The guards aren't the problem

MNsooner

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Our front court shot 7-25 from the field. The rest of the team shot 15-21. The old guys and the new guys in the back court played well. Hopefully the front court comes around because at the moment they are the source of our offensive issues.
 
Yep front court has been very inconsistent both scoring and rebounding. Osby had a bad night shooting and M'baye is Jekyll and Hyde right now.
 
They are pressing, and that is some of it...but we are not getting them the ball in scoring position.
 
They are pressing, and that is some of it...but we are not getting them the ball in scoring position.

That's true. But how many chippies did our post players miss, have blocked or fumble away from point blank range?

Somehow, some way our front court players have got to learn to finish when they get the ball inside.
 
Why is Pledger taking so few shots, only attempts in this game?
Isn't he OU's best gunner?
 
Why is Pledger taking so few shots, only attempts in this game?
Isn't he OU's best gunner?

I felt that way watching the game so I started paying attention to his movement and he just didn't try hard to move around. I assume that is our offense cause we don't do a whole lot of movement on the perimeter.
 
Pledger looks lazy to me.

Our post guys have no post game....that's going to become a problem when we get in to Big 12 play. I went to the Oral Roberts game and watched the NSU game tonight. From what I see OU is basically about the same as ORU and NIU....I think we are about as good an average mid major team.

The freshman are promising especially defensively, but guys like Cam Clark, Pledger, and Grooms seem to be struggling to find a role on this team.

We have 10 players....but I don't think I can pick out who the best players are. Buddy Hield seems to be the most promising to me.
 
Correct me if I'm wrong but of our two bigs, Osby is really what, 6'6", and Fitz has like a ten inch verticle. Most 6'8" guys would have two handed that layup he missed at the end. Now I'm not bagging on them. They've been about our lone bright spots the last few years but I'm not sure if they're going to be able to withstand the night in and night out pounding during the season.
 
I have never seen such a spread out scoring team in my life. I have always thought that would be good, but for us right now it appears no one really wants to take the bell cow role. And part of that, is the half court offense. Dead horse... Everyone is standing around, and I've counted in some of our games, it's one pass and shoot. Fitzgerald's shooting has been ATTROCIOUS and the shots he's taking are killing us in certain situations. He needs to post up more and quit taking all those freaking jumpers... I hope we will, but I wish we had a flowing half court offense that worked for good shots. We also have alot of hot and cold players... I wish our young guard would try to penetrate more(TWSS) and either draw a foul or dish. Offense is frustrating right now, but it has to get better. Shot selection. It better get better because the last part of our non con is better that the first part(besides Gonzaga).
 
I have never seen such a spread out scoring team in my life. I have always thought that would be good, but for us right now it appears no one really wants to take the bell cow role. And part of that, is the half court offense. Dead horse... Everyone is standing around, and I've counted in some of our games, it's one pass and shoot. Fitzgerald's shooting has been ATTROCIOUS and the shots he's taking are killing us in certain situations. He needs to post up more and quit taking all those freaking jumpers... I hope we will, but I wish we had a flowing half court offense that worked for good shots. We also have alot of hot and cold players... I wish our young guard would try to penetrate more(TWSS) and either draw a foul or dish. Offense is frustrating right now, but it has to get better. Shot selection. It better get better because the last part of our non con is better that the first part(besides Gonzaga).

I agree with you about Fitzgerald. He can be a good shooter when he is taking shots in the flow of the game inside his comfort zone. One thing I've noticed this season is that he is taking shots further out than last year. Maybe that's why he has only had two games (WVU and Louisiana Monroe) where he shot a decent percentage. The rest have been not good to downright awful, a combined 12 of 39 (31%) in the other five games.

No one wants Drew to stop shooting, just take better shots. As you said, it would also help if he would post up more, anything but shoot from fifteen and out where he has almost no chance of getting an offensive rebound.
 
No, the problem is, we just don't have that one guy that can get us a bucket when we need it. And I don't think he is on this roster. These young guys will get better obviously, but none of them look like dynamic playmakers or scorers. We at least need a guard that can get others a good shot. None of these guys have that ability right now, and that's not a skill you can usually just acquire. You either have it or you don't. Until we find one, or a couple, we are gonna be hard to watch.
 
It seems like I read an article somewhere, where he was wanting or they were wanting to allow him to expand his range. Well, no. We struggle with inside scoring as it is, and he needs to get his 8 inch verticle butt down on the block, if for nothing else to draw the defense down more inside. Not trying to bag on him too hard, but what other parts of his game are there besides inside scoring? None. This little experiment to expand his range has failed miserably, and again it's hurting us. We have guards that can shoot 16 footers, he needs to get his but down and use what post moves he has. Draw some fouls. Seems like everyone on our team is a jump shooter now. Even with our limited inside options, I know we can be more inside/out than we are...
 
No real "playmakers".. Kruger needs to strongly consider this in the future of his recruiting..
 
No real "playmakers".. Kruger needs to strongly consider this in the future of his recruiting..

Are you referring to the front court or back court? Because even as young and inconsistent as they have been at times, all three freshmen have shown serious flashes of playmaking ability, especially Hield.
 
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