Post Whitney Team Analysis

[BigDSooner43]

The doom & gloom over here is amazing. Whitney's career, there has to be some time for the team to get their feet back under them after something like that happens.
Eight players is not the end of the world, most coaches only play 7 or 8. Foul trouble is the only thing that should cause concern. But it isn't like Oklahoma has history with consistent foul trouble, even this year only 3 people have fouled out of games (95 opportunities). Joanna averages about 3 per game, while everyone else is at 2 or under.
Oklahoma still has the #38, 49, 80, 90, 20 players in their respective classes on the ACTIVE roster according to ESPNHG. That is a pretty impressive list of 5. Then, they have a JUCO AA. A 2-year starter at point, with significant minutes in her freshman year on top of that. And a fifth year senior for leadership.
The Big 12 looks to be down this year with injuries and all that was lost last year. Oklahoma is not in as bad of shape as you guys make it out to be on here. The Big 12 will once again be competitive from 2-10. Relax and have a fun time watching this team progress. Enjoy the year.

I read this board every single day without fail. Don't post often but read every day. It is pretty sad in my opinion when an OSU fan has more faith and optimism for our team than we do. Will this year be a challenge with all the injuries? You bet it will. Do we have the type of team that can rise to that challenge? I think we do. Sherri is a good coach and we have some very good pieces in place. I am not ready to write off the season. I really think we are going to surprise folks and firmly believe we will make the NCAA tournament.....

 

[tycat947]

I read this board every single day without fail. Don't post often but read every day. It is pretty sad in my opinion when an OSU fan has more faith and optimism for our team than we do. Will this year be a challenge with all the injuries? You bet it will. Do we have the type of team that can rise to that challenge? I think we do. Sherri is a good coach and we have some very good pieces in place. I am not ready to write off the season. I really think we are going to surprise folks and firmly believe we will make the NCAA tournament.....

Good post! You should post more often!!!

 

[O-State2009]

I would agree that 7 or 8 would not be too bad if there wasn't a significant drop off in talent, but there is.

Why is there a perceived dropped in talent? You either have the Returning Big 12 Sixth Woman of the Year or the 20th ranked recruit in the signing class first off the bench. Hartman is a dropoff, but why? Wasn't she highly regarded out of high school? The other is a JUCO AA.
Playing time and development, one or both of these seems to be missing from the program for these girls.

 

[SoonerNorm]

Why is there a perceived dropped in talent? You either have the Returning Big 12 Sixth Woman of the Year or the 20th ranked recruit in the signing class first off the bench. Hartman is a dropoff, but why? Wasn't she highly regarded out of high school? The other is a JUCO AA.
Playing time and development, one or both of these seems to be missing from the program for these girls.

It's pretty easy to see that we don't have 2 reserves as good as Whitney and Maddie. Portia has a ways to go. Sharane can play really well at times but pretty bad at other times. Same with Kornet.

It will be interesting to see what Sherri can do with this group. I hope she focuses on defense first and molds the other parts into place over the next 2-4 weeks.

 

[Mac]

I have to agree with Norm Maryland only has 8 players as well but there still playing well because of talent.

 

[O-State2009]

It's pretty easy to see that we don't have 2 reserves as good as Whitney and Maddie. Portia has a ways to go. Sharane can play really well at times but pretty bad at other times. Same with Kornet.

It will be interesting to see what Sherri can do with this group. I hope she focuses on defense first and molds the other parts into place over the next 2-4 weeks.

I'm not sold on Manning yet as most of you guys are. I haven't seen her play as much as most on here, but statistically she didn't do a whole lot with her minutes. She had a high FG%, but had 9assists to 14TO on the year. She also only averaged 6.2 points in 21minutes a game. Contrast that with Kornet who has 6.1 points in just 15minutes. Kornet also has a better A:TO. She doesn't shoot as high of a %, but takes way more 3s than Manning.

Obviously Hand is a huge loss both statistically and for her leadership. I don't believe anyone on the roster will replace her this year.

 

[sybarite]

We have seen two different Maddie's this year. Let's look at a comparison of the first three games in which Maddie was a reserve and the second three games in which she was a starter.

FGA 5 19
FG 2 11
FG% 40 58
3PTA 0 1
3PT 0 1
3PT% 0 100
FTA 1 7
FT 0 6
FT% 0 86
REB O 0 2
REB D 5 13
TOT R 5 15
PF 2 11
TP 4 33
Ass 1 8
TO 5 9
BK 0 1
ST 2 5
MIN 46 83

Notice that once Maddie became a starter (all on the road), she became very profficient. Her FG% went up as did her FT%. Right now, I think we would love to have a guard (forward?) who averaged 11 points, 5 rebounds, 1.7 steals, 2.7 assists, and only three turnovers. That is what she did once she was given a chance to start.

Although I have high hopes for Nicole, she didn't produce like that when she was given the chance.

I thought it was remarkable that Maddie made such an improvement from the first three games to the second three games. But, it was also how she looked doing it. She wasn't confused and uncertain. She acted like she was in charge. She made some plays that others couldn't make. She HIT her layups. I just hope that the injury doesn't take away what she is.

 

[Oliver Hardy]

I was impressed with Maddie too, Syb.

I was beginning to think that she might have been the difference maker for us this year. I think she really gave us some line-up options that Sherri hasn't had in a couple of years.

Frustrates me we've had all these injuries this year.