Coming into the season, who thought

[JBaker]

That our post play would be a highlight, and guard play would be our downfall?

When Newell left, I (along with others I'm sure) said that Grooms would have to become a scorer to keep our offense going.

Unfortunately, that hasn't happened. And if anything, Cam Clark has regressed offensively.

We start 3 guards, and only one of them is even a threat to put the ball in the basket on any possession.

That said, I'm very pleased with the production we've gotten from Fitz and Osby, as well as the guys who have come off the bench for them.

 

[WTSooner]

The scoring from the post doesn't surprise me. I mean, we all knew Fitz could score it, and Osby was suppose to be able to score it too, with range. I counted Neal as a 4, and we knew he could hit open shots. So yeah, the scoring, not really surprised. But I am surprised they are holding their own on the glass like they have. And for the most part, they've defended pretty well, both against the posts, and helping off on guards. I didn't think they handled the pick and roll very good last night though.

 

[NormanPride]

Cam has been the biggest disappointment. God love him, he knows it, too. You can see it every time he gets the ball, that he's thinking "this is the time I live up to everyone's expectations".

Chill out, son. Few people want you to succeed more than we do, but you've got to realize that if you just do what you can do to help the team, we're happy with that. Nobody expects you to be Kobe or anything.

 

[AdaSooner]

Guard play seems to be a concern every season for OU. When we've had good scoring guards and wings, our point guard was lacking or we were playing a two guard out of position at the one.

I can't remember the last time when guards were the strength of an OU team? In part, that's because guards are where its at in college ball these days. Every coach in the country knows that, so it's a dog fight every year to recruit and sign the best guards out there. It would be nice if we can win some of those battles.

As for this season, I'll admit that I thought our guards would be better. Not a strength, mind you, just better than we have seen of late.

 

[DenverSooner]

They will be better next year. OU will have options next season and they simply don't have options this season. If Kruger doesn't like the matchup with Pledger, he has no choice but to stick with Pledger. If he doesn't like the matchup with Cam Clark, he has to stick with Clark. His only option is with Grooms and Blair. He has been playing them both at times because he has no options. This changes next year. OU will have Hield and Hornbeak along with everyone that is currently on the team. The front court is going to be a huge plus for OU next season. Fans just need to be patient. The difference between Kruger and Capel are obvious. OU has a system now. You can tell what they are trying to do, especially on defense. Under Caple I had no clue what OU was trying to do.

 

[Krugerfan52]

Cam's biggest problem IMO has been the difference in our offense this year and last year. Last year he was either catching and shooting open threes, catching and shooting 15 footers from the corner or catching alley-oops from Carl Blair.

This year he rarely has an open shot or has his feet set. He's trying to fit in to Kruger's supposed run and gun style (even though we average 55 ppg in big 12 play) by shooting off the dribble and going one on one, which is not his strength at this point.

Last year Blair was the full-time PG and started off most games by throwing at least one alley-oop to Clark. That gets a players confidence up when they start the game with a dunk which often leads to confidence shooting the ball. Grooms has only hit Clark for oops a couple of times and they were off of set plays from a timeout.

But the biggest difference in Cam IMO is the lack of open shots and trying to force his shots one on one. Say what you want about Capel, but every year we had plenty of open shots. The first two years we just didn't have anybody that could make one at the time (AJ, Leary, Cade, Godbold). Obviously we had much different problems once TMG and Tiny came to town.