The way to beat RI.....

[WTSooner]

They appear to like to slow it down. OU was 4th in the country in tempo, RI was about 150th. RI also doesn't appear to be very deep, or very big. The play two 6'8 guys in their 7 man rotation, but after that, most are in the 6'3 to 6'5 range. Looks like they probably go guard-heavy quite a bit.

I hate how out of control we play at times, but that might be the answer against these guys. Run, run, run. Tire them out, make the either play tired or go deeper on the bench than they like to, and hit the boards. We don't offensive rebound well/often, but that should be a focus. I don't think RI will want to get out and run, so we should be sending Lattin/McNeace, and probably our PF to the boards. But the main key is probably going to be pace. Speed them up, turn them over and get them out of their offense, and wear them down.

 

[sheepdogs1]

One of their big guys stands 6'8" but is 275 lbs. While he only plays 17 minutes or so it would be best to push the ball up the court. The other 6'8" player shoots 51% from the free throw line, so he's the guy to foul if it comes to that. These two players sub each other thus they really have only one other player who comes off the bench to play substantial minutes and outside of that their bench seems pretty weak.


Team stats: http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/team/stats/_/id/227/rhode-island-rams

 

[sperry]

I really, really hope the Doolittle in the starting lineup experiment is over. Manek is just so much better than him. Yes, Manek can disappear at times, but Doolittle never showed up in the first place. I'm not sure that Doolittle is better than Manek at anything, and he is significantly worse at a lot of things. Manek's upside is so much higher, too, as a guy that could randomly go for 25 with 7 3s.

The lineup change did not help things. The last 5 games of the season were probably the worst 5 game stretch we had of the entire season, the 0-6 stretch not withstanding.


What I want to see is a starting lineup of Trae, CJ, Odomes, Manek, McNease, with a healthy dose of McGusty off the bench for an offensive upgrade when we need it. Lattin filling in for McNease as needed, Doolittle for like 6-7 minutes spelling Manek, and 4-5 minutes of Shepherd to give Trae a little rest. No Freeman, Polla or Lazenby.

 

[sheepdogs1]

Heard a stat line last evening which stated "when Trae is on the bench the team's offensive efficiency ranks close to #320." There's woeful and there's woeful (a new word needs to be created).

 

[152219]

Heard a stat line last evening which stated "when Trae is on the bench the team's offensive efficiency ranks close to #320." There's woeful and there's woeful (a new word needs to be created).

Multiple posters here have stated the ball movement and offense are better with Trae on the bench.

 

[sheepdogs1]

Multiple posters here have stated the ball movement and offense are better with Trae on the bench.

You don't say?

 

[SoonerBounce13]

Heard a stat line last evening which stated "when Trae is on the bench the team's offensive efficiency ranks close to #320." There's woeful and there's woeful (a new word needs to be created).

Well to be fair, it's only about 4 minutes that he is on the bench and was less than that in conference play it seemed. So yeah, when you have no experience playing without him, yeah you are going to suffer

Multiple posters here have stated the ball movement and offense are better with Trae on the bench.

I assume you are talking to me.
I never said the offense was better, just that the ball movement and flow and effort was better.
I would have loved to see shepard play more with trae

 

[JBaker]

I'm not sure that Doolittle is better than Manek at anything, and he is significantly worse at a lot of things.

Defense, rebounding, dribbling. I know you have overrated Manek like crazy all year, and Doolittle has had a pretty horrible year, but to say that Doolittle isn't better than Manek at anything is patently absurd.

 

[Max Power]

I really, really hope the Doolittle in the starting lineup experiment is over. Manek is just so much better than him. Yes, Manek can disappear at times, but Doolittle never showed up in the first place. I'm not sure that Doolittle is better than Manek at anything, and he is significantly worse at a lot of things. Manek's upside is so much higher, too, as a guy that could randomly go for 25 with 7 3s.

The lineup change did not help things. The last 5 games of the season were probably the worst 5 game stretch we had of the entire season, the 0-6 stretch not withstanding.


What I want to see is a starting lineup of Trae, CJ, Odomes, Manek, McNease, with a healthy dose of McGusty off the bench for an offensive upgrade when we need it. Lattin filling in for McNease as needed, Doolittle for like 6-7 minutes spelling Manek, and 4-5 minutes of Shepherd to give Trae a little rest. No Freeman, Polla or Lazenby.

So where in Harrah do you live?

 

[WTSooner]

So where in Harrah do you live, Mr. Manek?

fify

 

[TINY]

Well to be fair, it's only about 4 minutes that he is on the bench and was less than that in conference play it seemed. So yeah, when you have no experience playing without him, yeah you are going to suffer

I assume you are talking to me.
I never said the offense was better, just that the ball movement and flow and effort was better.
I would have loved to see shepard play more with trae

And the ball rarely went in the hoop. Passing the ball without scoring is a waste of time and energy. Shepard has been a disaster this year.

 

[SoonerBounce13]

And the ball rarely went in the hoop. Passing the ball without scoring is a waste of time and energy. Shepard has been a disaster this year.

Hard to had an impact when you rarely see the court for more than 2 minutes at a time. He was playing well the firs 10 or so games when he was getting decent minutes.

 

[Boomer!Sooner!]

I understand the though on have Manek starting, but we really need scoring power off the bench. Coming off the bench with Doo, Odomes and Lattin doesn't provide that. We need Manek apart of that second unit.

 

[WTSooner]

I understand the though on have Manek starting, but we really need scoring power off the bench. Coming off the bench with Doo, Odomes and Lattin doesn't provide that. We need Manek apart of that second unit.

This isn't the NBA though. We don't have to sub guys at the same time. The fact that we are having this debate at all is half the problem. OU shouldn't have so many "key" players that struggle so much scoring the ball. Guys like Lattin, Doolittle (so far), Odomes, and even Shep.

 

[Zimwillett]

In an effort to change this back to the original topic, has anyone seen a lot of Rhode Island? Know where to find a decent scouting report on them? Like everyone else, I'm just looking at roster/stats and making assumptions.

From what little I've read, they are a guard oriented team that thrives on limiting turnovers and controlling possessions. If true, that's not a great match up for OU. Would be interested in any informed scouting reports.

 

[TINY]

Hard to had an impact when you rarely see the court for more than 2 minutes at a time. He was playing well the firs 10 or so games when he was getting decent minutes.

The reason why he only gets 2 minutes is because he comes in and passes the ball to the other team for a lay up on the other end and/or clanks one off the side of the backboard. I think shep could be decent as a senior but he was easily one of the worst guards in the conference logging minutes.

 

[WTSooner]

From what little I've read, they are a guard oriented team that thrives on limiting turnovers and controlling possessions. If true, that's not a great match up for OU. Would be interested in any informed scouting reports.

Not great for OU if they (RI) can control the tempo. I know they won't slow down our offense. The question is, can our offense, and defense, speed them up? And if they are slowing it down, will that actually benefit our defense some?

 

[SoonerBounce13]

The reason why he only gets 2 minutes is because he comes in and passes the ball to the other team for a lay up on the other end and/or clanks one off the side of the backboard. I think shep could be decent as a senior but he was easily one of the worst guards in the conference logging minutes.

per 40: 8 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 4.3 apg, 2.8 topg (1.5 ato--roughly the same as Trae's)

Here is what I can tell you, He played more in games we won.
And he played well when given more minutes. Maybe it is a mental thing. But lon totally mismanaged this situation. He could have taken some load off of trae.

Per 40 splits
In Nov:
19 minutes per game.
13 ppg
6 apg
2.9 topg (2 ato)
1.5 spg
2.9 rpg
65% fg
67% 3pt
79% ft

In Dec:
14.5 minutes per game.
10 ppg
5.1 apg
.5 topg (10! ato)
2.8 spg
3.2 rpg
36% fg
29% 3pt
77% ft

In Jan:
8.5 minutes per game.
1.5 ppg
3 apg
3.6 topg (1 ato)
0.0 spg
3.1 rpg
8% fg
0% 3pt
100% ft

In feb:
8 minutes per game.
4.3 ppg
1.4 apg
5.7 topg (really low!)
2.1 spg
1.4 rpg
33% fg
0% 3pt
0% ft

In March:
5 minutes per game.
0 ppg
4 apg
0 topg (2 ato)
0 spg
8 rpg
0% fg
0% 3pt
0% ft

Yes, it may be tougher competition, but I don't think it's a coincedence that he was playing well, then saw him minutes start to drop and the attention TY was getting, and then started playing bad.

 

[DenverSooner]

Remember in December when OU played Young and Shepard at the same time a bit.

 

[sperry]

Defense, rebounding, dribbling. I know you have overrated Manek like crazy all year, and Doolittle has had a pretty horrible year, but to say that Doolittle isn't better than Manek at anything is patently absurd.

Doolittle isn't good at those things. He's a poor rebounder, just like Manek. He's not a good defender, and he doesn't have handles. He has been an unmitigated disaster this year.