The Downside of Lon Kruger

[TheGimper]

I might be able to explain that. It's doubtfull that any Indiana fans showup on their message boards defending Kelvin and knocking the current coach relative to the past coach.

It is my opinion that the Capel bashing starts when the Capel fan club chimes in knocking Kruger. Without that, probably not much would be said about the guy.

I find the opposite to be true. People bring up Capel out of nowhere frequently on this board. It's almost impossible for someone to compliment Kruger without someone else posting something to bash Capel in comparison.

 

[Big Old Booger]

Kruger is the bomb.

 

[garyeb2]

I find the opposite to be true. People bring up Capel out of nowhere frequently on this board. It's almost impossible for someone to compliment Kruger without someone else posting something to bash Capel in comparison.

Well, that is what makes horse racing. A difference of opinion.

 

[SoonerTraveler]

Jeff Capel probably did me a favor. I cared too much about OU Basketball prior to his arrival in Norman. My emotional investment into basketball games was the same as OU football. Losses stung! With Capel's tenure, it was really easy to just flip the channel and not care anymore. If his team didn't care about losing, why should I care?

Now that we have Lon Kruger and a team that plays hard, plays with pride, and is on the brink of going back to the NCAA Tournament, I'm emotionally attached to OU basketball again...which means losses like TCU and Texas really bother me.

And that is the downside of Lon Kruger. I can't help but care again! Obviously, it's really not a downside. Thank you, Lon Kruger, for forcing me spend emotional capital on your program. It is fun to be back on the roller coaster where you can enjoy the ride. Isn't that what our good friend SoonerTrav has told us over the years? The season is about the entire ride.

Amen brother!

I love OU football. Yet, ever since I traveled with my dad each December to Kansas City for those 1970s Big-8 Holiday Tournaments at Kemper Arena, I have been a bigger Sooner basketball fan, than a football fan. I felt more pride for John McCullough and Wayman Tisdale winning awards as Big-8 Conference MVPs than I did for the OU Heisman Trophy winners.

From the late 70s until now, I have attended in person virtually all home basketball games, missing no more than a handful over 35+ seasons. For most of those years, my 18 mile drive to the LNC was filled with anticipation as I could not wait to see the next OU basketball game. Even when Billy started out 9-18 in 1980-81, one could see that things were probably going to be OK. There was promise in the future.

Then in 2010 and 2011, Capel took the basketball program down the crapper, and there was no logical reason why one could hope that things would ever get better. There was nothing in Capel’s actions or demeanor that generated any confidence that things would turnaround in a positive direction. The program looked out of control with hamburger-all-American-head-cases and under-the-table-cash-payments reported in the news. The team played games with little effort, fight or organization. The 18 mile drive to the LNC became a chore rather than a joy. God bless the big donors that “encouraged” Joe C. to make a change, and not wait for the turnaround that obviously was not going to happen as long as Capel had the corner office at the LNC..

Now, enter Coach Kruger. It is hard to image and nicer or more positive person. We have a team again, with players that treat each other as teammates, as brothers. We have a team that shows improvement during the course of the season. We have a team that gives effort and plays like they have a game plan. We have young talented players in the program that we can watch develop over their 4-year careers. We have legitimate reasons to believe that good things are coming in the future. It is, once again, fun to make that 18 mile drive down to the LNC.

Not only is the season about the entire ride, the entire journey; but now we should be able to look forward to a multi-year journey as the PROGRAM returns to its rightful place towards the top of the conference, towards being meaningful in the national discussion of NCAA basketball. Dang, I cannot wait to see how ‘Buddy and the boys” grow, mature and develop in the coming years. It should be a lot of fun to watch.

And yes, the inevitable losses will hurt. It hurts more when expectations are growing and winning becomes normal again. Thank goodness for that!

 

[Max Power]

Not to mention if Sampson hadn't recruited lightly recruited Taylor, BG would have never come to OU, IMO.

In more peoples opinion than just yours BOB

 

[IndySooner]

Capel did more for the university than Kelvin did at IU and the 3 years post the tournament weren't nearly as bad as IU's 3 straight years of missing the tournament. So, as to my original point, Kelvin put IU in far worse shape than Capel did here (while having less success at the university) and yet OU fans complain about Capel more than IU fans complain about Kelvin.

IU fans HATE Kelvin. It was amazing the response when I called out Crean on my Facebook page. I used to live in Bloomington, so my friends from there went into Kelvin bashing mode. OU fans don't hate Jeff Capel. IU fans hate Kelvin Sampson.

 

[CzechM8]

I like Kruger as a coach...but you guys are doing the exact same thing with him as you did with Capel.

Capel Kruger
06-07: 16-15 11-12: 15-16
07-08: 23-12(2nd Round) 12-13: 20-10(incomplete)
08-09: 30-6(elite 8) 13-14: ??????

If we don't make the NCAA/NIT next year, you guys will turn on him too.

lol... if you are going to be a successful troll you at least need to know what it is you are talking about first. If you think those numbers indicate even the first possible similarity between Capel's teams and Kruger's teams, then you really aren't paying attention.

As to the topic... When we lost to texas and tcu and for the next few days every time I thought about it my stomach turned... I knew that I was FINALLY feeling like our team was at a point that we had something to lose. I also realized it had been a LONG TIME since I've felt that way about a basketball loss.

 

[bgrch1350]

lol... if you are going to be a successful troll you at least need to know what it is you are talking about first. If you think those numbers indicate even the first possible similarity between Capel's teams and Kruger's teams, then you really aren't paying attention.

explain the difference?

 

[Max Power]

explain the difference?

Caples 2nd year had a bunch of Sampson Recruits as Sr's and the Little Brother of a Sr. Sampson Recruit for 1

 

[CzechM8]

explain the difference?

How about this... If our current record was 5-25 right now, I would have still had a more enjoyable season as an OU fan than I did for either of the last two years of Capel's tenure.

In those last two years more often than not I would come away from even wins feeling like absolute crap. Even in victory his teams and players were such a diappointment in not only performance, but also attitude, character, and effort. A player would go for 30 and rather than be happy that one of our players may have had a breakout performance, I would wonder how this is going to ruin his attitude even more. We would beat some team that we shouldn't have and the take away I would have from it would be that the win hurts us because all it did was further encourage the bad habits and attitudes of the players. If it weren't for Blake Griffin, it makes you wonder what at all Capel would have accomplished at OU.

On the other hand....

During Kruger's days here at OU, even the losses provided something positive for the fans to give us hope for the future. His teams are model student athletes off the court, handle themselves with grace and dignity on the court, and give effort every time they play. The players encourage each other and are more worried about the welfare of their teammates and the program than their own personal goals. Coach Kruger never has to raise his voice and his players show him the respect he has earned and then go out and prove it by doing things the right way and never giving up. This team is very well coached and even when things aren't going well, we fans know that it's more of an isolated event rather than a trend. He recruits players that are not only good at the game of basketball, but also kids that he knows will represent the university and the program in the best way possible.

So, short story long... there really is no comparison in which Capel stacks up to Kruger by any stretch of the imagination... and CERTAINLY not with a few win/loss numbers that you can get off the internet and spout out as if they are the end all.

Again I say... if you are going to SUCCESSFULLY troll, you need better material.