Trae Young now OU's head coach.....

[sperry]

He's actually doing EXACTLY what a leader is supposed to do when things are going poorly. He's putting the blame on himself.


What do you want him to say about his teammates? "Yeah, we'd have won several games during this stretch if my teammates weren't incompetent." Because that's the reality of the situation.

I'm sure he regrets coming here. He could be contending for a title on a great team, instead his team is getting destroyed and he has to deal with this nonsense.

 

[SoonerBounce13]

He's actually doing EXACTLY what a leader is supposed to do when things are going poorly. He's putting the blame on himself.


What do you want him to say about his teammates? "Yeah, we'd have won several games during this stretch if my teammates weren't incompetent." Because that's the reality of the situation.

I'm sure he regrets coming here. He could be contending for a title on a great team, instead his team is getting destroyed and he has to deal with this nonsense.

I real leader leads by example not by words

 

[sooner 1234]

Why do people act like we played team basketball last year ?This isn’t a Young problem, it’s a program issue .

This system is fine with a bunch of gym rats like Buddy and company, not so much for this current roster .


With last years record , this years and more than likely next season ....Lon might be one of the most over paid coaches in the country .

I love Kruger but it simply isn’t working anymore .

 

[inoref]

Lon doesn't have much say so on what ESPN puts out or doesn't put out

 

[stormspencer]

His defense is beyond bad. Going under screens repeatedly last night was mind boggling. If that is what Kruger wants against a 3 point shooting team like KU then his coaching of this team needs to come under scrutiny. Even if that isn't the case, when Young did that the first time, Kruger should have told him to not do it again and when he did, he should have pulled him.

Agree 100% ....there just doesn't seem to be any accountability for continual poor play. Do you think Self, Tony Bennett, Calapari, or Jay Wright would put up with that? Absolutely not....that player, no matter how good they are, would have their butt on the bench for stretches until it gets corrected.

 

[hoopsaustin]

There are some morons on here.. is Trae perfect? no. Does he care about defense? No.

Hes been nothing but a great teammate and a bonafide star that can still improve a ton with trying on defense

 

[Matthew G]

Why do people act like we played team basketball last year ?This isn’t a Young problem, it’s a program issue .

This system is fine with a bunch of gym rats like Buddy and company, not so much for this current roster .


With last years record , this years and more than likely next season ....Lon might be one of the most over paid coaches in the country .

I love Kruger but it simply isn’t working anymore .

So, we're going to pretend that Buddy was amazing his freshmen and sophomore year and that's why we won those years?

Man, I get that things aren't good right now, but this idea that "Kruger is over paid" or can't coach is beyond stupid. He's a HOF coach, has taken almost every program he has coached at to the NCAA tournament, but the only reason he's successful here is because a random 3* SG who nobody wanted put work in? Gimme a break. We sucked last year because we were young. We stink right now because we have the 108th ranked defense because we play 4 on 5 on that end, because Young doesn't care to defend. We've seen him actually defend as well, so it's not like he's absolutely worthless there, he just doesn't put effort to defend because it doesn't show up on stats.


What's funny is a lot of people act like Kruger sucks and is overpaid, yet won't say that he's the 5th highest paid coach in the Big 12 alone. OU fans complain that we aren't competing with KU when our facilities are the worst in the P5. We complain about not winning when our arena is the worst in the country. But hey, magically we should recruit better. Magically we should have more talent. We pay a HOF coach, who has been to the final four $2.75m, which is worse than Dixon, Smart, Huggins, and Self. But somehow, we can get a coach better than a HOFer.

 

[Matthew G]

There are some morons on here.. is Trae perfect? no. Does he care about defense? No.

Hes been nothing but a great teammate and a bonafide star that can still improve a ton with trying on defense

This is true as well. He's not the coach. Kruger gives him more leeway than he should, that's true, but he's not the coach. His defense is a big reason OU has lost several games and ranks 108th in the country on that end. His offensive ability is also why we rank 18th.

 

[CoachTalk]

i dont get this... we are struggling....

Trae has taken over 23 shots... 3 whole times this year. hes a bad defender but we have more issues than just him...

You people pinning this on one kid is extremely sad.

 

[hoopsaustin]

So, we're going to pretend that Buddy was amazing his freshmen and sophomore year and that's why we won those years?

Man, I get that things aren't good right now, but this idea that "Kruger is over paid" or can't coach is beyond stupid. He's a HOF coach, has taken almost every program he has coached at to the NCAA tournament, but the only reason he's successful here is because a random 3* SG who nobody wanted put work in? Gimme a break. We sucked last year because we were young. We stink right now because we have the 108th ranked defense because we play 4 on 5 on that end, because Young doesn't care to defend. We've seen him actually defend as well, so it's not like he's absolutely worthless there, he just doesn't put effort to defend because it doesn't show up on stats.


What's funny is a lot of people act like Kruger sucks and is overpaid, yet won't say that he's the 5th highest paid coach in the Big 12 alone. OU fans complain that we aren't competing with KU when our facilities are the worst in the P5. We complain about not winning when our arena is the worst in the country. But hey, magically we should recruit better. Magically we should have more talent. We pay a HOF coach, who has been to the final four $2.75m, which is worse than Dixon, Smart, Huggins, and Self. But somehow, we can get a coach better than a HOFer.

Couldn't be more wrong.. No one plays defense. You know that right? Geez.

 

[hoopsaustin]

i dont get this... we are struggling....

Trae has taken over 23 shots... 3 whole times this year. hes a bad defender but we have more issues than just him...

You people pinning this on one kid is extremely sad.

Clueless.. like people that dog Tom Brady when NE loses a super bowl bc brady misses 1 throw lol

 

[CoachTalk]

Clueless.. like people that dog Tom Brady when NE loses a super bowl bc brady misses 1 throw lol

+1

 

[allday92]

Couldn't be more wrong.. No one plays defense. You know that right? Geez.

Preach. We play defense 0 on 5. Trae has moments where he is bad on defense, but I wouldn't say its any worse than any other 5 star kid. Look at Duke, there's a reason Coach K has switched to a 2-3 zone.

 

[Soonerinkc]

Agree 100% ....there just doesn't seem to be any accountability for continual poor play. Do you think Self, Tony Bennett, Calapari, or Jay Wright would put up with that? Absolutely not....that player, no matter how good they are, would have their butt on the bench for stretches until it gets corrected.

Self was chewing his guys out when they were up 20-4 for some lazy rebounding....so no, Self wouldn't put up with that.

 

[Soonerinkc]

Here is my 2 cents...

I'm glad TY is at OU. I'm torn as to how the team would be without him...

Not sure if TY being at OU is part of why everyone seems to have digressed.

TY - defense is bad, but so is most of the team, his continual going UNDER the screen on a 3pt shooter was just mind boggling...posted it as soon as he did the 1st time.

TY has actually been pretty good in interviews, I mean he could really get pissed at his teammates for all the blown assist he has dished out..I know I would.

Has LK sold out...probably...but in 6? years LK has never called TO's in runs..that I remember, so has he sold out more to get TY, don't know.

Rest of the year, no wins, NIT.

Next year...really got no expectations

 

[coolm]

this team has no leadership to instill any toughness.

we had none last season so it was obvious they'd be looking for it this year. then trae comes in and he's a great offensive player, but defensively he plays matador. this is what the kids see. then you have Lon who is stern but lacks the mean streak to bear down on them. thats why many were saying we needed a mean old assistant.

they play soft and when the shots aren't falling they fall apart. their game didnt advance as the season wore on and this is the product we see.

 

[Sooner81]

I’m still happy Trae signed with OU! He has given me more reasons to be proud than to be sad.

^ This!! Everyone needs to cut out the criticism. TY didn’t ask for this at all and remember most freshman aren’t even allowed to talk to the press - puts more stress on them and they are just 18 years old for cryin out loud.

So thankful he signed and without him we would be about 10-17 and not even in the discussion for the tourney. Everyone needs to be thankful AND supportive!!

 

[hoopsaustin]

Here is my 2 cents...

I'm glad TY is at OU. I'm torn as to how the team would be without him... terrible

Not sure if TY being at OU is part of why everyone seems to have digressed. no, coaching is terrible

TY - defense is bad, but so is most of the team, his continual going UNDER the screen on a 3pt shooter was just mind boggling...posted it as soon as he did the 1st time. Coaches fault for allowing that repeatedly and not pulling him

TY has actually been pretty good in interviews, I mean he could really get pissed at his teammates for all the blown assist he has dished out..I know I would. hes a good teammate

Has LK sold out...probably...but in 6? years LK has never called TO's in runs..that I remember, so has he sold out more to get TY, don't know. hes a manager, not a coach

Rest of the year, no wins, NIT. 1 or 2 wins and make the NCAAs as a 8 or 9 seed

Next year...really got no expectations terrible next year

Above

 

[CoachTalk]

The coaching is terrible. .?

So Lon forgot everything about winning and taking 5 teams to NCAA and final 4 just 2 years ago

 

[stormspencer]

The coaching is terrible. .?

So Lon forgot everything about winning and taking 5 teams to NCAA and final 4 just 2 years ago

Coach, I'm with you....I agree that Lon didn't forget everything about coaching or winning....but that enigma is what is making this dumpster fire so mind-boggling? I would expect a HOF coach to make adjustments to account for his team's weaknesses....and for the team to actually show signs of improvement. Or, at the very least, he should motivate/demand better effort from his team or the guilty players will suffer the repercussions (i.e. being benched).

I think I can speak for most fans on this board....we just want to know WTF is going on at practice when it appears that we can't make improvements in areas that are totally being exploited game after game.

And for the record, I really like Lon and I do think he is a very good coach. I just don't understand why this particular team isn't responding to his approach like his previous teams have. I want him and this team to succeed.....but it seems he and his staff are being tuned out. I'm not around them every day, so I could totally be way off base....but the results/effort/execution on the court speaks for itself.

I think this is a fair criticism.