Now what

[Sooner Cal]

My observation regarding games vs Baylor this year. Poor start in each game. Missed shots, poor ball handling, and hesitation to shoot. All suggests the team is intimidated.

If we're going to compete 50/50 with Baylor, SC must recruit better athletes at every position. It won't happen signing projects.

Most coaches go with 8 players getting on the floor. This year we played 10 in the toughest games. Why? Because fatigue, fouls and mistakes. If we want to be a force, the 5 must be good enough to stay on the court 30 minutes.

I find it hard to believe the girls make the shots they take in practice then can't make them in a game. We must learn to shoot, especially in the paint.

I enjoy watching the girls play. This group of girls needs to decide if they want to compete at the highest level. If they do, they have a lot of off season work to do. It won't happen unless they do.

As for SC, she needs to recruit the right athletes. She didn't look happy today. After dominating the first decade of the century, she ha 1 win against Baylor. Maybe that win gave her a false sense of confidence because Baylor clearly dominate OU in each game this year. We have a ways to go to compete with them.

 

[bluesooner17]

I do agree. With what I saw today we are way behind to where we need to be if we wish to get to the top. The progress certain players have made is a good sign, but the regression of other players is just frustrating. I take it that Pam's job is the bigs and she has done wonders with Vivi, but her biggest pupil is coming in. Not sure who's job it is to handle 1 - 3, but for some parts it isn't working. PG is a problem and unless what we have progresses forward they need to find a jewelry in the 2017 classes that can hit the ground running. 2 - 4 has some progress, but not near what we need and it showed today hopefully Rich can pick some of it up. On paper what we have committed looks great, but with the team today I believe the one thing that is missing is court awareness which can't be taught. Players go through the motions and are thinking way to much instead of playing what comes naturally which is where a problem lies. We don't have it. Another key person that is missing is a LEADER.

 

[Sweetest OU Girl]

My observation regarding games vs Baylor this year. Poor start in each game. Missed shots, poor ball handling, and hesitation to shoot. All suggests the team is intimidated.

If we're going to compete 50/50 with Baylor, SC must recruit better athletes at every position. It won't happen signing projects.

Most coaches go with 8 players getting on the floor. This year we played 10 in the toughest games. Why? Because fatigue, fouls and mistakes. If we want to be a force, the 5 must be good enough to stay on the court 30 minutes.

I find it hard to believe the girls make the shots they take in practice then can't make them in a game. We must learn to shoot, especially in the paint.

I enjoy watching the girls play. This group of girls needs to decide if they want to compete at the highest level. If they do, they have a lot of off season work to do. It won't happen unless they do.

As for SC, she needs to recruit the right athletes. She didn't look happy today. After dominating the first decade of the century, she ha 1 win against Baylor. Maybe that win gave her a false sense of confidence because Baylor clearly dominate OU in each game this year. We have a ways to go to compete with them.

From the stands - pretty close to the bench - it appeared Sherri had given up by the middle of the 3rd quarter. Just judging by body language - so exactly what was in her mind is not something one can actually know. But that was the sense I picked up. Our guards have these games where they are unable to hit anything. They were something like 6 of 28 at one point I think.

In a related statement, one of the really frustrating things about Cheaspeake Arena is that the scoreboards are very poor. No where in the arena do they show team stats. So you keep wondering how has each team shot from the field? How about from 3 point range? How are they shooting free throws? In fact, how many free throws has each team shot? etc. No excuse for that in a modern arena. In addition, the seats are far smaller than those in LLoyd Noble. Space between rows is way smaller than the LNC. Unbelievable.

 

[sybarite]

It's not like we have been recruiting from a convalescent home, although they seem to end up there soon enough. Kay Kay was a #59. Maddie was a #33. Nicole was a #19. Gabbi was a #12. Vivi was a #79. Peyton was highly-recruited when she went to A&M, a top twenty. Treece was fairly highly-recruited. Penzo was a two-time member of the Puerto Rico national team.

It's just that Gabbi, who looked good last year, didn't seem to improve this year over last. Peyton was not as good as last year. Nicole never matured.

How can this happen? Has anyone noticed how well Duke and North Carolina did this year? Even when you get great recruits, they don't always pan out. Ask Texas.

I think the key is a Stacy Dales type. A point guard is more than just a distributor. She is the emotional leader, the sergeant who governs attitude and productivity on the floor. We really haven't had one other than DRob that was good leader type recently. Wish we had had her during Courtney's freshman year.

At times, we take it to some pretty good teams. We played Baylor pretty well this year, except for the first quarter. We did take it to Texas in Norman. Washington, who we beat in Seattle, beat Stanford in the Pac 12 tournament. BYU is their conference champion by a wide margin. We beat these teams pretty solidly (BYU) or on their own court (Seattle). It's not like we are that far away. We could use someone who could lead by example. That may end up being Gabbi, Maddie, or Gioya next year. Who will emerge? I think someone will. The last ten to twelve games suggest that it would be Maddie.

 

[Oliver Hardy]

Did we all see the Oklahoman which quoted directly as yelling at Maddie that she "needed her to be a shooter"?

I'd say that says volumes about what is going on with these players and this program.


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[Stringmusic]

I agree, Syb. Maddie needs to step up and lead - and shoot the ball.

 

[SoonerNorm]

We must recruit better players. Richards, Morris, Patterson, Williams, Gray, Collier, Prince, Green, etc are all uncommitted. Sign any two and things will change for the better. Also, lock up the top Oklahoma prospects.

 

[SoonerNorm]

Maddie is shooting 34% from the field and 24% from BTA. Not sure she is the one who should be shooting more.

 

[atlantasooner]

Soonercal,
All good observations. 27 point loss on a "neutral site" should clarify that the talent/development gap is widening between OU and Baylor. And UT is poised to be the number two program in hoops with their recruiting.
I think a real "come to jesus" environment is needed for OU women's hoops.
Top to bottom. Players to Joe C.
If you say it's not recruiting/talent problem. Then you have to admit it's an evaluation/development/role problem. Your starting backcourt of two top 30 players (and preseason projected your best players) scored 4 points v Baylor.
Most of elite college hoops has legit super athlete at the 4. OU has a two knee injury small point forward.
Manning's never going to hit her whatever her ceiling is playing a weird 4 role. She needs to be on the wing.

 

[j2d2]

Right on, Atlanta. I'm less and less impressed with preseason rankings of individuals. Actual performance is the only thing that counts and we dont have it. Ortiz fell back this year and so did Little although Little tried to contribute in other ways and did a fairly good job. ViVi is a keeper as is G. Maddie needs a serious talking to. We are clearly and inarguable one level below Baylor and dropping past texass. We simply dont have the talent.

 

[soonerstar]

Maybe Coale is too selective on what kind of kid she recruits. JMHO

 

[atlantasooner]

There's too much elite HS talent in the Dallas metro area in the last 3 years, and none of it is at OU.

It would be one thing if the old Cali pipeline was feeding elite kids. But nothing there either. SouthEast is starting to pay off a little.

In state is going to pay off big time with Dungee/Llanusa it would appear. But you cannot bank on instate providing a top 50 player every recruiting year.

Just too many kids who don't belong on an elite top 10 program roster. Or OU is not a program that aspires to be elite. It's that simple. I don't care which path OU chooses.
But if OU is not top ten. Sherri needs to take a massive paycut.

 

[BanjoCharley]

I love the folk who say things like "But if OU is not top ten. Sherri needs to take a massive paycut [sic]."

It seems they would be perfectly happy with this team's performance if Sherri's salary was cut by 50% (75%, 99%???)

Ask yourselves; "Would that satisfy me?" It wouldn't affect my reaction to this year one whit.

 

[35TangoTango]

Maybe Coale is too selective on what kind of kid she recruits. JMHO

I don't think that not recruiting top players is the problem. What's hurting is that we're not signing the top players we're recruiting.

 

[sdcloud9]

Many on this board have suggested some staff changes to boost recruiting.

If Stoops can do it, then Coale can also.

True OU will make the NCAA tournament again and perhaps win a game this year but the gap between OU and the elite programs is staggering at this point.

No one is saying that Coale is not a great ambassador for the school, etc. I'm sure Coale is not happy either but it's up to her to do something about it.

 

[SoonerNorm]

I took a look back at two of the best players in the conference...Martin and Jones.

Martin was ranked #19 overall and the 3rd best wing prospect in the country.

Alexis Jones was ranked #3 overall and the #2 best point guard in the country.

Many of our best players have been highly ranked such as Courtney, DRob, Whitney, Amanda, etc.

It certainly is possible to find a good player who isn't highly ranked and highly recruited but not that often.

Rankings don't mean everything. We should also look to see what other schools are recruiting a particular recruit. When we get back to signing players who are highly ranked and highly recruited, we too shall have a chance to compete with Baylor.

 

[inoref]

There's too much elite HS talent in the Dallas metro area in the last 3 years, and none of it is at OU.

It would be one thing if the old Cali pipeline was feeding elite kids. But nothing there either. SouthEast is starting to pay off a little.

In state is going to pay off big time with Dungee/Llanusa it would appear. But you cannot bank on instate providing a top 50 player every recruiting year.

Just too many kids who don't belong on an elite top 10 program roster. Or OU is not a program that aspires to be elite. It's that simple. I don't care which path OU chooses.
But if OU is not top ten. Sherri needs to take a massive paycut.

If I were writing the check for S.C. there would be a cut made. It's insane how much she is paid for the product being putting out. It falls almost all on her and nobody else. Maybe it will take OU falling even more before anything gets done...I dunno

 

[gosooner2]

Lots of good points on here. Like your top two guards having 4 points in a playoff game. Having to tell one of your smarter players to shoot in the last game of the season. Having your 5'5" point drive the paint throw the ball straight up and think something is going to happen, and then doing it over and over and over. These are first game freshman mistakes that never seem to stop happening. Something seems very wrong either we have the wrong players or the wrong coaches or both take your choice! With 5 minutes left in the 1st qtr. and the score 17-8 everyone watching except someone with blacked out crimson glasses knew it was just a matter if the final margin was going to be 10 or 40. Expectations are a terrible thing you have to live up to them or you are considered a failure. DB and JC say all the right things about Student athletes, however they both know what drives the train, money and winning, and you do not get as much of one without a lot of the other. WBB has been built to a pride point at OU having it slip into a lower category is probably not acceptable.

 

[SoonerinNC]

We do appear to be a program on decline. We beat all of the teams that finished ahead of us except Baylor but finished fifth after having virtually everyone back from a second place team last year.

It is the third year in a row that players we depend on had a poorer year than in earlier seasons.

Two years ago it was Vegas having a spotty year. Last year it was Campbell-Olds who while playing well did not meet her previous years numbers. This year the two expected to be our best players (Little and Ortiz) had at best an up and down year. Ortiz who was starting point guard on a national team last summer couldn't even defend her starting position from a last minute recruit.

Our half court motion offense is often motionless. We have defensive lapses where we allow wide open threes and easy layups.

We are good one game and barely better than Kansas the next.

We continue to make bad decisions on passes, shot selection and drives. Layups are either missed or blocked.

I guess the North Texas game was more of an omen than an outlier.

On the positive side we have some good recruits coming in but we still are light on numbers.

Vionese, Edwards and Wyatt showed good improvement and KayKay had a better tho inconsistent year. Still misses far too many open layups. Maddie improved but did not and may never reach the level many have predicted for her.

Sherri and her staff need to take a long hard look at this season and determine what has to change.

 

[Oliver Hardy]

We have potential game changers coming in. We have Vivi, who, with KK's departure, I think may be the overall best player going into next season.

Now is time for the most intense, detailed review of every thought,
practice and detail in this program.

There are always end of season reviews, but this needs to be the kind that leads to significant changes.

That's because what Sherri has been doing the last 10 years is not working or is more miss than hit.

We won't see a staff remake. Let's not kid ourselves. That just isn't going
to happen, unless a staff member gets a better offer or realizes this boat is sinking and wants to get out.

We need to reinstitute camps. Lock down every 4-5 star in-state recruit.

No more summer's on national teams
or galavanting around.

We need to figure out ways to be dramatically more successful getting top 25 players.

Instead of being a Bible school, character- building team, we need to above all else be a basketball program first that expects and accepts nothing less than regular championships.

We need to cull those girls who won't focus, won't get in the
gym, are not adding positive things to the program and replace them.

There isn't enough player growth and improvement. There is was too much regressing. It is inexcusable.

Perhaps changes in coach styles, more rough, less nice. Perhaps different technique drills. Better strength and conditioning training.

Demand more of everyone or move on.

To me next year is make or break for Sherri's tenure here. She gets next year to write the ship, maybe two, and if she can't or won't do it, it is time for her to leave OU.

I still support her and the program for the next one or two years, but there cannot be any more years like the last four or five, more specifically the last two.


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