Lon on with Toby Rowland

[jaymOU]

Anyone hear the entire interview this AM?

I caught the last three or four minutes talking about the team needing to play 40minutes and have better offensive possessions. Basically talking about their offensive droughts.

Good stuff, just wondered what else he talked about. Toby eluded to talk about Buddy and the incoming players.

 

[dahldennsull]

Currently listening, will post a summary when done, but here is a link for anyone else who wants to join in:

https://soundcloud.com/sooner-radio-network/lon-kruger-radio-interview

 

[dahldennsull]

-Lon says how can you predict against UK winning it all. Loved the ND game

-Anything you regret from the game? Not really, just good tough game and tough loss

-Buddy's decision? #1 said he loves his time at OU, but he wants to play in the NBA of course, getting info from committee on where he might go in draft. Talk with him and family and make a decision for everyone. They want him to have that opportunity, he's looking at it maturely

-Line on NBA draft grade for good/bad decision? Just make sure Buddy has something guaranteed, not maybe this/maybe that. Maybe guaranteed 1st round is what Lon would recommend. Get the deal etc. If not be careful, but still his call

-Toby brought up Mom coming lately, showing he was leaving: Lon said that wasn't the case at all. Mom had some time on her hands, wasn't working and had opportunity to watch her son play and took it. Nothing other than that, no decision has been made yet, Buddy said he wins either way

-Toby asked about Jumani : Made terrific strides this year, tons of energy, more defensive shot blocker starting out, but could quickly develope offense. Good hands, good footwork, can run the floor. Will be fun watching him and Khadeem together over the next few years.

-On Khadeem going forward: 4 man, really active off dribble, can make shots, eventually 3's, not next year but eventually. Maybe swing out and play SF after a couple years. Good mobility, runs floor well, should be VERY good defensively. Him and Jumani will be a fun tandem defensively.

-On new recruits, James, Odomes and Manyang: Akolda (A-Cold-uh), will definitely be a difference maker, especially on defensive end. Real good knack for blocking shots, runs floor extremely well. Will get better and better on offensive end. Has never played low post, has floated out some in current role. (Toby forgot to give him time on the other guys dangit)

-Ryan Spangler - battled so hard, worn down a little bit. Throwing the ball more to Tashawn at the end of the year than Ryan, so contributed to his scoring going down too. He's up to getting better and making the program better next year.

-Last year you wanted to focus on defense, which you did. This next year, whats the next step? They did many good things this year, did things OU hasn't done in a while. Can learn from tough loss this weekend and not getting as far as we want. Need more good possessions, we went too many stretches without good looks, without effective looks, set better screens, play better basketball for 40 minutes. The 40 minute part is what we need to focus on.

 

[opsooner]

When you listen to that it kind of reenforces concerns about offense next year. Lots of defensive potential but can we score and can we score consistently?

 

[OUHoops]

Thanks guys for the link and recap.

 

[sperry]

When you listen to that it kind of reenforces concerns about offense next year. Lots of defensive potential but can we score and can we score consistently?

Hopefully you see a big leap from Woodard and Cousins this offseason. Cousins is already a fantastic shooter, he just needs to get better at getting his shot off (like Buddy did from last year to this). Woodard needs to get a whole lot better, but he looks like he can do it. His struggles have kind of been baffling to me because his shot looks good and he seems great at getting to the rim at times.

 

[AdaSooner]

Thanks for the breakdown on the interview, Dahl! That gives us a good look into the future on where LK sees the team going forward.

I, too, wish Toby had asked about Odomes and James. My guess is he would have said something like they play with a lot of energy, they are very athletic and both players can really score the ball.

I'm a defense first kind of fan, so it doesn't bother me that Lon has spent a lot of time working on improving our defense. But, I'm not the least bit concerned about our offense next year. Even if Buddy leaves, it will be there. I honestly believe that Buford, James, Odomes, Manyang and the returning players will more than make up for what we'll lose on offense with Thomas no longer around and if Buddy leaves. As SoonerTraveler demonstrated in his post yesterday, it has been that way every year since Kruger arrived at OU.

 

[CoachTalk]

Thanks for the breakdown on the interview, Dahl! That gives us a good look into the future on where LK sees the team going forward.

I, too, wish Toby had asked about Odomes and James. My guess is he would have said something like they play with a lot of energy, they are very athletic and both players can really score the ball.

I'm a defense first kind of fan, so it doesn't bother me that Lon has spent a lot of time working on improving our defense. But, I'm not the least bit concerned about our offense next year. Even if Buddy leaves, it will be there. I honestly believe that Buford, James, Odomes, Manyang and the returning players will more than make up for what we'll lose on offense with Thomas no longer around and if Buddy leaves. As SoonerTraveler demonstrated in his post yesterday, it has been that way every year since Kruger arrived at OU.

I feel the same way. Scoring wont be a problem.

 

[pnkranger]

The whole idea that we need to play for 40 minutes ... it blows my mind that we struggle with that. I really hope depth helps with that. We can't really give Buddy the hook when he watches Valentine shoot a wide open three because there's no one to bring off the bench. Hopefully that will improve next year.

 

[DenverSooner]

I, too, wish Toby had asked about Odomes and James. My guess is he would have said something like they play with a lot of energy, they are very athletic and both players can really score the ball.

I'm a defense first kind of fan, so it doesn't bother me that Lon has spent a lot of time working on improving our defense. But, I'm not the least bit concerned about our offense next year. Even if Buddy leaves, it will be there. I honestly believe that Buford, James, Odomes, Manyang and the returning players will more than make up for what we'll lose on offense with Thomas no longer around and if Buddy leaves. As SoonerTraveler demonstrated in his post yesterday, it has been that way every year since Kruger arrived at OU.

Even before that. Think back to the Sampson era. OU had Minor, then Erdmann, then Brewer, then Johnson, then Eduardo, then Price, etc. etc. (I may have left someone out or gotten the order slightly wrong, but I think the point is made)

Buddy is fantastic and I hope he returns but it is not like he shoots at some outrageously high percentage. If all those shots go to someone else, they will score.

 

[jaymOU]

I love defense too, but wonder if the NCAA will shorten the shot clock in an attempt to increase scoring, but it might have the opposite effect. It might increase the number of bad shots and actually decrease scoring. It will, however, make for a more up-and-down game where the Wisconson's of the world can't just hold the ball at the time line for 20 seconds.

Wonder how much coaches consider this when thinking about recruiting and how they want to structure their team.

 

[Escape Goat]

Thanks for the recap. I'm a little concerned about scoring next year, not from the guards, but from the paint. I'd argue OU didn't have that this year consistently, and even when we did it wasn't great. With just Spangler returning it's a real concern when you have to have a bucket.


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[BCSooners]

I love defense too, but wonder if the NCAA will shorten the shot clock in an attempt to increase scoring, but it might have the opposite effect. It might increase the number of bad shots and actually decrease scoring. It will, however, make for a more up-and-down game where the Wisconson's of the world can't just hold the ball at the time line for 20 seconds.

Wonder how much coaches consider this when thinking about recruiting and how they want to structure their team.

30 seconds doesn't mean you have to take a lot of bad shots. It means that you can't run something and if you don't get a lay up then pull it out and run something else 3 times. It will just make teams take the 1st or 2nd good look as opposed to looking for bumps and taking the air out of the ball. These are D1 athletes, 99% of them would rather play faster.

 

[opsooner]

The loss of Thomas concerns me more than anyone else on offense. Hield leaving would just make it a lot worse.

I know the young guys are going to struggle on offense early but just hope they can catch up quickly. Listening to Lon talk it sounds like he has high hopes for several of them on offense "eventually".

Unless we have a new guard that can really beat people off the dribble and assist well then our offense will have its share of problems. The good news is that Lon answered with inconsistent offense when Toby asked him about the problem they need to work on next.

 

[j2d2]

It would put a premium on rebounding.

 

[BoulderSooner]

I love defense too, but wonder if the NCAA will shorten the shot clock in an attempt to increase scoring, but it might have the opposite effect. It might increase the number of bad shots and actually decrease scoring. It will, however, make for a more up-and-down game where the Wisconson's of the world can't just hold the ball at the time line for 20 seconds.

Wonder how much coaches consider this when thinking about recruiting and how they want to structure their team.

if they keep all other rules the same (and enforce fouls the same as this season) a 30 sec shot clock will cause scoring to go down overall

 

[AdaSooner]

The loss of Thomas concerns me more than anyone else on offense. Hield leaving would just make it a lot worse.

I know the young guys are going to struggle on offense early but just hope they can catch up quickly. Listening to Lon talk it sounds like he has high hopes for several of them on offense "eventually".

Unless we have a new guard that can really beat people off the dribble and assist well then our offense will have its share of problems. The good news is that Lon answered with inconsistent offense when Toby asked him about the problem they need to work on next.

opsooner, to be honest we didn't have a guard who could beat defenders off of the dribble this year. Cousins could pull up short at the elbow and elevate over smaller defenders on a fairly consistent basis, but that's about all he could do. Buddy was good at coming off of screens to get open most of the time. He struggled to get open with the ball in his hands. His handles and his inability to create his own shot are two of the main reasons I believe he would benefit from another season at OU. Some on here obviously disagree with me, but that's how I see it.

James didn't play much last season due to the injury that kept him out until the last couple of weeks. Judging by what I have seen of Odomes and Buford, I think they will bring a new dimension to the team that last year's team didn't have; the ability to beat defenders off of the dribble, whether it's taking it to the rack or pulling up for open jump shots. Time will tell if I'm right.

 

[thewez]

I was encouraged to hear all the talk about Jamuni. Some of you haters have been trying to say he will never see the court.
Clearly Kruger and the staff have been excited about him.

Also Buford wasn't mentioned at all... Don't want to look too far in to things, but I hope that doesn't mean there are any concerns he won't be able to play.

 

[CoachTalk]

I was encouraged to hear all the talk about Jamuni. Some of you haters have been trying to say he will never see the court.
Clearly Kruger and the staff have been excited about him.

Also Buford wasn't mentioned at all... Don't want to look too far in to things, but I hope that doesn't mean there are any concerns he won't be able to play.

Don't start things like this!!

 

[TheGimper]

Don't start things like this!!

+1

Lon answered a question about a certain player and people try to infer that it means others must be failing.