OU rebounding and defense stats... Warning sign?

[WichitaSooner]

Just watched the DVR. I can’t believe how soft the team is, period. I can’t believe how terrible of rebounders Manek and Doolittle are. Embarrassing really. You have one guy a junior and the other a senior and they appear to have no clue how to even begin to box out. That’s on the coaches, not only to teach technique but to demand it.

Teams like Texas tech, WVU and KU are going to skull drag us. If we end up more than 1-5 in those games it will feel like a miracle. Maybe the toughness fairy magically sprinkles some dust on the team. I will happily eat crow!

Doo is one of the smallest fives around and yet he averages 8.3 boards a game, which puts him at or near the top of the league. He is definitely not a terrible rebounder. The team as a whole has not been good, and Manek certainly isn't a "strong" rebounder -- he has games where he rebounds well, but it isn't consistent. As some have noted, we have played a good schedule and have played teams who have had a size advantage inside. Every team has strengths and weaknesses. West Virginia usually dominates the glass, but they also usually are a very poor shooting team. Good teams find a way to play to their strengths and minimize their weaknesses. Which is to say, while I don't think there is any hope that rebounding will be a strength of ours, we need to hold our own in that department. Against bigger, more physical teams, we need to keep the rebounding battle within a couple -- we can't get destroyed like we were Saturday. But on the other hand, our lack of size at the four and five gives other teams fits when they have their bigger guys trying to guard Doo and Brady on the perimeter. It's a trade off, and Saturday it didn't go our way because we were so bad on the glass.

 

[AdaSooner]

Doo is one of the smallest fives around and yet he averages 8.3 boards a game, which puts him at or near the top of the league. He is definitely not a terrible rebounder. The team as a whole has not been good, and Manek certainly isn't a "strong" rebounder -- he has games where he rebounds well, but it isn't consistent. As some have noted, we have played a good schedule and have played teams who have had a size advantage inside. Every team has strengths and weaknesses. West Virginia usually dominates the glass, but they also usually are a very poor shooting team. Good teams find a way to play to their strengths and minimize their weaknesses. Which is to say, while I don't think there is any hope that rebounding will be a strength of ours, we need to hold our own in that department. Against bigger, more physical teams, we need to keep the rebounding battle within a couple -- we can't get destroyed like we were Saturday. But on the other hand, our lack of size at the four and five gives other teams fits when they have their bigger guys trying to guard Doo and Brady on the perimeter. It's a trade off, and Saturday it didn't go our way because we were so bad on the glass.

Doo is a very good rebounder. If the season ended today, his 8.3 average would be in the top three in the last ten years. Spangler, the player most bigs are measured by these days, averaged 8.8 rebs in three seasons at OU. His best season was 9.0 boards. Doolittle is no Ryan Spangler, but he’s definitely not a bad rebounder for his size.

It may surprise nearly everyone on this board to learn that we would have to go all of the way back to BG’s sophomore season to find a player who averaged double figures in rebounds. Osby was a good rebounder. So was TaShawn Thomas. Osby’s best season of the two was a 7.3 average.

I agree this is not a good rebounding team. Their lack of a determined effort is troubling to me. But, this team is not all of that different than most of the OU teams we have seen over the years, where we have to rebound by committee and our bigs are noticeably absent in the rebounding stats.

On the positive side, I think that will improve in time. Victor has the tools to be a great rebounder. Hill does, too. Kur has been a disappointment so far. Makes me wonder if we have anyone on our coaching staff truly qualified to work with bigs? If it’s true that our players are scattering like a covey of Quail on the offensive end to defend in transition, that is even more concerning to me.

 

[billyball]

Serious question. What is Hills skillset? I can't figure it out. Is he an inside guy, three point guy, mid-range?

 

[38red]

Just another Odoms, big athletic that’ll get beat with quickness but plays hard. A nice piece to have but you don’t want a team full of them

 

[SKSooner]

We are 325th in offensive rebounding in the entire country! It's hard to understand how that is possible. Literally, we are the worst in college basketball at rebounding missed shots. That's simply not playing with effort & energy. No other way to explain it. If we're middle of the road, then you can tell me it's strategy. If we're pretty much dead last, we're just not competing like others.

 

[thebigabd]

We are 325th in offensive rebounding in the entire country! It's hard to understand how that is possible. Literally, we are the worst in college basketball at rebounding missed shots. That's simply not playing with effort & energy. No other way to explain it. If we're middle of the road, then you can tell me it's strategy. If we're pretty much dead last, we're just not competing like others.

That is pretty bad.... I think we are in the 250 range on defense too.

 

[steverocks35]

We are 325th in offensive rebounding in the entire country! It's hard to understand how that is possible. Literally, we are the worst in college basketball at rebounding missed shots. That's simply not playing with effort & energy. No other way to explain it. If we're middle of the road, then you can tell me it's strategy. If we're pretty much dead last, we're just not competing like others.

That was evident in last night's game as the ball hit the floor in the center of 4 Sooners who stood there and watched as a Creighton player swooped in to collect the rebound. Simply pathetic.

 

[38red]

We are 325th in offensive rebounding in the entire country! It's hard to understand how that is possible. Literally, we are the worst in college basketball at rebounding missed shots. That's simply not playing with effort & energy. No other way to explain it. If we're middle of the road, then you can tell me it's strategy. If we're pretty much dead last, we're just not competing like others.

That means its not being coached!

 

[inoref]

That means its not being coached!

IMO..lack of effort..big time