Playing time

[steverocks35]

Well he can't be less up to mixing it up with them than Freeman haha.

 

[WichitaSooner]

Freeman is obviously not a lockdown defender but like every guy on the team, he is much improved on that end of the floor. He's done fine, Doke is just a rough matchup for 95% of teams. I think he scored two buckets on Freeman, and I can live with that.

Bigger concern is getting James going from three again. Down to 35% on the season and last night he clearly lacked confidence. Turned down a wide open three in the second half and ended up traveling after he put it on the floor. He is still doing other things well but we need our best shooter to be our best shooter.

 

[skyvue]

Freeman is obviously not a lockdown defender but like every guy on the team, he is much improved on that end of the floor. He's done fine, Doke is just a rough matchup for 95% of teams. I think he scored two buckets on Freeman, and I can live with that.

Yep.

 

[coolm]

I didnt blame Freeman at all for what Doke did. But I did blame him for missing those wide-open jumpers. Thats what he HAS to do. He HAS to hit shots. His job defensively becomes easier if he hits some shots. He has to put pressure on the guys guarding him.

 

[steverocks35]

I didnt blame Freeman at all for what Doke did. But I did blame him for missing those wide-open jumpers. Thats what he HAS to do. He HAS to hit shots. His job defensively becomes easier if he hits some shots. He has to put pressure on the guys guarding him.

Yep, that's my point.

 

[skyvue]

What good player -- heck, what great player -- hasn't missed his first four shots in a game? It happens to the best of them.

 

[steverocks35]

Just looked at the boxscore. Freeman had 0 points, 1 rebound, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 15 minutes. That's ugly. Of course Odomes wasn't any better. 0 points, 1 rebound, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls in 12 minutes, yikes. It's amazing we were as close as we were at the end. I'm scratching my head wondering why Bieniemy only got 13 minutes. He was 3-3 with 7 points and no turnovers.

 

[oudna]

As I read through the game thread this morning, I saw tons of complaints about Freeman and RO last night and people asking why Lon was playing them. So I guess my question is, should he have just played the starters 40 minutes each and let them get hopelessly worn down when we were already at a disadvantage having to guard a much bigger team inside? RO played 12 minutes and Freeman 15. Freeman obviously had a poor game and I wouldn't have complained had he only played about 10 minutes, but given how tired Manek was from having to battle Lawson for a good portion of the game, what real options did we have with Muni basically unavailable?

Also, our bench has been outstanding all season. RO kept us in the Northwestern game almost by himself in the first half. Freeman played a big role in a couple wins already, including Notre Dame. What kind of message would Lon be sending if he benches two key reserves based on a few bad minutes? The goal is obviously to win every game, but you also have to develop a team for the long haul by showing players that they aren't going to be yanked based on a few rough minutes. People were also complaining about Doo early in the game -- so I guess Lon should have just played four players and benched everyone else.

You hit the essentials

We have what we have

Anyone complaining about the minutes last night I’d categorize as low IQ

 

[OUsky]

Bigger concern is getting James going from three again. Down to 35% on the season

James is also only 4 for his last 26 from three over last 4 games. 15%. Yikes.

 

[Soonerinkc]

You hit the essentials

We have what we have

Anyone complaining about the minutes last night I’d categorize as low IQ

not sure if you're referring to me...I did say that our "depth" isn't as "great" as it seems.

2 of the 3 subs didn't do much. I see "depth" as subs come in provide consistent something. I guess those 2 kept the game going as it did.

I know Freeman is getting more time due to JM being out.

Would like to see Bieniemy get more time.

 

[steverocks35]

not sure if you're referring to me...I did say that our "depth" isn't as "great" as it seems.

2 of the 3 subs didn't do much. I see "depth" as subs come in provide consistent something. I guess those 2 kept the game going as it did.

I know Freeman is getting more time due to JM being out.

Would like to see Bieniemy get more time.

This. Bieniemy only got 12 minutes. He was 3-3 with 7 points and zero turnovers. 12 minutes was not enough in a game like the KU game where we were struggling to score. I'd like to see us go small(er) to get him more minutes if necessary. Let him spell CJ and when CJ comes back in keep him on the floor to spell Calixte. If he's hot, leave him in and take out Manek when Calixte comes back. I know our rotations are not good with McNeace out but there's got to be a way to get one of our better scorers more minutes.

 

[skyvue]

there's got to be a way to get one of our better scorers more minutes.

Except he's not one of our better scorers. In fact, going by points per minute played, he's our worst. Now, that's not a knock on Bienemy -- he's had a great freshman year so far and I'm very excited about his future. But he's not yet a prolific scorer.

James -- .54 ppm
Manek -- .41
Reynolds -- .41
Odomes -- .39
Calixte -- .37
Doolittle -- .33
McNeace -- .33
Freeman -- .29
Polla -- .20
Bienemy -- .19

He did hit all three of his shots in Lawrence, so perhaps he should have played more but it's possible Coach Kruger thought he wasn't yet ready for that bright a spotlight, in a conference game against a top 5 opponent.

 

[WichitaSooner]

Except he's not one of our better scorers. In fact, going by points per minute played, he's our worst. Now, that's not a knock on Bienemy -- he's had a great freshman year so far and I'm very excited about his future. But he's not yet a prolific scorer.

James -- .54 ppm
Manek -- .41
Reynolds -- .41
Odomes -- .39
Calixte -- .37
Doolittle -- .33
McNeace -- .33
Freeman -- .29
Polla -- .20
Bienemy -- .19

He did hit all three of his shots in Lawrence, so perhaps he should have played more but it's possible Coach Kruger thought he wasn't yet ready for that bright a spotlight, in a conference game against a top 5 opponent.

And to be fair, he only scored two in the first half Wednesday, on a jumper above the foul line that he unintentionally banked in. And he was in the game for a decent chunk of KU's is I recall. Not saying he played poorly because he didn't, but just explaining that it wasn't as if he was absolutely rolling and Lon was a fool for not going to him for a lot of minutes in the second half.

 

[steverocks35]

I'm not saying Lon was a fool, but based on our offensive deficiencies in the game and the lack of production from Odomes and Freeman I would have liked to see more Bieniemy last night. He was also taking care of the ball better than Calixte was, which was a major problem at times in the game.

 

[oudna]

This. Bieniemy only got 12 minutes. He was 3-3 with 7 points and zero turnovers. 12 minutes was not enough in a game like the KU game where we were struggling to score.

But he was OU’s worst offensive guard thru the first 12 games of the season....

Cleary the reason he got less than his usual minutes is because they were looking for offense

Same reason Odomes got his lowest minute total in the last 6 games