The second half and what might have been

[OUHoops]

Here's some stuff I came up with. Personally, it doesn't help me feel much better about the season. A loss is a loss, but these are interesting.

And maybe I'm just rambling with these, I don't know. Perhaps last year was similar, I don't even remember, but I'm not going to look it up right now.

Hope these makes sense:

* OU led at halftime and ended up losing in five games this season.

* OU was either ahead, tied or within five points at halftime in 11 of the 15 losses.

* They were either ahead, tied or were within 10 points at halftime in 13 of the 15 losses.

Here's the breakdown of the 15 losses:

5: Halftime leads blown — at Cincy, Kansas, Texas, at Baylor, at Texas.

1: Tied at halftime — at A&M 35-35.

5: Trailed by five points or less at halftime — at Texas Tech 25-22, Missouri 36-33, at Iowa State 38-36, at Kansas 34-31 and Baylor 35-30.

2: Trailed by 6-10 points — Saint Louis 39-30, at Iowa State 37-28.

2: Trailed by more than 10 points — at Missouri 43-25, at Oklahoma State 35-22.

* Please correct me if my math is wrong, which it probably is somewhere along the line.

Some other second half stuff:

* OU was outscored by double digits in the second half in seven of their 15 losses.

* OU failed to score 30 points in the second half in six of the 15 losses.

* In the five games in which they led at halftime and lost, they were outscored by double digits in the second half in four of those games.

* Overall, they were outscored in the second half in 11 of the 15 losses.

 

[Sawyer]

What do you think is the cause of OU's second half struggles?

 

[bgrch1350]

What do you think is the cause of OU's second half struggles?

Only having 4 guys who can put the ball in the whole.

 

[Sawyer]

But that doesn't change at halftime.

 

[Sooner_In_MI]

I'll add this one:

OU's scoring margin has been worse in the 2nd half in 14 out of 17 Big XII games.

 

[MsProudSooner]

But that doesn't change at halftime.

Mental fatigue and/or a lack of confidence.

 

[soonernutt]

What do you think is the cause of OU's second half struggles?

Lack of quality depth is the main thing to me. I haven't looked into the stats for minutes played by our starters vs. our opponents though. I would imagine our starters are flat worn out compared to most of the teams we play in conference.

Another thing is that we don't have guys who can just take it upon themselves to score when things break down. Things tend to go haywire in the last few minutes of the game, and we don't seem to be able to adjust to the chaos. This team needs shooters, but more importantly, it needs a guy or two who can score in a variety of ways. When you really need a bucket, you've got to have guys who can just go get it.

 

[152219]

OU doesn't have a single player that can create his own shot. Pledger, Clark, and Osby have shown flashes of being able to do this but Pledger isn't quick enough, Clark's handles aren't good enough, and Osby isn't polished enough.

Clark needs to spend the entire offseason dribbling the basketball. Hell, he should be walking around campus going to class dribbling the ball on the sidewalk.

 

[Boomer]

Our defense seems to let up late in the game and the shots stop falling. Maybe this is due to fatigue because of our lack of quality depth.

 

[jerry]

Lack of quality depth is the main thing to me. I haven't looked into the stats for minutes played by our starters vs. our opponents though. I would imagine our starters are flat worn out compared to most of the teams we play in conference.

Another thing is that we don't have guys who can just take it upon themselves to score when things break down. Things tend to go haywire in the last few minutes of the game, and we don't seem to be able to adjust to the chaos. This team needs shooters, but more importantly, it needs a guy or two who can score in a variety of ways. When you really need a bucket, you've got to have guys who can just go get it.

Good post. I agree.

 

[PeteHoops]

Lack of quality depth is the main thing to me. I haven't looked into the stats for minutes played by our starters vs. our opponents though. I would imagine our starters are flat worn out compared to most of the teams we play in conference.

Another thing is that we don't have guys who can just take it upon themselves to score when things break down. Things tend to go haywire in the last few minutes of the game, and we don't seem to be able to adjust to the chaos. This team needs shooters, but more importantly, it needs a guy or two who can score in a variety of ways. When you really need a bucket, you've got to have guys who can just go get it.

This. Exactly. Depth and a playmaker or two.

 

[Sooner23]

http://nooooooooooooooo.com/

 

[Dr Sleep]

Lack of quality depth is the main thing to me. I haven't looked into the stats for minutes played by our starters vs. our opponents though. I would imagine our starters are flat worn out compared to most of the teams we play in conference.

Another thing is that we don't have guys who can just take it upon themselves to score when things break down. Things tend to go haywire in the last few minutes of the game, and we don't seem to be able to adjust to the chaos. This team needs shooters, but more importantly, it needs a guy or two who can score in a variety of ways. When you really need a bucket, you've got to have guys who can just go get it.

I like all of our players but too many are one-dimension or two-dimensional. We need 3-D and 4-D players.

 

[Sooner_In_MI]

I like all of our players but too many are one-dimension or two-dimensional. We need 3-D and 4-D players.

We need to sign Harry Potter, I hear he's really good at disapparating. Would be an excellent 4-D player.

 

[AdaSooner]

Lack of quality depth is the main thing to me. I haven't looked into the stats for minutes played by our starters vs. our opponents though. I would imagine our starters are flat worn out compared to most of the teams we play in conference.

Another thing is that we don't have guys who can just take it upon themselves to score when things break down. Things tend to go haywire in the last few minutes of the game, and we don't seem to be able to adjust to the chaos. This team needs shooters, but more importantly, it needs a guy or two who can score in a variety of ways. When you really need a bucket, you've got to have guys who can just go get it.

Nailed it!

Quality depth and no one who can create his own shots and score when our offense breaks down says it all. Pledger is the best at it. But even he is limited due to his lack of footspeed and his struggles to dribble in traffic. That said, the abence of another player who can score from the perimeter only makes his job tougher.

This team has four players who can be counted on to score the majority of the points (50 of 69.8 to be exact). If one of those four needs a breather or gets into foul trouble, our offense suffers. That puts a lot of pressure on four of our starting five. Grooms is not a factor in scoring many points. Our opponents don't even bother to guard him. When Fitz is in a slump, it just gets worse. The players know they're not going to get much help from the bench. Thus, as the pressure continues to build, the result is mental errors in the second half like those we saw last night, and in so many other games this season.

Right or wrong, that's how I see it.

 

[DenverSooner]

This season has been frustrating but I don't think these guys are that far off. If M'Baye truly is one of the better players on the team and either Hield or Hornbeak is in the top 7, OU will be significantly better next season.

I have high hopes that Grooms, Clark and Osby will have noticeable improvement. Most juco players do show improvement from their junior to senior year and most 4 year players show the most improvement after their sophomore year.

I am more worried about defense next year than offense. I really think OU will have 5 or 6 guys scoring above 10 a game next season with 5 of those guys having the ability to drop 20 on any given night.