OU vs Duke on ESPN#

[SoonerNorm]

The players that we have are the players that they are. None of them are void of skills. I am sure that they are all dedicated good workers and compete as well as they can. However there is not a difference maker type talent on the roster.

As a group we are slow and limited athletically. The better teams will have better players and will wear our girls out. The mediocre results are a direct representation of the level of talent that has been brought into the program.

Rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic won't help anymore than pathetic old men getting on a message board and bashing the girls individually. My guess is that they are all good kids doing the best they can and until evidence proves otherwise, I am going to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Without an uptick of the talent on the roster, nothing will change. The kids aren't responsible for that.

Very true!

 

[BigT14]

The espn crew had some really nice things to say about Gabbi. She just needs time to learn the game, and the she could be a All Big 12 guard. While it's good that we can go 10 deep, Sherri is still playing to many players who can't get a rhythm together. I'm not sure why Williams and Williams are starting for OU, Louis and Little should start along with Ortiz, Olds, and Kornet. I know Little hasn't been playing great of late but I believe her time will come.. She got her shot blocked by Williams of Duke, then came right back and made a 3, started to clap her hands and get the team fired up, then the team made a silly mistake and we lost momentum, we need her attitude, confidence and for her to find her shot.

I agree with you. Someone need to have a lot of momentum and fire up the team. It is clear there is no leader yet for the team. As soon as that happenings things should start flowing better. I regards to playing time I agree with you as well. If you look at the Elite teams many do not use their whole bench until later in the second half unless it its a blow out of a game. Sherri needs to find her 5 she can rely on and have 3-4 she can swap out. They can really get a feel for where someone cuts or relying on someone to set a pick. Not having someone like Gabby go through her mind with she likes to cut, or is it a pick she likes to set, or she can shoot a 3, or questioning if she is the one who likes to drive and shoot a mid range jumper. It's all about chemistry. There may be chemistry off the court but it's not really happening on the court.

 

[Mac]

I agree with you. Someone need to have a lot of momentum and fire up the team. It is clear there is no leader yet for the team. As soon as that happenings things should start flowing better. I regards to playing time I agree with you as well. If you look at the Elite teams many do not use their whole bench until later in the second half unless it its a blow out of a game. Sherri needs to find her 5 she can rely on and have 3-4 she can swap out. They can really get a feel for where someone cuts or relying on someone to set a pick. Not having someone like Gabby go through her mind with she likes to cut, or is it a pick she likes to set, or she can shoot a 3, or questioning if she is the one who likes to drive and shoot a mid range jumper. It's all about chemistry. There may be chemistry off the court but it's not really happening on the court.

Very good points... Derica should be the 6th man... She had a nice drive to the basket but is more of a spot up shooter and would be insistent offense off the bench. Carter doesn't bring much to the team, but she is one of if not our most athletic player, so Sherri will have to use her vs most teams because we do need what she has. I look forward to see Ijeoma Odimgbe next season she will give us something we don't have right now, Maybe Sherri will go big and play her at the 4 with Kay Kay at the 5.

 

[Sweetest OU Girl]

Rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic won't help anymore than pathetic old men getting on a message board and bashing the girls individually.

I don't know Mr. Gary, I don't agree that we have already hit an iceberg and are drowning in the water.

Plus all of us aren't "pathetic old men".

I do smile a bit at the folks acting like we have lots of time to completely change the way we are playing. We are two games from starting Big-12 play with 2 of our first 3 games on the road.

 

[SoonerNorm]

I don't know Mr. Gary, I don't agree that we have already hit an iceberg and are drowning in the water.

Plus all of us aren't "pathetic old men".

I do smile a bit at the folks acting like we have lots of time to completely change the way we are playing. We are two games from starting Big-12 play with 2 of our first 3 games on the road.

Yes, I think it's wishful thinking that this team is going to get significantly better. I think we may improve some but so will other teams. What we see now is pretty much what we will be 2 months from now, barring injuries.

 

[badger]

We are not a top 25 team and may not be at any point during the rest of the season.

BUT, they invite more than 25 teams to the NCAA tournament, so that should be the goal. Get some key conference wins to look legit and nab a mid-seed to have a chance at a first round (or even second round) win.

 

[Oliver Hardy]

Well, I guess I'm the pathetic old man. My opinions are simply based upon what I see. I said last year and the year before Kay-Kay wasn't going to get it done.

Looks like I was right. Just like I was about Cloman and Jeffcoat and Zander, on and on and on.

Little, so far, isn't any better than she was a aTm and that wasn't great. Really, why did she transfer? Because she wasn't going to get any more playing time there. I'm betting that's the reason. She knew with Aaron graduating she could likely crack the starting 5, and she did. But she's been mostly lackluster and that's why she has, or will, get pulled from the starting lineup.

After last year, I'm simply not sure we have a tough, fire-ridden team, as so many of you have said following my post. That is a difference maker, as most of you, and I, have also said.

Kay-Kay, Kornet and now Sharane seem to be disappearing against tougher competition. When you three best players, supposedly are off, it isn't good. I don't think we can expect any more out of Maddie than we're getting this season. Maybe some minor improvement, but her knees are still hurting her and her performance, clearly.

Free throw shooting is absolutely atrocious and it isn't getting much better. That's entirely on the coaches. Inexcusable failure. Turnovers aren't entirely the coaches fault -- unless the coach doesn't do enough to ensure they stop happening. Has Sherri and her staff done that? After how many seasons of this silliness, I would say NO!

The preliminary rounds of the season don't look too great. In fact, it looks as bad and possibly worse than last season.

The difference for this season is this team is young and there is a lot of new talent on the floor. They have a great opportunity to improve. I think they can. I HOPE they will. Last year's team mailed it in the entire season, for some unfathomable reason.

I'm a realist. I see what I see and I say to myself don't sugar coat it. A train wreck is a train wreck. Let's see what comes out of it while we watch the derailment. So far, this is a continuation of the train wreck last season.

It can get better. It really should get better being that we are so young. I'm not down on any one in particular any more than Syb or others. I love this program and love watching and going to games. But some ladies have to start stepping up. Our coaches have to start stepping up. That photograph on SoonerSports with Sherri pulling her hair out should tell us a lot about the current status of the team.

We don't like taking this same type of crap from Stoops or Kruger. Why should Sherri and her team get a pass? Because they're woman? Ppppffff!

 

[SoonerNorm]

When Peyton is on, she's pretty good. Other times she disappears but so does Sharane, Kornet, Kaylon, etc. This group has been terribly inconsistent.

I would like to see Sherri go back to the platoon (at least temporarily) and see if that helps bring about more consistent play.

 

[Sweetest OU Girl]

We are not a top 25 team and may not be at any point during the rest of the season.

BUT, they invite more than 25 teams to the NCAA tournament, so that should be the goal. Get some key conference wins to look legit and nab a mid-seed to have a chance at a first round (or even second round) win.

We have won no more than 11 Big-12 games in the past 5 years, and only 9 last year. It may prove hard to do any better this year.

We are likely to end the non-conference with 6 wins at most (if a miracle happens and we beat Arkie on the road we could have 7). Then 11 Big-12 wins (again ties the most in the last 5 years) gives us only 17 wins - one less than the 18 from last year that barely got us into the NCAA Tournament. We are playing a dangerous game of "bubble busting" with all the road games in the non-conference. I think that is what has me most disappointed with the staff and administration - especially with such a young team. Why in the world did Sherri do that to these kids?

 

[Oliver Hardy]

Sherri has a lot of control, but not ultimately, I don't think. It's done between coaches, program AD, and Joe. Still, it wasn't very smart.

After Sunday the girls will come home and I don't see anyway their composure and confidence hasn't taken a real beating. That's what I said. The preliminary rounds have been a real momentum killer -- and that's even recognizing you want to play some tough games before conference. So many away, though....

 

[badger]

Most people's honeymoons last a week or less. Sherri's has lasted almost two decades, so I think we've all been fair and have been nice and appreciative of everything that the program's accomplished under her guidance and leadership.

BUT... recruiting is a coach thing at this point. Our program is in a good conference in a good location with awesome facilities and an above average fanbase and above average TV exposure. There's nobody to blame but coaches when we don't land the right type of recruits to take our program to postseason greatness and the land of full trophy cases.

Skeletor's cackling it up in Waco because she's getting the recruits that beat OU and the rest of the conference (but not more than one national championship per decade, lol).

 

[SoonerNorm]

Most people's honeymoons last a week or less. Sherri's has lasted almost two decades, so I think we've all been fair and have been nice and appreciative of everything that the program's accomplished under her guidance and leadership.

BUT... recruiting is a coach thing at this point. Our program is in a good conference in a good location with awesome facilities and an above average fanbase and above average TV exposure. There's nobody to blame but coaches when we don't land the right type of recruits to take our program to postseason greatness and the land of full trophy cases.

Skeletor's cackling it up in Waco because she's getting the recruits that beat OU and the rest of the conference (but not more than one national championship per decade, lol).

Amen!

 

[sybarite]

The anti-Sherri comments on this board have persisted almost since the inception of this board. It is remarkable that she has nationwide respect, but this board acts more like a Texas or Baylor board than an OU board. It grew old some time ago. Now, it is more like a bunch of wishing they might have beens trying to put down a woman who knows more than they'll ever know about the game.

It is absolutely unbelievable that some think she knows nothing about fundamentals, or that she has no athletes. I doubt that a collection of the best male players on this board could come within thirty points of her teams.

Grow up. You don't begin to know what she does, nor will you ever contribute as much to anyone as she has.

 

[womenssports]

I don't consider this an anti-Sherri comment though maybe some people will...if OU wants to be better then I think they could bring in another coach right now as an assistant to Sherri and they could get become better with these same players. They would have been better last year had they done this. They
need to do this for ou to be better whether they do it now or after the season is over.

With that said, I am not saying they will not improve this year, just bringing in another assistant would help that.

 

[sybarite]

I don't consider this an anti-Sherri comment though maybe some people will...if OU wants to be better then I think they could bring in another coach right now as an assistant to Sherri and they could get become better with these same players. They would have been better last year had they done this. They
need to do this for ou to be better whether they do it now or after the season is over.

With that said, I am not saying they will not improve this year, just bringing in another assistant would help that.

I don't understand---to do what?

 

[Mac]

I don't understand---to do what?

Recruiting would be a good start. Pam is doing a good job, but I think they need to add some youth to the staff. Sad to sound like people are calling for Chads job, but it is what it is.

 

[SoonerNorm]

Recruiting would be a good start. Pam is doing a good job, but I think they need to add some youth to the staff. Sad to sound like people are calling for Chads job, but it is what it is.

I might disagree to this extent...I don't think she has brought in a difference maker yet. Llanusa might be one but she grew up in a Sooner family so not sure how much recruiting it took to get a commitment from her.

I think Dungee will be a good player but not sure she will be someone to build a team around.

I hope Nancy will be a difference maker but, even if not, at least she should be better than what we have had the last few years.

I certainly agree with you that recruiting needs to improve...when you look at our recruiting vs. Texas' recruiting, it's night and day. I'm sure some will say it's Austin vs. Norman but we sure didn't have trouble staying up/ahead of Texas the last few years until Aston took over. Baylor is using their NCs to kick out tail too. If we continue to use the same recruiters/assistants, we should not expect different results. The question is, how long will Sherri continue without making some changes?

 

[womenssports]

I don't understand---to do what?

To coach. Sherri needs someone to complement her knowledge and coaching skills. I do not think it is the players (yes, maybe we do not have players to
take us to the final four) but we have players to get us at least as far as the round of 32 and certainly players that should be UALR. We are missing something in the coaching department. I would not necessarily want Bo back but do believe he made the team better on the floor.

 

[sybarite]

What do you think Sherri doesn't know?

We probably underrated UALR which is a pretty good team. We needed to come out firing to win on their home court. They are a top forty to fifty caliber team.

 

[Mac]

If Sherri was able to get the Paris twins from The Bay Area here in Cali, Amanda Thompson from Chicago, and Lon was able to bring in Cousins from New York, it's Norman sounds like an excuse now. I'll say Sybrite had a point before when He/She said that some kids might not like OU depending on there background, I think a young female of color would help. Seems like Stanford's recruiting has taken a step back since Bobbie Kelsey left.