This program sacrificed for Trae

[Dcox]

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.

Totally agree even how bad the team is playing he still leads the country in scoring and assists is not hurting the OU brand. I can't believe this even being brought up lol.

 

[SoonerBounce13]

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

We would be much worse off without Trae

But it would probably be easier to stomach the loses.

Lon's biggest mistake is playing Trae so much and shepard so little.
Shepard looked like he had loads of potential last year and was really coming on at the end of the year.

Trae is worn down, and the team demeanor is terrible.

 

[SoonerBred]

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.

I have disagreed with you a lot but you are spot on here. Unfortunately the team looks like it did a deal with the devil to get Trae Young and now the repercussions are hitting. I just never thought Lon would get caught up in such a whirlpool. I guess I thought his mentorship and coaching could overcome some of the chemistry issues that are now glaringly evident to anyone watching the team.

 

[SoonerBred]

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.

Spot on here, everyone who doesn't see it thinks the rest of the team just sucks but I disagree, it's more about them seeing themselves as part of the team rather than some extras in The Trae Young show.

 

[uberjamb]

Sad thing is that Trae and his dad will probably blame all of this on the other guys.

 

[coolm]

Sad thing is that Trae and his dad will probably blame all of this on the other guys.

yeah. you're probably right (about his dad that is) and I hate that. these guys gave up a year of eligibility to help trae's highlight reel and they deserve better.

 

[JBaker]

yeah. you're probably right (about his dad that is) and I hate that. these guys gave up a year of eligibility to help trae's highlight reel and they deserve better.

These guys wouldn’t have had a chance at the tournament without Trae, so I think it’s a big stretch to say they sacrificed a year.

 

[stormspencer]

As the season has progressed, it's ended up that Trae is more of a curse than a blessing.....at least when it comes to the sum of the parts. If Trae isn't on this team, I believe they are fighting to stay out of the cellar. But, the wheels have now come off and this team is playing its worst ball of the season and it seems we've exhausted any possible solutions to right the ship. This is a bad basketball team and now it's becoming more and more apparent that we sold out this program for one player. Because of their quasi-AAU philosophy, the coaching staff ignored and neglected to commit to any type of defensive toughness because their plan was to simply outscore people. This is unconscionable and I'm ready for new direction and voice for this program.

 

[hoopsaustin]

Let this dumb post die