I say “almost” because I DO believe the NIT should count in the overall analysis of the season. It probably won’t make a huge difference in how I view this season on the whole, but if you play and they keep score, I think it’s fair and reasonable to judge. With it being year one with this staff and some of these players, I think we can view the NIT more as positive opportunity than a negative disappointment. I will watch the games. Might go to a couple if it works out. I will root for them. I will also be lying if I said it would be with same gusto as I have all year or had they made the Dance. But I’ll stick with them until the season officially ends.
That said, I think it’s fair to make an assessment on the season. Here is a scattered stream of thoughts about our season and an ultimate conclusion.
1. Without question the biggest positive from this season is how we finished. Three weeks ago, I really felt the season was trending to a “C” or maybe worse. The strong finish has me grading it as a solid “B”— maybe even a little better than that if we do well in NIT. They played their best, toughest, smartest basketball in late Feb and March. This is a VERY good sign. To be able to pull out of a mid season nosedive is very, very good sign for coaching. It means players continued to buy-in, continued to work, continued to believe in their coaches. Ending strong instills confidence. Moser did this at Loyola as well— strong runs late in year and into March. Big thumbs up on that.
2. I know some of the numbers don’t show it, but I think they defended well all year. Some lapses yes, but rarely did I ever watch our game thinking we just couldn’t get stops. Team was outmanned in conference quite often, but more or less always scrapped on D.
3. Started the season well. Good energy from the outset. Wins over Florida and Arkansas were impressive. Overall, a good non conf run despite the two losses (can’t win them all).
4. Biggest complaint part A) Offense too clunky too often. No doubt a huge part of this was simply lacking talent. If you don’t hate the athletes it’s hard for your offense to look smooth playing in a top conference. I get that. But the turnover nonsense was bad and it never really stopped. At some point, coaching should be able to correct it more than they did. It was maddening.
5. Biggest complaint part B) The mid season slump was TOO “slumpy.” They needed to find a way in a couple of those games. The close losses to really good teams was one thing, but they also got crushed on the road in Lubbock, Stillwater, and Ames— very ugly performances. I was at the game in Stilly and it was a REALLY bad effort overall. Offense was abysmal in all of those games. If you want to be a tourney team you probably need to fare better than that.
6. Luck matters. Maybe not “luck” so much as 50/50 things falling your way sometimes. When you’re an under-talented team you need things to fall in your favor— didn’t happen enough for this team. Could have used a couple of those close games to go our way— maybe get lucky and one of the other teams blows it, etc. The Chargois shot against UT, the Goldwire shot against KU, the Gibson non-shot against Tech, OT in Fort Worth, etc.. needed more of those to go our way.
7. Newcomers were a mixed bag. Tanner was solid. If you had high expectations for him, probably disappointed. But I think he proved to be a worthy B12 rotation player, not the anchor some had hoped. Jacob was a bit more disappointing for me. Just seemed lost too often— maybe the great game against Baylor gives him some juice moving forward. I think he stands to benefit from the NIT more than anyone else. I like Noland and wish Moser would have found more minutes for him. Bijan? Not really sure. Not sure he’s made for this level. Had a rough year after a decent start. Goldwire, Chag, Johnson— admirable efforts. Hope they enjoyed their time in Norman— bummer they don’t go out on a tourney team. Thought Goldwire really came on late and was maybe biggest reason for late season run.
8. Entering the NIT, I say “B.” Obviously this is based on all things considered; not saying a “B” would be given to the team of back in NIT next year. I enjoyed watching the team although it was often a grind and sometimes frustrating. I made it down to Norman many times and enjoyed following the team.
9. I think we got the right guy. There is no question he can coach on the floor. That’s undeniable at this point. Not even sure how you’d argue otherwise. Don’t think he’s a wizard offensively, but no coach or player is perfect— we will likely never be Showtime under Moser and will always lean more to defense and toughness, but I’m OK with that if it translates to winning basketball. I also think he has the right energy and demeanor for this job. He has an uphill battle with the fanbase, but there were glimpses this year of a connection— and we all know if they are good, more people will show up, and the greater chance his energy has to rub off. I also don’t think he’s too over the top with it to where it becomes grating. I like his balance. I think it will work here. The big question now is— can he get ballers on campus and can he get them to stay? Time will tell.
10. Free agency is here in college sports. Just the reality. The minute this season ends, we say goodbye for sure to three rotation guys and all the others are free agents. I really hope we retain Harkless, Groves brothers, Hill, Noland. I also hope we can convince Gibson to return. You want to be ADDING, Not just replacing all the time. I bet one or more of them is not back, but I hope I’m wrong. If you keep most of that core and bring in two Top 100 kids, the German kid, and maybe land a real impact or two in portal, you’ve got yourself a much improved team next year. We have a coach. Now we see if we have a builder.
That said, I think it’s fair to make an assessment on the season. Here is a scattered stream of thoughts about our season and an ultimate conclusion.
1. Without question the biggest positive from this season is how we finished. Three weeks ago, I really felt the season was trending to a “C” or maybe worse. The strong finish has me grading it as a solid “B”— maybe even a little better than that if we do well in NIT. They played their best, toughest, smartest basketball in late Feb and March. This is a VERY good sign. To be able to pull out of a mid season nosedive is very, very good sign for coaching. It means players continued to buy-in, continued to work, continued to believe in their coaches. Ending strong instills confidence. Moser did this at Loyola as well— strong runs late in year and into March. Big thumbs up on that.
2. I know some of the numbers don’t show it, but I think they defended well all year. Some lapses yes, but rarely did I ever watch our game thinking we just couldn’t get stops. Team was outmanned in conference quite often, but more or less always scrapped on D.
3. Started the season well. Good energy from the outset. Wins over Florida and Arkansas were impressive. Overall, a good non conf run despite the two losses (can’t win them all).
4. Biggest complaint part A) Offense too clunky too often. No doubt a huge part of this was simply lacking talent. If you don’t hate the athletes it’s hard for your offense to look smooth playing in a top conference. I get that. But the turnover nonsense was bad and it never really stopped. At some point, coaching should be able to correct it more than they did. It was maddening.
5. Biggest complaint part B) The mid season slump was TOO “slumpy.” They needed to find a way in a couple of those games. The close losses to really good teams was one thing, but they also got crushed on the road in Lubbock, Stillwater, and Ames— very ugly performances. I was at the game in Stilly and it was a REALLY bad effort overall. Offense was abysmal in all of those games. If you want to be a tourney team you probably need to fare better than that.
6. Luck matters. Maybe not “luck” so much as 50/50 things falling your way sometimes. When you’re an under-talented team you need things to fall in your favor— didn’t happen enough for this team. Could have used a couple of those close games to go our way— maybe get lucky and one of the other teams blows it, etc. The Chargois shot against UT, the Goldwire shot against KU, the Gibson non-shot against Tech, OT in Fort Worth, etc.. needed more of those to go our way.
7. Newcomers were a mixed bag. Tanner was solid. If you had high expectations for him, probably disappointed. But I think he proved to be a worthy B12 rotation player, not the anchor some had hoped. Jacob was a bit more disappointing for me. Just seemed lost too often— maybe the great game against Baylor gives him some juice moving forward. I think he stands to benefit from the NIT more than anyone else. I like Noland and wish Moser would have found more minutes for him. Bijan? Not really sure. Not sure he’s made for this level. Had a rough year after a decent start. Goldwire, Chag, Johnson— admirable efforts. Hope they enjoyed their time in Norman— bummer they don’t go out on a tourney team. Thought Goldwire really came on late and was maybe biggest reason for late season run.
8. Entering the NIT, I say “B.” Obviously this is based on all things considered; not saying a “B” would be given to the team of back in NIT next year. I enjoyed watching the team although it was often a grind and sometimes frustrating. I made it down to Norman many times and enjoyed following the team.
9. I think we got the right guy. There is no question he can coach on the floor. That’s undeniable at this point. Not even sure how you’d argue otherwise. Don’t think he’s a wizard offensively, but no coach or player is perfect— we will likely never be Showtime under Moser and will always lean more to defense and toughness, but I’m OK with that if it translates to winning basketball. I also think he has the right energy and demeanor for this job. He has an uphill battle with the fanbase, but there were glimpses this year of a connection— and we all know if they are good, more people will show up, and the greater chance his energy has to rub off. I also don’t think he’s too over the top with it to where it becomes grating. I like his balance. I think it will work here. The big question now is— can he get ballers on campus and can he get them to stay? Time will tell.
10. Free agency is here in college sports. Just the reality. The minute this season ends, we say goodbye for sure to three rotation guys and all the others are free agents. I really hope we retain Harkless, Groves brothers, Hill, Noland. I also hope we can convince Gibson to return. You want to be ADDING, Not just replacing all the time. I bet one or more of them is not back, but I hope I’m wrong. If you keep most of that core and bring in two Top 100 kids, the German kid, and maybe land a real impact or two in portal, you’ve got yourself a much improved team next year. We have a coach. Now we see if we have a builder.
