Game observations

[Adreid4]

After watching todays game I think there were some positives despite the lopsided result.

Fitz once again displayed a very nice baseline jumper and a pretty impressive mix of moves down low. I would like to see him be a little bit more aggressive on the boards but he alone made this game bearable to watch for me.

I thought Nick Thompson played very well offensively displaying a very nice jump shot all afternoon. He will be a nice weapon out on the perimeter if he can keep hitting that 3 point shot consistently. He needs to improve quite a bit on defense as he got burned consistently on the baseline. Also, I don't like the foul when he was called for intentional but he hustled every time we turned it over and didn't give up any easy layups or dunks which I really like.

Cade showed some nice moves with the ball on the couple of threes he made. They played very good D on him and kept him quiet all night. The fact that other teams game plan against him as being a 3 point threat really opened up some of our other players on offense.

We shot the ball really well in the second half and finished with a 50% FG % on the night. You would normally feel really good about your teams chances shooting like that. Ultimately what killed us though was that they shot 56% from the field including 11-16 from 3. They also beat us on the boards 29-17. Perimeter D and rebounding killed us along with too many turnovers. 50% from the field was encouraging to see though and Fitz played great offensively.

 

[j2d2]

Defense and rebounding will take us as far as we will go this year. So far there iwn't much indication that either have much chance of being good.

 

[Krugerfan52]

After watching todays game I think there were some positives despite the lopsided result.

Fitz once again displayed a very nice baseline jumper and a pretty impressive mix of moves down low. I would like to see him be a little bit more aggressive on the boards but he alone made this game bearable to watch for me.

I thought Nick Thompson played very well offensively displaying a very nice jump shot all afternoon. He will be a nice weapon out on the perimeter if he can keep hitting that 3 point shot consistently. He needs to improve quite a bit on defense as he got burned consistently on the baseline. Also, I don't like the foul when he was called for intentional but he hustled every time we turned it over and didn't give up any easy layups or dunks which I really like.

Cade showed some nice moves with the ball on the couple of threes he made. They played very good D on him and kept him quiet all night. The fact that other teams game plan against him as being a 3 point threat really opened up some of our other players on offense.

We shot the ball really well in the second half and finished with a 50% FG % on the night. You would normally feel really good about your teams chances shooting like that. Ultimately what killed us though was that they shot 56% from the field including 11-16 from 3. They also beat us on the boards 29-17. Perimeter D and rebounding killed us along with too many turnovers. 50% from the field was encouraging to see though and Fitz played great offensively.

I agree with so much of this. After reading all the negative bs on this board, it's nice to listen to commentators like Steve Kerr who have a clue and have some perspective.

Not only do I agree that Fitz has a nice jumper, I just think he's a really good player on the post. He has a lot of moves and great touch. He just needs some help.

 

[DenverSooner]

Defense and rebounding will take us as far as we will go this year. So far there iwn't much indication that either have much chance of being good.

That is what is so frustrating because defense and rebounding are mostly about effort/coaching. Even an over matched team can defend and rebound but apparently that is not true at OU anymore

 

[AdaSooner]

Not only do I agree that Fitz has a nice jumper, I just think he's a really good player on the post. He has a lot of moves and great touch. He just needs some help.

You're right about Fitz. His 22 points, 5 boards, 2 assists and 1 steal was a real bright spot in today's game. I couldn't be more pleased by the way he's playing right now. Pledge had a good game, too, and it was nice to see Cam be more aggressive in working for his shot. I hope he doesn't get discouraged discouraged by the misses and give up on it, because he has a bright future ahead of him.

I remain unimpressed with Nick Thompson's 15 points. His 2 rebounds in 28 minutes tells me all I need to know about how much help he gave Drew on the boards. Hell, I'm 6' 2" and old as dirt, and I could find a way to get two rebounds.

I'm not sure Nick is entirely to blame, though. His move to the wing on offense appears to be by design. If so, that makes no sense to me at all. OU is at a size disadvantage in nearly every game they'll play this season. How do you justify having a 6' 8" post player set up so far from the basket he is of no use whatsoever in getting loose balls and rebounds?

Early in the season, Nick and Drew were an effective duo running the high-low by utilizing Thompson's interior passing skills and his ability to penetrate or shoot short range jumpers. I realize that was against smaller, lower-caliber opponents. But we we have gone totally away from that set, by having Nick run around the perimeter jacking up threes. What am I missing here?

 

[Max Power]

That is what is so frustrating because defense and rebounding are mostly about effort/coaching. Even an over matched team can defend and rebound but apparently that is not true at OU anymore

This right here sums up why I have given up on Capel

 

[CokeSooner]

I really thought Cam played fairly decent today, despite the shots not falling. Once he starts knocking down that midrange shot (which is supposed to be the best part of his game) he should be fine on offense. I just feel he does a lot of little things better than other players on the team so he might have an impact that goes unnoticed on the stat sheet. Defensively he's in position a lot more often than some other guys.

I really think Pledger, Clark, and Cade are the 3 on the perimeter that need to play the most. Even though Pledger may not be a point, he's certainly less of a game by game risk than Blair or Newell, and he does a decent job defensively most of the time.

Thompson frustrates me as a player. He's that guy on the other team I wouldn't like.