner]

All of the above, and you can add "time" to the your list.

Kruger said from the beginning he wanted to play fast. He didn't have the right players his first year. The pace picked up last season but he was still shy on depth. I can't wait to see what his fourth year will bring.

 

[DenverSooner]

To me all of those things amount to coaching. It is the system that the coach runs. It is the recruiting decisions that the coach makes. The coach, coaches his players to play in his system.

Sampson was the same way except that his system was completely different. He was all about defense and working to get his best player a shot.

Kruger seems to focus a lot more on having 5 guys that can score and working to get one of them a good shot. I think OU's defense is still a work in progress. I suspect the defense to be a lot better next year.

 

[SoonerinNC]

Not sure what Kruger's approach is but I like his recruits. They are usually long, athletic, have good hands and very quick. Even Booker is more athletic than I expected and he jumps well enough to rebound and block a few shots.

I have always felt that the key to good shooting is for the players to know what shots they can hit, to look for those shots and try to get them off in rhythm. It appears that the Sooners are doing a pretty good job of that. And Kruger talks a lot about shooting in rhythm.

In my last years of coaching in high school I wanted the players to be fully aware of what shots they could hit. I had them start close to the hoop and shoot three shots. If they hit two they could back off a step and so on until they reached a point that they could hit two out of three but couldn't further back. I didn't want them shooting a shot in a game that they couldn't hit two out of three in practice. We shot over 40% as a team and they rarely took a shot that they should not take. We also spent a lot of time shooting in practice.

I think our players spend a lot of time in the guy shooting on their own.

 

[tycat947]

All of the above, and you can add "time" to the your list.

Kruger said from the beginning he wanted to play fast. He didn't have the right players his first year. The pace picked up last season but he was still shy on depth. I can't wait to see what his fourth year will bring.

+1

 

[usedtobe1]

I think Kruger's system continues to evolve. His MO didn't used to be as a coach who played at a fast pace (consider his mentor was Jack Hartman who was a disciple of Hank Iba). Kelvin had trouble getting top players to buy-in to playing his methodical style of ball. Kruger may have adjusted to the style that the younger guys want to play and that in turn has helped his recruiting.

I'm impressed that this staff continues to adapt and think the coaching, recruiting, and system are all linked together.

 

[coolm]

I have always felt that the key to good shooting is for the players to know what shots they can hit, to look for those shots and try to get them off in rhythm. It appears that the Sooners are doing a pretty good job of that. And Kruger talks a lot about shooting in rhythm.

couldnt agree more. to me this is huge. you know the shots you should be taking and if you get that opening in the flow of the offense then put it up.

I LOVE how our guys don't look like beaten dogs now if they take a shot that doesn't fall. If that was one of your shots and it was open then dont hesitate to put it up. Thats a good shot. No reason to beat yourself over it ... the only mistake being if you don't hustle back on D.

I am a huge Kruger convert now. Very impressed with what he has done.

 

[SoonerinNC]

I think Kruger is getting close to the type of players he wants. Last year he took Hamilton who doesn't really fit the mold he is looking for but was needed for inside depth. Didn't work out.

With the guards we have and the bigs coming in next year I suspect you won't see more Hamiltons being recruited. He can be more choosy and will likely sit on a ship rather than take a lesser recruit.

I am continually impressed with the type of player he brings in and when he lands a high impact guy the Sooners will go deep in the tournament. That will be hard to do because I have a sense that cheating has reached a new high. Schools like Kentucky, silo tech and Baylor appear to be running the bidding up pretty high.