Kruger final grade - D

[seniorsooner]

Man, Calvin Newell leaving has elevated him to the status of a god. Like he's the best player to ever suit up at OU.

The dude average 2 ppg and wasnt starting this year on a team that you guys say has no talent. Quit acting like we lost Eduardo Najera or Hollis Price. It's more like we lost Alex Spaulding.

There is definitely some truth to this.

 

[TINY]

Seriously, Boca?

This is not an overnight job thanks to the shape Capel left the program.

When we had Newell, I bet you were singing a different tune. Fact is with him we had just enough scoring to beat the mediocre teams and play with the better ones. He left and our schedule got tougher; we finished poorly.

No sane person expected much this season, although an NIT would have been nice...I would argue we would have easily secured an NIT bid with Newell but he *****ed out. Oh, and Capel would not have made the NIT either, IMO. Nothing Capel did the last 2 seasons, with equal or more talent, would lead me to believe anything different.

How about Kruger's recruiting? He has been impressive to say the least with three 4-star commitments out of high school this season, and Grooms was a very nice late addition. He has put a premium on recruiting the best regional talent, and that is essential, IMO.

He also landed Amath who could be a program changer by some accounts.

However, one also must consider what Kruger did to try to improve fan support, not to mention what a great ambassador for the university he has proven to be(as was Capel).

Give Kruger some time, he will right this ship.

Grade: C

 

[Dr Sleep]

Not a failing grade but pretty close and well below average. Hard to find any area deserving of credit.

All of us that blindly assumed Kruger was a coaching upgrade from Capel looking wrong so far. I have little doubt we would have fared better with Capel coaching.

BS Boca.

This year, we actually had an offensive system even if the shots didn't go down. We didn't lose to Chaminade, we didn't have infighting, but we did have a better record with less talent.

your post is so bad, that i will no longer read your drivel.

 

[seniorsooner]

BS Boca.

This year, we actually had an offensive system even if the shots didn't go down. We didn't lose to Chaminade, we didn't have infighting, but we did have a better record with less talent.

your post is so bad, that i will no longer read your drivel.

Yeah, we didn't lose to Chaminade but we did get absolutely pasted by a Tech team that won 1 game in conference and regularly got destroyed by nearly everyone they faced. Don't act like we didn't have some horrendous performances this year.

 

[Dr Sleep]

Yeah, we didn't lose to Chaminade but we did get absolutely pasted by a Tech team that won 1 game in conference and regularly got destroyed by nearly everyone they faced. Don't act like we didn't have some horrendous performances this year.

What division and conference is TTech in?

 

[seniorsooner]

Also, i disagree when people say we had less talent this year than we had last year. That's just not true. The talent levels look very, very similar to me.

 

[Max Power]

Also, i disagree when people say we had less talent this year than we had last year. That's just not true. The talent levels look very, very similar to me.

so they look the same and we won more games? By that logic he over achieved. so why are we mad at the guy again?

 

[seniorsooner]

so they look the same and we won more games? By that logic he over achieved. so why are we mad at the guy again?

We won 1 more game. Come on man. lol

 

[Max Power]

We won 1 more game. Come on man. lol

with the talent that was rated 9th in the conference. He recruited 3 of the guys that played this season. One of those was a walkon. He did the best he could with this group of "players" capel left him. Come on man

 

[ksSooner13]

Ya sure our record only approved by one game, but Lon does NOT deserve a F....
I would give him a C+, because he did just about as good of a job as anyone on this page could do with OU this season. Also, look what he has done OFF the court, he has sparked an interest back into the program, although small, but it was more than what was here when Capel left. Lon is going to be the man to get the OU basketball program, on and off the court, back into the main frame of this Campus.... Was Rome built in a day? NO. This is going to take some time, people just need to be patience. I know I'll get blasted for being a Sunshine pumper, BUT I don't care. I have faith in the program and Lon and I think we're all just being a little to harsh on someone who has only been here for 11 months. Let's just all take a deep breath and see who Lon brings in as a the two new recruits for next season.

 

[seniorsooner]

with the talent that was rated 9th in the conference. He recruited 3 of the guys that played this season. One of those was a walkon. He did the best he could with this group of "players" capel left him. Come on man

We overachieved at times, underachieved at others. Our talent level is good enough to not have what we had tonight and it's sure as heck good enough to not get routed by Texas Tech.

It seems like some of you guys feel like you have to do nothing but praise Kruger or you're somehow "wrong" about wanting Capel gone. I think that's the #1 reason for all the vitriol directed towards anyone that expresses the slightest bit of criticism of Kruger.

 

[DenverSooner]

It wasn't the same team. Kruger had Osby and that was an improvement over Cade Davis. However, if also had to overcome a coaching change. I think he did about what was expected when he was hired. His biggest crime was doing better than we thought in non-conference and not winning some close games.

The biggest improvement I saw was OU did not get blown out as often. Even if we don't like it as fans because a loss is still a loss, it was an improvement.

 

[seniorsooner]

The biggest improvement I saw was OU did not get blown out as often. Even if we don't like it as fans because a loss is still a loss, it was an improvement.

This I agree with. Specifically I was encouraged at us going on the road late in the year and staying in games with Baylor and Texas. Those are the types of games that we got absolutely hammered in the previous two seasons.

 

[Dem Coltz]

I completely agree with everything seniorsooner has been saying in this thread and others for weeks. Comparing this year's talent to last year's, and looking at the results, there is little difference. Yes, Capel is to blame for lack of talent, we all agree. But we wanted to get rid of Capel to get a better in game coach, and it's hard to look at the schedule and W/L record and say we got that this year. Less blowouts? Yes. Less disappointment? Not really.

Also LOL at anyone who called boca a turd in the punchbowl but said Kruger should get a C- or C, you gave 1 letter better than his D. Get real. Stop deifying Newell like he was the one that got away, he made his choice and that was to leave!

 

[Ham]

I am generally against 'sunshine pumping'...I remember the John Blake fiasco quite well.
I also remember Kelvin Sampson getting unfairly bashed for having rather well coached teams. I didn't like Sampson's 'pass the ball 4 times before you shoot and only let Jimmy Chitwood shoot' offense. But I could see the postive he brought to all of his squads.
And he won many games with guys who would never sniff the next level (even D-league).

Sampson, like Kruger, was a teacher that could recruit pretty darn well. Capel was a recruiter. And when your recruiting hits rocky waters, you have to fall back on your coaching. I can't rightfully fault Lon Kruger for having stiffs on this team. But at least they played hard and never seemed to give up. Can't say the same for Capel's sad teams.

Kruger was also playing a tougher conference overall, IMO.
With the exception of Texas Tech, everyone is generally maintaining, getting better or
working through youth issues (like Texas). Where else could they go?

Did we beat two tourney teams last year or the year before?
I recall a win over Baylor and not much else.

Capel and Kruger coached, essentially, the same team to about the same result.
The difference being, Capel was in his 5th year of building a program and Lon in his first.

I give Lon a B. I don't know how he could milk much more out of these guys.

 

[Sid]

Grading on a bell curve, I'm giving Lon a D+. I expect the Sooners to qualify for the CBI or the NIT next season. If the Sooners are not dancing in 2014, Joe C will have to go.

 

[skyvue]

It wasn't the same team. Kruger had Osby and that was an improvement over Cade Davis.

Last season, Davis averaged 14.2 points per game, 1 steal per game, 2 assists per game, 1 block and 5 rebounds per.

This season, Osby averaged 12.7 ppg, 1 steal, 1 assist, 1 block, and 7 rebounds per.

How is that better? It's different (more rebounds--a given considering his position--and fewer points) but hardly better. I'd say it was a wash.

 

[StatGeek]

We overachieved at times, underachieved at others. Our talent level is good enough to not have what we had tonight and it's sure as heck good enough to not get routed by Texas Tech.

It seems like some of you guys feel like you have to do nothing but praise Kruger or you're somehow "wrong" about wanting Capel gone. I think that's the #1 reason for all the vitriol directed towards anyone that expresses the slightest bit of criticism of Kruger.

You seem to be really hung up on the Tech game, so we didn't beat one team we should have beat on paper, every team in the country can say that.

We weren't out-coached all season, we were undermanned all season and that is/was not LK's fault.

 

[bgrch1350]

It wasn't the same team. Kruger had Osby and that was an improvement over Cade Davis. However, if also had to overcome a coaching change. I think he did about what was expected when he was hired. His biggest crime was doing better than we thought in non-conference and not winning some close games.

The biggest improvement I saw was OU did not get blown out as often. Even if we don't like it as fans because a loss is still a loss, it was an improvement.

Cade Davis was solid all year for us and was better than Osby.

Of course we didn't get blown out as much...Its almost the exact same team except, we lost 1 player and gained 3...and the rest all had a year experience.

 

[bgrch1350]

I completely agree with everything seniorsooner has been saying in this thread and others for weeks. Comparing this year's talent to last year's, and looking at the results, there is little difference. Yes, Capel is to blame for lack of talent, we all agree. But we wanted to get rid of Capel to get a better in game coach, and it's hard to look at the schedule and W/L record and say we got that this year. Less blowouts? Yes. Less disappointment? Not really.

Also LOL at anyone who called boca a turd in the punchbowl but said Kruger should get a C- or C, you gave 1 letter better than his D. Get real. Stop deifying Newell like he was the one that got away, he made his choice and that was to leave!

Agree...He took the exact same team with more experience and produced nothing.

You can like Kruger and still give him an F