Most important non-con of Krugers career?

[thebigabd]

This year the team was 18-14, and really limped along the second half of the year and finished with the 9 seed in the Big 12 tournament. The year before that, the team was 11-20. Bad things start to happen when struggle becomes a trend... Fans stop showing up, on TV less often, high level recruits start getting told by opposing coaches that the staff at OU is likely gonna get fired (for the reason mentioned above), etc.

OU enters the season with a bunch of unknowns, low level grad transfers, etc. There is a lot of potential there as well.

Polla could turn into some kind of bruiser and elite rebounder... Brady had a great freshman season and could turn into a 15ppg player... Doolittle will get a mulligan after a weird season last year... I think Muni, James, and Odomes will kinda do what they do. I expect similar contributions from those guys, which is fine.

But this team has a very difficult schedule... a lot of games away from home, and against a lot of good teams.

What do you guys think? Most important non-conference of Krugers tenure? Make or break? Can either hit a home run and do well in what will be a very difficult schedule, or limp into Big 12 play with media and fans starting to call for change. That seems to be what is on the line to me.

Thoughts?

 

[BoulderSooner]

This year the team was 18-14, and really limped along the second half of the year and finished with the 9 seed in the Big 12 tournament. The year before that, the team was 11-20. Bad things start to happen when struggle becomes a trend... Fans stop showing up, on TV less often, high level recruits start getting told by opposing coaches that the staff at OU is likely gonna get fired (for the reason mentioned above), etc.

OU enters the season with a bunch of unknowns, low level grad transfers, etc. There is a lot of potential there as well.

Polla could turn into some kind of bruiser and elite rebounder... Brady had a great freshman season and could turn into a 15ppg player... Doolittle will get a mulligan after a weird season last year... I think Muni, James, and Odomes will kinda do what they do. I expect similar contributions from those guys, which is fine.

But this team has a very difficult schedule... a lot of games away from home, and against a lot of good teams.

What do you guys think? Most important non-conference of Krugers tenure? Make or break? Can either hit a home run and do well in what will be a very difficult schedule, or limp into Big 12 play with media and fans starting to call for change. That seems to be what is on the line to me.

Thoughts?

OU has an elite PG coming in next season (that should be signed in November) so this is not make or break ..

 

[sperry]

I just want to see us be respectable. It's okay to have down years where you miss the tourney occasionally. What's not okay is down years like the 2016-17 season, where you are a complete disaster.

We also need to see some development of the younger guys on the roster. Manek, Polla, Bienemy, Doolittle, Freeman. We need to see improvement from these guys both year over year, as well as throughout the season.

 

[Sooner Season]

This year the team was 18-14, and really limped along the second half of the year and finished with the 9 seed in the Big 12 tournament. The year before that, the team was 11-20. Bad things start to happen when struggle becomes a trend... Fans stop showing up, on TV less often, high level recruits start getting told by opposing coaches that the staff at OU is likely gonna get fired (for the reason mentioned above), etc.

OU enters the season with a bunch of unknowns, low level grad transfers, etc. There is a lot of potential there as well.

Polla could turn into some kind of bruiser and elite rebounder... Brady had a great freshman season and could turn into a 15ppg player... Doolittle will get a mulligan after a weird season last year... I think Muni, James, and Odomes will kinda do what they do. I expect similar contributions from those guys, which is fine.

But this team has a very difficult schedule... a lot of games away from home, and against a lot of good teams.

What do you guys think? Most important non-conference of Krugers tenure? Make or break? Can either hit a home run and do well in what will be a very difficult schedule, or limp into Big 12 play with media and fans starting to call for change. That seems to be what is on the line to me.

Thoughts?

I have an uneasiness about this upcoming season. Say what you want about last season but bottom line we were the 9 seed to follow up a disaster the season before (9 or 10 seed I think). I agree with Boulder Sooner that Da'vion Harmon probably provides some insurance that this is not a "make or break" year for Coach Kruger. I would say I am cautiously pessimistic about this upcoming season. I don't see that we have upgraded our talent at all and any optimism is based only on individual improvement, better team chemistry, and a couple of transfers from small schools that have never won at the power 5 level. Those things are certainly important but I think it takes talent plus those to be truly good. I hope I'm wrong but I can see this upcoming season going sideways......again.

 

[Darwin]

Last years non con was and continues to be more important.