Is this team done?

[Soonerinkc]

They are not good players. They put up some stats last year because the team was atrocious. Doolittle in particular just can't play. I'd rather have Freeman out there at this point.

lol..don't disagree....just saying like MOST athletes they get told they are the best...and tend to believe that....hence the display we are seeing.

 

[inoref]

Not gonna repeat myself about the talent level on this team. I really think they should have couple of more wins than they do up to now. I don't know much about the talent coming next year but OU is not ever going to have bunch of hs all Americans

 

[sheepdogs1]

Opponents have found out the hard way that to beat us you have to play solid defense. We have yet to learn is that the mirror works both ways.

 

[oudna]

They are not good players. They put up some stats last year because the team was atrocious. Doolittle in particular just can't play. I'd rather have Freeman out there at this point.

Doolittle and McGusty aren’t the same players as they were last year

Doolittle didn’t shoot 39 3PT% and 81 FT% last year “because the team was atrocious”

McGusty is in an entirely different role. His percentages are slightly down. But his overall numbers are simply worse because usage has changed from 24 min to 16 min (and shrinking).

 

[NickZepp]

We are a 10 or 11 win team without a generational type talent.

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[tooney]

We are a 10 or 11 win team without a generational type talent.

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This^^^^

We have one player who can consistently get his own shot.....without him, this would be last year's team.

I don't like to be critical of players on our team.....but most are one dimensional.

A few are spot up shooters. A couple can drive to the goal. A couple can dunk.

But they don't get these if TY isn't on the floor. He sets up the whole team. With defenses set up to stop Trae, it opens up the floor for Odomes to get wide open lanes to drive the ball......spot up threes for Brady ad CJ......wide open dunks for the centers.

CJ is the most consistent player on the floor (besides TY) who can get his shot....and I hold my breath every time he puts the ball on the floor. And his three point shooting has fallen the last few games. (Since the OSU at Stillwater, he's shot 8-35 from three....22.8%.) Brady has shot 37% in the same time span. Trae...36%. It's hard to win when the shots aren't falling.

With all the talk about defense....and it definitely needs to improve, if our shooters start hitting some of the shots they've made in the first half of the season, we're in lots better shape. But defense needs to be a priority b/c shooting comes and goes, defense should be a constant.

I only got the watch the last 10 minutes of the game, but Toby kept mentioning the lack of consistency on what was a foul when it applied to Trae....and that our bigs were letting the opposing center catch the ball too close to the bucket.

As for the chemistry on the team.....imo, it has been bad and is getting worse. Some of the players seem to resent that their playing time is declining. To them, I would say, if you want more time, give the coach a reason to increase your time. If they don't want to get with the program and improve their offensive and defensive skills, they probably need a new start somewhere else. I think Freeman's decline started when kruger was trying to work Doo back into the playing rotation......at the time, it made sense......now, I'm not too sure. I wouldn't be surprised to see 2-4 of our players move on to other teams after the season....and if they aren't going to buy into the team, they need to.

And I think everyone needs to be careful what they post here......the substitution patterns yesterday made me think the coaching staff is taking cues from some of the posts on this forum.

JMO

 

[Stikboy]

But defense needs to be a priority b/c shooting comes and goes, defense should be a constant.

This x1000000

 

[chuckb]

Doolittle and McGusty aren’t the same players as they were last year

Doolittle didn’t shoot 39 3PT% and 81 FT% last year “because the team was atrocious”

McGusty is in an entirely different role. His percentages are slightly down. But his overall numbers are simply worse because usage has changed from 24 min to 16 min (and shrinking).

I'll get ripped for this -- and it would be a gamble -- but those 2 guys are of the best players on the team. They should play A LOT over the rest of the season with the hope that they gain confidence and get back to their former selves over the remainder of the year. This team won't reach its potential by playing Freeman, Lazenby, and Shepherd. I think they'll (Doolittle and McGusty) play better if they play more.

I think Lon clearly right now is looking for players who'll come in and get the job done and he doesn't know who to turn to. IMO, when in doubt, put the best guys on the court and cross your fingers.