My Take on the KSU Game

[cowboysooner]

This was the first game this year where we looked like a bad team. Hopefully, they will put it behind them and move forward.

I have posted this numerous times on here, but I say again. You can't defend the 3 point shot against good shooters. You have to prevent the shot from being taken. Previous to this year, this was my biggest complaint against Lon, that he helped and sagged to much and in doing so, just "ran" at shooters. this actually makes them better shooters not worse. This year, he has really had the kids get under guys under shooters and make them dribble. At least until last night.

I think it might have been a poor scout. KState made a zillion layups in their previous game and it may have been our plan to sag more than usual. Who knows.

We are better defensively and rebound better this year. We are offensively challenged and probably doing what we are capable of. At some point, you just don't find any benefit in missing 3s and just force the ball through the paint. We need muni to get well and back in form for this to work very well, and we have to quit dribbling and holding onto the ball in the paint. Catch and get it to the rim instantly.

Just my thoughts. Still love the team. Your going to have bad games. It is a long season.

 

[vbdad]

We were bad last night. Muni is giving us nothing and we need something. KSU is way more physical than us and last night much tougher.

 

[Boomer!Sooner!]

I agree it's a long season, everyone is bound to drop a game at home in a crazy, long season it is in the Big 12 as Tech lost last night at home too. Crazy league.

Had a few of thoughts as well.

I think this is the first time James as seen what Trae saw last year. Front face guarding. Brown did a great job doing it. When this is happening it is so hard to get yourself open (unless the guy is smaller than you). Have a couple of options either clear out the post and let james post up to create space between himself and the basket or you have to let him run off multiple screens. Hopefully the go and watch this on film and practice it! He struggled getting the ball last night.

It is crazy how sitting out just a couple of games does to a player. Muni looks like he did when he was a Soph. the game is too fast for him. He will get it back, but he reminds me of when doo came back last year. Just a step behind.

I will say, we did well guarding this team. Brown was unconscious, he was taking some of the worst shots I have seen. Haha. The dude was dribbling around and would take a step inside the three and pull, nothing but net. I know he is a player, but rarely is this advisable. They were "Armying" us (football), taking the clock down to the last second and shooting, lots of these in the second half were brown dribbling around and pulling. We made a couple of runs at them in the second half, he misses half those who knows what the game could have turned into.

Finally thing I will say (have so many thoughts on last nights game). I don't like have two players on our team that play crucial minutes that are so bad at free throws. Odomes and Muni are horrendous. Odomes hitch he has is causing so much flatness in his shooting form and causing zero touch on the ball. He is slinging it like a catapult. Muni is trying to lean into it, not sure where he got that from, but it is very weird. Heck, even our best free throw shooters were missing them last night. Absolutely killed us. We had so many possessions that K state would take it down to 30 seconds and make it, we turn around have a decent offensive set and get fouled and miss both. One of the more frustrating things to watch.

Still excited about this team. We have another big one on Saturday. Oh, I was there last night (I attend all the games), our attendance is so so bad. It is so embarrassing. We need a smaller gym. I know it will never happen, but we have to create demand some way. Would rather sell higher price tickets through demand then "selling" $5 tickets and no one comes to the games.

 

[Sooner81]

I agree it's a long season, everyone is bound to drop a game at home in a crazy, long season it is in the Big 12 as Tech lost last night at home too. Crazy league.

Had a few of thoughts as well.

I think this is the first time James as seen what Trae saw last year. Front face guarding. Brown did a great job doing it. When this is happening it is so hard to get yourself open (unless the guy is smaller than you). Have a couple of options either clear out the post and let james post up to create space between himself and the basket or you have to let him run off multiple screens. Hopefully the go and watch this on film and practice it! He struggled getting the ball last night.

It is crazy how sitting out just a couple of games does to a player. Muni looks like he did when he was a Soph. the game is too fast for him. He will get it back, but he reminds me of when doo came back last year. Just a step behind.

I will say, we did well guarding this team. Brown was unconscious, he was taking some of the worst shots I have seen. Haha. The dude was dribbling around and would take a step inside the three and pull, nothing but net. I know he is a player, but rarely is this advisable. They were "Armying" us (football), taking the clock down to the last second and shooting, lots of these in the second half were brown dribbling around and pulling. We made a couple of runs at them in the second half, he misses half those who knows what the game could have turned into.

Finally thing I will say (have so many thoughts on last nights game). I don't like have two players on our team that play crucial minutes that are so bad at free throws. Odomes and Muni are horrendous. Odomes hitch he has is causing so much flatness in his shooting form and causing zero touch on the ball. He is slinging it like a catapult. Muni is trying to lean into it, not sure where he got that from, but it is very weird. Heck, even our best free throw shooters were missing them last night. Absolutely killed us. We had so many possessions that K state would take it down to 30 seconds and make it, we turn around have a decent offensive set and get fouled and miss both. One of the more frustrating things to watch.

Still excited about this team. We have another big one on Saturday. Oh, I was there last night (I attend all the games), our attendance is so so bad. It is so embarrassing. We need a smaller gym. I know it will never happen, but we have to create demand some way. Would rather sell higher price tickets through demand then "selling" $5 tickets and no one comes to the games.

I totally disagree with your statement that we guarded them well. NOT AT ALL. We were terrible guarding them a ton of wide open shots with no one near and they were all hustle and we could have cared less.

 

[CoachTalk]

one game. dont over react like football fans. Please. Im begging.

 

[Boomer!Sooner!]

I totally disagree with your statement that we guarded them well. NOT AT ALL. We were terrible guarding them a ton of wide open shots with no one near and they were all hustle and we could have cared less.

Would disagree, were we perfect? No, but saying we were terrible and could care less has zero stats to back that up. Did they have open shots? Yes, every game people have open shots.

Seems to me that a majority of the game we would hold them to 30 seconds and they would shoot, they made great shots, really touch ones I might add even the commentators kept mentioning "when its your night its your night". Brown shot the ball super well, these weren't all open shots with your feet set. Heck, Wade had alot of contested ones too.

We also limited our fouls, they only shot 7 free throws, that is impressive. (We shot 23 and only made 12. That was a huge part of the game).

We had 6 steals and a block vs their 8 steals and no blocks. Pretty comparative there. We also created 10 turnovers (we had 16, most of them were in the first 5-10 minutes of the game, we came out so sloppy. I think we walked 2 times in the first 2 min). The rebounding battle was tight, it was a difference of three.

To state that we didn't care and played terrible defensive is unwarranted. Have we played better? Yes. We struggled on offensive and the missed free throws are a clear indicator. Plus they had two guys that shot the ball super well on contested shots and shot well over 50%.

 

[Soonerinkc]

ksu was pre season #2 in b12, 12th in country.

They had a few games where they lost a couple of starters, Stokes and Wade..they are back.

With that said...if we were sagging to prevent lay-ups...long shots = long rebounds. BUT there were some where we just got out-hustled.

Ksu LOOKED like they wanted it more.

I'm sorry...but Freeman should NOT be playing as much as he did. I HOPE there were some reason (sick, discipline, SOMETHING...) but there is no way he should have that many minutes...just my opinion (which means nada).

I just need to tell myself I figured 9/9 in league. Non-con was a pleasant surprise.

I wouldn't count ANY game a win..but the home games that we should be able to win (greater than no win chance)
WV, BU maybe ut

so so isu

no- ku/tcu/tt (very tough)

road games...maybe osu/ wv the rest will be dog fights...with prob more than likely not + outcome.

I just think at this point it'll be tough to get to .500 in league.

 

[Sooner81]

Would disagree, were we perfect? No, but saying we were terrible and could care less has zero stats to back that up. Did they have open shots? Yes, every game people have open shots.

Seems to me that a majority of the game we would hold them to 30 seconds and they would shoot, they made great shots, really touch ones I might add even the commentators kept mentioning "when its your night its your night". Brown shot the ball super well, these weren't all open shots with your feet set. Heck, Wade had alot of contested ones too.

We also limited our fouls, they only shot 7 free throws, that is impressive. (We shot 23 and only made 12. That was a huge part of the game).

We had 6 steals and a block vs their 8 steals and no blocks. Pretty comparative there. We also created 10 turnovers (we had 16, most of them were in the first 5-10 minutes of the game, we came out so sloppy. I think we walked 2 times in the first 2 min). The rebounding battle was tight, it was a difference of three.

To state that we didn't care and played terrible defensive is unwarranted. Have we played better? Yes. We struggled on offensive and the missed free throws are a clear indicator. Plus they had two guys that shot the ball super well on contested shots and shot well over 50%.

Boomer, man you are putting lipstick on a Pig LOL. Keep those crimson glasses on but IF and I say IF you go back and truly look at the game you will see tons and I mean tons of WIDE open shots. Now I’m not a rockets scientist but if you give up 1 2 maybe 5 or 6 wide open shots you may be able to sugar coat that but they had 20+ WIDE open shots. You can come back and argue but I’m done commenting - but if you go watch it again you will see I am correct. Translation? POOR defense bottom line!!

 

[Sooner04]

I'm sorry...but Freeman should NOT be playing as much as he did. I HOPE there were some reason (sick, discipline, SOMETHING...) but there is no way he should have that many minutes...just my opinion (which means nada).

Freeman's minutes are in direct correlation to just how bad Jamuni was last night.

 

[WichitaSooner]

Freeman's minutes are in direct correlation to just how bad Jamuni was last night.

Exactly. Gotta play someone. That said, I would have been curious to see if we could have changed the energy and flow of the game if we had gone exclusively small the second half. Play RO or JB in Muni's place with the other starters and maybe hope for a miracle.

 

[OU92Grad]

Why did we start off going inside to Jamuni to start the game. 1st possession turnover second possession wild shot. Meanwhile K State wins the tip & scores, second possession scores (after turnover) third possession scores (after wild shot). We are down 8-0 and nobody has touched the ball except him. Three minutes are now gone off the clock and nothing has happened. Some blame has to be put on LK for the gameplan going in. I know that JM is a big piece going forward but he is still battling back from injury and has only produced approx 16 points the last 7 games.

 

[OU92Grad]

Originally Posted by Soonerinkc View Post
I'm sorry...but Freeman should NOT be playing as much as he did. I HOPE there were some reason (sick, discipline, SOMETHING...) but there is no way he should have that many minutes...just my opinion (which means nada).

My son saw a couple players after the game that said Manek was sick last night

 

[Ghost of Gar Heard]

McNeace just has to get better. He is this year's McGusty.

 

[stormspencer]

Exactly. Gotta play someone. That said, I would have been curious to see if we could have changed the energy and flow of the game if we had gone exclusively small the second half. Play RO or JB in Muni's place with the other starters and maybe hope for a miracle.

This is the answer. We are at our best when we play smaller (Manek, Doo, CJ, Calixte, and then either JB/Reynolds)....even if it is against a bigger team. This mix of a lineup is the best defensive lineup that we have and it also stresses opposing defenses because both Manek and Doo can play offense on the perimeter. I think some mix of the 6 mentioned above should account for at least 85% of our minutes right now. I like Odomes as our first sub....not Freeman. And if McNeace/Freeman come in and look to be in the flow or can contribute immediately. ....then I'm all for them playing a few more minutes. But until then, I don't trust either one of them.

 

[opsooner]

Going small is not a bad idea but I don’t think it would have helped yesterday. We were so soft at defending and our switching was out of sync and happening way too early at times. They got a lot of shots without guys up on them and when a team is hitting you have to be in their face to not even let them get those shots.

But, yes, I would rather see great effort from a smaller team and lose because teams just overpowered us than to ever see us play D like we did last night. And I am mostly picking on D because that is where you should have consistency. We obviously stunk on offense as well.

Hope we got that out of our system. Honestly, I think our effort has been better on the road so maybe we can keep that going but make more shots on Saturday night.


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[MsProudSooner]

one game. dont over react like football fans. Please. Im begging.

It won't do any good.....

 

[Speedy17]

Lon's teams always have trouble with KSU. Last night was just another of many similar results.

 

[WichitaSooner]

Lon's teams always have trouble with KSU. Last night was just another of many similar results.

They always struggle badly in Manhattan. The previous three years in Norman, we beat them by 9, 30, and 9. But it does feel like they have our number.

 

[cvangild]

K-State played their best game of the season...we played our worst. Not a good combination. KSU had a lot to do with our poor play, but we missed wide open 3's...they made them. And KSU had nothing to do with us missing 11 MF free throws!! And a lot of the turnovers were on us...not all were due to their defense.

It's never as good as you think...but it also is never as bad as you think. We need Manek, CJ and Freeman to make their open shots. CJ and Freeman were doing it early in the year. Manek has been hit and miss...he needs to pick up his game.

I can't explain the poor FT shooting. In Big 12 games, OU has only made 65% of their FT's. OU's opponents have made 76% of their FT's.

In Big 12 games OU has only made 27.7% of their 3 point shots! OU's opponents have made 32.2% of their 3's...which isn't great BUT, we can't win 9-10 Big 12 games shooting that poorly in those two categories!!!

I love Odomes' game and his slashing ability,,,but he shooting 33.3% from the FT line this season!!! McNease is shooting 35% from the FT line this season!! Miles Reynolds was shooting 90% from the FT line after the first 6-7 games. His season FT % is now at 76.6% and only 58.8% in Big 12 play!!!

CJ..started the season GREAT!! But during Big 12 play, he is shooting 25% from the 3 pt line!!! Freeman, who I do think has a nice outside shot started off the season shooting right at 43+% from the 3 pt line during pre-conference play...but has only made 1 out of 14 3's during Big 12 play!!!!

Luckily, Doolittle has really stepped up during league play and has averaged about 14 pts/game in Big 12 games. But the rest of the guys have got to get it going!!! The FT % is unacceptable. Not sure what's causing that. Reynolds used to be money, but to me he looks like he just rushes it and flick it up there. McNease and Odomes were never great FT shooters, but both had been well over 50% in their career...but both have fallen to the mid 30% range?? WTF??

It's a head scratcher...kinda like Westbrooke's shooting woes this year.

This coupled with teams like Tech going frickin 17/17 from the free throw line during that game are not helping us!!!

We gotta get that confidence back for some of these guys!!! Right now, the only guy I feel good about shooting a 3 is Calixte...and actually Bienemy!! IMO, Jamal needs to shoot the ball more!! He has a decent shot and has been consistent. Luckily our defense has been pretty strong all year or we would be hurting in league play!

You just gotta keep shooting fellas!!!

 

[bob the nailer]

Unless it's KU or OSU, basketball is always poorly attended. The decision based on television to play a home game at 6pm makes that even worse. Hard to get to Norman by 6 if you live/work anywhere but Norman