Deep breath in and exhale. Now...

[KBaden145]

Not a bad loss on the surface. Knowing we had an 18 point lead is what makes this hard to stomach. Defense has definitely improved over last season but offensive execution, regardless of the reasons, was the ultimate culprit. You have to find the basket, from the field or the line, down the stretch to put good teams away, especially at their place. I LOVE this team's potential but they have to find their rhythm on offense. It takes time but these are experienced ball players. This needs to improve (and I believe it will) but it has to start now.


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[stormspencer]

I believe this team will improve as well. But our inability to guard the perimeter in the 2nd half, just like last year, reared its ugly head and is one of the main reasons that we lost. We need to find an identity on offense.

 

[tsou89]

I believe this team will improve as well. But our inability to guard the perimeter in the 2nd half, just like last year, reared its ugly head and is one of the main reasons that we lost. We need to find an identity on offense.

100% agree on the perimeter defense. It's been awful since LK got here and shows no signs of improving. It's my only LK complaint.

 

[BigTime]

100% agree on the perimeter defense. It's been awful since LK got here and shows no signs of improving. It's my only LK complaint.

How could you not see it during the first half? The announcers were slobbing all over it and we contested every shot in the half court. It can and will be fixed IMO.

 

[stormspencer]

How could you not see it during the first half? The announcers were slobbing all over it and we contested every shot in the half court. It can and will be fixed IMO.

BigTime, we certainly contested better in the first half...no question, but they also missed a number of wide open looks in the 1st half as well. They made their wide open looks for a stretch in the 2nd half....and it ultimately doomed us.

 

[KBaden145]

I believe this team will improve as well. But our inability to guard the perimeter in the 2nd half, just like last year, reared its ugly head and is one of the main reasons that we lost. We need to find an identity on offense.

This was a really good offensive team and they were going to knock down some shots at some point. Not being able to match them down the stretch cost us this game. The ceiling for this team is still pretty high but finding a rhythm on offense is my only real concern at this point. It will come but how soon is the question. The schedule we have lined up isn't one built for a team trying to find itself on offense.


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[KBaden145]

BigTime, we certainly contested better in the first half...no question, but they also missed a number of wide open looks in the 1st half as well. They made their wide open looks for a stretch in the 2nd half....and it ultimately doomed us.

Our inability to get points to stem runs is what doomed us. Very poor execution on offense. Defense was good enough to win.


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[bocabull]

We lost on the road to a mid major because we have only slightly better than mid major talent and mediocre coaching.

Same old Sooners under Kruger.

 

[hoopsaustin]

We lost on the road to a mid major because we have only slightly better than mid major talent and mediocre coaching.

Same old Sooners under Kruger.

Why are you here? Go play in the street troll.

 

[stormspencer]

Our inability to get points to stem runs is what doomed us. Very poor execution on offense. Defense was good enough to win.


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I agree that our offensive execution was poor down the stretch...and I'm going to have a rant post about that tomorrow.:ez-laugh: (i.e we fall in love with the 3 waaay too much and play too much one-on-one etc.)

However, I don't expect us to have to score 70-80 points consistently to win a game on the road...because that is going to be difficult in alot of environments for us to do that. Scoring is tough on the road, thus our defense can't have 7 minute lulls where we get outscored by 18. Part of that is offense yes, but at one point, Creighton scored on 8 or 9 straight possessions. That is unacceptable. But you're right....there were issues on both ends of the court.

 

[pillmanj]

We lost on the road to a mid major because we have only slightly better than mid major talent and mediocre coaching.

Same old Sooners under Kruger.

Same ole Boca

 

[KBaden145]

I agree that our offensive execution was poor down the stretch...and I'm going to have a rant post about that tomorrow.:ez-laugh: (i.e we fall in love with the 3 waaay too much and play too much one-on-one etc.)



However, I don't expect us to have to score 70-80 points consistently to win a game on the road...because that is going to be difficult in alot of environments for us to do that. Scoring is tough on the road, thus our defense can't have 7 minute lulls where we get outscored by 18. Part of that is offense yes, but at one point, Creighton scored on 8 or 9 straight possessions. That is unacceptable. But you're right....there were issues on both ends of the court.

This team, so far, looks like they just haven't played together enough. Guys are getting a bit lost in space and don't seem to move confidently. I think all that will change as Thomas settles in and the other starters become comfortable with him.

Against most teams, I would agree with what you say about scoring on the road. However the difference for me in this case has more to do with who we are playing. Holding this group to 65 pts and .375/.308 shooting is completely acceptable. I expected to need 75 points to win this game assuming we played decent defense. Only needing 66 to win exceeds my expectations considering the competition.


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[KBaden145]

I completely understand everyone's angst about CLK's use of TOs too. It's like riding in a car with someone who takes corners to fast. You want to tap the brakes just a little. He is far from the only coach who does it this way and I don't know if OU fans will ever really get used to it. There is a method to his perceived madness. It isn't the way I like it either but it's how he likes to handle it. He wants the guys to learn to play together through poor stretches. In games like this and the ut game referenced on another thread, it is hard to watch or understand.


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[SoonerDan74012]

It sucks that OU blew an 18 point lead, but I'm not going to have a total meltdown over it cause this is only the 2nd game of the season. Now, I will start panicking if they continue to blow big leads and go through long periods of not scoring in February. This team will be fine. I contributed Cousins struggles more to him being in foul trouble all night and couldn't get into the flow of the game from an offensive standpoint. Thomas is the real deal though and I also think Lattin is going to be bigtime before he leaves. He just needs to put on some muscle which will come in time.

 

[MercedeSooner]

Problem is a lot of us expected a lot from this team this year. Not ready to temper expectations yet but this sure as hell wasn't a good start.

 

[SoonerSpock]

I completely understand everyone's angst about CLK's use of TOs too. It's like riding in a car with someone who takes corners to fast. You want to tap the brakes just a little. He is far from the only coach who does it this way and I don't know if OU fans will ever really get used to it. There is a method to his perceived madness. It isn't the way I like it either but it's how he likes to handle it. He wants the guys to learn to play together through poor stretches. In games like this and the ut game referenced on another thread, it is hard to watch or understand.


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No question Lon has always wanted to allow his team to learn to play their way out of tough situations as opposed to calling a timeout, especially in the non-conference games. For certain that is not going to change because we learned the game differently and he and his staff believe that there is justification for that approach regarding timeouts.

It is similar to how football defenses justify playing prevent defense at the end of the game. When they lose the fans hammer then for not playing the defense like they did the first 3-1/2 quarters. From the coaches perspective prevent defenses win significantly more games than failing to burn clock and primarily defending against the big play.

It is what it is but it does make for good message board fodder.

 

[tsou89]

Problem is a lot of us expected a lot from this team this year. Not ready to temper expectations yet but this sure as hell wasn't a good start.

Exactly. The football team kicked us in the crotch in that regard.
Hoops needs to help ease that pain!

 

[BigTime]

Problem is a lot of us expected a lot from this team this year. Not ready to temper expectations yet but this sure as hell wasn't a good start.

That's fair. It's November though. This team as a chance to be top 10 good. A November road lose when your PG has one of his worse games as a Sooner means very little in hoops.

 

[BigTime]

Exactly. The football team kicked us in the crotch in that regard.
Hoops needs to help ease that pain!

I think they will

 

[oSuJeff97]

As a neutral observer, I don't think you guys have much to worry about.

I REALLY like what I see from this team. Yeah, it sucks to blow a huge lead like that, but as others have pointed out, it's November.

OU with Kruger REALLY reminds me of Eddie Sutton's OSU teams. They are well-coached, they play hard on every possession, they are disciplined and they are never out of games; and, most importantly, they get better and better as the year wears on.

And when they get a special player with experience (Heild), they can make a deep run.

That's what I think this OU team is going to do this year.