thebigabd
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I think he plays lower level juco basketball, which generates very low attention and they got him early.
This team could be better than most people think
- Thread starter lexusooner
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I think he plays lower level juco basketball, which generates very low attention and they got him early.
I'm really excited about the guards. Harmon/Bienemy/Reaves/Williams/Hill could be one of the better guard line-ups we've seen.
The problem as I see it will be the bigs. We just don't have anyone tall enough/athletic enough/beefy enough to compete against the other bigs in the conference.
Manek/Doolittle are two of our best players, and you have to play them the majority of the minutes. Unfortunately, that's just not a good option. Only one of the two should be on the court at a time. We're lacking the inside shot blocking/rebounding/defending presence.
I don't have much hope for Polla/Kuath.
The problem as I see it will be the bigs. We just don't have anyone tall enough/athletic enough/beefy enough to compete against the other bigs in the conference.
Manek/Doolittle are two of our best players, and you have to play them the majority of the minutes. Unfortunately, that's just not a good option. Only one of the two should be on the court at a time. We're lacking the inside shot blocking/rebounding/defending presence.
I don't have much hope for Polla/Kuath.
WichitaSooner
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Doolittle is one of the best defenders in the conference. And suffice it to say, he did more than just "compete" with other teams bigs offensively -- in fact, he torched many of them. Yes, our rebounding suffered with those two being our two bigs. But defense did not. As certain posters like to constantly point out, very few college teams play traditional big men these days, let alone two true bigs. Outside of a fully healthy KU roster, I can't think of many teams where we would be at a major disadvantage defensively.
thebigabd
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KU, WVU, Baylor, Texas, and Oklahoma State will all be bigger and tougher in the paint than OU next year.
WTSooner
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Yeah, I don't care how good Doo is, he is massively out of position playing the 5. Pretty embarrassing actually, that he is far and away our best option there.
thebigabd
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He's so good on offense though. He is the classic tweener... Too small for the paint, too big and lacking skill for the perimeter. Have to find ways to hide him while letting him operate on offense.
WTSooner
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He's a 4 in today's game. Nearly a perfect fit as a 4. Wish she shot it from deep a bit better, but he's more than adequate out there for that position.
The problem is that is also where Manek belongs. Which means Doo has to play out of position.
If your guards are good, big men really aren't very important. Our guards are a huge question mark, but they could be really damn good, in which case it's not going to matter what big men are out there (as long as they understand their role is to set screens, finish dunks, and generally get out of the way of the guards).
WTSooner
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Our bigs aren't a problem on offense, they are a problem on defense and rebounding. Neither Doo nor Manek are particularly good rebounders or defenders. Neither are rim protectors. That is a VERY important part of being a good team defense is having guys inside that can a) protect the rim, and b) rebound and end possessions for the opposing team.
I'm not saying we need a top 10 NBA pick in there, but we should have a better option than we've had recently, or will likely have this year.
Doolittle is fine on defense and as a rebounder. Manek is poor in both facets. They really shouldn't be on the floor together as they play the same position. Against a lot of teams we'll be able to get away with it as they won't have the bigs to punish us, but we will face a few matchups where they just need to have their minutes staggered.
CoachTalk
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Hard to stagger your best 2 players.
WichitaSooner
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Doo isn't "particularly good" defensively. He is far better than that. Sadly, reality and evidence will never convince you otherwise. Blocking shots isn't the only way to be a good post defender.
Also, when we play guys who can protect the rim, then the masses complain that by going for blocked shots, they leave their man and make us vulnerable to offensive rebounds or easy dropoff passes. So short of finding a guy who does everything perfectly, people will never be happy.
skyvue
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Doolittle averaged .25 rebounds per minute last season (7 per game). Manek averaged .21 rebounds per minute (6 per game).
CMSOONER
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Let's just get out of the mindset that we have a "5 Man" on the floor. Doolittle isn't a 5 and shouldn't be relied upon as a 5, but here we are.....with no better option. Our Starting lineup is G/G/G/F/F. Assuming we can get an adequate PF/C, after the first 5 minutes of the game Doo and Maneks minutes will stagger after that against bigger teams. First sub in will likely replace one of them most of the time.
Manek and Doo were the strength of our team last year. I'm baffled that so many keep acting like they're our biggest weakness. If they're our weakness, then we're in for quite a ride next year.
Coming into last year, I would understand the concern from them not being "big" or "tough" enough, but we just watched them do it for a whole season. It's like people don't trust their own eyes.
Coming into last year, I would understand the concern from them not being "big" or "tough" enough, but we just watched them do it for a whole season. It's like people don't trust their own eyes.
WTSooner
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We were 184th in the country last year in rebounding margin. So let's stop, right now, acting like we were a good, solid, or even remotely adequate rebounding team. We were not.
And we were that bad while being pretty solid on defense, which typically creates more defensive rebounding opportunities.
Not a good stat. Shows our lack of rebounding and lack of toughness (which carries over to other areas of the game) last year.
https://www.ncaa.com/stats/basketball-men/d1/current/team/151
And we were that bad while being pretty solid on defense, which typically creates more defensive rebounding opportunities.
Not a good stat. Shows our lack of rebounding and lack of toughness (which carries over to other areas of the game) last year.
https://www.ncaa.com/stats/basketball-men/d1/current/team/151
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I agree. Doo had a great conference season and Manek looked like our best player in the postseason (Games vs West Virginia in Big 12 tourney, Ole Miss & Virginia in NCAA Tourney)
We were 23rd in adjusted defensive efficiency, so let's stop acting like we can't play good defense with Doolittle at the 5.
https://kenpom.com/index.php?s=RankAdjDE
WichitaSooner
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Exactly. Notice how he can't even bring himself to issue an unqualified compliment? Instead of just acknowledging we were good defensively, "pretty solid" is as far as he'll go. I guess that's better than his feelings about Doo's defense.
It is. That's why I fear we will struggle. Hard to believe we have no one to match up against opposing bigs.
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