Thoughts

[WTSooner]

That was way closer than I was hoping for.

- It is so nice to have confidence in the coaching staff. I like how LK and the assistants were constantly coaching. I liked their approach too. They weren't yelling and screaming, but they weren't talking about Jay Z during timeouts either (low blow, I know).

- Grooms' handles and penetration. He did a nice job of creating. I worry a bit about his offense against better teams, when we might need it. I didn't see a lot out of him in that regard. Solid defense though, and created several plays for teammates.

- Osby. That was closer to what I was expecting out of him. I'm having a hard time comparing him to any former Sooners. He isn't an exact clone of Nate Carter, though that is probably the best I can come up with. By far our best post player tonight.

- Newell. Needs to play more under control, and be a little more efficient, but he has that scorer's mentality. Still think he'll be better coming off the bench for Pledger, but I was pleasantly surprised by his game tonight.

- Cam. I've made my opinions on Cam pretty clear. I don't think his ceiling is nearly as high as a lot of you do. Super athletic, but he simply isn't very skilled at this point. Started forcing things in the second half, and that didn't help. I know he'll have some great games this year, but I, personally, am not expecting much consistency out of him, points-wise.

- I was a little surprised Washington didn't play. I thought he might help in the rebounding game some.

- Speaking of rebounding, I think this is going to be our undoing this year. We aren't going to be a good rebounding team I'm afraid, and that isn't going to change as the season progresses. Osby fights hard, but he cannot play all game, and is undersized. Fitz is just too slow. Arent is okay, but doesn't stand out.

- Neal. He looked as bad out there tonight as Thompson did early last year. I know he can play better than that, but I still worry about this kid. The few minutes he played at the 3, he was WAY overmatched. He doesn't have the speed for that. Speaking of which, Neal played limited minutes at the 3, and Osby didn't play any out there. And after watching Osby tonight, anybody that suggests he could succeed at the 3 in extended minutes either doesn't know Osby, or doesn't know basketball. Sorry to be so blunt, but that is the truth.

- Blair looks better this year. Kind of weird that he is a better option at SG then some others, but he is. Decent defense. Good looking shot. He'll be better this year than he was last year.

- I still don't like the constant pressure on defense. We don't have the athletes. How many open looks did we give up b/c we got blown by? Enough that it pretty much kept Idaho State in the game based on that alone. I'm all for using it in spurts. Or using it with the instructions that you have to be smart and not get beat often. Teams like KU and UT will stomp us if we try that against them.

Hard to gauge this game b/c it was our first, and b/c Idaho State seemed better than I was expecting. If LK can't coach these guys up, then I've been wrong the last few years, and we really do have a major talent issue. I have that much confidence in LK. But we've lost a lot of games for 2-3 seasons, so it'll take a little time to change the culture too. I was glad that Osby started, and not Neal. I was really worried about what that meant leading up the game.

 

[kellensooner]

- Neal. He looked as bad out there tonight as Thompson did early last year. I know he can play better than that, but I still worry about this kid. The few minutes he played at the 3, he was WAY overmatched. He doesn't have the speed for that. Speaking of which, Neal played limited minutes at the 3, and Osby didn't play any out there. And after watching Osby tonight, anybody that suggests he could succeed at the 3 in extended minutes either doesn't know Osby, or doesn't know basketball. Sorry to be so blunt, but that is the truth.

Everytime he touched the ball tonight I held my breath b/c I thought he would end up turning it over.

 

[BoulderSooner]

Our d had 0 to do with keeping isu in the game

 

[BigTime]

Nice post, WT. Disagree with your pressure D comment. What we need to improve on is closing out on shooters and rebounding in the halfcourt. Our pressure D is going to continue to improve as guys get used to it. I've liked it quite a bit during the first three games.

 

[thebigabd]

The biggest thing for OU in this game was their turnovers and their starters getting into foul trouble, IMO. OU did some good things, mostly Newell/Osby/Grooms, but they had to sit their guys with fouls at key moments and OU was able to go on little runs.

Might be a long season if tonight is any indication. But, they get Pledger back after this and will hopefully continue to get better.

 

[Tony]

To me the troubling thing with Cam isn't necessarily that he shot poorly but how invisible he was altogether. Everyone will have bad nights shooting the ball, but the best players manage to impact the game even when the shot isn't falling. He was the opposite of aggressive with and without the ball in his hands and he's too talented to let that be the case. Again, just one game and he's just started his sophomore year, of course, but he can't let it get inside his head when he isn't shooting well. Zero assists and three rebounds isn't going to cut it when he's not making shots if this team is going to surpass expectations. I'd need to watch again to have an opinion on what he did on the defensive end of the court but I don't remember him standing out.

This is all still super early obviously.

 

[jmizzy4ou]

1st games are always very unpredictable. I liked what I saw from Grooms, and Blair continues to improve. I saw some PG potential in him last year, and was pleasantly surprised at his ability to play some solid 2.

Newelll shocked me with his ability to score/shoot. I was very hard on him last yr, and to be honest, I never saw Div. 1 talent in him until tonight.

I know without a doubt we will struggle this year, and at times we will play very good, and other nights we will not look so good. No coach has a magic wand, and it takes time to build something special in most scenarios.

I will enjoy watching the young guys progress, just as I enjoyed watching Cade play his heart out last yr. What has happened in the past is somewhere in my rearview, and I pray my fellow Sooners don't spend the entire season looking in theirs.

I love ALL THINGS Sooner related, so I'm going to pull for this team like I have every OU team since my father took me to my 1st Sooner sporting event in 1971...... BOOMER!!!!

 

[bigsky]

Guys, Idaho St is picked towards the very bottom of the big sky and lost all their best players from last year. I don't know any new guys but the Bengals will probably not even make the big sky tourney and no NCAA playoffs in football or basketball since 84.

 

[BoulderSooner]

They have 2 new guys the pretty skilled 7'4 center and the juno point

 

[j2d2]

Neal appeared brain dead for most of the time he was in with an occasional rare burst of energy. Stepping out of bounds w/o any pressure and moving behind the base line when throwing the ball inbounds.
We allowed too many easy runout baskets because our guards didnt get back. Kruger will cure this.
They scored several easy baskets because we werent focused on D.
Both Osby and Fitz were open in the middle constantly but the guards refused to throw to them not with the idea that they would shoot but to draw the D in so as to allow them to pass to an open man. This can be fixed.
Where was Washington? Hasnt he been practicing well?

 

[NickZepp]

Neal looked terrible early in the game, but looked decent in the 2nd half. Had a nice dunk then a real good move to make a lay in. But he's not one that I really expect much from.

We need Cam Clark to play good each game. Maybe not great every night but at least get about 10 points, a few boards, get some steals. In short be one of our best guards out there. He is the one that really played bad. Without Pledger we basically had to have someone that probably won't usually step up do so to beat anyone. And we got lucky enough to have Newell step up. And Blair also hit a couple big 3s.

 

[WTSooner]

Our d had 0 to do with keeping isu in the game

Nonsense. We gave them way too many easy points. Open layups/dunks. Wide open 3's early. I still think the pressing/pressure will be more effective if done in spurts, not 100% of the time.

 

[Tydude]

we should of destroyed them but we were at 17 point favorite but a win is a win time to get ready for next Friday game against Coppin State

 

[kellensooner]

They have 2 new guys the pretty skilled 7'4 center and the juco point

Some of you in the Tulsa area may remember some of those really good Sapulpa teams back in the early 90's (Ray Poindexter, Cody Hopson). They were coached by Tom Whillock. When Tom left and went to Texas he coached the juco point guard we saw last night for Idaho State (Kenny McGowen) at McKinney North High School for a year before coming back to Oklahoma. Just an interesting tidbit for you.

 

[DenverSooner]

Neal appeared brain dead for most of the time he was in with an occasional rare burst of energy. Stepping out of bounds w/o any pressure and moving behind the base line when throwing the ball inbounds.
We allowed too many easy runout baskets because our guards didnt get back. Kruger will cure this.
They scored several easy baskets because we werent focused on D.
Both Osby and Fitz were open in the middle constantly but the guards refused to throw to them not with the idea that they would shoot but to draw the D in so as to allow them to pass to an open man. This can be fixed.
Where was Washington? Hasnt he been practicing well?

He had 7 rebounds and 4 points on 2-3 shooting in 15 minutes. I did see his turn overs but that is a really nice contribution from a bench player. He just made a brain dead play on the baseline turn over. The second pass may have been a bit high. If he doesn't have those turn overs he shoots 66%, 4 points, 7 boards and 1 assist in 15 minutes. I did not see most of the game but I would take that all day from a bench player.

 

[garyeb2]

He had 7 rebounds and 4 points on 2-3 shooting in 15 minutes. I did see his turn overs but that is a really nice contribution from a bench player. He just made a brain dead play on the baseline turn over. The second pass may have been a bit high. If he doesn't have those turn overs he shoots 66%, 4 points, 7 boards and 1 assist in 15 minutes. I did not see most of the game but I would take that all day from a bench player.

I'm with you on this one

 

[jmizzy4ou]

I'm with you on this one

So am I. The kid plays hard every time he sees the court. I just hope he doesn't replace Cade as the whipping boy for this board.....

 

[jmizzy4ou]

double post.....

 

[bgrch1350]

He had 7 rebounds and 4 points on 2-3 shooting in 15 minutes. I did see his turn overs but that is a really nice contribution from a bench player. He just made a brain dead play on the baseline turn over. The second pass may have been a bit high. If he doesn't have those turn overs he shoots 66%, 4 points, 7 boards and 1 assist in 15 minutes. I did not see most of the game but I would take that all day from a bench player.

Some of you guys with your stats. I'm not going to bash Neal...but I watched him play in that game. His rebounds weren't competitive rebounds. His TOs were huge. I think 2 of his points came off of a dunk. Right now I watch a guy that can't compete down low and is too slow to be that effective on the offensive end playing the 3. But he is a Sophmore and I like what he brings to the team and expect a lot more in the years to come.

 

[bgrch1350]

Nonsense. We gave them way too many easy points. Open layups/dunks. Wide open 3's early. I still think the pressing/pressure will be more effective if done in spurts, not 100% of the time.

I didn't like our pressure D..but I think I'm going to wait to make judgment on it until I see how it looks with Pledger out there.