MY Take on Exhib Game

[cowboysooner]

First, the returning players looked fit and well conditioned. They also looked more comfortable, which in my view is important to each playing at or near their potential. I thought all the returning players looked at least a little improved and better than they did last year.

Second, the new guys are better than I expected, particularly KK. Bienemy looks like he will be a good player in time -- not sure who to compare him to. Miles may be the best wing on the team and is just a good player. He will be hard not to play. Calixte is clearly a high D1 talent. His skill and athletic ability are exceptional. His judgment was poor sometimes (tried to do too much) but this looked correctable. By conference, I think he will be a good one. He looks like he will be a very good defender, so that fact alone, will make us a better defensive team than last year.

I had no expectations regarding KK at all. During his recruitment, I read several articles and it didn't seem like he was heavily recruited or was much of a player. So, I just thought he was a plan B or C big, and would be a project. Small sample size, but he looks like a good player to me. First, he is listed at 6'10 and 205. Standing right next to them, he looks taller than that. He looks like he is about an inch taller than Muni. He is thin legged but has a strong upper body. He just looks like a well coached athletic big to me. We will see as the year progresses. But, I was surprised at how good he looked. He didn't look lost at all. He is clearly the back up center and not polla.

Freeman and Manek bot looked improved. In particular, I thought Freeman looked a lot more comfortable.

All in all, I think we will be about as good, if not slightly better, than last year. As for our record, that will depend in part on the opponents we play, but I think we end up with about the same record.

The key in my mind is Doolittle. If he plays exactly the way he played during this game, e.g. take the ball into the lane consistently and get good interior shots, we will definitely be improved. Naturally, he will need to make a better percentage that he did in the game, but his eye discipline will improved as the games go along. His game reminds me of Nolan Johnson, only he is several inches bigger and 20 pounds heavier. He could really be hard to handle if he will buy into this type of game and not just try and be a lazy catch and shoot guy.

 

[slides]

Thanks

 

[OU92Grad]

Anybody else concerned about 11 total assist? Calixte appears to dribble with his head down and does not penetrate very well. I assume he was a shoot first PG at Maine. He missed several wide open guys under the basket.

 

[CoachTalk]

Anybody else concerned about 11 total assist? Calixte appears to dribble with his head down and does not penetrate very well. I assume he was a shoot first PG at Maine. He missed several wide open guys under the basket.

Nah. I think this will be an unselfish bunch. No real superstars. Although I think manek, james takes the end of game control.

Calixte doesnt bother me. not a great athlete, solid and steady will be his motto, hes not going to have blow by quickness.

 

[WTSooner]

Anybody else concerned about 11 total assist? Calixte appears to dribble with his head down and does not penetrate very well. I assume he was a shoot first PG at Maine. He missed several wide open guys under the basket.

I think there was a lot from that game to be concerned about.

Just have to see how it all shakes out. We'll know pretty quickly what this team is made of. After those first 3 games, it'll get real, real quick.

 

[WichitaSooner]

I think there was a lot from that game to be concerned about.

Just have to see how it all shakes out. We'll know pretty quickly what this team is made of. After those first 3 games, it'll get real, real quick.

Lol, care to enlighten us on the many things to be concerned with? I had thought all the people who actively hope for things to be pessimistic about must have been pretty depressed the past few days, but apparently you found something.

It's always funny to me how people treat exhibitions. If OU had won 100-0, the negative posters would have dismissed it because the game doesn't count and the competition was inferior. But if they notice something negative, no matter how small, all of a sudden there is cause for concern.

 

[scrybe]

Lol, care to enlighten us on the many things to be concerned with? I had thought all the people who actively hope for things to be pessimistic about must have been pretty depressed the past few days, but apparently you found something.

It's always funny to me how people treat exhibitions. If OU had won 100-0, the negative posters would have dismissed it because the game doesn't count and the competition was inferior. But if they notice something negative, no matter how small, all of a sudden there is cause for concern.

Great Post! The nail was hit squarely on the head.

 

[WTSooner]

Lol, care to enlighten us on the many things to be concerned with? I had thought all the people who actively hope for things to be pessimistic about must have been pretty depressed the past few days, but apparently you found something.

It's always funny to me how people treat exhibitions. If OU had won 100-0, the negative posters would have dismissed it because the game doesn't count and the competition was inferior. But if they notice something negative, no matter how small, all of a sudden there is cause for concern.

I'll start here:

- Our starting PG scored 2 points in 21 minutes.
- Doolittle and James didn't shoot it well against probably the least talented team they will play against this season. Could probably add Odomes here too.
- Freeman taking 9 shots (and only making 3 of them).
- Having more turnovers than Pitt State had against our "improved" D.
- Only having 3 more assists than Pitt State. Shows we were having to create our own shots, and the offense/sets weren't doing that against the weakest team we'll face all season.
- I didn't the D was as good as the results. They missed a lot of "open" shots.
- We gave up 12 offensive boards. Seems like a high number against this caliber of team.

Didn't say the world was falling, but that game did nothing but reinforce the issues I think this team will have all season.

 

[CoachTalk]

Lol, care to enlighten us on the many things to be concerned with? I had thought all the people who actively hope for things to be pessimistic about must have been pretty depressed the past few days, but apparently you found something.

It's always funny to me how people treat exhibitions. If OU had won 100-0, the negative posters would have dismissed it because the game doesn't count and the competition was inferior. But if they notice something negative, no matter how small, all of a sudden there is cause for concern.

Tread lightly.

 

[BigTime]

I'll start here:

- Our starting PG scored 2 points in 21 minutes.
- Doolittle and James didn't shoot it well against probably the least talented team they will play against this season. Could probably add Odomes here too.
- Freeman taking 9 shots (and only making 3 of them).
- Having more turnovers than Pitt State had against our "improved" D.
- Only having 3 more assists than Pitt State. Shows we were having to create our own shots, and the offense/sets weren't doing that against the weakest team we'll face all season.
- I didn't the D was as good as the results. They missed a lot of "open" shots.
- We gave up 12 offensive boards. Seems like a high number against this caliber of team.

Didn't say the world was falling, but that game did nothing but reinforce the issues I think this team will have all season.

A much younger, more energetic BT would shred this post and call out all your SoonerFanTU BS. But alas, I just smh now and say ‘keep doing you, TU’

Boomer Sooner!

 

[BCSooners]

I'll start here:

- Our starting PG scored 2 points in 21 minutes.
- Doolittle and James didn't shoot it well against probably the least talented team they will play against this season. Could probably add Odomes here too.
- Freeman taking 9 shots (and only making 3 of them).
- Having more turnovers than Pitt State had against our "improved" D.
- Only having 3 more assists than Pitt State. Shows we were having to create our own shots, and the offense/sets weren't doing that against the weakest team we'll face all season.
- I didn't the D was as good as the results. They missed a lot of "open" shots.
- We gave up 12 offensive boards. Seems like a high number against this caliber of team.

Didn't say the world was falling, but that game did nothing but reinforce the issues I think this team will have all season.

OU might not have a good year, but wow this is reaching.

 

[AdaSooner]

An optimistic fans take on this game:

—OU beat an inferior team by 34 points
—Twelve players saw action and all twelve scored, 10 scored 5 or more points.
—Seven of the players scored at least 8 points, 3 in double figures, all in limited min.
—No one on the team played more than 21 minutes, 9 played 17 minutes or less
—OU controlled the boards 64-38
—OU’s defense held the opponent to 24% shooting from the field and 24% from three point range.

While it’s true there were a few areas that could have been better, there were also reasons to be optimistic. Among them, a team that played hard and as one unit, at least most of the time.

 

[WichitaSooner]

I'll start here:

- Our starting PG scored 2 points in 21 minutes.
- Doolittle and James didn't shoot it well against probably the least talented team they will play against this season. Could probably add Odomes here too.
- Freeman taking 9 shots (and only making 3 of them).
- Having more turnovers than Pitt State had against our "improved" D.
- Only having 3 more assists than Pitt State. Shows we were having to create our own shots, and the offense/sets weren't doing that against the weakest team we'll face all season.
- I didn't the D was as good as the results. They missed a lot of "open" shots.
- We gave up 12 offensive boards. Seems like a high number against this caliber of team.

Didn't say the world was falling, but that game did nothing but reinforce the issues I think this team will have all season.

Nothing like drawing conclusions based on tiny sample sizes. I guess if Freeman had made 5 of 9, we could start planning for the Final Four. But, on the bright side, the exhibition game means that Muni is the best shooter in the country!

Also, we got 44 of a possible 56 defensive rebounds, i.e., 79%. That would have ranked just outside the top 10 in the country last season. Again, I think it is absurd to use stats from one game, especially an exhibition, to draw any conclusions. But if that is what you want to do, at least recognize that grabbing nearly 80% of the other team's misses is actually very good.

 

[WTSooner]

Nothing like drawing conclusions based on tiny sample sizes. I guess if Freeman had made 5 of 9, we could start planning for the Final Four. But, on the bright side, the exhibition game means that Muni is the best shooter in the country!

Also, we got 44 of a possible 56 defensive rebounds, i.e., 79%. That would have ranked just outside the top 10 in the country last season. Again, I think it is absurd to use stats from one game, especially an exhibition, to draw any conclusions. But if that is what you want to do, at least recognize that grabbing nearly 80% of the other team's misses is actually very good.

I didn't draw any conclusions from ONE exhibition game. All I said is that a lot of my worries from before that game (that I voiced here before the game), are still my worries. I didn't see anything that would change my mind. I watched the game. I wasn't overly impressed as a whole. Sometimes the score doesn't reflect the action.

We'll see. Media and Big 12 coaches agree with my assessment of this team. We'll see who ends up being right in a couple of months. Never understood the need to blow smoke just to feel good about the team you rep. This isn't going to be a very good team, even if things fall into place. No harm in admitting that.

 

[hoopsaustin]

Hard to gauge anything from it with sooo many players playing and having limited minutes and preventing players from getting into a solid flow of the game.

It's worth noting and what i come to this board to see. But too early to tell anything of course and i think WT could agree with that. Nothing wrong with him making his observations

 

[skyvue]

Never understood the need to blow smoke just to feel good about the team you rep. This isn't going to be a very good team, even if things fall into place. No harm in admitting that.

And I never understood the rush to pronounce a team a bad one before they've played their first real game. Are you saying that no team in history has ever exceeded expectations?

You don't have a clue yet (and neither do I) how this team, this season is going to turn out. You just default to the negative view and pronounce it the truth. And to state that those with a different view, a view that is, at this point, is every bit as informed as yours (in some cases, more informed), are "blowing smoke" is the height of arrogance. Several posters have been very specific about the positives they saw in the exhibition, and those observations are every bit as legitimate as your relentless drumbeat of gloom and doom.

 

[inoref]

I made a post on another thread that I couldn't tell much from the game. I did say they didn't shoot very good, I don't think I'm wrong in saying so

 

[coolm]

dont pontificate negative, vote!

 

[AdaSooner]

I made a post on another thread that I couldn't tell much from the game. I did say they didn't shoot very good, I don't think I'm wrong in saying so

So, you didn’t see anything you liked, or are just picking up where you left off last year by being your usual negative self?

Maybe a few facts I posted earlier will help:

An optimistic fans take on this game:

—OU beat an inferior team by 34 points
—Twelve players saw action and all twelve scored, 10 scored 5 or more points.
—Seven of the players scored at least 8 points, 3 in double figures, all in limited min.
—No one on the team played more than 21 minutes, 9 played 17 minutes or less
—OU controlled the boards 64-38
—OU’s defense held the opponent to 24% shooting from the field and 24% from three point range.

No one is saying this team is going to compete for a Big 12 Championship or make a deep run in the NCAA tourney this season. What some of us are saying is that they’re going to be better than most people seem to think. Notice I said “going to be,” meaning there is room for improvement. Three people I trust who have seen the team in person, including this thread’s OP, agree with me. In time, maybe you will too.

 

[coach007]

Some on here made mention of the fact that not anyone played more than 21 minutes. If you watched the game you would have also noticed that the players were continually switched in and out with most not getting over 3 or 4 minutes at a time together. It appeared to me that coach was trying to get a feel of who plays well together against real competition, although not real quality competition. This is like preseason and it is the opportunity to see how players react to circumstances they do not control. I would expect that if he left the starters in for 10 min then put in another complete new 5 for the next 10 minutes things would have been much different. I do wan to say I was extremely happy with KUR! This guy may be a diamond of a get. He impressed me with his movement and position on both ends of the floor. OH by the way I did not see a single reason to judge this team as bad, good, or even improved. Time will tell. I hope to see 12 players being able to be used as needed without a drop off in performance. If we see that we will have an exciting year!:OUbball-logo: