Expectations for Kruger

[cowboysooner]

I saw Kruger's early college teams at K State play, and my observations of his style and what we can expect come solely from those teams. He may very well have changed his "spots" due to his exposure to the NBA or evolved through the years since K State. But, if those years are indicative, he is essentially Kelvin Sampson.

His K State teams played "finger up your rear" defense, defended their glass and only had their best players shoot the ball with any regularity. This was Kelvin's M.O.

Those teams overacheived and he was a coach that had a reputation for doing "more with less". I didn't watch his Illinois, Florida, Vegas or Hawks teams so I am really outdated.

But based upon my observations, I think we could be heading into another Sampson like era. Similar to when Kelvin arrived, he will not have much talent on hand and will likely take a few years to get his players in. However, much like Kelvin, I think he has a good chance to be good early (not great) by implementing a more disciplined and defensive oriented team. Perhaps not early, but ultimately he will have more talent at OU than he had at Vegas.

So, he might be entirely different than when I last saw his teams play, but if not I think he will be more defense oriented than Capel and his teams will be more disciplined about who shoots the ball than under Capel. This might be good or bad depending upon your theory of basketball.

Also similar to Sampson, he was sort of a Big/little guy. He liked bigs that could withstand the beating inside and little guys that could stop dribble penetration. In other words, he played mostly bigs and guards and not that many tweeners or wings. Some coaches love the tweeners, some don't. Again, he may have changed his philosophy.

All in all, he seems like a good guy, good coach and I will be shocked if he isn't successful.

 

[WTSooner]

I've seen a lot of people try to guess our style based on what he did at UNLV. I think that is a mistake. We should get better overall talent here then he got at UNLV. And we play in a different league, against a different level of competition.

That said, if the below statement alone is right, I'll be happy as a lark. So tired of seeing guys that should be role players taking any shot they want.

.....and only had their best players shoot the ball with any regularity.

 

[garyeb2]

I've seen a lot of people try to guess our style based on what he did at UNLV. I think that is a mistake. We should get better overall talent here then he got at UNLV. And we play in a different league, against a different level of competition.

That said, if the below statement alone is right, I'll be happy as a lark. So tired of seeing guys that should be role players taking any shot they want.

The best and most accurate predicter of human behavior is past behavior.

 

[NickZepp]

I just want to see improvement from last years team. I don't know about wins or style of play yet. I hope we can play a little more full court type game because we just don't have the size to win half court games.

 

[daqman]

So how many players did he send to the NBA?
Isn't that what's important?

 

[garyeb2]

I think that Cowboysooner does a really fine job of laying out Kruger's basic basketball philosophy. And it will still be quite recognisable in Norman. He has had a couple of influences that have sort of evolved his "system". Firstly, is his generation younger coaching staff. They, I believe, have qickened his tempo alittle. Still more Kelvin than Billy. But yet, something that has some appeal to todays athlete. And secondly is his time in the NBA. That has sort of shifted more focus to his wing players. He prefers the 6'8" type much more so than the 6'6" kind.

 

[WTSooner]

That has sort of shifted more focus to his wing players. He prefers the 6'8" type much more so than the 6'6" kind.

Based on what?

In their NCAA game last year, they started three guards between 6'2 and 6'4, and two 6'8 post players.

The year before, in their lone NCAA game, they started three guards between 6'2 and 6'4, and two post players, one 6'8 the other 6'10.

Three years ago, in their only NIT game, they started three guards listed between 6'0 and 6'4, another guy listed at a guard at 6'6, and a post at 6'7.


Nothing about those three seasons screams going big to me, or playing Osby on the wing. It's tough to find a GOOD 6'6 true wing player (unless you are a top school), let alone solid 6'8 ones. He is playing those guys as 4's, like most every other school in the country. Osby will fit in perfectly at the 4 spot, assuming he is comfortable having Fitz at the 5.

 

[garyeb2]

Sure, tall wings are hard to find. And probably really hard to get a couple to UNLV. And, I'm glad to see that you have taken the time to do a little research. If you get into for a couple weeks you can find alot of things Kruger has written on his coaching beliefs and many, many of his x's and o's video's on line. I've taken the time do that and that is what my beliefs, opinions, and statements are based on. Just recently, two of the three players he signed were taller than anyone coming back. That, when there was no evidence what-so- ever that he was already solid at the guard position. Take M'buy for example. He may end up playing the 4 if he can not get anyone else in here good enough. But, he can guard all five positions and has a shooting range beyond the 3 pt line. He is 6'9" and kruger would love to have a guy like that on the wing. And I could ask you the same based on what question when it comes to Osby. What do you think Kruger told Arent to get him to sign. What if it was, I want to move Fitz to the 4 and the post job is yours to lose. If that was the case, and I suspecion it was. Where does that leave Osby? Clark? I'll give you a hint, Cameron was recruited as a g/f and is still listed on the roster as a g/f. Do I know for sure? Of course not. But, I'm not just making it up either.

 

[Sawyer]

How long do you guys expect Kruger to be at OU?

The Sampson era spanned 12 seasons and started when he was still in his late 30s. Kruger will be 59 before this season starts.

When both OU and MU were still looking for coaches, I viewed Kruger as a guy who could come in and clean up a mess, but not necessarily someone who would be around all that long because of his age (and honestly was someone who was on my "he wouldn't be a worst-case scenario, but I'd rather not hire him" list... Frank Haith was on my "worst-case scenario" list). Plus, his average stint at college programs has been just five years (25 years as a college coach, five different stops, his longest being his seven years at UNLV... and I believe he left voluntarily from each job).

This is probably his last stop before retirement and he's never been one to stick around long. I believe he was quoted after taking the job saying the money is why he left UNLV.

Is there any worry among OU fans that he may lose the fire a bit with age? Billy Tubbs left OU at about the same age Kruger is now (he did still coach another decade, and he did have some moderate success at TCU, but that's a whole different animal). Norm stuck around at Mizzou until his mid-60s and probably would've stuck around another several years if it was entirely up to him, but his last truly good season was also at about Kruger's current age. Krzyzewski's 64, but he's also the best coach since Wooden, if not the best ever.

 

[NickZepp]

I hope he's here 5-8 years in that range, and that he starts a rebuilding process for whoever the next guy is.

 

[perryj74]

His contract is for 7 years and that sounds about right for my expectations for him. If he is here for that long that means the program is back on solid ground and will be a very attractive job for his replacement that could possibly be Steve Henson.

I think he gets a year's reprieve from post season play but with the influx of talent in the roster may not need it. My expectations from him are putting competitive teams out on the court. His coaching abilities have proven when he does that he will win a lot more than he loses. Obviously competitive is a subjective term and the standards will no doubt raise as his tenure lengthens here. A consistent second weekend team in the NCAA tournament with a contention or two for the Final Four shouldn't be out of the realm of possibility for him at OU by the time he is done.

 

[sdcloud9]

I would expect him here for five years or so, anything else is gravy, imo.

 

[cowboysooner]

Who knows, but I think Perryj74 is right. I'm guessing he fulfills his contract and then retires. With his age and previous heart problems, it is hard to see him coaching for another 20 years. But, who knows. He probably hasn't thought that far ahead.

For me, Grooms and/or Blair are the key to success next year. We can't be any worse inside or on the wing. Pledger and Davis are interchangable. Clark will be a little improved (at least) if for no other reason than experiance.

If grooms is a really good ball handler/passer type point and we get good solid point play from start to finish, then we could really improved. Likewise, if Blair really improves in those areas and in his on ball defensive technique, and wins the job with improved play, then again, we could be better.

At this point, I'm not factoring Neal, Newell, Osby and Arent. I want to see how much improvement we have in Neal and Newell and what type of players Osby and Arent are before assessing whether and how they will impact the team.

For now, I see Fitz, CJ and Honore inside, pledger and Cam on the wings, and Blair at point. Other than Pledger and Cam playing more minutes instead of Davis, this is what we played with last year. So, with another off season and more experiance, you would think we would be improved generally. Some would disagree, but I saw Cam, Bird and Davis as about the same players last year. With an improved blair, or grooms at point, and an improved Neal and Newell, it is hard to see how we could be worse.

I have high hopes for Osby and Arent, but just haven't seen them play. However, even if Osby turns out to be our best player, I still don't see us improving much without substantially better ball handling at the point guard position.

 

[campbest]

Clark will primarily play the 3, Osby the 4.

 

[Sawyer]

A consistent second weekend team in the NCAA tournament with a contention or two for the Final Four shouldn't be out of the realm of possibility for him at OU by the time he is done.

Certainly not impossible, but he's only made it past the first weekend three times in his 25 years as a college head coach.

 

[stoops4pres]

How long do you guys expect Kruger to be at OU?

The Sampson era spanned 12 seasons and started when he was still in his late 30s. Kruger will be 59 before this season starts.

When both OU and MU were still looking for coaches, I viewed Kruger as a guy who could come in and clean up a mess, but not necessarily someone who would be around all that long because of his age (and honestly was someone who was on my "he wouldn't be a worst-case scenario, but I'd rather not hire him" list... Frank Haith was on my "worst-case scenario" list). Plus, his average stint at college programs has been just five years (25 years as a college coach, five different stops, his longest being his seven years at UNLV... and I believe he left voluntarily from each job).

This is probably his last stop before retirement and he's never been one to stick around long. I believe he was quoted after taking the job saying the money is why he left UNLV.

Is there any worry among OU fans that he may lose the fire a bit with age? Billy Tubbs left OU at about the same age Kruger is now (he did still coach another decade, and he did have some moderate success at TCU, but that's a whole different animal). Norm stuck around at Mizzou until his mid-60s and probably would've stuck around another several years if it was entirely up to him, but his last truly good season was also at about Kruger's current age. Krzyzewski's 64, but he's also the best coach since Wooden, if not the best ever.

You bring up some good questions. Regarding Kruger's ability to turn around a program at his age, I'm not too worried about age/lack of motivation being a deterrent. Recently he took over UNLV, a program that had not sustained much success since the 90's, and drastically turned them around. I think the rebuilding job at UNLV proves that there shouldn't be too much skepticism regarding his current standing at OU. Furthermore, there are plenty notable coaches that are around his age limit. Someone posted other respected coaches around his age a few months ago, but I can't remember who it was.

As for his longevity, I don't expect him to bolt anytime soon. As you noted, UNLV was his longest stop, and he wasn't looking to jump for OU right away; it took a monumental pay day from OU for him to leave. So unless a better program comes calling with that kind of cash--if not more--then I'm not worried about a premature departure.

 

[thebigabd]

7 years sounds about right... puts OU in a position to hire Kellen Sampson afterward.

 

[OKURanger]

While I'd love to see a fast-paced team at OU, what I'd really love to see is a competitive one. If being competitive means having a lock-down defense with a limited offense, then I'm okay with that. Our talent may not allow for a fast-paced game and our coach may not be comfortable with that either.

Just win baby!