Tomorrow's game

[AdaSooner]

Aside from the obvious score more points, what does OU have to do to beat the Cyclones tomorrow? Naturally, my first thought is play better defense, which might not be an easy task against this ISU team.

I think ISU is the toughest match up of any Big 12 team the Sooners will face. Every player on their team shoots the ball well from three, an OU weakness on defense since the season began. Their players can also get to the rim when guarded closely, as well as score in transition. Their point guard, DeAndre Kane, had 30 points, 8 rebounds, 9 assists and 5 steals against a good Baylor team with plenty of shot blockers inside. I shudder to think about what he could do tomorrow if we don't find a way defend the perimeter and stop the penetration dribble.

I want to believe that OU can win this game. We need the win, because we really can't afford another home loss to start the Big 12 season. But for the life of me I can't think of a way this OU team can do it, short of a miracle turnaround on the defensive end. Help me out here so I can sleep better tonight.

 

[garyeb2]

Aside from the obvious score more points, what does OU have to do to beat the Cyclones tomorrow? Naturally, my first thought is play better defense, which might not be an easy task against this ISU team.

I think ISU is the toughest match up of any Big 12 team the Sooners will face. Every player on their team shoots the ball well from three, an OU weakness on defense since the season began. Their players can also get to the rim when guarded closely, as well as score in transition. Their point guard, DeAndre Kane, had 30 points, 8 rebounds, 9 assists and 5 steals against a good Baylor team with plenty of shot blockers inside. I shudder to think about what he could do tomorrow if we don't find a way defend the perimeter and stop the penetration dribble.

I want to believe that OU can win this game. We need the win, because we really can't afford another home loss to start the Big 12 season. But for the life of me I can't think of a way this OU team can do it, short of a miracle turnaround on the defensive end. Help me out here so I can sleep better tonight.

I'll try. Iowa St. starts a 6'7" guy as their tallest player. It was always going to be the good teams with a size edge that were going to be the matchup problem for us.

We are coming off a loss that should be an attention grabber. We may be catching Iowa St. at a good time. They have a Big Monday game against Kansas following us. They could be looking past us some.

 

[BoulderSooner]

rebounding .. and i actually think we match up pretty well with them

 

[CoachTalk]

Lets hope they don't hit 30 3's on us!

 

[p230]

Lets not let a player from ISU set a career high in points shall we? It seems to be the trend with us. Defense has to be better.

 

[CoachTalk]

Lets not let a player from ISU set a career high in points shall we? It seems to be the trend with us. Defense has to be better.

Got an email from Kruger that explained that their defense must get better. Knows it's not been subpar. It's something they are fully aware of, I assure you. I just thinks it's limited what we can do without any "extra" bigs.

 

[Max Power]

I hate to keep beating a dead horse, but M'Baye leaving and catching the coaches off guard in the process really screwed up their plans for this year

 

[AdaSooner]

I'll try. Iowa St. starts a 6'7" guy as their tallest player. It was always going to be the good teams with a size edge that were going to be the matchup problem for us.

We are coming off a loss that should be an attention grabber. We may be catching Iowa St. at a good time. They have a Big Monday game against Kansas following us. They could be looking past us some.

Good points. Sure hope you're right.

 

[dksooner]

With their lack of size hopefully we don't double down and allow open threes

 

[AltSooner33]

Lets hope they don't hit 30 3's on us!

That would certainly be a positive.

 

[jerry]

Perimeter guys have got to be better. Spangler got 2 fouls the other night because Hield and Cousins man got by them. Instead of tapping the floor lets get in a good defensive stance and move the darn feet.

 

[originalsooner55]

Perimeter guys have got to be better. Spangler got 2 fouls the other night because Hield and Cousins man got by them. Instead of tapping the floor lets get in a good defensive stance and move the darn feet.

I totally agree, there was some posters on here that was blaming the bigs, but if you have watched the games closely, they get by our guards and it puts pressure on our bugs when they penetrate. We have to do better with parimetd defense and don't let them penetrate.

 

[AdaSooner]

I totally agree, there was some posters on here that was blaming the bigs, but if you have watched the games closely, they get by our guards and it puts pressure on our bugs when they penetrate. We have to do better with parimetd defense and don't let them penetrate.

I said the same thing on the "Horrible game" thread. Our guards are largely responsible for the frequent breakdowns in our defense. The surprising thing to me is that two of the best on-ball defenders we've had in years (Isaiah and Buddy) have been the worst offenders.

 

[p230]

I said the same thing on the "Horrible game" thread. Our guards are largely responsible for the frequent breakdowns in our defense. The surprising thing to me is that two of the best on-ball defenders we've had in years (Isaiah and Buddy) have been the worst offenders.

In some ways yes and some ways no. When you are defending the ball you know where it is at but in something like that zone when you are not on the ball defending you have to constantly figure out where 2-3 other people are and where they are going in relation to the ball. A good example of that was you could see the guard on the side away from the ball get caught out of position down low and letting the post guy slip in for an easy bucket. It takes a lot of work to run that zone effectively. Given our size limitations it may be the best bet though.

 

[AdaSooner]

I'll try. Iowa St. starts a 6'7" guy as their tallest player. It was always going to be the good teams with a size edge that were going to be the matchup problem for us.

We are coming off a loss that should be an attention grabber. We may be catching Iowa St. at a good time. They have a Big Monday game against Kansas following us. They could be looking past us some.

Gotta give it up to you, Gary! You nailed it.