SoonerNorm
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Learning to swim
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Sooners4Life0101
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That was awesome.
SoonerNorm
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Everyone knows Sherri is a very talented communicator. She is very well liked and respected. She has won at a high level which set the bar high for OU women's basketball. A few years ago attendance was high at home games. Texas and Baylor were jealous of our success.
Fast forward to 2016. Sherri is still the same very talented communicator, she is well liked and respected. But, we see attendance has fallen significantly and we are no longer competing for championships. The bar has come down a few notches. We have been overtaken by our rivals, Baylor and Texas.
It is undisputed that Sherri has proven she can win when she has the talent. She has done so at Norman High, OU, and when coaching national teams for gold medals. I'm fairly confident she has not forgotten how to coach winning basketball. The #1 reason we are not in the running for a conference championship or another final four is a lack of talent.
I do not want to see her replaced. I want to see us kicking our rival's butts. I'm reminded of Gary Gibbs. He was a great guy who did some great things when he was the head football coach. He had a lot of integrity and was well liked just like Sherri. His problem was, he didn't win at a high level and he was terminated. Being a great guy did not save his job. I do not want the administration to even think about releasing or transferring Sherri. Her situation is certainly different from Gary in the she does have a history of winning. Unfortunately that history is slipping into the distant past and fans are becoming disinterested. Failure to draw fans and compete for championships will get the attention of the administration just as it did with Gary Gibbs if she fails to meet expectations long enough. That said, we haven't reached that point yet but I'm sure Joe C is concerned with what he sees just like most fans are concerned. That's the hazard of setting the bar high. Everyone expects you to continue to raise the bar.
The way to get this ship back on track is simple (and is has nothing about whether T'ona or ViVi should be starting). The answer is, Sherri MUST have better players. I'm not sure we have one player who would start for Baylor or Texas. Remember what I said earlier, when Sherri had Courtney and DRob she won. She obviously does not have that kind of talent now. Our rivals are getting that kind of talent and they are moving up the ladder while we are moving down. Personally, I am not at all confident that our assistants are among the best recruiters in the country. But, that is a decision for Sherri to make as she knows more about what goes on than we do. All I know is, we are not seeing the results in signing elite players that we must have in order to compete for championships. I don't think many fans care how she does it as long as it gets done.
As someone said recently, the class of 2017 is critical. If we pick up a couple of players like Richards, Patterson, etc the future will look very different than it does today. I want a different future.
Fast forward to 2016. Sherri is still the same very talented communicator, she is well liked and respected. But, we see attendance has fallen significantly and we are no longer competing for championships. The bar has come down a few notches. We have been overtaken by our rivals, Baylor and Texas.
It is undisputed that Sherri has proven she can win when she has the talent. She has done so at Norman High, OU, and when coaching national teams for gold medals. I'm fairly confident she has not forgotten how to coach winning basketball. The #1 reason we are not in the running for a conference championship or another final four is a lack of talent.
I do not want to see her replaced. I want to see us kicking our rival's butts. I'm reminded of Gary Gibbs. He was a great guy who did some great things when he was the head football coach. He had a lot of integrity and was well liked just like Sherri. His problem was, he didn't win at a high level and he was terminated. Being a great guy did not save his job. I do not want the administration to even think about releasing or transferring Sherri. Her situation is certainly different from Gary in the she does have a history of winning. Unfortunately that history is slipping into the distant past and fans are becoming disinterested. Failure to draw fans and compete for championships will get the attention of the administration just as it did with Gary Gibbs if she fails to meet expectations long enough. That said, we haven't reached that point yet but I'm sure Joe C is concerned with what he sees just like most fans are concerned. That's the hazard of setting the bar high. Everyone expects you to continue to raise the bar.
The way to get this ship back on track is simple (and is has nothing about whether T'ona or ViVi should be starting). The answer is, Sherri MUST have better players. I'm not sure we have one player who would start for Baylor or Texas. Remember what I said earlier, when Sherri had Courtney and DRob she won. She obviously does not have that kind of talent now. Our rivals are getting that kind of talent and they are moving up the ladder while we are moving down. Personally, I am not at all confident that our assistants are among the best recruiters in the country. But, that is a decision for Sherri to make as she knows more about what goes on than we do. All I know is, we are not seeing the results in signing elite players that we must have in order to compete for championships. I don't think many fans care how she does it as long as it gets done.
As someone said recently, the class of 2017 is critical. If we pick up a couple of players like Richards, Patterson, etc the future will look very different than it does today. I want a different future.
People who continue to say we have plenty of talent are in effect saying we do not have a good enough coach. I do not think anyone who is truly honest cannot say the program has fallen quite a way in the last 3-4 years. Not saying we do not have a good program and that may be enough for many people. We do not however have an elite program as we have had in the past. Talent or Coach?
soonerstar
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If it is talent we are lacking in, who is ultimately responsible for this?
Sweetest OU Girl
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No doubt this year has held some disappointments at times. I believe that is because we had virtually everyone back from the second place team last year and many of us had reasonably high expectations and hopes -as did the leagues coaches when they predicted the season's outcomes. And I'm sure the expectations were much the same for our own coaches and players.
But injuries have given us fits over the the years -more so than our opponents. I say that because they have happened to some of our best players. Even as far back as Whitney missing not just one year but most of two. Maddie misses two whole years and then has to play her way back to full health. Kk missed one whole year. Goya, who we were counting on as a very critical player misses half the year, then has to play herself back into shape. I could go on and on. No team can deal with those kinds of repeated problems without major drop offs. Look at what happened to Iowa State with the loss of a single key player (by transfer).
What would happen to Baylor if both Davis and Johnson missed this whole year? Would OSU drop off any if Martin missed the whole year and Jensen an entire semester? Of course.
So while talent may well be a bit of the issue, injuries have dealt us a major blow that most of our opponents have not faced. I often wonder why that keeps happening but I never feel like the coaches are causing those injuries.
