Tough or easy schedule?

[SoonerNorm]

I know there are several on this board who believe it is important to have a difficult pre-conference schedule. I have never favored that approach. I believe it is important to learn to crawl before you can walk, walk before you can run, etc. You have to have the basics down very well before conference begins. That takes time. I believe if you jump right into playing S. Carolina you are going to take a beating. Why do that? You will learn nothing except how to get good at licking your wounds. The team needs timing, teamwork, and perhaps most of all, confidence. That can happen if you play lesser teams at the beginning of the year and gradually schedule tougher games as you approach conference play. That not only helps the team develop in a systematic way, it gives the players the confidence to think/expect they can beat anyone. It also builds excitement with the fans, helps recruiting, and rankings. I have always believed Sherri's teams play better with a bulls-eye on their back rather than playing catch up. I just do not see how getting beat by 20 points can be a positive but I can certainly see how it can be a setback.

I have some experience with training horses. You always begin with the very basics and increase the training and expectations as the training progresses. To take a young horse with 30 days training and put him in a competition with experienced cutting horses is going to be disastrous. You always want to set the horse up for success, not failure. I believe there is a parallel with basketball. Set goals, get the basics down pat, progress gradually, and continue to get better every week and do what you can do extremely well by the time conference begins in January.

 

[Sweetest OU Girl]

I know there are several on this board who believe it is important to have a difficult pre-conference schedule. I have never favored that approach. I believe it is important to learn to crawl before you can walk, walk before you can run, etc. You have to have the basics down very well before conference begins. That takes time. I believe if you jump right into playing S. Carolina you are going to take a beating. Why do that? You will learn nothing except how to get good at licking your wounds. The team needs timing, teamwork, and perhaps most of all, confidence. That can happen if you play lesser teams at the beginning of the year and gradually schedule tougher games as you approach conference play. That not only helps the team develop in a systematic way, it gives the players the confidence to think/expect they can beat anyone. It also builds excitement with the fans, helps recruiting, and rankings. I have always believed Sherri's teams play better with a bulls-eye on their back rather than playing catch up. I just do not see how getting beat by 20 points can be a positive but I can certainly see how it can be a setback.

I have some experience with training horses. You always begin with the very basics and increase the training and expectations as the training progresses. To take a young horse with 30 days training and put him in a competition with experienced cutting horses is going to be disastrous. You always want to set the horse up for success, not failure. I believe there is a parallel with basketball. Set goals, get the basics down pat, progress gradually, and continue to get better every week and do what you can do extremely well by the time conference begins in January.

Very well thought out and expressed, Norm.

 

[sybarite]

I lean to a compromise. I would like to start off with about three or four reasonably certain wins, but not over a potential 2-28 team. Play decent teams. After you should have your feet on the ground a bit, I would like to play a couple of top twenty-five teams, at least one.

The team does need to learn how to play tough teams. But, it does no good to lose because you are inexperienced. Get enough experience to be able to handle a decent team before you play them. You have a balance:

---regardless of what they say, record counts big. The Selection Committee didn't give us any credit for playing a good schedule. We finished four games ahead of Texas, but were seeded similarly.

---a soft schedule doesn't build a team.

 

[MsProudSooner]

If you have a very experienced team returning, I think it's good idea for them to play tougher preseason schedule. But if you are young and inexperienced, there is chance that a really tough preseason schedule will hurt their confidence,

 

[SoonerNorm]

The team should be playing against a better team every day in practice. If not, we need better men to make up that team. If they don't get the team ready to play tougher competition, why would we think another women's team would when the men are taller, stronger, faster, and more athletic?

 

[soonermike22]

I know there are several on this board who believe it is important to have a difficult pre-conference schedule. I have never favored that approach. I believe it is important to learn to crawl before you can walk, walk before you can run, etc. You have to have the basics down very well before conference begins. That takes time. I believe if you jump right into playing S. Carolina you are going to take a beating. Why do that? You will learn nothing except how to get good at licking your wounds. The team needs timing, teamwork, and perhaps most of all, confidence. That can happen if you play lesser teams at the beginning of the year and gradually schedule tougher games as you approach conference play. That not only helps the team develop in a systematic way, it gives the players the confidence to think/expect they can beat anyone. It also builds excitement with the fans, helps recruiting, and rankings. I have always believed Sherri's teams play better with a bulls-eye on their back rather than playing catch up. I just do not see how getting beat by 20 points can be a positive but I can certainly see how it can be a setback.

I have some experience with training horses. You always begin with the very basics and increase the training and expectations as the training progresses. To take a young horse with 30 days training and put him in a competition with experienced cutting horses is going to be disastrous. You always want to set the horse up for success, not failure. I believe there is a parallel with basketball. Set goals, get the basics down pat, progress gradually, and continue to get better every week and do what you can do extremely well by the time conference begins in January.

I'm sorry Norm, but this is too good a setup to joke a little.
College WBB players are smarter than horses.
With women, you need to learn in practice, use it in increasingly difficult games, and if possible, then play really good teams that will emphasize to your players what deficiencies they have in their game. Nothing gets your attention like seeing someone good outdo you.
So each year is different depending on each years teams abilities. Start with easy, go to competitive, then as good as you think you can be, then before conference play, a decent team you should beat. Grow with the competition, not get false security from too many patsies.
All written with friendly meanings, and no malice.

 

[SoonerNorm]

I'm sorry Norm, but this is too good a setup to joke a little.
College WBB players are smarter than horses.
With women, you need to learn in practice, use it in increasingly difficult games, and if possible, then play really good teams that will emphasize to your players what deficiencies they have in their game. Nothing gets your attention like seeing someone good outdo you.
So each year is different depending on each years teams abilities. Start with easy, go to competitive, then as good as you think you can be, then before conference play, a decent team you should beat. Grow with the competition, not get false security from too many patsies.
All written with friendly meanings, and no malice.

Great post!! I still like my horse comparison.

 

[Stringmusic]

We should play one or two really strong teams in December - as learning opportunities - to learn where we need to improve. Can't learn near as much playing cupcakes but we need the early cupcakes to get the fundamentals clearly established. Basically, I agree with Norm.

 

[rocjunkie]

I like this years schedule a lot. BYU, Utah, UALR, Washington, and A&M will be good solid tests for our girls. Tulsa will be a nice addition, and the rest should be fairly easy wins. All these games should give an indication just where the kids are before the conference grind. I really don't care one way or the other how OU schedules who and where (except I really do want more home games) but to be honest, it does seem it all comes down to wins in the end. I think with this team, that will take care of it self.

 

[SoonerNorm]

If we lose 2-3 of those non-conference games it will probably knock us out of the top 20 (maybe out of the top 25) and it will be very hard at that point to climb back up the rankings to get a good NCAA seeding.