Turnovers.....

[Boomer-D]

Same song... different year! :facepalm

 

[jerry]

Same song... different year! :facepalm

You got that right. 21 turnovers and the 3 seniors had 15 of them.

 

[Options]

Nice come back, just a little short

 

[Soonercuda]

First half 15 turnovers second half 6. Difference was in the first half we played scared and tentative and frankly we embarrassed ourselves. Second half Sherri clearly challenged the team to compete and play aggressive and we did and played liked we belonged. Play like the second half for entire game is our challenge.

 

[Sooner Cal]

Horrible first half. We are flat footed so they beat us to the ball several times. We were careless, almost oblivious to the position of dthe Duke players. The two throwing under the basket, one off of Griffin's back, were clear examples of not paying attention. We kept leaving their guard, who is making over 50% of her 3 point attempts for the year, wide open.

Most disappointed because we don't appear to have improved one bit since the first game of the season. Sherri says they panicked. She should know, but I think they lacked confidence and were frequently caught watching Duke instead of playing the game. With 3 seniors and a junior on the floor, this shouldn't happen.

Morgan does her little behind the back dribble so often that the Duke guard could anticipate it and she picked her clean. The turnovers by seniors are inexcusable. I expect the freshman to make mistakes, but not the experienced players.

 

[bluesooner17]

If we don't start developing other players we will burn out before we get half way through the Big 12 season. Edwards doesn't play the first half and probably wouldn't have played the second half if not for Monday getting hurt. She came in and did a pretty good job. Just my opinion, but you can't get confident or timing if you don't get quality minutes to hone it. I believe that is Nicole K problem. At time she seems able to take it to another level, but gets tentative if she makes a mistake. Carter has that to, but doesn't let the mistakes bother her or get it in her head that Sherri will pull her. Maybe it is just me, but it is frustrating to see suppose talented players sitting and not playing.

 

[sybarite]

We tend to be like this the start of every year. By tournament time, it has usually settled down. We began like we were playing deer in the headlights game. Since we had two senior guards, that is disappointing. But, I don't know that it is surprising. I thought Vegas had overcome some of her lost in space problem as a result of the summer. In the past four or five games, she has rediscovered the joy of turnovers, as well as a shooting block. When Vegas is afraid to shoot, which she was, we have a problem. It will help when everyone settles into their roles, which they will.

We really do need someone other than Griffin, Campbell, Vegas, and Hook to step up. Carter still causes as many problems as she solves. I didn't see much of Kornet today. Kay Kay has suddenly disappeared. We had zero bench points? Zero? That has to change.

Yet, it wouldn't surprise me if we were to beat Duke in the Elite Eight. We, and Duke, are prone to that. Duke seems to look really good at the beginning of every year. When you have 94% of your production back, you kind of have a head start.

 

[califca]

We have a ways to go to make it to the Elite Eight. Lots of improvement needs to be made. The UCLA loss really hurt us especially after seeing what Notre Dame did to them.

 

[Stringmusic]

"rediscovered the joy of turnovers". I love that description.

 

[SoonerNorm]

Horrible first half. We are flat footed so they beat us to the ball several times. We were careless, almost oblivious to the position of dthe Duke players. The two throwing under the basket, one off of Griffin's back, were clear examples of not paying attention. We kept leaving their guard, who is making over 50% of her 3 point attempts for the year, wide open.

Most disappointed because we don't appear to have improved one bit since the first game of the season. Sherri says they panicked. She should know, but I think they lacked confidence and were frequently caught watching Duke instead of playing the game. With 3 seniors and a junior on the floor, this shouldn't happen.

Morgan does her little behind the back dribble so often that the Duke guard could anticipate it and she picked her clean. The turnovers by seniors are inexcusable. I expect the freshman to make mistakes, but not the experienced players.

Here is what Sherri said: “Just did not start the game emphatically,” Coale said. “We didn't play with confidence and we didn't play with bravado. It's hard to say why that happened.”

If Sherri would start every game in a full court press, I don't think this would be a problem, or at least as much of a problem. That gets players moving and makes them focus and play with intensity. She shouldn't continue to do the same thing and expect different results.

 

[Keller Sooner]

What this team needs is a Joanna McFarland. We just flat out aren't getting it done at the four spot. A four guard lineup isn't going to beat a team like Duke, unless they're burning up the nets shooting the ball. Kornet is not an inside player, she's a wing. Kaylon isn't where she needs to be yet and Sherri doesn't feel comfortable putting Kellog out there against a Duke. We've always had too many turnovers in my opinion so I don't see that changing. With that said, if they don't get down by nineteen points at half time, this team would have beaten Duke. They played their butts off the second half.

 

[Soonerbay]

Here is what Sherri said: “Just did not start the game emphatically,” Coale said. “We didn't play with confidence and we didn't play with bravado. It's hard to say why that happened.”

If Sherri would start every game in a full court press, I don't think this would be a problem, or at least as much of a problem. That gets players moving and makes them focus and play with intensity. She shouldn't continue to do the same thing and expect different results.

What you and Sooner Cal have described...it's been that way for awhile at OU, but it's common with teams that do not have players that CONSISTENTLY play with tenacity and a desire to win EVERY TIME they lace 'um up and hit the court.

The only thing worse than standing around watching the other team go to work (as though you're in awe of their giftedness) is watching your own teammate go to work rather than helping. If you remember, that was the case when CP was a freshman and sophomore. Geno made a comment after the OU/UCONN game that basically said that the OU players were too busy watching CP than helping. Again, it's a lack of that "thing" that's needed to compete. That "thing" begins with the right attitude from tip-off until 0:00!

 

[Soonerbay]

What this team needs is a Joanna McFarland. We just flat out aren't getting it done at the four spot. A four guard lineup isn't going to beat a team like Duke, unless they're burning up the nets shooting the ball. Kornet is not an inside player, she's a wing. Kaylon isn't where she needs to be yet and Sherri doesn't feel comfortable putting Kellog out there against a Duke. We've always had too many turnovers in my opinion so I don't see that changing. With that said, if they don't get down by nineteen points at half time, this team would have beaten Duke. They played their butts off the second half.

Keller, they can go and get "a JF" but it will not matter if the other four...or better yet...the entire team is not clicking on all cylinders and knowing exactly what their role is to ensure success for the team. The key is RECRUITING with a strategy in mind for the ever growing and changing game of women's basketball. You have to recruit to ensure preparedness for ANY match-up, speed or style of offense or defense. Diversity. When OU was MOST DIVERSE, they went to the Final Four, with the exception of 2002, but it was a guard oriented women's game during that time. After that, you get out coached and/or your players make critical mistakes at crucial times.

I'm not surprised that SC has a guard heavy team. She is "guard minded" because that's what she knows best. That's why she needs a coach...or two...that are as strong in recruiting and post play as she is in guard play. Her recruiting leaves much to be desired. JRoss appears to be a great tactician, but all of that planning and thinking and adjusting amounts to a hill of beans if you don't have the personnel/players...and you're not calling the shots! Give Geno OU's team and they might win a game or two more than what they could have. Either they got it or they don't. RECRUIT better to keep up with the best/NC's or otherwise, we'll always be the little engine that coulda woulda shoulda.

Edit: And this post is not a slam on the current players. They are who they are, with what they bring to the game. They are clearly conference champs in a less competitive NCAA Div I conference and back to back to back to back NC's in Div II or NAIA!

 

[SoonerNorm]

I agree that recruiting is the answer. I like what I've seen in recruiting with Ortiz and Dungee. Those two girls can play for just about any team in the country. I also like Peyton even though we were not her first choice. I am hopeful we can get Johnson from Edmond as she too is getting looks from great coaches around the country and that speaks volumes.

However, I am not keen on looking for "diamonds in the rough". While there is a chance one will work out every once in a while, most do not. When I see Geno recruiting diamonds in the rough, I may change my mind. In the meantime, why not stick with girls everyone else wants?!?!

As was previously mentioned, Sherri loves guards and seems to spend a lot of time recruiting them. But, it is the bigs that we have trouble landing. I hope that Pierre-Louis can be a dominant player but, even if she is, we still need more than just her and Kaylon. We need 4 or 5 bigs who can play well.

 

[SoonerinNC]

I see that SoonerBay took his usual shot.

When you see Duke, UConn, Tennessee, Notre Dame and Stanford play you know that we are short the impact players that can win a national championship.

It is really tough to get players away from those people with the tradition that their schools and basketball programs have.

At the risk of sounding sexist I think that some of the best women players really want a quality education and Notre Dame, Duke and Stanford really appeal to that desire. With the men the top players are mostly interested in going pro so the quality of education is not as big.

Sherri is good at finding the good under the radar players and in getting them to play well. My only problem is that she is so conservative with her younger players. Most of them are on a very short leash and don't play at all in the tough games. Your are not going to get 40 minutes of effort in todays game. It is much too fast. We are not going to beat a Duke or Connecticut once out of 10 games so why not give Wyatt and Kellogg some minutes in the first half. They could not have played worse than what we had on the court. They learn things in that type of game that they never get in the blowouts of the little sisters of the poor games.

I'm sure that Williams, Carter and Edwards learned something important yesterday and will benefit from those lessons in the future. The way games are called this year we are going to need to be able to go 9 deep in some games. If the younger players do not get quality minutes in quality games thay are not going to be in the flow of the game when we really need them.

 

[Soonerbay]

I see that SoonerBay took his usual shot.

When you see Duke, UConn, Tennessee, Notre Dame and Stanford play you know that we are short the impact players that can win a national championship.

It is really tough to get players away from those people with the tradition that their schools and basketball programs have.

At the risk of sounding sexist I think that some of the best women players really want a quality education and Notre Dame, Duke and Stanford really appeal to that desire. With the men the top players are mostly interested in going pro so the quality of education is not as big.

Sherri is good at finding the good under the radar players and in getting them to play well. My only problem is that she is so conservative with her younger players. Most of them are on a very short leash and don't play at all in the tough games. Your are not going to get 40 minutes of effort in todays game. It is much too fast. We are not going to beat a Duke or Connecticut once out of 10 games so why not give Wyatt and Kellogg some minutes in the first half. They could not have played worse than what we had on the court. They learn things in that type of game that they never get in the blowouts of the little sisters of the poor games.

I'm sure that Williams, Carter and Edwards learned something important yesterday and will benefit from those lessons in the future. The way games are called this year we are going to need to be able to go 9 deep in some games. If the younger players do not get quality minutes in quality games thay are not going to be in the flow of the game when we really need them.

What "shot" did I take? I don't think I said anything much different than what you've stated. It has always been my stance that the recruiting is substandard to what is required to win a NC. It doesn't make the program a bad program except for the fact that they've stated that it is their goal to win a NC every year! And it should be the goal for every team. Now, at the same time, the reality is only one team will win it, but don't keep making the same mistakes that take the NC opportunity away.

You've also said the same thing I said about AParis not getting more minutes as a freshman and sophomore when she was clearly outplaying others. AOlajuwon...same thing. She should have been given more minutes her Sophomore and Junior year, rather than having AParis role to the 5 to relieve CParis.

AOlajuwon was treated as though she was the worse player this side of the Atlantic. Then there was not anyone else that was clearly ready to play ahead of her during her senior year, so she had to play. My theory...she was punished because she did not redshirt her freshman year. Just IMO of course.

 

[ouleopard]

Guys - It was really disappointing that our players continually tried to
throw cross court passes against Duke> It was also disappointing that
at times 2 and 3 players on defense would have their back turned completely
to the ball and they would drive past us for easy buckets. Nicole Griffin
was taken completely out of her game by the physicality of Duke but yet
Sherri did not make any changes. Still, I love to watch the team and we
could be so much better.

 

[BigT14]

It seems like the seniors know that they are at fault for not stepping up and playing like seniors. All they can do is improve on that. Not sure who the vocal leader on the team is, my guess is Morgan, someone needs to step up and give the underclassmen some confidence and fire.

 

[keysersose]

When did you ever see a UConn team with a "deer in the headlights look?" When the coaching philosophy is grounded in the power of positive thinking, rather than discipline, you end up with a herd of deer.

 

[tycat947]

It seems like the seniors know that they are at fault for not stepping up and playing like seniors. All they can do is improve on that. Not sure who the vocal leader on the team is, my guess is Morgan, someone needs to step up and give the underclassmen some confidence and fire.

I think all that will happen. May be once conference season begins but it will happen. I think Morgan is the vocal leader although Aaryn has spoken out a little more.