Mgusty in trouble?

[cvangild]

Then why are we 8-15?

I have yet to see Lon on the court at the end of games making silly turnovers. I also haven't seen Lon miss some crucial free throws at the end of games.

We are 1-8 in games that were decided by 5 or less points. Why?? Several reasons...but if you have watched all of our games this year, then you have seen what I have. I've watched OU b-ball religiously for over 35 years now...and I'm not sure I've ever seen an OU team lose so many close games like this year. Some of it is obviously youth and inexperience. We've had young players make silly mental mistakes that have led to turnovers. We've missed some key free throws at times. But we've also had just some bad luck at the end of games. That UT loss was the perfect example. For us to lose that with the lead that we had late, 4 or 5 bad things all had to happen...and they all did. Bad luck if you ask me. I mean UT needed our help, but they also had to hit some very difficult shots at the end...and they hit both of them. One by a kid who was shooting 26% from the 3 pt line for the season...yet he hits 5 in the game against us??? That's some bad luck.

If we had gone 5-4 or 6-3 in those 9 games, instead of 1-8, we probably wouldn't be having these doom and gloom discussions...but this year has been the perfect storm. Has Lon made some mistakes..sure. I've always felt he sure maybe take a TO here or there, instead of making his team play through it..but who knows if that would make any difference. And I think with the rotation or questionable minutes of PT for some players...there are probably a lot of things that lead to that, that we don't know. A guy I work with has a son who is a walk-on on the team...and believe me, I hear things from him (that his son tells him) that we never hear about. So there's always more to the story.

All that said, all it would take is a player the caliber of a Trae Young to take this team to a 20+ win season next year. A player like that can make you better in so many ways and adding him to all this young talent that we only get better, could get us back where we should be. Trae would take the pressure off of someone like C. James, which could help him get back to how he was playing at the end of last season and the beginning of this season. He is obviously in a major slump which is all mental. I think Young would also spark this team with confidence, which I believe is one of the biggest issues right now.

 

[cvangild]

It's this kind of "cultist" attitude that drives me crazy. Yes, Lon is a very good coach and he has experienced a lot of success (and I'm glad we have him). However, that doesn't mean he is immune from criticism and it certainly doesn't excuse his oversight in the abortion of a season that we are having this year.

Dude, you can CRITICIZE him all you want for how this season has gone down. Believe me, no one on here gets any more upset when we lose than I do. I have a a broken remote to prove it!!! I have followed OU b-ball religiously since the early 80's. I made the comment because, at the end of the day..there isn't ANYTHING that any of us on this board can do about it. None of us have any control on who should be playing how many minutes and who to sub in, etc. So I choose to believe in LK as our head coach...a coach who just took us to the FINAL FOUR. Every season is different for a coach. Not only did we lose 3 KEY starters from a FF team, LK also lost two very key asst coaches, one of which (Henson) had been by his side for the past 17 years and the other (Hill) the past 12. You add all that together, and also have your returning senior guard have an injury plaqued senior year and have players like James not progress...that can all add up to where we are at.

So continue to rant and rave all you want. Until you have the power to make a change...it isn't going to do you any good.

 

[chuckb]

It was because McGusty was playing out of control in the 1st half. Forcing shots, wild drives, etc. I think Lon was sending him a message. Just my opinion.

Agreed 100%. Lots of bad shots from McGusty in the 1st half.

This team's biggest problem offensively isn't actual "turnovers." It's bad shots that are essentially turnovers. That's at least partly a by-product of youth and inexperience. Throw in McGusty's confidence (which I love) and you get lots of bad shots.

 

[Eielson]

I have yet to see Lon on the court at the end of games making silly turnovers. I also haven't seen Lon miss some crucial free throws at the end of games.

Yes, that's because his playing days are over.

 

[hoopsaustin]

Yes, that's because his playing days are over.

I'm so befuddled by this post. I don't know what to make of it. It might be genius idk

 

[Darwin]

I think Lon is very clearly one of the top 20 coaches in the ncaa. Really good coaches don't have seasons like this without multiple things going wrong that are out of his control. Speculation by us on what has gone wrong won't fix a thing. Bottom line is yes this sucks and I'm optomistic next season will be far far better.

 

[Eielson]

I'm so befuddled by this post. I don't know what to make of it. It might be genius idk

It's not genius. I'm just baffled at the idea that none of this is Lon's fault because he isn't the one out there playing. He's the coach now, so he's not the one that makes/misses shots -- the players he recruits and coaches do. If they're coachable and talented enough, he needs to coach them. If they're not coachable or talented enough, he should have brought in different players.

In the same way, he deserves a lot of credit for the last couple years of success...even though he never actually made any baskets.

 

[Big Old Booger]

I have yet to see Lon on the court at the end of games making silly turnovers. I also haven't seen Lon miss some crucial free throws at the end of games.

We are 1-8 in games that were decided by 5 or less points. Why?? Several reasons...but if you have watched all of our games this year, then you have seen what I have. I've watched OU b-ball religiously for over 35 years now...and I'm not sure I've ever seen an OU team lose so many close games like this year. Some of it is obviously youth and inexperience. We've had young players make silly mental mistakes that have led to turnovers. We've missed some key free throws at times. But we've also had just some bad luck at the end of games. That UT loss was the perfect example. For us to lose that with the lead that we had late, 4 or 5 bad things all had to happen...and they all did. Bad luck if you ask me. I mean UT needed our help, but they also had to hit some very difficult shots at the end...and they hit both of them. One by a kid who was shooting 26% from the 3 pt line for the season...yet he hits 5 in the game against us??? That's some bad luck.

If we had gone 5-4 or 6-3 in those 9 games, instead of 1-8, we probably wouldn't be having these doom and gloom discussions...but this year has been the perfect storm. Has Lon made some mistakes..sure. I've always felt he sure maybe take a TO here or there, instead of making his team play through it..but who knows if that would make any difference. And I think with the rotation or questionable minutes of PT for some players...there are probably a lot of things that lead to that, that we don't know. A guy I work with has a son who is a walk-on on the team...and believe me, I hear things from him (that his son tells him) that we never hear about. So there's always more to the story.

All that said, all it would take is a player the caliber of a Trae Young to take this team to a 20+ win season next year. A player like that can make you better in so many ways and adding him to all this young talent that we only get better, could get us back where we should be. Trae would take the pressure off of someone like C. James, which could help him get back to how he was playing at the end of last season and the beginning of this season. He is obviously in a major slump which is all mental. I think Young would also spark this team with confidence, which I believe is one of the biggest issues right now.

Can you share any info here? That has me intrigued. Don't name names just give us some type of info like "Woodard wasn't hurt, he was contemplating quitting the team" or something like that. ldwt356: