Pledger and M'Baye

[skyvue]

I know little flareups happen, but I was none too pleased to see M'Baye and Pledger barking at each other after an errant pass from Pledger with about 3:40 left in yesterday's game.

It was clearly a miscommunication -- Pledger appeared to think M'Baye was going to cut one way and he cut the other -- but M'Baye immediately and demonstrably called out Pledger right there on the court and the discussion, which seemed somewhat heated, continued on the sidelines during a timeout, which Osby stepping in at one point to mediate.

Again, I'm not saying it was necessarily a huge deal, but it's something I'd rather not see. Are there hints of animosity between these two guys (or toward Pledger by his teammates)?

 

[pnkranger]

We have seen little, if any, competitive fire from our team since Blake left. I don't mind it as long as it doesn't become a regular occurrence.

 

[WTSooner]

I don't remember M'Baye saying much of anything. Looked to me like Pledger tore into him, and all Osby really did was say something like "calm down."

I wouldn't worry too much about it.

 

[AdaSooner]

A competitive fire is one thing, the scene Skyvue described is another matter entirely.

From my perspective, Pledger was the instigator. He went after M'Baye after the turnover. I have no idea who was at fault when the turnover occurred? I just don't like to see teammates play the blame game when someone makes a mistake. It's bad for team chemistry, and it sets a poor example for the younger players. Save that competitive fire for the opponent!

 

[mattham4]

A competitive fire is one thing, the scene Skyvue described is another matter entirely.

From my perspective, Pledger was the instigator. He went after M'Baye after the turnover. I have no idea who was at fault when the turnover occurred? I just don't like to see teammates play the blame game when someone makes a mistake. It's bad for team chemistry, and it sets a poor example for the younger players. Save that competitive fire for the opponent!

M'Baye had a negative reaction when his pass for Pledger went out of bounds and Pledger reacted.

I'm all for competitive fire but I didn't like the dynamic of what I saw either.

I haven't seen enough of M'Baye to know if this is part of his personality, but I didn't like how our Senior "leader" handled the situation.

 

[SDSooner15]

I thought this was great. M'Baye made a mistake and pledger ripped him for it. M'Baye looked like he wasn't arguing back and to me it looked like Osby even added to what Pledger was saying. Coach didn't stop it when they got in the huddle. I love the attention to the importance of details. This teams cares about winning in the correct way and I thought this was a great example of what Coach Kruger has instilled in our players. Everything you do on the court matters. Watching Pledger his entire career here this is something I would never have expected and was very glad to see. If you've never played any sports then this might look bad, but I've gotten in fist fights with my best friends during practice multiple times. Then gave them a ride home after practice. No bid deal except that the competitive fire made our team better.

 

[25mob]

Things like this happy but what I liked is that it didn't seem to have a negative effect on the team.

 

[skyvue]

M'Baye made a mistake and pledger ripped him for it. M'Baye looked like he wasn't arguing back and to me it looked like Osby even added to what Pledger was saying.

That's not how I saw it at all. Again, I'm not trying to make a big deal of it, but it appeared clear that Pledger and M'Baye were going at it. M'Baye definitely answered back.

 

[gosooner2]

From what little I have seen so far M'Baye acts a little like a prima donna. I hope that is not true but he acts like he is in charge! Maybe he is?

 

[BigTime]

That's not how I saw it at all. Again, I'm not trying to make a big deal of it, but it appeared clear that Pledger and M'Baye were going at it. M'Baye definitely answered back.

I thought Romero did a good job stepping in and talking to M'Baye.

Pledger made an interesting comment during the press conference saying that it has been an adjustment playing with the new guards because they are still learning how to pass him the ball in the right spots, and that Grooms and he spent a lot of time together working on that last year.

Sounds like the new guys have come in and ruffled some feathers. Good! That should make everyone better if the team buys in into Kruger's team concept.

Sky,

Watching the replay of the game, it looked like two guys both "at fault", and you are right, M'Baye definitely didn't diffuse the situation. I liked it out Kruger let it play out a little bit.

 

[BigTime]

From what little I have seen so far M'Baye acts a little like a prima donna. I hope that is not true but he acts like he is in charge! Maybe he is?

I can see that a bit as well.

 

[garyeb2]

All M'Baye did was to point to the spot on the floor where Pledger should have thrown the ball. Then Pledger started chirping. One of those two players got a pretty good dressing down 3/4 days ago for making excuses every time he made a mistake and was held accountable.

And there are alot of ruffled feathers. Grooms and Cam don't seem to be pleased at all with their current situaton. Fitz has kept a good attitude. And if I were Pledger I would like Grooms the best too. Grooms would pass up an open shot for himself and throw it to Pledger. These kids are jacking it up when they are open.

 

[AdaSooner]

Sounds like the new guys have come in and ruffled some feathers. Good! That should make everyone better if the team buys in into Kruger's team concept.

It stands to reason that bringing three starters from last year off of the bench this season is going to ruffle feathers. I would worry more if those players were happy about the change. But the best way to win your job back, or to keep the one you've got, is to accept what coach is trying to do and make the best of every opportunity you get.

 

[WTSooner]

None of us know for sure who was at fault. And I just rewatched it about 5 times, and the "bickering" doesn't look nearly as bad to me as it did watching it live.

The play starts at the 1:41:04 mark if you watch the SoonerSportstv replay.

If somebody can read lips, I'd love to know what Osby said. Kruger was right there, and didn't say anything, or have a disgusted look on his face, so I'd say it isn't a big deal.

I'd be pretty surprised if LK thought M'Baye did the right thing on that play though. His defender was VERY late getting back down the floor, and M'Baye was hanging out near the top of the key. Had he flashed to the lane, probably an easy dunk. Had he flared out to the wing, probably an open 3. But he just stood there. JMO.

 

[PeteHoops]

All M'Baye did was to point to the spot on the floor where Pledger should have thrown the ball. Then Pledger started chirping. One of those two players got a pretty good dressing down 3/4 days ago for making excuses every time he made a mistake and was held accountable.

And there are alot of ruffled feathers. Grooms and Cam don't seem to be pleased at all with their current situaton. Fitz has kept a good attitude. And if I were Pledger I would like Grooms the best too. Grooms would pass up an open shot for himself and throw it to Pledger. These kids are jacking it up when they are open.

Grooms body language is terrible. He doesn't even hide it well.

 

[MNsooner]

Grooms body language is terrible. He doesn't even hide it well.

He seemed frustrated about missing shots.

 

[dahldennsull]

From what little I have seen so far M'Baye acts a little like a prima donna. I hope that is not true but he acts like he is in charge! Maybe he is?

Could be, but one is a returning senior starter that was moved to the bench, while one is a transfer junior that was named co-captain before ever playing a game at the university.

as others have said, i'm more than happy with these freshman and M'baye coming in and ruffling some feathers. The status quo was not what we need around here

 

[MNsooner]

Could be, but one is a returning senior starter that was moved to the bench, while one is a transfer junior that was named co-captain before ever playing a game at the university.

as others have said, i'm more than happy with these freshman and M'baye coming in and ruffling some feathers. The status quo was not what we need around here

You know Pledger is a starter right?

 

[playmakr]

Pledger is part of the old guard of attitudes and inconsistent effort. He needs to let others lead and just stand around the perimeter, shoot open 3's, and attempt to guard someone.

 

[MNsooner]

Pledger is part of the old guard of attitudes and inconsistent effort. He needs to let others lead and just stand around the perimeter, shoot open 3's, and attempt to guard someone.

Posts like this are really weird to me because that play was obviously a result of M'baye not cutting the open basket like Pledge thought he should. How does this reveal inconsistent effort? I guess maybe on M'Baye's part for sitting on the perimeter when he had an open lane. This is just confirmation bias in action. Pledger got upset that M'Baye called for the ball and didn't go to it. You (and many others in this thread) are seeing what confirms your negative opinion of Pledger instead of seeing what happened. This isn't some kind of deeper issue. It was a miscommunication in the first game of the season that frustrated Pledger.