**********OU-Tulsa Game Thread**********

[Chaser728]

Now come on get this defense together... We have regressed since last year big time there.

Statements like this frustrate me this year... I am not saying that I am happy with our Team Defense this year, but I wasn't really happy with it last year either. And if you look at the stats, we are actually pretty comparable to last year's team: This year Opposing teams FG % = 41.3%
Last Year we were at = 41.9%

This year we are allowing 75.2 points per game
Last year we allowed 66.3 points per game

Oh, and by the way last year we were only scoring an avg. of 70.6 PPG, whereas this year we are scoring 86.7 PPG. Last year our Point Differential was only 4 points but this year it is at 11.

I am so tired of this negativity toward our defense this year, every team is struggling on the defensive side of the ball. Last year there were 31 teams who held their opponents in the 50's in PPG & this year there are only 8. Last year 248 schools held their opponents below 70 PPG and this year there are only 128. Scoring is up, and due to the new foul rules, our boys have not figured out how to stop the dribble penetration. But neither have a lot of schools.

Stats from http://www.teamrankings.com/ncaa-basketball

 

[sybarite]

I loved Billy Tubbs comments about the coach whose team OU beat 135-76 (I think it was). The opposing coach said OU couldn't play defense. Tubbs remark was something to the effect that the coach whose team allowed 135 points seemed to have more of a problem with defense.

I never thought much of Iba. If you don't shoot and hold the ball, you can have a team defense that only allows thirty points a game. It also helps if you get your reputation because you have the game's only seven-footer, and there is no goal-tending rule (a rule that was established in reaction to Iba).

The idea of any game is to SCORE more points than the opposition. If you do that by winning 87-75 as OU is doing, that is better than a 7-3 record that holds the opposition to 55 points per game.

 

[Chaser728]

I loved Billy Tubbs comments about the coach whose team OU beat 135-76 (I think it was). The opposing coach said OU couldn't play defense. Tubbs remark was something to the effect that the coach whose team allowed 135 points seemed to have more of a problem with defense.

I never thought much of Iba. If you don't shoot and hold the ball, you can have a team defense that only allows thirty points a game. It also helps if you get your reputation because you have the game's only seven-footer, and there is no goal-tending rule (a rule that was established in reaction to Iba).

The idea of any game is to SCORE more points than the opposition. If you do that by winning 87-75 as OU is doing, that is better than a 7-3 record that holds the opposition to 55 points per game.

WELL Said! And I too loved that anecdote by Tubbs!

 

[JBaker]

I loved Billy Tubbs comments about the coach whose team OU beat 135-76 (I think it was). The opposing coach said OU couldn't play defense. Tubbs remark was something to the effect that the coach whose team allowed 135 points seemed to have more of a problem with defense.

I never thought much of Iba. If you don't shoot and hold the ball, you can have a team defense that only allows thirty points a game. It also helps if you get your reputation because you have the game's only seven-footer, and there is no goal-tending rule (a rule that was established in reaction to Iba).

The idea of any game is to SCORE more points than the opposition. If you do that by winning 87-75 as OU is doing, that is better than a 7-3 record that holds the opposition to 55 points per game.

True, but we just allowed 91 points to a 3-7 Tulsa team who was averaging under 70 points coming in. That just shouldn't happen.
And it's not like we won by 50 like that Tubbs team. It was a 4 or 5 point game at one point in the final minutes.

 

[Swans]

Somewhere down the line we'll meet one of those teams that allows 55 points a game and they'll do just that to us. If we haven't figured out how to play defense by then we lose. In any game it all begins with defense....

 

[sybarite]

Somewhere down the line we'll meet one of those teams that allows 55 points a game and they'll do just that to us. If we haven't figured out how to play defense by then we lose. In any game it all begins with defense....

I've heard that all my life. But, I don't know of many games that you can win without scoring. Strangely enough, champions seem to be good at it.

 

[sheepdog]

I remember Buddy being a tenacious defender last year, but I don't see the same focus this year.

 

[Swans]

I've heard that all my life. But, I don't know of many games that you can win without scoring. Strangely enough, champions seem to be good at it.

Champions play defense! No one said you didn't have to score. 2003 and 2008 BCS title games....which teams had the high scoring offenses and which teams played defense well to beat those offenses. Tubb's teams of the late 1980s played great defense that produced great offense......they started with defense.

 

[garyeb2]

I remember Buddy being a tenacious defender last year, but I don't see the same focus this year.

If Buddy used the same techniques to defend this year like he did last year, he would foul out by halftime. They changed the rules.

Tulsa scored over 20% of their points from the free throw line. You can't guard those shots. This season is a different deal. Fouls are up. Scoring is up.

OU's opponents are scoring more just like everyone else. But, even though Cousins fouled out last night, we aren't having very much foul trouble. That, while in virtually every game we have played our opponents have a key player on the bench with foul trouble. We have won some games and played Michigan St. close because we have done a better job of keeping our best players on the court than our opponents.

Would you rather have a better Ken Pom defensive deficiency rating or would you rather have our best players on the court for more minutes and finishing games.

I think that this year's team is better than last year's in a lot of ways. But, last season we had a better bench. With Hornbeak out, the more minutes our starters get and the fewer the bench gets is for the best.

We have been playing good enough defense all year. The defense creates some offense and gets enough stops without fouling to get us to 9-1.

 

[JBaker]

I am so tired of this negativity toward our defense this year, every team is struggling on the defensive side of the ball. Last year there were 31 teams who held their opponents in the 50's in PPG & this year there are only 8. Last year 248 schools held their opponents below 70 PPG and this year there are only 128. Scoring is up, and due to the new foul rules, our boys have not figured out how to stop the dribble penetration. But neither have a lot of schools.

Stats from http://www.teamrankings.com/ncaa-basketball

There's negativity toward our defense, because up until this point, our defense has been bad.

Sure, teams are giving up more points than last year...
But there are 270 D-1 teams giving up fewer points per game than us. Two hundred and seventy.

 

[skyvue]

there are 270 D-1 teams giving up fewer points per game than us. Two hundred and seventy.

When you play at a fast pace, your opponents are going to score more, too. Tubbs' teams played good defense after a fashion, but they were never in the top ten in scoring defense (probably never in the top 50 or even the top 100).

 

[SoonerinNC]

Actually we played pretty good defense until late in the first half and late in the game. Could be the short bench to some extent. Kruger's system requires at least 9 deep.

And I doubt that Tulsa hits that many treys very often.

 

[Swans]

For update reality check on our defense......Texas Arlington

 

[stormspencer]

When you play at a fast pace, your opponents are going to score more, too. Tubbs' teams played good defense after a fashion, but they were never in the top ten in scoring defense (probably never in the top 50 or even the top 100).

I remember those Tubbs teams quite well. Unfortunately, we don't have King, Blaylock, Grant, Grace etc. on this year's squad....or I wouldn't be as concerned as I am now.

 

[DSMok1]

OU: top 20 offense, about 150th defense, top 10 pace. There are almost no similar teams in college basketball this year, with the combination of good offense, high pace, and mediocre D. Interesting. http://kenpom.com/index.php?s=RankAdjTempo