This program sacrificed for Trae

[steverocks35]

We got within 1 point of Texas in the second half today, and they dropped a 12-0 run on us and the game was basically over. It had a lot more to do with bad defense and horrible shot selection by guys like Doolittle than it did with Trae Young.

 

[coolm]

Take him off this team and where are we? Jordan Shepherd running the point? Hard pass.

you may hard pass but I guarantee you Doolittle, CJ, Odomes, Lattin, McNeace and possibly even Manek would be playing better right now were that the case.

 

[OUsky]

It feels like we just took a year of everyone's eligibility to give Trae a highlight reel for the NBA.

I can't say we gained in recruiting ... or player development ... or individual accolades ... or team accolades.

We just gave him a forum to make himself look good for the draft.

As much as I have enjoyed watching him play at times I think this was a disservice to the program and the other players.

SMH... pathetic

 

[steverocks35]

you may hard pass but I guarantee you Doolittle, CJ, Odomes, Lattin, McNeace and possibly even Manek would be playing better right now were that the case.

Ok, thanks Nostradamus
I mean, we are still talking about the NCAA leader in assists, right?

 

[OUsky]

you may hard pass but I guarantee you Doolittle, CJ, Odomes, Lattin, McNeace and possibly even Manek would be playing better right now were that the case.

Laughable.

Doolittle... yea that's Treys fault.
CJ - Has played much better this year with Trey than in previous years.
Odomes - does one thing well. Driving to his left.
Lattin... because he has improved so much the prior 3 years.
McNeace... he is Lattin 2.0
Manek - just not quite ready. Freshman.

 

[steverocks35]

And Trae would probably be averaging 15 assists a game if we could catch the ball or make a wide open shot.

 

[steverocks35]

Laughable.

Doolittle... yea that's Treys fault.
CJ - Has played much better this year with Trey than in previous years.
Odomes - does one thing well. Driving to his left.
Lattin... because he has improved so much the prior 3 years.
McNeace... he is Lattin 2.0
Manek - just not quite ready. Freshmen.

This, plus I will add that Shepherd is a far inferior passer compared to Trae and would draw much less attention that would be applied to the other guys.

 

[ousooners1baby]

All of these opinions have some truth and I feel for the team and Lon.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[coolm]

Laughable.

Doolittle... yea that's Treys fault.
CJ - Has played much better this year with Trey than in previous years.
Odomes - does one thing well. Driving to his left.
Lattin... because he has improved so much the prior 3 years.
McNeace... he is Lattin 2.0
Manek - just not quite ready. Freshman.

with the exception of perhaps manek each of those players listed above would be playing better now had more of the season been placed in their hands to win or lose. you're certainly entitled to disagree. I just think you're wrong.

 

[steverocks35]

with the exception of perhaps manek each of those players listed above would be playing better now had more of the season been placed in their hands to win or lose. you're certainly entitled to disagree. I just think you're wrong.

So why didn't coach Kruger do that?

 

[steverocks35]

By the way, I'm so old I remember coach Kruger drawing up a play to get Brady Manek wide open for a game winning 3 pointer against Kansas.

 

[MsProudSooner]

There is probably a little - very little - truth is a lot of posts in this thread.

I just don't think it's a complicated as some people are making it. I heard a wise coach once say that basketball is a simple game when the ball goes in the hoop. Everything goes better when you shoot a good percentage - energy, focus, defense - everything.

 

[Prodigal]

So some of you guys followed Norman North last year and still didn't see this coming?

Who has had a son play on a lot of teams and be a second through 7th best player on a team with a pg like Young? If so you should know exactly what is going on.

 

[JBaker]

with the exception of perhaps manek each of those players listed above would be playing better now had more of the season been placed in their hands to win or lose. you're certainly entitled to disagree. I just think you're wrong.

Christian James is playing significantly better than last year. Last year, he was counted on to be “the guy” and caved under the pressure. This year, Trae is “the guy” and James is much better for it.

Doolittle is playing poorly because he was away from the team for 4-5 months and it’s hard to get in the groove and gel with a team that developed its identity without you.

Manek MASSIVELY benefits from Trae’s driving and distributing ability and would have SIGNIFICANTLY worse stats as a freshman without Trae on the team. Trae has gotten him countless open looks from three and lobs.

McGusty has been hurt by Trae. There’s no denying that. He was more successful last year creating with the ball in his hands. This year, he’s playing with a ball-dominant PG and has struggled to carve out a role.

Lattin and McNease are who they are, and probably combine for about 2 or 3 ppg more than they would off dunks Trae helps create for them.

 

[sybarite]

with the exception of perhaps manek each of those players listed above would be playing better now had more of the season been placed in their hands to win or lose. you're certainly entitled to disagree. I just think you're wrong.

On one hand, I agree with you. I don't know that the members of the team have become grownups. I'm just not sure that they were on their way to becoming grownups with or without Trae. Some never do. In order to make the Final Four, you either need a great deal of talent, or grownups. I loved the Hollis Price team that went to the Final Four because it was made up of grownups who overachieved. Quannas White has always been a favorite because he was the ultimate grownup on a floor. On the other hand, I don't think that Blake Griffin has ever been on a team that had a bunch of grownups.

I really like some of our team. But, they will never be as good as they could be. They just leave it on the table. A really great potential guard who can't hit free throws is leaving his usefulness on the table. Some spurt into genius, only to make rather silly mistakes that belie their abilities. Fun. Enjoyable. Nice kids. Might luck into eighteen wins. I don't know that you can build a program on them.

 

[thebigabd]

Don't worry about these folks, CoolM... they just don't see it.

There are basically two camps of people on this issue.

Camp A - It's Everyone Else

The people in this camp believe that Trae Young is doing everything he can to win games, but that everyone else is letting him down. They cite shooting stats, etc from the other players and have basically come to the conclusion that the national leader in points and assists can't be at fault because, well, look at the numbers.

Camp B - It's Trae Young and Lon Kruger

The people in this camp believe that the program gave up too much identity, teamwork, and gave up on the development of other players to accommodate Trae Young. Whether this was arranged before he would commit to OU is unclear, but it seems fairly obvious that TY was given the green light to do whatever he wants. This group cites shot attempts by Trae, turnovers, and blames the lack of development from other players on the fact that nothing gets run for anyone else other than Trae. 100% of the offense is Trae Young, and that has hurt everyone else.

 

[sperry]

with the exception of perhaps manek each of those players listed above would be playing better now had more of the season been placed in their hands to win or lose. you're certainly entitled to disagree. I just think you're wrong.

This is ridiculous. Those guys are not very good, with the exception of Christian James, who has developed into a quality player. Lattin has been a one trick pony his entire career. He can protect the rim, and that's it. Doolittle was nothing special last year, he scored some points on a terrible team. This year he can't score points on a mediocre team. McNease has always been an enigma. Guy has 1st round NBA talent, but can't put it together. Manek has a bright future, but has hit a freshman wall harder than any player I've ever seen in my life. Odomes has improved, but he's a really limited guy. He's too limited offensively to be a starter on a good Big XII team. Shepherd is another guy who is just a fringe rotation guy. He's not good enough to be playing big minutes at a school like OU. Freeman, Lazenby and Polla are just not Big XII caliber players, period.

McGusty is the one guy who has really been hurt in all this. He's a guy who needs the ball in his hands to be productive, and with Trae that's just not feasible.


Lon was able to utilize an insanely talented kid to take a bad team and make them competitive. Through a combination of the league being really good, teams figuring out you just throw everything you have at Trae, and Trae wearing down, the wheels have come off. But this team would have been last place in the conference without Trae, and suggesting otherwise is just silly.

 

[SoonerSpock]

This is ridiculous. Those guys are not very good, with the exception of Christian James, who has developed into a quality player. Lattin has been a one trick pony his entire career. He can protect the rim, and that's it. Doolittle was nothing special last year, he scored some points on a terrible team. This year he can't score points on a mediocre team. McNease has always been an enigma. Guy has 1st round NBA talent, but can't put it together. Manek has a bright future, but has hit a freshman wall harder than any player I've ever seen in my life. Odomes has improved, but he's a really limited guy. He's too limited offensively to be a starter on a good Big XII team. Shepherd is another guy who is just a fringe rotation guy. He's not good enough to be playing big minutes at a school like OU. Freeman, Lazenby and Polla are just not Big XII caliber players, period.

McGusty is the one guy who has really been hurt in all this. He's a guy who needs the ball in his hands to be productive, and with Trae that's just not feasible.


Lon was able to utilize an insanely talented kid to take a bad team and make them competitive. Through a combination of the league being really good, teams figuring out you just throw everything you have at Trae, and Trae wearing down, the wheels have come off. But this team would have been last place in the conference without Trae, and suggesting otherwise is just silly.

And if this team loses out going 0-4 to close the regular season which is definitely possible they would finish 6-12 and possibly tied or in last place.

 

[Dr Sleep]

I agree about the entertainment level ... but there will be a steep cost to pay. Our next couple of years will suffer as a result also.

I disagree, our team was terrible, beyond terrible. This year we will likely still make the NCAA with a a couple of more wins, plus the OU brand has been on all over the sports networks/media because of Trae. He may end of being player of the year. The slump is awful no doubt, but to say he hurt the program is ludicrous.

 

[Dcox]

Laughable.

Doolittle... yea that's Treys fault.
CJ - Has played much better this year with Trey than in previous years.
Odomes - does one thing well. Driving to his left.
Lattin... because he has improved so much the prior 3 years.
McNeace... he is Lattin 2.0
Manek - just not quite ready. Freshman.

+1

Last year without Trae first 10 games a 7-3 start and then the tailspin Lon couldn't figure out ended up 12-20. Teams figured out to pressure Trae with a bigger athletic guard and push him out further with help. To force him to take some head shaking shots or head shaking passes but we have the same 12-20 team around him. Lon out of desperation has run some zone lately which I knows he hates. And finally shortens his very lacking bench yesterday, didn't see Freeman, Lazenby or Polla. Shepard played 5 minutes and got the quick hook after getting lost and bad shot and watch the game from the bench. And unless Lon pulls a rabbit out of his hat will be our starting PG next year....scary thought. Heck McNeese played more than Lattin and probably should start right now just because of his athletic ability alone and Lattin's soft play ain't working. So I'll be pulled up on my couch on Monday night ready to watch my Sooners hoping not to see the same mistakes we've been seeing last year and this year.