Line Up Change and Samford

[Oliver Hardy]

I said I wasn't going to get involved in all the back-and-forth this season, and I'm not going to really. However, I would like to offer some thoughts I've had recently.

I am nowhere near ready to give up on our girls. There is a lot of basketball yet to be played. I think recruiting hasn't been great the last two or three years, but that's about to change, it looks like, next year.

The team and fans may suffer more this year than in past years, but that remains to be seen. There is a hope these girls and the staff will get it together.

There have been five really tough games this year, the others have been almost zero competition. Gonzaga, UCLA, Louisville, Duke, Marist.

We have lost 4-5 for a variety of specific reasons, but generally our losses fall into some basic categories -- lack of focus/bad play, bad shooting, bad rebounding.

An unsettled line-up and many playing freshman have all exacerbated these performance problems.

A few things are clear to me at this point:

- Sherri perfers to play a four-guard line up for a variety of logical reasons.

- Kay-Kay is playing herself into a minor role player and it isn't helping that Coach prefers the 4-guard.

- We can't rebound very well as a team or as individuals. No matter what the offensive set is when you are playing defense, when your starting center and strong forward get 10 or less rebounds a game, you aren't going to win much when it counts.

I'm not Sherri and I don't know a thimble full of what she does, but I'm wondering how this would work. The next game is a throw-away game anyway that we will win no matter what we do. So let's do something a bit different...

For the next game I might start 4 bench players with Sharane. I'd start Gibbs, Kellog, Carter and Wyatt. I would sub in Kay-Kay and Kornet and Edwards in a big set. Change out Gibbs or Kellog for Edwards if you want a 4-guard set.

I'd rest the starters and give them something to think about and also a chance to clear whatever malaise seems to be in the heads of particularly Morgan and Aaron.

I think AE is close to getting benched anyway, much like Sherri had to do when she went into the Sophomore season slump. She's only shooting 30 percent. Morgan simply isn't shooting enough.

Playing the next game like that would also give the new girls real experience where we are counting on them to do everything they can to win from the first tick of the clock. There's no real relief. They would get critical playing time, which I think is going to be extremely important as we get into conference play.

It sends a message to the starters and it gives the new girls a chance to gel as a unit and as individuals.

Then you sit them all down the week of practice before Tech and read them the riot act and tell them step it up every game or spend more time on the bench.

As far as offense, if Sherri is going to go almost exclusively with a 4-guard line-up, I would make this change: 5-Griffin, 4-Campbell, 3-Hook, 2-AE, 1-Carter. We know Morgan can drain the three's and she can penetrate. She's a bit small under the boards, but we aren't getting much board help there in a four-guard anyway.

If Sherri is going to play a bigger unit, then I would use more of a high-low offense with Griffin at the top of the key and let Kay-Kay sweep the boards. They could be interchangeable too, depending on who we are playing.

Thoughts?

 

[sybarite]

I like the idea of shaking some people into reality. But, I would be starting Kornet. Carter is one of those who needs shaking up.

The four that need to be awakened from their summer nap are Carter, Kay Kay, Hook, and Ellenberg. None are anywhere near what they can do. The key is that none of them are learning or thinking right now. Kay Kay and Carter seem to think they can live on natural ability. Who knows what sends Vegas into funks.

I have no clue what to do with Morgan. I've never seen her like this.

I would be giving more time to Derica, Shaya, and Felsha. At least, they try.

 

[SoonerNorm]

This team has several problems, some of which could be solved with good shooting. I think we will start shooting better (not sure when) but in the meantime, I would work the ball inside either by pass or dribble penetration. Shooting easier shots have a higher percentage of success which puts points on the board and builds confidence in the shooters. I really thought going into the Marist game that Griffin might score 30 because of her height advantage. Instead, she had 10 points and that was primarily because going inside was not a priority.

Sherri is going to have to insist on rebounding by Griffin, Kaylon, or whoever is at the 4 and 5. Watching Aaryn lead the team in rebounding is pathetic.

I still say this team is weak defensively. They really have to go back to basics and move their feet to stay in front of their opponent because virtually everyone is allowing players to blow by them.

 

[soonerstar]

We all know that things are not going as everyone thought they would at this time. I hope there is not a bunch of dissension, jealousy, back stabbibg, etc going on. That can ruin a team faster than anything. We sure miss Whitney Hand. It seems like she was the glue that held the team together when things were not going good. I have not seen anyone step up to do that this year.

 

[SoonerNorm]

We all know that things are not going as everyone thought they would at this time. I hope there is not a bunch of dissension, jealousy, back stabbibg, etc going on. That can ruin a team faster than anything. We sure miss Whitney Hand. It seems like she was the glue that held the team together when things were not going good. I have not seen anyone step up to do that this year.

You're right about Whitney. When things were going poorly, she hated losing bad enough that she didn't mind putting the team on her back and show her teammates what needed to be done to win. I really don't see anyone who is filling that role now.

As far as dissension, I do know that most of the girls are really good friends and always joking on Twitter. There are a few that I don't see messages from but that doesn't necessarily mean they are at odds with the others.

 

[stoopified]

Not the least bit worried. We often struggle early in the year but always get our act together as we develop team chemistry.Sherri would have a much better winning percentage if she didn't play such a tough schedule.She continually plays not only Top 10 teams every year but good mid major teams that most coaces(both men and women's teams ) avoid. Personally I have every confidence in a top 3 conference finish and NCAA run. Whatever Serri does or doesn't do, I trust her.

 

[sybarite]

Not the least bit worried. We often struggle early in the year but always get our act together as we develop team chemistry.Sherri would have a much better winning percentage if she didn't play such a tough schedule.She continually plays not only Top 10 teams every year but good mid major teams that most coaces(both men and women's teams ) avoid. Personally I have every confidence in a top 3 conference finish and NCAA run. Whatever Serri does or doesn't do, I trust her.

+1

 

[SoonerNorm]

Not the least bit worried. We often struggle early in the year but always get our act together as we develop team chemistry.Sherri would have a much better winning percentage if she didn't play such a tough schedule.She continually plays not only Top 10 teams every year but good mid major teams that most coaces(both men and women's teams ) avoid. Personally I have every confidence in a top 3 conference finish and NCAA run. Whatever Serri does or doesn't do, I trust her.

There is still plenty of time to get this team in gear. Anything less than a top 3 finish in conference and a deep run in the NCAAs would be a disappointing year.

 

[j2d2]

I get the feeling that we're close, really close to gelling. NGriffin is not contributing nearly as much as she should either on the offensive or defensive end which limits our offense, hurts rebounding and doenst help fast breaks.

 

[tycat947]

Not the least bit worried. We often struggle early in the year but always get our act together as we develop team chemistry.Sherri would have a much better winning percentage if she didn't play such a tough schedule.She continually plays not only Top 10 teams every year but good mid major teams that most coaces(both men and women's teams ) avoid. Personally I have every confidence in a top 3 conference finish and NCAA run. Whatever Serri does or doesn't do, I trust her.

:clap:clap:clap

 

[sybarite]

I get the feeling that we're close, really close to gelling. NGriffin is not contributing nearly as much as she should either on the offensive or defensive end which limits our offense, hurts rebounding and doenst help fast breaks.

Griffin isn't the problem. Against Marist, they surrounded Griffin and Kay Kay with so many players that we had difficulty getting the ball to them any place that they might actually want it. How many passes did they intercept that never made it close to Griffin or Kay Kay? When they did get it, they had no room to turn around, much less take a step to the basket. They had at least three people on them, one in front, two behind. Early in the game, we were still rebounding much better than they were, except we could not get offensive boards.

They had someone all over Vegas. But, that leaves one person to cover three. They had very little coverage out near the three-point line on anyone except Vegas. They dared us to shoot from beyond five feet. If we could have hit forty percent from ten feet, we would have won. They could sag off Edwards and Sharane. They didn't really cover Carter out there. They were willing to let us drive to the lane about six to ten feet in front of the rim, but we couldn't hit that shot. They forced us to prove that we could shoot. We couldn't.

 

[MsProudSooner]

Over the years, I've noticed in many sports that it's not uncommon for Seniors to have problems executing as well as they would like to. Ebi Ere comes to mind as does Leah Rush. It's almost as if they put too much pressure on themselves to have a special Senior year. It almost seems better sometimes to have a very young team than a very veteran team. I won't pretend to know the answer to the problem since each player is different. Just my two cents.

 

[soonerstar]

When do the girls report back to campus for practice? In past years, I remember sometimes they practice at 6 p.m. on Christmas evening.

 

[SoonerNorm]

When do the girls report back to campus for practice? In past years, I remember sometimes they practice at 6 p.m. on Christmas evening.

Not sure. I do know they are all home now but haven't heard when they are due back in Norman.

 

[OKUman]

I said I wasn't going to get involved in all the back-and-forth this season, and I'm not going to really. However, I would like to offer some thoughts I've had recently.

I am nowhere near ready to give up on our girls. There is a lot of basketball yet to be played. I think recruiting hasn't been great the last two or three years, but that's about to change, it looks like, next year.

The team and fans may suffer more this year than in past years, but that remains to be seen. There is a hope these girls and the staff will get it together.

There have been five really tough games this year, the others have been almost zero competition. Gonzaga, UCLA, Louisville, Duke, Marist.

We have lost 4-5 for a variety of specific reasons, but generally our losses fall into some basic categories -- lack of focus/bad play, bad shooting, bad rebounding.

An unsettled line-up and many playing freshman have all exacerbated these performance problems.

A few things are clear to me at this point:

- Sherri perfers to play a four-guard line up for a variety of logical reasons.

- Kay-Kay is playing herself into a minor role player and it isn't helping that Coach prefers the 4-guard.

- We can't rebound very well as a team or as individuals. No matter what the offensive set is when you are playing defense, when your starting center and strong forward get 10 or less rebounds a game, you aren't going to win much when it counts.

I'm not Sherri and I don't know a thimble full of what she does, but I'm wondering how this would work. The next game is a throw-away game anyway that we will win no matter what we do. So let's do something a bit different...

For the next game I might start 4 bench players with Sharane. I'd start Gibbs, Kellog, Carter and Wyatt. I would sub in Kay-Kay and Kornet and Edwards in a big set. Change out Gibbs or Kellog for Edwards if you want a 4-guard set.

I'd rest the starters and give them something to think about and also a chance to clear whatever malaise seems to be in the heads of particularly Morgan and Aaron.

I think AE is close to getting benched anyway, much like Sherri had to do when she went into the Sophomore season slump. She's only shooting 30 percent. Morgan simply isn't shooting enough.

Playing the next game like that would also give the new girls real experience where we are counting on them to do everything they can to win from the first tick of the clock. There's no real relief. They would get critical playing time, which I think is going to be extremely important as we get into conference play.

It sends a message to the starters and it gives the new girls a chance to gel as a unit and as individuals.

Then you sit them all down the week of practice before Tech and read them the riot act and tell them step it up every game or spend more time on the bench.

As far as offense, if Sherri is going to go almost exclusively with a 4-guard line-up, I would make this change: 5-Griffin, 4-Campbell, 3-Hook, 2-AE, 1-Carter. We know Morgan can drain the three's and she can penetrate. She's a bit small under the boards, but we aren't getting much board help there in a four-guard anyway.

If Sherri is going to play a bigger unit, then I would use more of a high-low offense with Griffin at the top of the key and let Kay-Kay sweep the boards. They could be interchangeable too, depending on who we are playing.

Thoughts?

Many good ideas. I just wish we could go back to the first game and Sherri would play those freshman play in every game for at least 10-12 minutes. They can all run well, and with some coaching they can learn defense, playing would get them more prepared for later in the season when they are needed. They don't learn much sitting on the bench. You should NEVER, NEVER recruit a player you know will be on the bench the first year or so. Oklahoma University should be getting better players at every position. We have had few good forwards in the last 15 years. We can all count them on one hand. Why?

 

[Soonerbay]

Many good ideas. I just wish we could go back to the first game and Sherri would play those freshman play in every game for at least 10-12 minutes. They can all run well, and with some coaching they can learn defense, playing would get them more prepared for later in the season when they are needed. They don't learn much sitting on the bench. You should NEVER, NEVER recruit a player you know will be on the bench the first year or so. Oklahoma University should be getting better players at every position. We have had few good forwards in the last 15 years. We can all count them on one hand. Why?

Based on history...there have been few underclassmen playing the majority of minutes. SC has stated previously that she depends on seniors/upperclassmen to get it done. Unfortunately, it didn't work out too well for us in the game versus Stanford (in San Antonio). That was a game that AP should have played the majority of the game simply because of match ups and size. Traditionally, the vets get the minutes.

 

[soonerstar]

That Stanford game in San Antonio in 2006 was when the Smith girl put up 35 points on us. She was 14 0f 16 in the paint and we never did change the way we were trying to defend her. I sure regretted not having Bo Overton on the bench that game. I feel like there would have been changes if Coale would have listened to him.

 

[Soonerbay]

That Stanford game in San Antonio in 2006 was when the Smith girl put up 35 points on us. She was 14 0f 16 in the paint and we never did change the way we were trying to defend her. I sure regretted not having Bo Overton on the bench that game. I feel like there would have been changes if Coale would have listened to him.

I remember this game as though it were yesterday. I watched in a room full of Stanford fans. Stanford had Smith and Newlin, and the game began with a Stanford run. They were up on us by at least 20 points when AP finally got into the game and helped to bring it to about a 3 point deficit before the half-time. The twins were the perfect answer for Smith and Newlin. Then SC went back to her starting lineup. I don't think she ever put AP back in the game after helping to keep it close near the middle of the 2nd half and Vanderveer was so happy that she didn't because she didn't have an answer. AP was able to get rebounds along with CP. And AP was the best possible person to get CP the ball in the high low. AP shut Newlin down when she was in the game which allowed CP to slow Smith down. She would have had 50!

I believe OU had a very good chance of making it to the FF that year, but it was more important to play juniors and seniors than the best player for the game. I'm just repeating what SC said after the game...trusting her upperclassmen.

Edit - Here is the box score. I'm still sick behind this game.
http://www.gostanford.com/ViewContent.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=30600&CONTENT_ID=763062