Defensive Philosophy

[Edmond_Sooner]

So obviously this years team is going to be undersized in the post...

If u are Capel, do you run a zone to help hide this lack of size?

I am not a big fan of the zone in college basketball for extended periods of time but i could definetely see teams shoving the ball down our throats in the post if we dont...

Downsides to the zone obviously are a lot of good looks for shooters and rebounding position (which is another area of concern for this team)...

So which is more important, clogging the lane and promoting other offenses to fire away or play a man and give our team a better chance and controlling the boards?

 

[Mr.B!!!]

We need a goon. Just sayin...

 

[j2d2]

Does YoYo have any eligibility left?

 

[scrybe]

Hard to get a straight answer on this board, isn't it? :ez-laugh:

 

[Dem Coltz]

LOL when I saw this thread my first thought was next year OU fans will need to have a "defensive philosophy" because people will talk trash about our sub-500 record, like such as if someone says "you're team isn't good" you say "no you're an idiot and you don't know basketball!"

 

[jrich02]

I'll give you an opinion.

I don't think you play alot of zone because this team is going to struggle rebounding and the zone would make it worse. You can play man and still help the post and force your opponents to take perimeter shots without harming your rebounding.

 

[Edmond_Sooner]

I'll give you an opinion.

I don't think you play alot of zone because this team is going to struggle rebounding and the zone would make it worse. You can play man and still help the post and force your opponents to take perimeter shots without harming your rebounding.

That's basically the way i see it against almost all teams unless they have 1 or 2 dominant inside guys that we just cant control even with help...

Basically it doesnt matter what defense we play, we arent gonna grow overnight and it will be an issue...

One thing that we can do with limited size is rebound, because that part of the game is about position and effort...but effort has yet to be determined with this team...

 

[Seymore Cox]

So obviously this years team is going to be undersized in the post...

If u are Capel, do you run a zone to help hide this lack of size?

I am not a big fan of the zone in college basketball for extended periods of time but i could definetely see teams shoving the ball down our throats in the post if we dont...

Downsides to the zone obviously are a lot of good looks for shooters and rebounding position (which is another area of concern for this team)...

So which is more important, clogging the lane and promoting other offenses to fire away or play a man and give our team a better chance and controlling the boards?

Our two biggest defensive weakness last year were perimeter defense and rebounding. I think it depends on if we improve on those weaknesses, it will determine what we do. CJ Washington is a post player who's not going to be a shot blocker and will be outsized. I think he may be tough enough to rebound and he may be an Upgrade on Tiny, because he might potentially play more minute than Tiny did. Also, what type of player will Nick Thompson be? I have an Idea of what Washington will bring, but no idea abot Thompson. He has the frame and athleticism to add rebounding power and shotblocking, but his numbers haven't shown that. Now we have to talk about Fitz who was less than stellar on the boards. Will he improve? Fitz was also very poor defensively. Next question is will Ahmed contribute at all? Personally, I like it when you have a positional post defender like Washington and a weakside shot blocker. Ahmed is our only weakside shot blocking type player and he most likely will be too raw to contibute. I suspect in the post,we'll be about the same.

I think we'll be improved on the perimeter, defensively. No explanation as t why, but it can't get much worse than TMG and Willie defensively. Last year OU let teams beat them on the perimeter and the bigs didn't have defensive awareness to react to them getting beat. When OU wasn't getting beat to the hoop, they were getting tourched by the three. That's where OU must improve and that means that Blair, Newell, and Taylor need to be good perimeter defenders. OU also needs to play Clark to stay on the perimeter. If Clark has to play in the post because the other post players are not good enough, that's going to make it a long year.

But to answer your question, I would like to play man and think we have a better chance of playing man than last year. If we have to play zone, it's going to be rough. We don't have a Udoh like Baylor did to clean up mistakes or shore the middle or wing of a zone. Udoh was basically a beast for Baylor last year in that zone because he could play that back baseline wing and close out on perimeter threes or he could hit that middle and block shots and turn around and rebound at the same time.

 

[Sawyer]

There aren't a whole lot of dominant low post players in the Big 12 this year. The few the conference did have are gone. There are some returning players and incoming recruits who could put up nice stats, but there are still not going to be too many major low post scoring threats. You won't have a whole lot of size, but you should have enough to hold your own defensively in most situations. I don't think too many teams will try to force it into the post and go away from what they normally do.

 

[Sam]

I think we need to go man, I don't see the zone being a better option with our post players. Not a lot of length in them, with the two guys who do have some length being a guy who played the three in juco and the other being a raw incoming freshman from Europe. Might as well roll the dice and man up and see if guys like Washington and Fitz can be strong and tough in the post. Like others have mentioned I believe the defensive play from the guards will be improved this year and that will help matters. Too often I saw a guard slash into the lane and either get an easy bucket or make the dish for an easy two or three. With Blair and Davis on the perimeter I think that will greatly improve the chances of that chronic problem from last season being repeated. Guys like Pledger (year older, experienced and better shape), Taylor, Newell and Clark with the right mindset will surly lead to an improved defensive presence. In short lets man up and see where it gets us, cause honestly watching us play zone last season was one of the most painful things about that team.

 

[TINY]

cause honestly watching us play zone last season was one of the most painful things about that team.

true dat!