Thoughts from the game.....

[WTSooner]

Actually, I'm not going to say much, because I'm feeling pretty negative right now.

I don't get to watch many OU bball games live. I get to watch even less of them from the 4th row. I think being at a game live, as opposed to watching on tv, you can see things you'd normally miss. We just don't look like a very good team on offense right now. Sure, there are some positives to take away from the game. The defense was really good at times, but not so great at others. The offense got some good looks, mostly for the bigs, but we missed FAR too many bunnies. Osby, M'Baye, and Fitz had to have combined to miss 10-12 shots that I'd consider "must makes" during a game. I've wanted us to pound the ball inside all season, now we do, and they can't make open looks against ORU's bigs. If they can't make the little baby hooks against ORU, I'm not sure how they'll make them against taller, bigger, better players. We are still playing way too soft, and way too tentatively, at times.

We have got to find a way to get our guards better looks, especially Pledger. We did nothing to get him open tonight. I find that ridiculous.

Forgot Sean was on the ORU staff. Saw Eddie and his wife there. Pretty decent crowd, though I'd say it was 40-50% OU. Good turnout for the ORU students.

A win is a win, and I'll certainly take it. But if you are asking me tonight about our record, I think we lose 2 more in the OOC, and probably struggle to win 7-8 Big 12 games. I just didn't really like what I saw tonight. Not an indictment on LK, or the OU program going forward, but maybe the pieces just don't fit. I dunno.

 

[WTSooner]

One thing I thought ORU did that was cool. I went with a season ticket holder, and an hour before the game we got to go into a conference room and eat from a free buffet type of deal. The ORU cheerleaders came down and mingled, and one of the assistant coaches (not sure who) even game down and talked about the game and OU for 5-10 minutes.

 

[MNsooner]

One thing I thought ORU did that was cool. I went with a season ticket holder, and an hour before the game we got to go into a conference room and eat from a free buffet type of deal. The ORU cheerleaders came down and mingled, and one of the assistant coaches (not sure who) even game down and talked about the game and OU for 5-10 minutes.

Sounds neat. Did the coach say anything interesting?

 

[colston15]

We won a 'no-win' game. We could've won by 40 and it wouldn't have meant any more than an ugly 63-62 win. A loss is the only notable result that could've come from tonight.

That's not an analytical report of the game, just a fact. It's fair to say we played poorly, but I don't think it matters much in a game like this.

Next week's game at Arkansas will be more telling and indicative of what we have or don't have, I think.

Also, would we have been able to win at ORU with last year's squad?

 

[seniorsooner]

I felt that we started off looking really tentative on offense. The aggression picked up as the game went on, but then I would characterize us as looking anxious. M'Baye was completely out of control out there at times. M'Baye and Fitzgerald REALLY struggled tonight. Osby was marginally better, but not much. You are correct, they missed shots numerous times that are must makes. I remember late in the game Fitzgerald had a wide open shot from 10 feet at the most and he bricked it. You have to make those.

Hield was the only one of the three freshmen guards that really showed me anything tonight. I realize they will get better as the season progresses, but I really wonder how much we are going to be able to keep them on the floor come time for conference play.

For a good part of the first half I just didn't know in the hell we were trying to do on the offensive end. We made a much more concerted effort to pound it inside in the second, but again we missed far too many shots in the paint. Some of the shots that M'Baye threw up down low were just terrible. You would think that a D-1 transfer that played ball in a decent conference would look more polished than he does. I understand he's still knocking off some rust, but he looks far too anxious out there.

We definitely turned up the defense in the second half, and that's the only reason we won the game, but damn we gave up a lot of layups tonight. Several of them came with less than 5 seconds left on the shot clock, which is maddening. There is absolutely no excuse for giving up that many layups, particularly when you're playing a team like ORU.

 

[seniorsooner]

Also, would we have been able to win at ORU with last year's squad?

I don't see why not. I can't imagine last year's team playing much worse than this year's version did tonight.

 

[pnkranger]

Defense - couldn't contain dribble penetration
Offense - total cluster

 

[WTSooner]

Sounds neat. Did the coach say anything interesting?

Not really.

Said LK was a very good coach. Stressed defense. Thought the pace of the game would be pretty up and down. Mentioned two freshmen starting at pg for each team. Said their team was still a little "down" from a long trip back from Alaska. Spoke very highly about OU as a program, and how much it means to ORU to get an opponent like that in the Mabee Center.

 

[WTSooner]

We won a 'no-win' game. We could've won by 40 and it wouldn't have meant any more than an ugly 63-62 win. A loss is the only notable result that could've come from tonight.

I disagree.

A nice win, or playing better, would mean just that. That the team is improving, and that we coming around on offense. I just didn't see it tonight.

Before the game, had you asked me about our Big 12 record, I'd have said 8-10 wins. If you ask me now, I'd probably say 7-8 wins. Yes, there is a lot of basketball left to play, I just saw a team that still has quite a few weaknesses. ORU took us completely out of our halfcourt offense, no matter how generic is normally is. They keyed on Pledger, and forced our bigs to beat their bigs. ORU shouldn't have been able to dictate as much of the game as they did. Our bigs had fits with their bigs for 3/4 of the game, all the while they weren't giving us any clean looks from outside. That is disheartening to me.

I haven't given up. I wouldn't be shocked if OU won 10 Big 12 games. I just don't think it as likely. Not just b/c of this one game, but b/c of what I've seen, and seeing them live gives an even different perspective. I don't know. I hope they work hard and it all comes together. I really do.

 

[bgrch1350]

I'm curious why M'Baye thinks he can shoot 3's. He was 10-67(15%) beyond the arc at Wyoming and currently he is 0-5 at OU. If there was ever a post player that I would not want to shoot 3's...its this guy.

As soon as M'Baye truly figures out that he is 100% a post player...his game will go to another level.

 

[pnkranger]

I'm curious why M'Baye thinks he can shoot 3's. He was 10-67(15%) beyond the arc at Wyoming and currently he is 0-5 at OU. If there was ever a post player that I would not want to shoot 3's...its this guy.

As soon as M'Baye truly figures out that he is 100% a post player...his game will go to another level.

Maybe we should have Ace McGhee and Nate Carter give him calls. Those guys were in the same boat...

 

[TheGimper]

I'm curious why M'Baye thinks he can shoot 3's. He was 10-67(15%) beyond the arc at Wyoming and currently he is 0-5 at OU. If there was ever a post player that I would not want to shoot 3's...its this guy.

As soon as M'Baye truly figures out that he is 100% a post player...his game will go to another level.

 

[jerry]

I've seen the Sooners 3-4 times now. Really disappointed in the shooting as I thought that might be a strength.

 

[Escape Goat]

Coming off 3 games in 4 days (including an ok win vs wvu) then traveling back to Norman late Sunday night, then playing in Tulsa two nights later, I thought they would struggle and they did. They won. Lets see what happens next week in Fayetteville.

 

[DenverSooner]

One thing I thought ORU did that was cool. I went with a season ticket holder, and an hour before the game we got to go into a conference room and eat from a free buffet type of deal. The ORU cheerleaders came down and mingled, and one of the assistant coaches (not sure who) even game down and talked about the game and OU for 5-10 minutes.

THey do this at Texas too.

 

[perryj74]

I think they do the same type of thing with the donors at OU.

As for last night I haven't watched a minute of the game yet but I expect the offense to struggle some early as the players get accustomed to their new roles. I certainly expect a far more refined offense by the time we get to league play but I think it's fairly safe to say that this team and the coaches are still figuring out just what they have. The one positive I will take into watching the replay of the game is that if we played as poorly as is being discussed here and still won that's a major improvement from a year ago. There weren't many games last year the team could have played any worse than their B+ and still had a chance to win.

 

[AdaSooner]

I wached the game online, which is not the same as being in a position to see the entire floor from the stands. Still, my take-aways are fairly similar to those expressed by WT.

No doubt about it, our players missed a lot of open shots that have to go in if we expect to compete at the Big 12 level. We won't win many games in conference shooting under 40% from the field and a pathetic 20% from three.

I agree that our guards have to do a better job of distributing the ball. One stat pretty much tells us all we need to know on that topic: 4 assists and 7 turnovers from the point. Are you kidding me?! Four assists is a bad game from one good point guard, not from a combination of three players who are charged with running the offense. The total turnovers (11) in last night's game was good. It's just that 7 of them were committed by our guards.

Defense and a little luck at the end won the game for OU. It's good that we have the ability to turn up the heat in the final minutes to gut out the W. But, that won't work against the better teams we'll face later on. I'm always happy with a win. But as WT said, there are so many areas I find troubling, it's hard for me to be excited about what the future holds, unless the weaknesses I saw last night don't improve, and soon.

 

[campbest]

Didn't see the game last night so not going to comment on the offense. All I do know is that if Fitz and Osby combine for six boards in 43 minutes, this team will struggle.

With that said, winning while shooting 37% from the field and staging a comeback the final 10 minutes is something to build on. Believe it or not, that is a true confidence booster.

 

[colston15]

I don't see why not. I can't imagine last year's team playing much worse than this year's version did tonight.

I disagree. Last year's team couldn't have won four of their first five games away from home.

 

[tycat947]

I disagree. Last year's team couldn't have won four of their first five games away from home.

I totally agree!