Kruger/Majerus

[61sooner]

I am certainly not upset by the Kruger hire. Can laugh about the abuse I got when I suggested Majerus to succeed Capel when Rick was derided about being fat and over the hill.
I hope OU is as patient with Kruger as STLu has been with Majerus who I believe is in his 4th year.
Give good coaches time and they can succeed. The Indiana coach is another good example of patience.

 

[dubyac]

It's going to take patience, because next year will not be much, if any better...

 

[skyvue]

It's going to take patience, because next year will not be much, if any better...

Why do you say that? We'll have at three more quality players on the roster.

I'm not predicting we'll improve by leaps and bounds, but to say it'll be basically a repeat of this season doesn't even make sense. Everyone will have more experience and another year in Coach Kruger's system, we'll have a deeper, more talented bench -- I'll be very surprised if we're not a few wins better.

 

[rickjames]

It's going to take patience, because next year will not be much, if any better...

We really had a chance to win almost every game this year, we were missing probably 1 maybe 2 impact players which we could have next year. We lead almost every game but the game we got slaughtered at in Columbia.

 

[dubyac]

If you want to say 16-17 wins is better, that's fine.. I'm just saying don't expect a tourney team, probably not even nit...

 

[garyeb2]

This is my story and I'm sticking to it. This years team wasn't terrible. They weren't average and they certainly weren't good. But, they were not bad.

With the new faces, they will be measurably better next season. But, if they fans look up and see Pledger and Fitz in the starting lineup again, the team will not be good. Good teams don't have players that klomp around from one place to the other on offense and don't defend on the other end.

With hopefully a little talent upgrade coming, Kruger may be able to pull off alittle magic if he only has to play one of them significant minutes. But, he can not do it if they are both the current best available option again.

 

[Mr.B!!!]

Team improved from this year to last as they were clearly better coached. I'm optimistic.

 

[WTSooner]

If M'Baye is at least as good as Osby, and Hield/Hornbeak can take most of the minutes from Blair/Neal, and we add another able body or two to fill the last two scholarships, I'm optimistic that we can be an NIT team at worse.

People forget just how close this team was to the NIT this year, or really, even the NCAA. We were FOUR games short of Texas this year in the league. That includes us losing to TT, losing that first game at aTm that we should have won, and even losing the close home game against Mizzou. Winning those three games, and the Cincy game, puts us in the NIT for sure (I'd think), and probably only puts us a game or two out of the NCAA Tourney.

Factor in that the Big 12 should be down a bit next year, and I'd be pretty disappointed with missing postseason play.

 

[Sawyer]

OU will be in the tournament next year.

Hield and Hornbeak probably won't contribute a ton statistically, but just having two more skilled/athletic perimeter guys will make a huge difference.

I doubt M'Baye will contribute as much as Osby did this year, but he's a legitimate D1 talent who can play. You're giving minutes to him that previously went to guys who had no business playing at this level. OU will be a better team for it.

 

[bgrch1350]

OU will be in the tournament next year.

Hield and Hornbeak probably won't contribute a ton statistically, but just having two more skilled/athletic perimeter guys will make a huge difference.

I doubt M'Baye will contribute as much as Osby did this year, but he's a legitimate D1 talent who can play. You're giving minutes to him that previously went to guys who had no business playing at this level. OU will be a better team for it.

We finished 8th in the big 12 and every team that finished ahead of us in conference(except for mizzou who is SEC bound) will have a better team next year. Just b/c we will be a little bit better doesn't mean every team we play won't be any better. K-St, Baylor, ISU, OSU, W.V., and Texas are all going to be better then they were this year. And KU might not be better but they will be better than us. Thats 6 tournament teams returning and 5 of them will be better than they were this year.

 

[WTSooner]

We finished 8th in the big 12 and every team that finished ahead of us in conference(except for mizzou who is SEC bound) will have a better team next year. Just b/c we will be a little bit better doesn't mean every team we play won't be any better. K-St, Baylor, ISU, OSU, W.V., and Texas are all going to be better then they were this year. And KU might not be better but they will be better than us. Thats 6 tournament teams returning and 5 of them will be better than they were this year.

LMAO

WV will not be better. For sure.

And how is Baylor going to be better? ISU?

 

[DenverSooner]

We finished 8th in the big 12 and every team that finished ahead of us in conference(except for mizzou who is SEC bound) will have a better team next year. Just b/c we will be a little bit better doesn't mean every team we play won't be any better. K-St, Baylor, ISU, OSU, W.V., and Texas are all going to be better then they were this year. And KU might not be better but they will be better than us. Thats 6 tournament teams returning and 5 of them will be better than they were this year.

I disagree that every team will be better. I actually think most will not be as good. Baylor loses Perry Jones III, Anthony Jones and Quincy Acey. That is a huge loss. ISU loses Christopherson and Allen. That is a big loss and two of their top 3 scorers. KU loses Robinson, Teahan and Taylor. That is a big loss. OSU loses Page. KSU loses Samuels. Both of those guys matter. Texas loses Wangmene and Chapman (they matter to that team). I will not argue that none of these teams can be better but to suggest they will all be is not reasonable.

OU will absolutely be better. OU will have a solid front line next season and some much needed depth. OU also still has two scholarships to give and could land a really good 3 point shooter.

 

[KCRuf/Nek]

Doesn'y Baylor have a top ranked recruiting class coming in?

 

[KCRuf/Nek]

Watching Murray St./Marquette. I don't see how adding 2-3 athletic kids will make us competitive with the likes of these two - and others like them. I imagine it will take more than one class to shore up our talent to this level.

 

[Sawyer]

Murray State and Marquette are two of the better teams in the country. You don't have to be a top 20 team to make the tournament.

Also... OSU losing Page makes them better. It's no coincidence that they've won fewer games each year he's been there (with his minutes going up every season).

Iowa State could end up losing White. I don't think he's a guy who's going to help himself much by staying in school, and I wouldn't be surprised at all to see him go pro. Baylor loses a lot. kansas loses a lot. WVU loses by far their two best players. Texas and ksu will probably be better, but I'd expect everyone else to at best stay the same.

 

[WTSooner]

Doesn'y Baylor have a top ranked recruiting class coming in?

Who cares? Which would you rather have.....good basketball players that are young, or good basketball players that are seniors?

 

[WTSooner]

Watching Murray St./Marquette. I don't see how adding 2-3 athletic kids will make us competitive with the likes of these two - and others like them. I imagine it will take more than one class to shore up our talent to this level.

Baby steps. How bout we try to make the tournament, and maybe compete with a lower seed before you start comparing us to a 1 loss team, and a 3 seed. lol

 

[KCRuf/Nek]

Baby steps. How bout we try to make the tournament, and maybe compete with a lower seed before you start comparing us to a 1 loss team, and a 3 seed. lol

I believe I said it will take time. I'm not the one saying that we'll be a tourney team next year. I bring those teams up because they are on now and have the sort of team you need to compete.

 

[KCRuf/Nek]

Who cares? Which would you rather have.....good basketball players that are young, or good basketball players that are seniors?

Either. Or both. The NBA conga line doesn't seem to hurt Kentucky.

 

[SoonerinNC]

It is easy to take a negative position so you won't be disapointed.

But this team was better than it's record except for one thing. DEPTH. A study I did showed that late in the games the quality of OU play suffered and they got no help at all off the bench.

What I have seen of practice tapes gives me hope that M'Baye will be as good or better than Osby.

I expect some improvement from Neal. Probably a fair amount from Grooms and even some by Pledger. Fitz is what he is. But I find it a little harsh to suggest that Fitz and Pledger don't belong at this level. All-Stars, probably not, but at least serviceable Big 12 players.

The team played very good defense in large parts of most games with both on the floor and they both averaged double figures in scoring with a decent number of rebounds.

Simply you need depth to play Kruger's game and we didn't even come close this year in the depth department.

The two freshmen and maybe a late sign out of JUCO will be critical. I expect Neal to contribute more but that will not be enough. I suspect that Blair is maxed out.

And I really don't expect the Big 12 to be down. That is usually a pre-season hope that never materializes.

The two freshmen will probably determine whether we go to the NIT or the NCAA.
We can't improve a lot without improving our depth