OU popular choice to fall as a 5 seed

[BisoNation]

I have no idea why everyone is so hung up on OU's tournament history. I mean Manhattan? Seriously? That was 1995. Woodard and Booker probably weren't even born then. It's time to move past it.

I think a better comparision would be how Krueger has done in the NCAA's and he hasnt won a game since 2008

North Dakota's starting line up is from Oregon, Minnesota, Illinois and Iowa. Do you think (with the possible exception of the kid from Minnesota) that these kids dreamed of playing for NDSU in Fargo as they were high school stars? Or could it be that they dreamed of playing college basketball and NDSU was the best offer they received.

Nobody grows up wanting to play basketball for NDSU. Even North Dakota kids go anywhere else if they get an offer (Joe Hanstad Boise St)

As for your statements about how other teams would fair in the Summit. Well we cant really base any statements around facts. Because the fact is the teams you named dont play Summit teams on the road or neutral court. Its just how the food chain works in major college sports, big boys dont meddle with the younger brothers unless its on their terms or they are forced to play them by the NCAA. Anybody can get up and play in all the great arenas that the Big 12 has to offer. But would all these 3 and 4* players have the strength to get up for a game in front of 900 people at IUPUI? How about a bus trip to Fort Wayne to take on IPFW 2 days later? It is two completely different animals, but I can tell you one thing, not one of those teams you mentioned beats NDSU 5 out of 10 times on a neutral floor. Crappy conference or not, the Bison are legit if they come with their A game.

 

[WaymanFan]

Welcome to the Board, BisoNation! It appears both teams and both fan bases are confident they'll win. That's really the way it should be. I'm not of the opinion OU can bring their B- game and win this. The lower-seeded teams usually play well as the pressure is completely off them. OU lost their last three opening round games as a #4 seed, but won as a #13. We split our last two as a #6 seed. Higher-seeded teams often play tight in opening round games. I don't believe anyone thinks we'll just show up and win. OU needs to be focused and ready for a 40-minute battle...should be a good one!

 

[Max Power]

I will give you a $50 free roll if you can find me someone who got Oklahoma -2.5 or -3 or -3.5
I live in Vegas and was constantly checking http://www.vegasinsider.com/college-basketball/odds/las-vegas/for lines. Their consensus that I first saw was -4 and 152. It opened across the board at that number except Wynn and William Hill which opened at -4.5
I dont understand why they are listing it at -2.5 on their site, I will send an email to a couple guys I know and see if I can get an answer.

Speaking of Vegas, I lived here through the entire Lon Krueger era. He really reminds me of our former football coach Craig Bohl. There are some things really awesome about them and some things that seem really fake. They both know how to put a competitive product on the floor but in order to achieve the ultimate dream the team has to buy in 100%. I'm not sure I see that with your young team quite yet

FYI NDSU is much longer than you think. Braun is the stud everyone talks about but TrayVonn Wright and Marshall Bjorklund have the potential to give your guys fits on both ends of the floor. Wright is just as athletic as anyone OU has and Bjorklund has low post moves that Kevin McHale would pay to watch. If Spangler gets in foul trouble in any key moments in the game it could snowball the wrong way for you guys.

The keys for NDSU will be slow the pace, defend the 3 and score in the paint. The faster this game is played, the tougher it will be for the Bison

Really excited to meet some Sooner fans in Spokane and somebody get NDSU in into the Big 12 for wrestling please.

Im not sure Kansas St will allow that because they would have to play you in football every year

 

[IndySooner]

Speaking of Vegas, I lived here through the entire Lon Krueger era. He really reminds me of our former football coach Craig Bohl. There are some things really awesome about them and some things that seem really fake. They both know how to put a competitive product on the floor but in order to achieve the ultimate dream the team has to buy in 100%. I'm not sure I see that with your young team quite yet

I'm not sure where you would get the impression that this team hasn't bought in. Everything I've seen says they have.

 

[campbest]

If OU can get up early, this will be a stroll in the park. OU's problems will lie in whether or not they get down early (which has happened recently). This is my biggest fear.

Like any other match-up, you can't let NDSU hang around.

I don't doubt NDSU is a good ball club, winning any conference championship is a testament to their team. I am also sure there players in the Summit which could contribute to a team in the Big XII, but I will always go back to the Ryan Harrow example. The quality of play is significantly less, there is no doubt about it.

 

[thebigabd]

Upsets are inherently illogical.

All of the logic, stats, numbers, matchups presented in this thread are true of almost any big school vs little school matchup, high seed vs low seed, etc. Yet, every week, every month, and every year, it happens.

It's going to be a tough game, book it.

 

[IndySooner]

Upsets are inherently illogical.

All of the logic, stats, numbers, matchups presented in this thread are true of almost any big school vs little school matchup, high seed vs low seed, etc. Yet, every week, every month, and every year, it happens.

It's going to be a tough game, book it.

This is also, though, why picking upsets is impossible. There's no logic to any of it. It's a crap shoot.

 

[campbest]

Upsets are inherently illogical.

All of the logic, stats, numbers, matchups presented in this thread are true of almost any big school vs little school matchup, high seed vs low seed, etc. Yet, every week, every month, and every year, it happens.

It's going to be a tough game, book it.

If you peel back the onion, there are always instances of why the upsets happen. For example: Norfolk State and Mizzou - they had the guard play (similar to many small schools) to deal with Mizzou's pressure. Each team has a strength, the difference is the larger schools generally have the ability to make up for a weakness with multiple strengths. IMO, this game comes down to how OU scores in the first 20 minutes. NDSU has to hang their hat on the halfcourt offense, it's their main chance at pulling the upset.

I will say this, their NCSOS is legit and that will help them quite a bit in this game. Problem is, most of those NC match-ups the opposition was able to score at a higher pace.

 

[WTSooner]

I wouldn't say there are is NO logic at all to the upsets. As was mentioned above, there is usually something you can point to before the game as a reason a possible upset might occur. There are many "factors" that can measure teams in terms of how likely they are to upset a better team, or how likely a better team is to be upset. Team records, power rankings, all of that is imperfect. Some times teams smoke and mirror their way to records that are better than their play and talent. There are some measurements that can take those teams, and say they are more likely to be upset. Not that that is perfect, but it gives you a starting point. Experience. Style of play. There are lots of factors to look at.

 

[MercedeSooner]

Definitely logic to a lot of upsets, there's a reason why when picking games people look at teams that play a certain style as it's more conducive to beating teams who may have more talent (i.e. VCU).

 

[IndySooner]

Sure, you can point to games that could be because of matchups. The thing is, though, in the NCAA Tournament, it's rarely those that hit. There are major surprises every year that no one sees coming. It's why I love the fact that our game is on everyone's radar.

 

[SoonerTraveler]

Regarding PACE OF PLAY, here are some numbers to chew on.

79.0 ... OU's scoring average in Big-12 Conference games.
74.4 ... OU's opponent's average points in Big-12 games.


76.4 ... NDSU's scoring average this season.
65.4 ... NDSU's opponent's scoring average.


I realize that there are more precise stats based on possessions that better indicate pace of play, but the fact is that the Bison team is NOT some plodding offense that averages 50 or 60 points per game. That being said, OU better not let these guys get a 10 point lead.

The OU seniors (Cam Clark and Tyler Neal) experienced the Big Dance last year. OU's sophomore guards (Buddy, Isaiah and Je'lon) experienced the Big Dance last year. Ryan Spangler experienced the Big Dance two years ago with Gonzaga. Our guys know what to expect, and they have to be "hungry" with the memory of the first round loss last season. I expect the OU players to be energized and focused for the Thursday game in Spokane.

I am not selling the NDSU team short. I believe that Taylor Braun, Marshall Bjorklund, TrayVonn Wright and the others are good basketball players. Well, OU has won numerous games against teams with good basketball players.

It should be a competitive game. The Sooners need to play well to win. I think they will. I think the key is getting stops on defense, rebounding the ball, and converting fast-break baskets when the opportunity occurs.

 

[IndySooner]

Also, I don't see the logic in the NDSU picks. It's not like they present a major matchup problem for us. Everyone is pointing to their size, but a four guard team is always going to have size issues. The only time it bothered us all year was against Embiid. NDSU doesn't have Embiid.

They look more like West Virginia and Baylor size-wise. It wasn't either of those teams' size that hurt us. In both cases it was our cold shooting. If we come out cold, we could lose, but that could be said for 95% of the teams in the tourney.

 

[WTSooner]

I didn't sign up for Ken Pom's site this year, so I can't dig any deeper than his front page.

My question is this.....within his site, does he have pace broken down into average possessions per game? If so, I'd love to see OU's compared to NDST's.

 

[sdcloud9]

I think a better comparision would be how Krueger has done in the NCAA's and he hasnt won a game since 2008



Nobody grows up wanting to play basketball for NDSU. Even North Dakota kids go anywhere else if they get an offer (Joe Hanstad Boise St)

As for your statements about how other teams would fair in the Summit. Well we cant really base any statements around facts. Because the fact is the teams you named dont play Summit teams on the road or neutral court. Its just how the food chain works in major college sports, big boys dont meddle with the younger brothers unless its on their terms or they are forced to play them by the NCAA. Anybody can get up and play in all the great arenas that the Big 12 has to offer. But would all these 3 and 4* players have the strength to get up for a game in front of 900 people at IUPUI? How about a bus trip to Fort Wayne to take on IPFW 2 days later? It is two completely different animals, but I can tell you one thing, not one of those teams you mentioned beats NDSU 5 out of 10 times on a neutral floor. Crappy conference or not, the Bison are legit if they come with their A game.

No question that the Bison pose problems for OU or any team and the beauty of the NCAA Tournament is that it's a one shot deal, winner take all.

I expect the Bison to play well, they have no pressure on them at all, it'll be up to the Sooners to be ready for the challenge.

 

[BisoNation]

I'm not sure where you would get the impression that this team hasn't bought in. Everything I've seen says they have.

I watched some games where the defense was lazy. Not helping or shutting down the passing lanes. Again that happens with young teams and they may just straighten that all out this week

 

[WTSooner]

I watched some games where the defense was lazy. Not helping or shutting down the passing lanes. Again that happens with young teams and they may just straighten that all out this week

We aren't a strong defensive team, but we've been better in recent weeks.

According to Ken Pom, our offense is more efficient then yours, and our defense is considerably more efficient then yours. Against tougher competition, as you know.

 

[garyeb2]

We aren't a strong defensive team, but we've been better in recent weeks.

According to Ken Pom, our offense is more efficient then yours, and our defense is considerably more efficient then yours. Against tougher competition, as you know.

Our defense looked considerably better the last two days in practice working against NDSU offensive actions. Of course we had to use the walkons to similate our opponents speed.

 

[MichaelM]

Our defense looked considerably better the last two days in practice working against NDSU offensive actions. Of course we had to use the walkons to similate our opponents speed.

How do they simulate a 6'7" slashing point guard? I'm having Jamaal Franklin flashbacks here.

 

[campbest]

OSU will beat Gonzaga, they are not very good this year.

They will get trounced by Arizona though.