I'm gonna pin this one on Lon

[JBaker]

We miss Henson and Hill a lot more than we thought we would.

 

[oudna]

We miss Henson and Hill a lot more than we thought we would.

it's huge

 

[NickZepp]

Trae Young and Manek have made this team a lot better but nearly ended up with single digit wins for a reason last year. Our talent level outside of Young is still really low. I'm sorry but Lon's just not recruited any offense at all. You get a guy averaging 30 points per game and nearly 10 assists that's about 50 points a game from one guy alone.

 

[SoonerSpock]

Played good defense tonight, incredible defense in the 2nd half.

I'll give you the great defense the second half. But the first half the Sooners were bad defensively, very bad with little effort.

 

[outest]

How is our talent compare to Texas Tech??? They played hard nose one on one defense. They played in your face defense. West from WV was open way too much on the first half and canned a whole bunch of 3's. That should never happen.

 

[schoonerdriver]

I wonder if they have some bad attitudes on the team.

Sent from my VS990 using Tapatalk

 

[mict085]

Lon did what he was hired to do. He pulled us out of the abyss that was created when Sampson left us like he did and capel sucked. Lon brought us back to respectability and a final four. Lon lost a lot when his 2 assistants left for HC jobs and we didn’t adequately replace them.

 

[chuckb]

Played good defense tonight, incredible defense in the 2nd half.

Yes, but terrible defense in the first half.

 

[chuckb]

sorry. In the 50+ years Ive been watching college basketball I have seen a ton of skinny kids play awesome defense. defense is played with attitude and effort. we are lacking that.

People keep repeating this as though those are the only 2 things that go into playing defense. Clearly they're part of it but that's not all of it. The way people here repeat those 2 things over and over it's like some of you think anyone who has the right attitude and plays hard can defend at a D-1, Power-5 level. That's completely ridiculous.

Athleticism matters. Strength matters. Concentration/focus matters. Recognition and experience matter. It's not just attitude and effort.

This team was horrible defensively in the first half for many reasons. I'm sure it's the reason McGusty didn't play more than 3-4 minutes. He is awful defensively. In the 2nd half, they were much better -- played with incredible tenacity. Lattin and Manek were fantastic defensively in the 2nd half and Manek is usually awful. They just have to play good defense for 40 minutes. If they're even good defensively in the first half, they win by 6 or 8 points.

 

[BCSooners]

Yes, but terrible defense in the first half.

Yes 1st half was terrible defense, but holding WVU to 75 points on your home floor with the style OU plays will get it done most nights easily.

 

[soonerjunky]

I'd play Hanes a lot more.

 

[sperry]

Gotta upgrade the talent level. Trae being as good as he is hurt our long term prospects big time, though.

 

[Sooner Season]

I'm going to have to agree with Cool on this one, whether it's lack of toughness or lack of a counter strategy to what teams are doing to Trae or lack of talent, there has to be some questions about what has happened and what is happening. However, I will say I love Lon Kruger being our coach, his character, his coaching ability and the way he represents us, but he is not above reproach.

This is probably sacrilege, but I have questioned our toughness even during the Final Four year and it showed up at the worst time with the worst defeat in Final Four history. And even last year, no way we should lose the most games in program history. Our lack of player development is painfully obvious. Again, I love coach Kruger being our coach, but these are legitimate questions if you pay attention at all.

 

[AdaSooner]

I’m gonna pin the last two years (to include player development) on the change in coaching chemistry with the loss of Steve Henson.

No doubt about it! If anyone is to blame for this loss via an obvious lack of player development and a failure to light a fire under some of the players on this team, you can lay that on LK’s assistants. Ultimately, that’s Lon’s responsibility too. But he can’t possibly be a hands-on coach with every player in practice. That’s his assistants’ job.

No question player development has taken a hit since Henson and Hill left. It didn’t show up to the degree we’re seeing now because our final four team was loaded with self-motivated players (Buddy, Ryan and Isaiah) who inspired their teammates.

This is a different team with one obvious leader, a freshman who, as great as he is, is still learning on the fly. Odomes is the only other player I can think of who is self-motivated. Lattin talks a good show, but he has a history of failing to take his promises of an improved defense, etc. to the court on a consistent basis. He can be all-world one game and all but disappear the next. He is also a prime example of a lack of player development. I blame the assistants for that. Time will tell if their somewhat questionable recruiting with a couple of recruits most of us see as projects will pay dividends?

 

[Max Power]

No doubt about it! If anyone is to blame for this loss via an obvious lack of player development and a failure to light a fire under some of the players on this team, you can lay that on LK’s assistants. Ultimately, that’s Lon’s responsibility too. But he can’t possibly be a hands-on coach with every player in practice. That’s his assistants’ job.

No question player development has taken a hit since Henson and Hill left. It didn’t show up to the degree we’re seeing now because our final four team was loaded with self-motivated players (Buddy, Ryan and Isaiah) who inspired their teammates.

This is a different team with one obvious leader, a freshman who, as great as he is, is still learning on the fly. Odomes is the only other player I can think of who is self-motivated. Lattin talks a good show, but he has a history of failing to take his promises of an improved defense, etc. to the court on a consistent basis. He can be all-world one game and all but disappear the next. He is also a prime example of a lack of player development. I blame the assistants for that. Time will tell if their somewhat questionable recruiting with a couple of recruits most of us see as projects will pay dividends?

Henson and Hill were still on staff for the final four team. Last years embarrassment was the first year without them.

 

[AdaSooner]

Henson and Hill were still on staff for the final four team. Last years embarrassment was the first year without them.

Thanks for setting me straight, Max Power! Last year’s fiasco without Henson and Hill simply confirms the point I was trying to make. And, now this...

 

[Max Power]

Thanks for setting me straight, Max Power! Last year’s fiasco without Henson and Hill simply confirms the point I was trying to make. And, now this...

Yep, it was the thought i had before the start of last season. I figured we would miss Henson and Hill more than Buddy, Isaiah, and Ryan.

 

[Soonerinkc]

Lon did what he was hired to do. He pulled us out of the abyss that was created when Sampson left us like he did and capel sucked. Lon brought us back to respectability and a final four. Lon lost a lot when his 2 assistants left for HC jobs and we didn’t adequately replace them.

HE....not we. I wouldn't have chosen his son.

 

[WichitaSooner]

Yep, it was the thought i had before the start of last season. I figured we would miss Henson and Hill more than Buddy, Isaiah, and Ryan.

Please tell me this is an exaggeration. Unless you have two hall of fame assistant coaches, they aren't more valuable than Buddy and Isaiah. I think they are both very good coaches and were huge assets, but they didn't make more of a difference than the two best players on a Final Four team. Good programs lose assistants all the time, as they should. National players of the year don't come around quite as often

 

[TINY]

People keep repeating this as though those are the only 2 things that go into playing defense. Clearly they're part of it but that's not all of it. The way people here repeat those 2 things over and over it's like some of you think anyone who has the right attitude and plays hard can defend at a D-1, Power-5 level. That's completely ridiculous.

Athleticism matters. Strength matters. Concentration/focus matters. Recognition and experience matter. It's not just attitude and effort.

This team was horrible defensively in the first half for many reasons. I'm sure it's the reason McGusty didn't play more than 3-4 minutes. He is awful defensively. In the 2nd half, they were much better -- played with incredible tenacity. Lattin and Manek were fantastic defensively in the 2nd half and Manek is usually awful. They just have to play good defense for 40 minutes. If they're even good defensively in the first half, they win by 6 or 8 points.

THANK YOU!

If only I had known that all I needed to be an nba defender was elite heart and hustle. Where would I be now?