I couldn't watch the game...

[MNsooner]

What happened? It looks like UTA gave us all we could handle. I was worried after they played us so close last year, but I didn't think it would take a last second stop to win it.

 

[TheGimper]

This game clearly showed how losing Hornbeak hurts the team. Woodard was completely gassed through a large part of the second, our perimeter D was more atrocious, and the rotations aren't what they need to be with our 6th man down.

 

[opsooner]

It really comes down to inability to get defensive stops. We went zone for part of the first half and most of the second half to stop penetration but then gave up 3s, offensive rebounds, and a few put-backs.

 

[opsooner]

This game clearly showed how losing Hornbeak hurts the team. Woodard was completely gassed through a large part of the second, our perimeter D was more atrocious, and the rotations aren't what they need to be with our 6th man down.

I agree with this. Overall energy is definitely affected by his loss.

 

[stormspencer]

I agree with this. Overall energy is definitely affected by his loss.

I think this begs the question....do we slow our offensive tempo some?...and do we not press/trap as much until Hornbeak gets back? You guys make a great point that his absence seems to have had a significant effect on our ability to sustain intensity (through depth).

 

[opsooner]

I think this begs the question....do we slow our offensive tempo some?...and do we not press/trap as much until Hornbeak gets back? You guys make a great point that his absence seems to have had a significant effect on our ability to sustain intensity (through depth).

I think we need to stay up-tempo on offense to help us shoot the ball in rhythm and have more opportunities for offensive rebounds. However, I agree with what you said in the game thread - we need to stay in control and take good shots. Tonight we had some trips where we did not move the ball and played too much one-on-one. When Woodard can get penetration and we make the extra pass we look good.

On defense we are probably going to have to play more zone at times and might have to live through some games like tonight where teams get hot. However, I felt like we were playing poor man defensive early (presumably before we were tired) and our guards have to do a better job of staying between their man and the basket, even if they give up some outside shots at times.

There is not an easy answer. We are both small and thin right now. I am very happy where we are and just hope we can keep it going and get some quality wins down the schedule.

 

[JBaker]

We also have to adjust better to the officiating in game.
They were letting them play physical today, but we were still just letting guys blow past us.

 

[DenverSooner]

Interesting opinions. I felt like OU went into scoring slumps more than defensive problems. In the first half OU was well above pace to score 50 points having scored 30 with 9+ left in the first half. OU only scored 15 points the rest of the half. The same thing happened in the second half only worse. OU scored 30 points in the first 9:17 and then only scored 16 in the final 10:43.

 

[TheGimper]

We greatly slowed down on our offense as it ran under 4 minutes. We wouldn't run a play until about 15-20 left in the shot clock. Woodard would stand near the half court mark and just dribble for awhile. I feel like Lon designed it that way to get Jordan a bit of breather towards the end of the game.

 

[Stikboy]

We also have to adjust better to the officiating in game.
They were letting them play physical today, but we were still just letting guys blow past us.

Woodard was getting mugged in the paint! So where is all this stuff about the new rules. Do some crews abide and some don't? Wow. Last night looked like not only last years rules, but even physical for that...

Speaking of Woodard, what was wrong with him. His body language looked terrible, like he was about to collapse. I know he played alot(36m) but he's played over 30 before... Man I couldn't believe how sick/injured he looked and was really worried about him. We had others that played that much and didn't look like that.

Is it me or do teams shoot lights out in Lloyd Noble? It seems more often than not that teams come in here and sizzle the nets, even when OU guards well. I've heard about maybe soft rims, but man I wonder if it's the shooting background or something too. I watch other games other places where guys are wide open and it seems like it's nowhere near like at Lloyd Noble. I bet those UTA guys couldn't shoot like that again unguarded... I know OU's perimeter D is less than stellar but WOW.

I hope I'm wrong but I second many poster's views on Hornbeak. If OU's guards are going to get that gassed, I hope it's not a replay of two years ago when we couldn't finish anyone off in the second half.. Hope we don't have a rude awakening in conference. Hopefully Jelon can return in 4 instead of 6.. I hope we can start putting teams away better.

 

[dahldennsull]

Woodard's body language almost made me believe he had some kind of sickness last night. As others have said, just seemed so much more gassed last night and kept hunching over like his body wasn't right.

Would explain some of his missed FT's too if he's not feeling well

 

[AdaSooner]

Woodard was getting mugged in the paint! So where is all this stuff about the new rules. Do some crews abide and some don't? Wow. Last night looked like not only last years rules, but even physical for that...

Speaking of Woodard, what was wrong with him. His body language looked terrible, like he was about to collapse. I know he played alot(36m) but he's played over 30 before... Man I couldn't believe how sick/injured he looked and was really worried about him. We had others that played that much and didn't look like that.

Interesting that you bring up the officiating in last night's game. Most of the games I have seen so far this season, in every conference, have been fairly consistent in the way the game was called. It was obvious the officiating crews were making a concerted effort to enforce the changes in the rules.

That was not the case in last night's game. It was like watching a game last year before the new rules went into effect. I'm not saying the calls were one-sided, they weren't. Oh, there were a few questionable calls. But on the whole the officiating was fair both ways. Give UTA credit, their players did a better job of adjusting to the way the game was called.

To emphasize my point, consider this: There were a total of 27 fouls in last night's game. The average number of fouls in the previous five games, which was as far as I went back on our schedule, was 47. That's 20 more fouls than the officials whistled last night. A cleaner, better played game than the previous five? Doubt it. The officials in last night's game were simply ignoring a lot of contact that had been fouls in the other games.

As for Woodard, I said the same thing on another thread. He was definitely not himself last night.

 

[oSuJeff97]

Interesting that you bring up the officiating in last night's game. Most of the games I have seen so far this season, in every conference, have been fairly consistent in the way the game was called. It was obvious the officiating crews were making a concerted effort to enforce the changes in the rules.

That was not the case in last night's game. It was like watching a game last year before the new rules went into effect. I'm not saying the calls were one-sided, they weren't. Oh, there were a few questionable calls. But on the whole the officiating was fair both ways. Give UTA credit, their players did a better job of adjusting to the way the game was called.

To emphasize my point, consider this: There were a total of 27 fouls in last night's game. The average number of fouls in the previous five games, which was as far as I went back on our schedule, was 47. That's 20 more fouls than the officials whistled last night. A cleaner, better played game than the previous five? Doubt it. The officials in last night's game were simply ignoring a lot of contact that had been fouls in the other games.

As for Woodard, I said the same thing on another thread. He was definitely not himself last night.

I didn't watch the OU game, but I have noticed that, every so often, the officials just tend to go back to the "old rules."

The refs in OSU's games in Orlando did that after the first game. We had like 40+ fouls called in our first game against Purdue and then only like 20 in each of our next two games against Butler and Memphis.

I think we had one home game earlier when the same thing happened... the refs just swallowed the whistles and went back to the old rules.

But most of the time they seem to be sticking to the "new" rules.

 

[BoulderSooner]

I didn't watch the OU game, but I have noticed that, every so often, the officials just tend to go back to the "old rules."

The refs in OSU's games in Orlando did that after the first game. We had like 40+ fouls called in our first game against Purdue and then only like 20 in each of our next two games against Butler and Memphis.

I think we had one home game earlier when the same thing happened... the refs just swallowed the whistles and went back to the old rules.

But most of the time they seem to be sticking to the "new" rules.

the first half last night was 100% the old rules 7 total fouls and 4 FT between the 2 teams ..

 

[AdaSooner]

I didn't watch the OU game, but I have noticed that, every so often, the officials just tend to go back to the "old rules."

The refs in OSU's games in Orlando did that after the first game. We had like 40+ fouls called in our first game against Purdue and then only like 20 in each of our next two games against Butler and Memphis.

I think we had one home game earlier when the same thing happened... the refs just swallowed the whistles and went back to the old rules.

But most of the time they seem to be sticking to the "new" rules.

I hope that's not a sign of things to come. When the "new" rules changes were announced, the greatest fear expressed by most of us is that the officiating would not be consistent from one game or one conference to the next. I can honestly say that the UTA-OU game is the first time this season that I have seen an obvious switch back to the way the games have been called in the past.

Still, the evidence is there. When a total of 27 fouls are called, as opposed to the previous games where the number was in the high forties or even the fifties, it had to be because the officials were ignoring a lot of contact that should have been whistled as fouls.

 

[scrybe]

Woodard was getting mugged in the paint! So where is all this stuff about the new rules. Do some crews abide and some don't? Wow. Last night looked like not only last years rules, but even physical for that...

Speaking of Woodard, what was wrong with him. His body language looked terrible, like he was about to collapse. I know he played alot(36m) but he's played over 30 before... Man I couldn't believe how sick/injured he looked and was really worried about him. We had others that played that much and didn't look like that.

Is it me or do teams shoot lights out in Lloyd Noble? It seems more often than not that teams come in here and sizzle the nets, even when OU guards well. I've heard about maybe soft rims, but man I wonder if it's the shooting background or something too. I watch other games other places where guys are wide open and it seems like it's nowhere near like at Lloyd Noble. I bet those UTA guys couldn't shoot like that again unguarded... I know OU's perimeter D is less than stellar but WOW.

I hope I'm wrong but I second many poster's views on Hornbeak. If OU's guards are going to get that gassed, I hope it's not a replay of two years ago when we couldn't finish anyone off in the second half.. Hope we don't have a rude awakening in conference. Hopefully Jelon can return in 4 instead of 6.. I hope we can start putting teams away better.

This! Yes, as some have stated, our Sooners could have played better defensively, but the reason UTA was able to stay close and have a chance to win at the end was their phenomenal shooting from behind the arc. There were at least two UTA players who were absolutely unconscious shooting threes. And these were NBA-range treys, the kind of shots any team can get at any time – regardless of the quality of your defense.

With about five minutes left in the game, I had just about convinced myself that UTA was going to win. The handwriting was starting to dimly appear on the wall. The irony was in the way the last two seconds played out. A team that could not miss its long-range bombs throughout most of the game finally missed a wide open mid-range jumper that would have sent the game to overtime.

 

[BoulderSooner]

I hope that's not a sign of things to come. When the "new" rules changes were announced, the greatest fear expressed by most of us is that the officiating would not be consistent from one game or one conference to the next. I can honestly say that the UTA-OU game is the first time this season that I have seen an obvious switch back to the way the games have been called in the past.

Still, the evidence is there. When a total of 27 fouls are called, as opposed to the previous games where the number was in the high forties or even the fifties, it had to be because the officials were ignoring a lot of contact that should have been whistled as fouls.

and it was much worse in the first half ... only 7 fouls 20 in the second ..

and cam was called for a charge based on the old rules .. not the new

 

[DenverSooner]

it is completely unfair to the teams that have adjusted to comply with the new rules if they go back to the old rules. Those new rules really favor OU.

 

[garyeb2]

This! Yes, as some have stated, our Sooners could have played better defensively, but the reason UTA was able to stay close and have a chance to win at the end was their phenomenal shooting from behind the arc. There were at least two UTA players who were absolutely unconscious shooting threes. And these were NBA-range treys, the kind of shots any team can get at any time – regardless of the quality of your defense.

With about five minutes left in the game, I had just about convinced myself that UTA was going to win. The handwriting was starting to dimly appear on the wall. The irony was in the way the last two seconds played out. A team that could not miss its long-range bombs throughout most of the game finally missed a wide open mid-range jumper that would have sent the game to overtime.

There were at least a half dozen made 3's that OU would be happy to let any team shoot whenever they wanted to shoot them and as often as they want to shoot them.

 

[ChongoChingi]

There were at least a half dozen made 3's that OU would be happy to let any team shoot whenever they wanted to shoot them and as often as they want to shoot them.

Absolutely. They were throwing them up from way out and often unbalanced.