Random thoughts/criticisms:

[j2d2]

Our interior defense was POOR. They had several drives, some unopposed, to the basket. We cannot do a pull up jumper but insist on driving to the basket and (1) getting our shot blocked or (2) losing the ball (a la Buddy two or three times in a row). We cannot fake a shot and get the opponent in the air. Sometimes Buddy can spot a hole and go but he needs to be a better judge of when he can. Their zone discombobulated us and we looked like we didnt know what to do. We dont block out on defense for rebounds - at all. They got 13 of 19 offensive rebounds. Lattin was a liability and was removed. Buford must learn to block out.

There! I feel better now!

 

[SoonerTraveler]

Lighten up.

You are correct, but we should be confident that the OU team will improve, as previous OU teams coached by Lon Kruger have improved.

First game of season = Sloppy Play
Win on the Road = Very Good
4 Freshmen get first real game experience = Teaching Opportunity

Not only was this a road game, but Memphis had already played a game. A team often has to work off kinks and rust in the first real game.

 

[Darwin]

Officiating was horrible for all the 1st half and the last 5 minutes. It would have been a blowout win for OU if they would have called the multiple pushes in the back and also the fouls when Buddy or any Sooner was taking it to the hole. No I don't complain about every game but I expect only 2 or 3 this bad in a season.

 

[SoonerTraveler]

The visiting team often gets the short-end of calls from the officials. Alas, it has been this way forever. The good teams overcome this and find a way to win on the road.

 

[usedtobe1]

Those were Big 12 officials.

 

[Larry72]

It is going to take a few games before the players, coaches and refs delifer good officitiang

 

[oketex]

Guys I will admit that the officiating was questionable a lot of times. I ref college ball for over 25 yrs and just like the players the ref need to get into the season. The first half of the game was beyond bad officiating, it did improve the second half. As for the officials being Big 12, yes and no. College basketball official work a number of conferences not just one like the football officials. These same officials will be working Big 12 and others so you will see them a lot.

 

[SoonerinNC]

A lot of people in the Big 12 dislike the Sooners, even officials.

 

[SoonerBounce13]

My random thoughts....

Cousins had all ball on the 3 point foul. People say he needs to be smarter. Why? You want them to have an uncontested look for 3 in a four point game? He didn't foul him. It was a terrible call. Keep at it cousins

New rules: I thought one of the rules was that to speed up the game, a called timeout would replace a media timeout. There was atleast once last night where a timeout was called under the 12 minute mark and they still called a media timeout at the next deadball

 

[campbest]

New rules: I thought one of the rules was that to speed up the game, a called timeout would replace a media timeout. There was atleast once last night where a timeout was called under the 12 minute mark and they still called a media timeout at the next deadball

Has to be within 30 seconds of a media timeout.

 

[skyvue]

Cousins had all ball on the 3 point foul. People say he needs to be smarter. Why? You want them to have an uncontested look for 3 in a four point game? He didn't foul him. It was a terrible call. Keep at it cousins

I'm with you. The officials make the correct call and he gets the steal (or disrupts the player's progress) and they call it a great play.

The announcer's point was basically, hey, you should never have put the official in the position to make the wrong call, which is nonsense. If a team took that approach, they'd play soft defense all game long. It's the official's job to get the call right, not the player's to make allowances for the official's ineptitude.

It should never have been a shooting foul, either. It clearly preceded the shot.

 

[vbdad]

AK needs to step up and give us a defensive presence. Cousins made a stupid play even if it was clean.

 

[SuperHoops]

Those were Big 12 officials.

There is no such thing as "Big 12 officials".

 

[hoopsaustin]

ouch on the big 12 officials....

did anyone watch the Ku v Duke game after? completely different game, where the guys were able to actually play basketball... The officiating in NCAA basketball is the single worst thing about it

 

[campbest]

ouch on the big 12 officials....

did anyone watch the Ku v Duke game after? completely different game, where the guys were able to actually play basketball... The officiating in NCAA basketball is the single worst thing about it

There were three fewer fouls called in the Duke-Kentucky game...the Cats' bigs were in foul trouble all night.

 

[usedtobe1]

There is no such thing as "Big 12 officials".

D1 basketball officials usually have agreements with more than one conference and all 3 of last night's officials have agreements with the Big 12. Kipp Kissinger, Joe DeRosa, and Gary Maxwell are all 3 very experienced officials. If I had to guess, Oklahoma selected the officials for the game in Memphis, and Memphis will select the officials for next year's game in Norman.

Here's some information on all 3.

Kipp Kissinger - This link from several years ago showed which officials called the most fouls in Big 12 conference games during the 2009-2010 season. Kipp called 11 Big 12 games with an average of 36.5 fouls per game. There were 44 fouls called last night. What Big 12 refs call the most fouls?

Joe DeRosa

Joseph M. "Joe" DeRosa (born April 9, 1957, in North Canton, Ohio) is an NCAA Division 1 men's basketball referee. DeRosa and Joe Forte are the only persons to have officiated both in the NBA Finals and the NCAA Men's Final Four. He was one of three officials selected to work the first of the two 2012 National Semi-Final games of the 2012 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. He officiated both the 2014 National Championship game between Kentucky and Connecticut and the 2015 National Championship game between Duke and Wisconsin. He has officiated in the Southeastern and Big 12 Conferences since 2010. His early childhood was spent on his family's farm in Omaha, Nebraska, raising turkey for export. He started his referee career as a high school official in Wesitern Kentucky Region 1 while he owned a liquor store in Paducah, Kentucky.

Previously, he spent 22 seasons officiating in the National Basketball Association. During his time working as an NBA official he officiated over 1,500 regular-season games, 150 playoff games and 11 NBA Finals games.[1] DeRosa has also conducted officiating clinics in Venezuela and France.[2]

Gary Maxwell Here's a good link for Gary from 2010 showing how refs are assigned NCAA tournament games. I think he has been assigned to over 15 NCAA tournaments. Gary Maxwell (ACC, C-USA, Big 12; Last Season: Sweet 16)
Gary Maxwell article

 

[chuckb]

My random thoughts....

Cousins had all ball on the 3 point foul. People say he needs to be smarter. Why? You want them to have an uncontested look for 3 in a four point game? He didn't foul him. It was a terrible call. Keep at it cousins

New rules: I thought one of the rules was that to speed up the game, a called timeout would replace a media timeout. There was atleast once last night where a timeout was called under the 12 minute mark and they still called a media timeout at the next deadball

Disagree entirely. While it was clear he had all ball, it doesn't even matter. You're suggesting that, if he doesn't reach in and try to strip the ball, he's giving away an "uncontested look." That's simply not true. He can defend the shot tightly without trying to reach in and strip the ball. Trying to strip that ball was just a poor decision there. He can't run the risk that the ref is going to make that call on a play so close. The worst thing he can do there is put the shooter on the line, especially when he's not a very good shooter.

It was a bad call by the ref but Cousins never should have left it to the ref to make the right call there.

 

[ben]

I must have missed this...is there a reason Odomes only played 3 minutes?

 

[Max Power]

I must have missed this...is there a reason Odomes only played 3 minutes?

My guess is it has to do with how he played against macu and us never pulling away. Lon had to go with the returning wings and James who looked better in the two exhibition games. No inside info just one fans theory

 

[aliasou]

I though Odomes looked a little out of control and lost in his 3 minutes and turned the ball over. It didn't seem like a close game was the time to let him work it out. He should be fine and get plenty of minutes tomorrow.