Sophomore Class

[Price is Right]

I think I speak for a lot of us when I say I was ecstatic about this class. One of the better ones we have had on paper in a long time. On the court however I've been super underwhelmed.. I'm as big a sunshine pumper as you'll find and I'm always feeling like our big break is just around the corner but... Talking with some friends last night I realized that for the first time in a long time I'm not optimistic about our future. What is going on with the program in terms of developing these guys?? Is it on Kruger? Are the guys just not buying in? Were a lot of them simply overated?

I highlight the Sophmore class specifically but it's something I feel about all of our classes recently.

I love Kruger and what he has done for our program. I still think he is a great coach who could have success somewhere. I also think it's time for a change.

Curious what some of you think?

 

[daqman]

The time for a change was 2 years ago.

 

[sooner8]

The time for a change was 2 years ago.

Joe C.is not going to do anything,just look at what has transpired with the Womens Basketball Team.I respect Joe C but most AD's would have taken action years ago!!

 

[Chaser728]

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately in regards to OU Basketball... and then a few days ago while listening to Chris Plank talk about Texas football, I had an epiphany... perhaps this is who we are as OU Basketball...1. a middle to high Big 12 team, 2. tourney bound 95% of the time; 3. win a game or 2 in the tourney about 50% of the time; and are final 4 bound every 10-12 years or so... I mean I hear OU Football fans tell Texas and OSU fans to just accept that this is who you are all the time... maybe we should just accept it... LK has done great things at OU, and while I hope for a bit more in that 3rd category listed above (need to reach sweet 16 more often than LK has)... overall, we are not, nor will we ever be elite on a consistent basis...

 

[daqman]

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately in regards to OU Basketball... and then a few days ago while listening to Chris Plank talk about Texas football, I had an epiphany... perhaps this is who we are as OU Basketball...1. a middle to high Big 12 team, 2. tourney bound 95% of the time; 3. win a game or 2 in the tourney about 50% of the time; and are final 4 bound every 10-12 years or so... I mean I hear OU Football fans tell Texas and OSU fans to just accept that this is who you are all the time... maybe we should just accept it... LK has done great things at OU, and while I hope for a bit more in that 3rd category listed above (need to reach sweet 16 more often than LK has)... overall, we are not, nor will we ever be elite on a consistent basis...

We're not "middle to high". We are solidly middle. And if Smart ever figures out how to coach, we are going to be middle to low.

 

[mict085]

I agree. I love Lon and what he did to correct the mess from capel, but it’s time for him to retire. Every season we are the same. No improvement. Late season collapse. We’re just not good enough and we’re showing no signs of getting any better. Recruiting is below average. Even when we sign guys that have potential to be really good, they never develop into anything special.

OU admin doesn’t care about the basketball program. It’s a nuisance to them. Lon could coach another 10 years and not make the tourney and nothing would change. They simply don’t care.

 

[inoref]

I agree, admin doesn't care much about the men basketball and even less about the ladies.
They wouldn't care so much abut the football program long as tickets are sold.

 

[Chaser728]

We're not "middle to high". We are solidly middle. And if Smart ever figures out how to coach, we are going to be middle to low.

I would say that in Lon’s tenure we’ve had enough of us being in the top 2 tiers of the big 12 to classify us there... but yea, currently we’re “middle of the pack”.

 

[WichitaSooner]

I agree. I love Lon and what he did to correct the mess from capel, but it’s time for him to retire. Every season we are the same. No improvement. Late season collapse. We’re just not good enough and we’re showing no signs of getting any better. Recruiting is below average. Even when we sign guys that have potential to be really good, they never develop into anything special.

OU admin doesn’t care about the basketball program. It’s a nuisance to them. Lon could coach another 10 years and not make the tourney and nothing would change. They simply don’t care.

Well, Joe fired Capel after two awful seasons once Blake left, so to suggest he would suffer through a decade without making the tourney seems far fetched. But it also seems silly to suggest such a scenario even as a hypothetical, since Lon’s current longest streak of missing the tournament at OU is one (1) year.

I don’t like in Oklahoma and I’m sure that there is a lot I don’t know regarding the athletic administration, but I am always surprised how much heat Joe C gets on the board. When you look at the overall strength of an athletic department, there are only a handful that wouldn’t be thrilled to trade places with OU. Not saying anyone is wrong or not entitled to their opinion on specific issues, but just find it interesting.

 

[BoulderSooner]

what a tired thread ...

 

[SoonerBounce13]

what a tired thread ...

people are tired of mediocrity

 

[Stikboy]

people are tired of mediocrity

Beyond

 

[BoulderSooner]

finishing 3rd in the big 12 is not that

making the dance every year is not that ..

 

[AdaSooner]

This thread is all too typical of the reaction we have seen before following a loss by an undeniable margin. It’s not like a 15 point beat down by the #2 ranked team in the country was unexpected. I actually thought it would be worse, and I’ll bet most of you did too.

Does that mean I’m happy when we lose, or that I’m 100% onboard with the direction of our basketball program? Of course not. I wanted to believe the current class of players would be better. The recruits we signed received a lot of praise, and to be honest I might have contributed to the hype. Now we know, our seven foot center and our sharp shooter from the wing are among a growing list of projects who aren’t ready to contribute this season.

There are also reasons to be optimistic. This team is not totally void of talent. I think it could be argued that some of our best players are underclassmen. One thing seems to be certain, our second unit plays better defense than our first unit. They bring a special brand of energy, hustle and determination to the floor we don’t always see with our starters. I’m encouraged by what I see.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that it could be worse. And, that’s certainly possible on Saturday when we play the Jayhawks in Lawrence. If we lose our next three games to TCU, OSU and K-State, that may be the time to start thinking about throwing in the towel.

I’m not there yet!

 

[daqman]

This thread is all too typical of the reaction we have seen before following a loss by an undeniable margin. It’s not like a 15 point beat down by the #2 ranked team in the country was unexpected. I actually thought it would be worse, and I’ll bet most of you did too.

Does that mean I’m happy when we lose, or that I’m 100% onboard with the direction of our basketball program? Of course not. I wanted to believe the current class of players would be better. The recruits we signed received a lot of praise, and to be honest I might have contributed to the hype. Now we know, our seven foot center and our sharp shooter from the wing are among a growing list of projects who aren’t ready to contribute this season.

There are also reasons to be optimistic. This team is not totally void of talent. I think it could be argued that some of our best players are underclassmen. One thing seems to be certain, our second unit plays better defense than our first unit. They bring a special brand of energy, hustle and determination to the floor we don’t always see with our starters. I’m encouraged by what I see.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that it could be worse. And, that’s certainly possible on Saturday when we play the Jayhawks in Lawrence. If we lose our next three games to TCU, OSU and K-State, that may be the time to start thinking about throwing in the towel.

I’m not there yet!

So you're happy with beating the bottom feeders. And you "couldn't be more proud" of how we didn't get slaughtered by WV.
Your bar is extremely low.

 

[AdaSooner]

So you're happy with beating the bottom feeders. And you "couldn't be more proud" of how we didn't get slaughtered by WV.
Your bar is extremely low.

If that’s all you got from what I said, your intellect is extremely low!

 

[Kewllane]

This thread is all too typical of the reaction we have seen before following a loss by an undeniable margin. It’s not like a 15 point beat down by the #2 ranked team in the country was unexpected. I actually thought it would be worse, and I’ll bet most of you did too.

Does that mean I’m happy when we lose, or that I’m 100% onboard with the direction of our basketball program? Of course not. I wanted to believe the current class of players would be better. The recruits we signed received a lot of praise, and to be honest I might have contributed to the hype. Now we know, our seven foot center and our sharp shooter from the wing are among a growing list of projects who aren’t ready to contribute this season.

There are also reasons to be optimistic. This team is not totally void of talent. I think it could be argued that some of our best players are underclassmen. One thing seems to be certain, our second unit plays better defense than our first unit. They bring a special brand of energy, hustle and determination to the floor we don’t always see with our starters. I’m encouraged by what I see.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that it could be worse. And, that’s certainly possible on Saturday when we play the Jayhawks in Lawrence. If we lose our next three games to TCU, OSU and K-State, that may be the time to start thinking about throwing in the towel.

I’m not there yet!

I see what you're saying, and agree to some extent.

But would you agree also that the lack of development, especially since Henson and Hill left, has been pretty evident?

It feels, to me, that a lot more players come in and show a lot of promise their Freshman year, then never seem to make the strides they need to become a really dependable basketball player.

I mean take out Hield, Cousins, and Spangler, and the lack of development becomes even MORE evident. However, I don't put a lot of stock into anything before them, but that 2016 team really should've been a launching point for OU to really make the gains in recruiting and become the really respectable program we all feel it can be. That just hasn't seemed to happen.

But really you can go down the list of players, starting with those Freshman and Sophomores on that 2016 team, and the development just hasn't been there

And now we're 5 season passed that. It feels like at least a few should have been developed or be developing more.

 

[SoonerBounce13]

finishing 3rd in the big 12 is not that

making the dance every year is not that ..

tied for third with 3 other teams.

I'm not usually doom and gloom. I'm just tired of the normalizing of being average.

Let's be honest....we have been lucky getting into the tourney several times. We got in with a 7-11 conference record. The year before that it was 8-10. If we want to be honest, it isn't far fetched to say we should have missed the tourney 3 years in a row.

And yes, we were 3rd last year. what about before that?

7
9
9

Trae young aint walking through that door again. We've fallen far enough that even legit nba in state talent won't pick us.

Kruger did what he was supposed to. It is time to move on. the program is stale

 

[SoonerBounce13]

And this isn't just coming because we lost to the #2 team.

 

[WichitaSooner]

tied for third with 3 other teams.

I'm not usually doom and gloom. I'm just tired of the normalizing of being average.

Let's be honest....we have been lucky getting into the tourney several times. We got in with a 7-11 conference record. The year before that it was 8-10. If we want to be honest, it isn't far fetched to say we should have missed the tourney 3 years in a row.

And yes, we were 3rd last year. what about before that?

7
9
9

Trae young aint walking through that door again. We've fallen far enough that even legit nba in state talent won't pick us.

Kruger did what he was supposed to. It is time to move on. the program is stale

In what way were we lucky? We were one of the best 36 at large teams each of those years. That’s the only criteria that the committee uses. When the committee evaluates OU, it isn’t in a vacuum. If there aren’t 36 teams with better resumes, we get a bid.

It is perfectly fair to argue that we should expect more than being a 9 through 11 seed. But saying we got lucky to make it is just wrong. Who were the specific teams that should have made it over us?