My 2 Cents

[Navy2004]

Watching this team really makes your realize how spoiled we where the last couple of years. This team is funny to watch, nobody really knows eachother's strengths and how to work together on the Defensive end. We have a couple of players that I believe have elite talent, but when you are basically learning how to play at the next level with others it is hard to see. We need to be beat in these games and even get blown out for the teaching lessons and team building to see who wants it the most. It may be one of the most talented teams I have seen at OU in awhile. But, watching them grow together will be the fun part to me!!!!

 

[tsou89]

Not exactly sure where you were going with that but I think you're on the right track...kinda. IMO we have talented team, that's under achieving, that completely lacks leadership. I think LK waited way to long to settle on a line up. They still don't play as a unit.

We'll be good again in a couple of years. But I STILL believe OU should NEVER miss the tournament. And we will this year. And that's disappointing.

 

[SoonerinNC]

It was a great night for the naysayers over on the game thread, but I liked a lot of what I saw tonight. The challenge moving forward is to turn the season around quickly because the Big 12 is tough this year.

First I have liked what I saw from Shepherd in every game he has played this year and was not surprised to see him gain a start. Compare how he played tonight to Cousins freshman season and even Woodard's. I think he runs the offense better than Woodard and certainly better than Strong, who is probably a true off guard.

A couple of posters complained about his defense but I watched him on D quite a bit and didn't see any serious problems. The outside shots he gave up were pretty well contested and you have to give the other guy credit once in a while.

The other complaint was that he was taking the shots down the stretch. I am sure Kruger would rather Woodard take those shots but the other team knows that as well. When you are rushed for time you can't afford to wait for Woodard to get untangled.

I would have to look at the game when I could stop it to really see what was wrong with the defense. From what I could tell we didn't get back three or four times and gave up easy baskets but the main thing appeared that McNeace didn't rotate well enough on the base line drives. Our defensive problems appear to be more with the inside guys than the guards. Lattin and James have to quit fouling as much as both are important to the defense.

McNease appears to have a lot of upside and this was clearly his career best but he still lets too many boards get away that he should get. I think he will become a good defensive player because of his athleticism.

I suspect we are looking at a outside rotation of Woodard, James, Odomes, McGusty and Shepherd with Strong getting some minutes but not at point. I would rather see Woodard go to point when Shepherd goes out. Don't know if Buford fits here or not. Not comfortable with him outside.

Inside is still very fuzzy to me. I think we will be better with Lattin and Doolittle in the game but not sure. McNeace is a good backup for Lattin but had to play far too long tonight. We need Freeman to progress faster. Again unsure how Buford fits in.

 

[sybarite]

I think this team has more talent than that of last year. But, these are fairly inexperienced kids, and they have no clue what defense is. When we were shooting 81%, we weren't pulling away because we were permitting Memphis to get to the rim every time down. They weren't killing us with shooting. They were taking advantage of our inability to play position defense. Learn how to play defense a little, and we win this game by twenty, even with a late game swoon.

 

[Northbase]

Wow! What a steal Shepard was. I sure like the way he moves with the ball. McNeace has great hops and uses it well. He also made some really nice shots. The melt down in the 2nd seemed to expose two factors: on defense we lost our intensity and mental focus. Not rotating over will kill you. Memphis also made some shots with a defender right in their face. Offensively we seemed to stop moving without the ball. Looked tentative. Gotta make wide open shots. We had several "matador" defensive moments.

 

[Darwin]

There are not enough upperclassmen. We're expecting underclassmen to play up a year which can happen, not uncommon but just not this group. If their basketball IQ improves there is great potential with this group down the line. The biggest hole in the roster is experience.

 

[JBaker]

Not exactly sure where you were going with that but I think you're on the right track...kinda. IMO we have talented team, that's under achieving, that completely lacks leadership. I think LK waited way to long to settle on a line up. They still don't play as a unit.

We'll be good again in a couple of years. But I STILL believe OU should NEVER miss the tournament. And we will this year. And that's disappointing.

Lol, that's premature.

 

[SoonerinNC]

We lost the lead in the second half with Strong in the game. Also think we had a pretty bad stretch with him in the first half.

Shepherd is very quick and puts the defense on their heels a bit. He also appears to see the floor very well. Pretty impressive to play 37 minutes in his first start without a turnover.

 

[Capel's Mustache]

We lost the lead in the second half with Strong in the game. Also think we had a pretty bad stretch with him in the first half.

Shepherd is very quick and puts the defense on their heels a bit. He also appears to see the floor very well. Pretty impressive to play 37 minutes in his first start without a turnover.

I totally agree regarding Shepherd. I was very impressed. He played with a nice steady pace. Never appeared flustered or sped up. On D he was fighting over screens too. We got a good one.

 

[Larry72]

He was impressive. He is a true PG that can shoot. I was impressed with his video when he signed.

 

[Stikboy]

As incensed as I was during and after that game about the plethora of issues, Jordan Shepherd stood out as a real bright spot. He is a guy that if he continues to progress, can allow Kruger to do his Woodard off the ball thing. If so, I just don't know who is gonna get kicked to the curb. James, Odomes, Doolittle? Does Odomes go to the 4 with James at the 3? I know this, Shepherd is smooth handling the ball, is super athletic, and seemed under control. I'm just happy we have a guard that handle the ball. He seemed equally adept at dribbling with his off hand. He also appears to be able to score in many different ways. 3s, runners, midrange. Now, I'm not ready to proclaim him ready to break Huggy Bear's press, but I liked what I saw. The thing we as fans need to realize is that after this good game he's had he's going to have other stinkers, because he's an inexperienced freshman. But it looks like Kruger needs to probably try and go with him at least a little more to see what he can do, after the body of work we have to this point..