This Trae Young thing is great, but.......

[Crimson&Cream14]

Sure Young took a lot of shots, but he made 6 3's in a row at point late in the 2nd half. I trust him to take a shot over anyone else considering no one is giving him much of a reason to pass.

Everyone else combined for a whopping 2/15 from 3. That is pathetic. No thank you passing if that's what everyone else is going to give you.

Even with all the talk of our offense, we lost this game on the other end of the floor. You can't allow a putrid offensive Oklahoma State team to score on 11 of their last 16 or 17 possesions and expect to win.They had 15 total points in the 2nd half with under 5 minutes to play. 1 point/minute up until then and we STILL lost. Embarrassing defense to close out the game is what cost us today, not Trae Young.

 

[thebigabd]

So Trae got 48 points on 40 shots. And the rest of the team got 33 points on 42 shots. And Trae is the problem?

Repeat previous post for emphasis:

You guys are just looking at the box score, and not taking any consideration the impact of playing on a team like this...

Motivation of the "other guys" is low when you have been castrated and are basically told to get out of this guys way.... You turn it over a few times, you get pulled. He turns it over a few times, nothing. You don't get a single play called for you. You only shoot when he doesn't have something for himself. Nobody watching even knows your name... Coaches aren't coming up with ways to utilize your talents... Media doesn't even mention your name...

How could this team possibly have good chemistry? Guy does whatever he wants. They sold out. Trash shots from mid court? No problem... Record breaking turnover numbers? No problem.... Only passing the ball when you have absolutely nothing for yourself? No problem.....

 

[WichitaSooner]

Again, interesting to see everyone start talking about this now, after two losses. And did anyone watch the game? Until Trae started taking over, we had five points in about nine minutes. The reason teams can trap him 30 feet from the basket is because when Trae looks to get our bigs the ball, they either juggle the pass, immediately look to throw it back outside, or go up weak and miss. The way the rest of the team shot today, and as hot as Trae got, it made sense to ride that today. The guy leads the nation in assists and would average about three more a game if we had better finishers, so I don't think many guys should feel like he isn't looking for them.

Also, if we had successfully fouled at the end of regulation, would everyone be complaining about Trae leading us to a huge comeback win by scoring 44 in regulation?

 

[JBaker]

Repeat previous post for emphasis:

You guys are just looking at the box score, and not taking any consideration the impact of playing on a team like this...

Motivation of the "other guys" is low when you have been castrated and are basically told to get out of this guys way.... You turn it over a few times, you get pulled. He turns it over a few times, nothing. You don't get a single play called for you. You only shoot when he doesn't have something for himself. Nobody watching even knows your name... Coaches aren't coming up with ways to utilize your talents... Media doesn't even mention your name...

How could this team possibly have good chemistry? Guy does whatever he wants. They sold out. Trash shots from mid court? No problem... Record breaking turnover numbers? No problem.... Only passing the ball when you have absolutely nothing for yourself? No problem.....

Right. The fact is that these guys are not performing. And rather than just admit that they need to play better, you’re coming up with crazy convoluted excuses about how the reason they can’t carry their weight is because their fragile egos are hurt by a guy who helped them win the same 12 games they won last year in just 13 games this year.

 

[thebigabd]

Again, interesting to see everyone start talking about this now, after two losses. And did anyone watch the game? Until Trae started taking over, we had five points in about nine minutes. The reason teams can trap him 30 feet from the basket is because when Trae looks to get our bigs the ball, they either juggle the pass, immediately look to throw it back outside, or go up weak and miss. The way the rest of the team shot today, and as hot as Trae got, it made sense to ride that today. The guy leads the nation in assists and would average about three more a game if we had better finishers, so I don't think many guys should feel like he isn't looking for them.

Also, if we had successfully fouled at the end of regulation, would everyone be complaining about Trae leading us to a huge comeback win by scoring 44 in regulation?

To be fair, WichitaSooner, most people in this thread are defending the team and Trae Young.... I am personally entertained by watching him play, but the point I am trying to make is that Kruger sold out to get Young and the guy is here to do whatever he wants on a one year rental before leaving.

He's going to win you a lot of games, but this is not really a "team"... It's a one-man show. Calipari described it accurately. OU "is" Trae Young. The results have been good for the most part, but this "team" and its #332 defensive ranking really don't have a snowballs chance in hell at accomplishing much more than individual accolades for Trae Young.

That is, #332 ranked defense out of 350 teams....

They sold out to the Youngs fellas, hate to break it to you. Basically the worst defense in basketball, a one-man show on offense, and a complete break from anything we have seen in OU basketball history or in Lon Krugers career. The way he coaches this team isn't even close to being his normal approach, because it's all about Trae Young.....

 

[chuckb]

Lmao no. This was Lon ****ting the bed at the end of the game. He does this every year. He is not a good end of the game coach and never has been. Look at his statistics. He loses almost every OT game he coaches. Helluva coach but he is not perfect.

Ha ha ha. Nice analysis. :ez-roll:

Lon wasn't the guy who overplayed the guy receiving the inbounds pass, leaving the shooter wide open and Lon wasn't the guy who was somehow unable to foul the guy before he shot the ball when the shooter was right in front of him.

 

[stormspencer]

It’s hard to say... last year’s results might make you think so, but we were a very young team. Doolittle is better than he has played so far. McGusty hasn’t figured out how to play alongside Young yet. James seems to have not really improved much since his freshman year, which appears to be a mental thing, but who knows. Odomes inability to shoot kills offensive spacing because it allows two players to clog the lane at all times.

The real problem is our post play. Lattin and McNease are good help side defenders. Neither is an offensive threat at all. And neither can defend anybody on the ball. It makes us very one dimensional on offense and makes help in the post on every defensive possession, allowing a lot of open looks from outside. That’s why our defense has been so bad for a few years.

I actually think Doolittle is the 2nd best player on this team (although he didn't play like it today). He does a lot things well away from the ball. I'm hoping he will start eventually. You're right on McGusty....his role has diminished from last year and his minutes have become more limited because of his size/position. Thus, I think you see him tend to force it at times. And if Odomes could only develop a mid-range jumper.....gosh that would help spacing so much.

Lattin and McNease are what they are...very little offense, some rebounding, and guarding the rim.....that's about it. I feel like Lon recruits guys that can play at a certain pace and it doesn't really translate into big bulky-type guys. And because of his philosophy, it prohibits us from going out and getting a traditional 4/5 man that can play quality post defense (like Azibuke at Kansas or Konate at WV).

So....I believe are warts are pretty well exposed right now.

 

[38red]

Trae’s turning into Westbrook. Acting like he has to make every play (this won't win anything but scoring titles), taking stupid shots without one pass (shots that he can get at anytime) . Coach needs to make him run some plays where the ball get rotated and they move the D. Right now there's no movement so the D is set & has been drilled on where to rotate. To me getting the ball moving through everyone's hands would make everyone better. He will still be the main point of reference of the O. This is why Mcgrusty is struggling, he needs the ball to be good. He should get 6 to 10 plays called for him, same for Manek/Doo (to a lesser degree) on the block. They are good offensive plays & Trae will give them space. This will allow Trae to "rest" some in the game so may be he will put more effort on D. Cause he could be a great defender if he wanted to, that's not needed but more effort is needed! Like someone said in the game thread he will lose the team with all these TO's and bad shots, they will stop playing D & rebounding if they don't feel involved.

 

[JBaker]

To be fair, WichitaSooner, most people in this thread are defending the team and Trae Young.... I am personally entertained by watching him play, but the point I am trying to make is that Kruger sold out to get Young and the guy is here to do whatever he wants on a one year rental before leaving.

He's going to win you a lot of games, but this is not really a "team"... It's a one-man show. Calipari described it accurately. OU "is" Trae Young. The results have been good for the most part, but this "team" and its #332 defensive ranking really don't have a snowballs chance in hell at accomplishing much more than individual accolades for Trae Young.

That is, #332 ranked defense out of 350 teams....

They sold out to the Youngs fellas, hate to break it to you. Basically the worst defense in basketball, a one-man show on offense, and a complete break from anything we have seen in OU basketball history or in Lon Krugers career. The way he coaches this team isn't even close to being his normal approach, because it's all about Trae Young.....

Complete break from anything we’ve seen in Kruger’s career? Young only attempts 3 more shots per game than Buddy did two years ago, and he has the ball in his hands every single possession. Our defense isn’t terrible because of Young. It’s terrible because of the post play. Doolittle is a MUCH better defender than Manek, which is why he’s been playing much more the last few games. Nobody we play at the 5 is any good at defense.

 

[chuckb]

What? All of those guys missed WIDE OPEN threes and layups repeatedly. That’s not because of Trae Young.

Trae didn’t play a great game today, despite his scoring output. But he played well enough to win if literally anybody else did their job. Lattin and McNease combined for 4 points and 11 rebounds in 45 minutes. James was 0-6 on mostly open threes.

Very true but I can't help but wonder if players are finding it tougher on the offensive end because they've been less involved in the offense of late. If they're not involved, did they take worse shots and/or miss more of them because they end up spending so much time standing around watching the Trae Young show?

 

[bearcreekfan]

Those numbers are a direct result of the style of basketball OU is putting on the floor... It's just trash. They take last second shots, no plays are run for anyone else. Their job is to clear out for Trae and if something comes their way or they can't get the ball to him they try to make something happen.

The performance of the other players, based on what I've seen today, is a direct result of trash basketball and a one-man show.

James was 0-6 from 3 and Manek was 2-7. I'm pretty sure none of those were last second shots (maybe one or two could have been). Most were wide open. If they make one more of those, we win.

When Young drives and dishes to them on the 3-pt line, they're expected to make the shot. It's amazing how many more assists he would have it those 3s go down, or if Lattin (not necessarily this game), Doolittle, or others actually hit their layups.

As JBaker said, others on the team are not performing, and that's the difference between now and earlier in the season. When they don't make their shots, I'm sure Young feels like he has to shoot more.

 

[TINY]

Ha ha ha. Nice analysis. :ez-roll:

Lon wasn't the guy who overplayed the guy receiving the inbounds pass, leaving the shooter wide open and Lon wasn't the guy who was somehow unable to foul the guy before he shot the ball when the shooter was right in front of him.

I am not sure what he told the players at the end of regulation but the result was bad.

Lon is the guy who drew up the horrific play at the end of the OT. Lon is the guy with the worst winning percentage in OT games of any coach in the country (maybe all time) with more than 10 OT games. He’s also the guy I want to be our coach until he wants to hang them up. Doesn’t mean he is a good end of game coach, though.

 

[coolm]

if guys hit shots Trae finds them. if they don't he stops looking as much. it's that simple. stop railing on trae and recognize that it's a team failing, not a trae failing. guys need to focus and step up.

 

[chuckb]

I am not sure what he told the players at the end of regulation but the result was bad.

Lon is the guy who drew up the a horrific play at the end of the OT. Lon is the guy with the worst winning percentage in OT games of any coach in the country (maybe all time) with more than 20 OT games. He’s also the guy I want to be our coach until he wants to hang them up. Doesn’t mean he is a good end of game coach, though.

I'd love to see that winning percentage and that of all the other coaches. Please post it or the link so I can see.

 

[CoachTalk]

How quickly we forget last year.

This. Ouhoops it’s been fun.

 

[38red]

To me they are failing because they are standing and watch to much, not staying involved/connected into the game.

 

[TINY]

I'd love to see that winning percentage and that of all the other coaches. Please post it or the link so I can see.

He’s 3-12 in OT games at ou.

 

[sooner 1234]

Osu is a bad team , young scored almost 50 and we still lost .

Winning and individual play are two different things .

 

[38red]

Nothing wrong with discussing what "we" see and why the team won't reach its ceiling if something doesn't change(of course all opinions). For me today & KSU is on Trae (game was won just stay in front on the last play and make him shot over you), but from here on out it'll be on the coaches if theirs not just a little change to getting the ball movement going. Love the coaches & players just an observation

 

[sdcloud9]

He’s 3-12 in OT games at ou.

Not good for sure....but it's a misleading stat (either way). You don't know who has fouled out for either team, whether the game is home or away, etc.