Tulsa World: OU Basketball Notebook (10-25-18)

[SoonerTraveler]

OU basketball notebook from Big 12 Media Day: Sooners work on chemistry
By Guerin Emig / Tulsa World

https://www.tulsaworld.com/sportsex...cle_b8bd9210-2e9f-5253-8c0a-3ab65f87ed69.html

There seems to be a recurring theme ...

The defense does not rest

OU was a fun team to watch on one end of the floor last year, mostly thanks to Trae Young’s shooting. It was never much fun to watch on the defensive end, however.

Not surprisingly, that is a point of emphasis as practice ramps up.

“We get after it on defense,” James said. “I feel like that’s the biggest thing people don’t know about us. We’re gonna be solid on defense, very solid. I’m not too worried about offense; we’ve just got to lock in on defense and get stops.”

“We’ve got a lot more commitment to defense,” McNeace added. “We worked on that a lot more in the summer and during the preseason.”

 

[AdaSooner]

OU basketball notebook from Big 12 Media Day: Sooners work on chemistry
By Guerin Emig / Tulsa World

https://www.tulsaworld.com/sportsex...cle_b8bd9210-2e9f-5253-8c0a-3ab65f87ed69.html

There seems to be a recurring theme ...

I’m convinced this team is committed to defense. Maybe others will be too when they prove it in real game situations.

 

[SoonerBounce13]

I’m convinced this team is committed to defense. Maybe others will be too when they prove it in real game situations.

same story different year.

 

[SoonerTraveler]

Among other things, playing good defense requires a high level of determination and competitiveness. It has to be very important to each of the 5 players on the court. Also, you only get a "STOP" by completing the defensive effort with a defensive rebound.

I look forward to seeing all of that this season.

 

[Laxtothemax12]

Defensive teams can win games they probably shouldn't IMO...we will win some tight games against good teams that require defense this year.

 

[WTSooner]

same story different year.

Yep, believe it when I see it.

I know being a good team defense doesn't require a bunch of good individual defenders, but when I look at the guys individually, that is what I see, a bunch of guys that aren't particularly good defenders.

We'll see how it shakes out.

 

[WaymanFan]

Yep, believe it when I see it.

I know being a good team defense doesn't require a bunch of good individual defenders, but when I look at the guys individually, that is what I see, a bunch of guys that aren't particularly good defenders.

We'll see how it shakes out.

If you had to pick our top three individual defensive players (based on experience or potential), who would you go with? I'm guessing Odomes would be one of the three, but curious who else we may be able to count on.

 

[WichitaSooner]

You should all read the new article on OU's website about Calixte and Reynolds. Of note, Kruger says that defense was the primary thing that the coaches noticed about Calixte in the recruiting process. That's consistent with what I've read from people who watched him at Maine. He obviously makes stopping his man a huge priority. Those are the guys you need, people who take it personally if their guy scores.

 

[WTSooner]

If you had to pick our top three individual defensive players (based on experience or potential), who would you go with? I'm guessing Odomes would be one of the three, but curious who else we may be able to count on.

McNeace is a good off the ball defender, but isn't very good on the ball, IMO.

Odomes is solid, but I think his defense gets overrated at times. I wasn't impressed at times last year with his ability to keep him man in front of him.

I don't know a ton about either of the new guards, defensively, though I know it wasn't a major strength of either.

Maybe Bieniemy can breathe some life into the defense.

 

[WichitaSooner]

McNeace is a good off the ball defender, but isn't very good on the ball, IMO.

Odomes is solid, but I think his defense gets overrated at times. I wasn't impressed at times last year with his ability to keep him man in front of him.

I don't know a ton about either of the new guards, defensively, though I know it wasn't a major strength of either.

Maybe Bieniemy can breathe some life into the defense.

I don't know what makes you say that about the new guys. Most people on this board (myself included) have never seen them play, so I will take the word of coaches who have watched them play and rave about Calixte's defense. I know sometimes coaches exaggerate when they talk about players, but I don't recall anyone on OU's staff ever falsely claiming that a specific player was a good or great defender, so when they make a point of talking about Calixte's defense, I have to trust them. And while defense is important at every position, having a good defensive point guard is especially key -- all of us who loved the days of Kelvin and Quannas will remember that!

 

[WTSooner]

I don't know what makes you say that about the new guys.

You don't know what makes me say that defense wasn't the calling card for either of our transfers that have been playing college call for several years each?

Easy, I read the stuff that came out about them when they transferred to OU. Neither were considered really good defenders, and if you aren't a really good defender in the leagues they came from, they probably aren't going to be very good defenders (individually at least) at OU.

 

[NickZepp]

You should all read the new article on OU's website about Calixte and Reynolds. Of note, Kruger says that defense was the primary thing that the coaches noticed about Calixte in the recruiting process. That's consistent with what I've read from people who watched him at Maine. He obviously makes stopping his man a huge priority. Those are the guys you need, people who take it personally if their guy scores.

Kruger is saying this because he knows scoring will probably be an issue much like it was all the second half of last year.

Sent from my LG-H872 using Tapatalk

 

[WTSooner]

You should all read the new article on OU's website about Calixte and Reynolds. Of note, Kruger says that defense was the primary thing that the coaches noticed about Calixte in the recruiting process. That's consistent with what I've read from people who watched him at Maine. He obviously makes stopping his man a huge priority. Those are the guys you need, people who take it personally if their guy scores.

That's just coach speak.

Both Calixte and Reynolds had way more impressive offensive numbers than they did defensive, or defensive reputation.

I know steals aren't the ONLY indicator of good defense, but last year James, not somebody that I'd consider a good defender, averaged more steals per game than either Calixte or Reynolds.

 

[WTSooner]

Calixte is an incredible shooter, posting a line of .476/.386/.899 as a junior. But he did commit more turnovers (121) than assists (102), plus rated poorly on defense, posting a -2.7 defensive box plus/minus which was second to last on a Maine team that went 6-26.

https://www.azdesertswarm.com/baske...r-point-guard-2018-roster-recruiting-wildcats

 

[BCSooners]

https://www.azdesertswarm.com/baske...r-point-guard-2018-roster-recruiting-wildcats

Analytical numbers show TY was our best defender. So whatever they are using for their data it needs to be reversed.

I have no idea if Calixte is a good defender, maybe not having to score 18 a game will have him focus more on defense or just someone actually requiring him to play defense. I've seen guys go to college who I thought were terrible defenders turn out to be good, same for college to NBA (Lonzo).

I'm on a wait and see approach.

 

[skyvue]

I'm on a wait and see approach.

Me too. I'll never understand the insistence on the part of some posters to proclaim a player, a team, a season a failure before the first tip. I'm not betting the rent on a great season, but neither do I have any interest in predicting disaster.

The exhibition game is just five days away; the season opener a week or so after that. I think I'll just wait it out and watch the season unfold.

 

[coolm]

I'd rather remain optimistic. Apparently others differ.

 

[AdaSooner]

You don't know what makes me say that defense wasn't the calling card for either of our transfers that have been playing college call for several years each?

Easy, I read the stuff that came out about them when they transferred to OU. Neither were considered really good defenders, and if you aren't a really good defender in the leagues they came from, they probably aren't going to be very good defenders (individually at least) at OU.

You can learn a lot about Miles Reynolds by reading this article.

http://www.soonersports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=31000&ATCLID=211767443

One thing stood out to me. Reynolds believes he’s a good defender. He also talked about how hard he works on every play. I think you will agree that defense is mostly about effort and wanting to be good on defense. To be honest, we didn’t see much of that last year. Our season was mostly about scoring more points than our opponent, without much thought to getting stops on the other end.

Time will tell if the commitment the players made at the team meeting last year will make a difference on defense, and more importantly, will it last? But, I cannot say with any degree of accuracy if Reynolds and/or Calixte can play good defense, and neither can you.

All I know for sure is that this team seems to be committed to improving on defense, something nearly every poster on this board has wanted to see. I plan to give them a chance to do just that before deciding they’re a lost cause.

 

[NickZepp]

Me too. I'll never understand the insistence on the part of some posters to proclaim a player, a team, a season a failure before the first tip. I'm not betting the rent on a great season, but neither do I have any interest in predicting disaster.

The exhibition game is just five days away; the season opener a week or so after that. I think I'll just wait it out and watch the season unfold.

I don't know if anyone is saying these guys are all failures yet. We just need a talent upgrade here. We just lost a PG that's doing well in the NBA so far that won't be easy to replace. And we weren't that good at the end of last season with him.

 

[inoref]

I can't recall any team falling to the waste side as OU did last year (without injuries) As hard as it for me to say I think LK lost the team. But that was last year, this OU team could with some breaks have about the same record as last year but be a better team.