The way we play defense

[stormspencer]

I think it is a bit early to throw Capel under the bus. He has a team that has 4 freshman, 2 sophomores, 2 juniors and 2 seniors. One of the juniors and one of the seniors has limited playing experience. OU is probalby one of the youngest teams in college basketball. The defense is coming along. They still make mistakes but they are doing better.

I stand by what I said earlier in the thread. Many of us got used to lockdown, really good-to-great defense under Sampson and it appears Capel doesn't emphasize it like KS did....it is what it is. Having said that, I am enjoying watching our offense develop and I think we can be a really good offensive team by the end of the season. And I definitely give Capel credit today for changing up defenses. He realizes that we are a much better zone team than man-team at this point. As a matter of fact, I think he knows we pretty much suck at man-to-man....yet he tries to get away with playing as much man as he can in order to try and instill that mindset in these guys.

What was really bothersome in the first half was not that Utah was making shots....it's that the shots they were taking were so open and uncontested. We were fortunate today that we picked it up in the 2nd half and Utah couldn't make any FTs. We play 1st half defense like we did today against a GOOD team on the road, we won't be able to make up the deficit.

But I'm happy for the win.:chestram2:

 

[NickZepp]

We still need to get better no doubt about it. But when you have a large turnover in one year like we've had from last year to this year you have to expect some unexpected play. We could beat a team like Kansas then lose to a team like Colorado or something like that. But as long as we win the 20-23 game range I'm satisfied, we are well on our way.

 

[seniorsooner]

Wow this thread took stupidity to a whole new level.

 

[buttermaker1]

We are an inconsistent defense. At times, we play brilliantly. At times, we look like we are watching the game.

For the most part, we have one senior that plays regularly, and he plays pretty good defense. The rest are former offensive high school stars who have to learn how to play defense. They can, but they get distracted from their focus. It may take some time to get some consistency from this group.

Our on the ball D is not nearly good enough at this point to be a consistant top 25 team, TMG is getting better each game and has the ability, some players just don't seem to have the want to. Plus we aren't denying the passing lanes. Some of our guys don't seem to understand how to fight over/around a pick to defend a shooter. How many times did Utah run a shooter around a pick for a open look against one of our guards?

Watch the following teams play D and you will see what I mean they defend 40 feet from the basket. I have watched the follwing teams the last couple of weeks and noticed a huge difference.

KY
KU
UNC
Uconn plus other big east teams

 

[Edmond_Sooner]

I thought the team played solid defense yesterday....

That Utah team is very hard to guard with their versatility inside and out...When Gallon was in the game we looked excellent on defense

This teams defense has improved greatly from the beginning of the season, if this type of progress continues there is no reason the team cant live up to preseason expectations...

 

[DenverSooner]

Utah is NOT a very good team.

Utah is pretty good program and that is a tough place to play. That was a big road win. Utah could compete in the Big XII. Why do so many OU fans have to criticize / belittle all of the accomplishments of OU.

 

[DeaconBoomer]

I agree the defense played hard yesterday and made the difference at the end. I still see players standing around taking breaks, or giving up on plays. I'll be suprised if this team wins more than eight BIG 12 conf games.

 

[Sooner Quick]

Utah is a completely different team at home than on the road.