Doolittle and McGusty

[jaymOU]

Moving forward, the Sooners have to get play out of these two.

These are your top two returning players from last year and both have really struggled. Lots of possibilities for why, but it is critical OU gets them going.

Kam seems to settle for jump shots too often and Doolittle will not shoot at all.

I don't think LK has much choice, but to try and keep forcing them in the game with the hope they somehow figure it out.

I note the OU plays how the freshman play sentiment and it's probably accurate, but if Doo and Kam could get it going, it would make OU the deep team we all anticipated they would be

 

[allday92]

Agreed, I hope Lon puts an emphasis on running a few plays for them in practice and the game. The same lob play we run with Manek, we should run for Doolittle. And just force them to shoot at times so they see the ball go in

 

[ocugolfsooner]

These 2 have been such a mystery to me this year. They vascillate from being too passive to trying to force things. Just haven't found their rhythm on this team. I cringe every time they touch the ball right now but I agree that Lon has got to keep putting them in the game and hope they remember how to play ball.

 

[OU92Grad]

We ran the lob to Doo on Saturday in Texas. He caught it in the air and dribbled it out. He just needs to play with more aggressiveness and confidence on the offensive end.

 

[WichitaSooner]

We ran the lob to Doo on Saturday in Texas. He caught it in the air and dribbled it out. He just needs to play with more aggressiveness and confidence on the offensive end.

Well said. And I have heard Lon say numerous times in interviews over the past month that he and the coaches have been consistently telling Doo to be more aggressive offensively. They are happy with his defense, just need to see more from him on offense.

As for Kam, he needs to figure out when and where to get his shots. He has fallen into a bad habit of taking long twos, even if a defender is contesting. Those are incredibly inefficient shots, especially since he isn't making many right now. I'd much rather him take a catch-and-shoot three than dribble into a contested two.

 

[SuperHoops]

I was watching KU-OSU on Saturday and McGriff was just tearing it up and I was thinking Doolittle was so much better than this guy last year. That's the kind of play OU needs from him. Rebound, challenge shots, go hard to the rim.

 

[Big Old Booger]

Doolittle is allowing his frustration with himself for being ineligible first semester to carry over to the 2nd semester. At least that's how it seems to me. He's got to be able to let go of that.

 

[AdaSooner]

I’m more concerned about Doolittle. I think we all thought one of our best players on last year’s team would have found himself by now.

He is averaging 1.9 ppg in twelve games. No way a player with his ability should not be doing more in fifteen minutes of playing time. Even more concerning, Doo has been scoreless in the last four games.

 

[thebigabd]

Should have just redshirted him.... I feel bad for the guy, been a very bad year. I wonder if a transfer is likely at all for him? He would be great at a school like Tulsa. Being 6'7'' isn't as big a deal in the American as it is in the Big 12.

 

[Darwin]

At this point I think RO needs to see the ball more. He has shown the guts to make plays. If you remember Cam Clark, he had little offensive game but came on late in his junior year and was terrific as a senior.

 

[vbdad]

I was watching KU-OSU on Saturday and McGriff was just tearing it up and I was thinking Doolittle was so much better than this guy last year. That's the kind of play OU needs from him. Rebound, challenge shots, go hard to the rim.

This is exactly what I thought. They are similar build and athleticism. Doo was easily the better player last year. It looks to be the difference between a confident aggressive player and one who is lost.
Doo did play some defense against Texas and blocked out well but still lost rebounds being passive. It shouldn’t take this long for him to start playing hard!

 

[Boomer!Sooner!]

Watching Doolittle reminds me why non conference games are so important. Those games are there to build confidence. Mcgusty is having a hard time playing off the ball. He will learn. Both are in a sophomore slump.

 

[AdaSooner]

Should have just redshirted him.... I feel bad for the guy, been a very bad year. I wonder if a transfer is likely at all for him? He would be great at a school like Tulsa. Being 6'7'' isn't as big a deal in the American as it is in the Big 12.

In retrospect, can’t say I don’t agree with you. But, as I said before, who could have guessed one of our best players from last year and our second best rebounder would still be struggling to find himself?

Doolittle’s greatest strength is his ability to score off of the offensive boards, the way Ryan Spangler used to do. That’s also one of the things he did well last year. I agree he needs some set plays run his way to get him more involved. But there is no reason a player like him should go scoreless in four straight games. Rebounding and scoring off of the offensive boards is about effort and wanting the ball more than your opponent.

 

[TheMont]

Doo did play some defense against Texas and blocked out well but still lost rebounds being passive. It shouldn’t take this long for him to start playing hard!

Yep, Doo was aggressive defensively at Texas this year, which is an improvement from a lot of his games in the past 3-4 weeks. But it's hard to forget that he went off for 29 points in Austin last year. He's a shell of himself right now.

 

[jaymOU]

I’m more concerned about Doolittle. I think we all thought one of our best players on last year’s team would have found himself by now.

He is averaging 1.9 ppg in twelve games. No way a player with his ability should not be doing more in fifteen minutes of playing time. Even more concerning, Doo has been scoreless in the last four games.

Very hard to score when you will not shoot. I once heard Billy Tubbs say that! :ez-roll:

 

[CoachTalk]

I think we are beating a dead horse... Everyone knows these guys need to produce for us to take that next step, if we could get anything from them, we'd be top 10 and 1st in the Big 12.

Sometimes guys slump, I think we know Doo's is because of the susp. Mcgusty not sure... but soph slump and 2 freshmen starting in front of him after he was the breakout guy last year...

 

[stormspencer]

I could see McGusty becoming a Lawrence McKenzie type guy (first scoring option off the bench) if he could ever find a comfort level in this offensive system. But unfortunately it has yet to materialize at this point.

 

[sheepdogs1]

When both these cats start believing in themselves you'll see different results. A boost of confidence would work wonders. Unfortunately they would be better off if we were still in the non conference part of the schedule so they could play against lesser talent to help build that needed confidence.

 

[Chiefdaddy]

2 points out of these two tonight. Doolittle looks so scared to shoot and McGusty just looks like he goes through the motions out there. He needs to improve his ball handling bad.

 

[Swans]

I have a feeling McGusty may transfer after this season. Wish we had redshirted Doolittle.