Upon further review ... defense

[coolm]

Went back and dug thru every USC possession in the first half (so far).

When it comes to being out of position the number 1 culprit by far is Trae. And it's not a matter of getting screened off ... he's just not on the right track. It was a good 4-5 SC possessions. That will come with experience. Although, that said ... Brady was near perfect in that department.

The second leading culprit was Freeman. But his was more a matter of footspeed. They picked on his lack of speed a lot actually. One-on-one he was fine. Good actually. But working his way around the court without being taken out of the play was an issue. Not a communication one either - when we switched we were actually switching pretty well.

The third was CJ. His weren't physical at all. They were mental like Trae's. Only twice and maybe a third.

After that Odome had one and Jumani had one and McGusty had one. Just like being a step slow to close or a mix under a screen.

Overall the communication seems decent. We had some nice switching when they were running the ball high then into the high post. McLaughlin was tough to cover around screens but he's a senior and so darn fast.

So if you wanna complain about defense then it goes on Trae first. I think he makes up for it otherwise and he's still getting his feet underneath him defensively. Then it's on Freeman and CJ.

 

[Soonerinkc]

interesting, there were lots of possessions where I thought the guys did a great job...then there were the breakdowns. Just know against the top B12 those breakdowns will cost us.

Still exciting to know we only have 1 Sr on the team...hope TY stays at least another year.

 

[coolm]

interesting, there were lots of possessions where I thought the guys did a great job...then there were the breakdowns. Just know against the top B12 those breakdowns will cost us.

Still exciting to know we only have 1 Sr on the team...hope TY stays at least another year.

They didnt do that poorly on defense. It was just interesting to note who was the defender on the ball when the opponent had an opening. We played solid defense in this game. But solid doesn't mean perfect and in every possession on both ends of the court you can find areas for improvement. Thats all I am saying.

 

[AdaSooner]

I wasn’t nearly as unhappy with our defense in last night’s game as some seemed to be. Except for the occasional breakdown Coolm pointed to, I thought our effort was noticeably improved over previous outings.

I was especially pleased to see our players look for opportunities to take a charge, instead of allowing the offensive player to penetrate inside by backpedaling and trying to block every shot. I have no idea how many offensive fouls went our way, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the number was at least close to all of the other games combined.

 

[TINY]

The defense was good enough. The rebounding was the biggest issue.

 

[scrybe]

The defense was good enough. The rebounding was the biggest issue.

Yep. SC out rebounded us. And it wasn't close.

Still, a good win in spite of our near breakdown toward the end.

 

[billyball]

This team needs to learn to block out. Feels like I've said that before. :facepalm

 

[chuckb]

It was, without question, the team's best defensive game of the year. Lattin was terrific, and Manek & Freeman were fantastic hedging on ball screens. Their energy on D was great. The team did seem to run out of gas late and maybe the zone that USC played made them sluggish on D as well as O but this was a huge improvement over the 2 most recent games, and really over every other game they've played.

If they continue to D up like that, they're going to win a lot of games.

 

[BoulderSooner]

mcnease is brutal guarding the pick and roll

 

[jaymOU]

The defense was good enough. The rebounding was the biggest issue.

I think OU really suffers when Lattin is out of the game rebounding-wise. I think Doolittle will help when he returns, but our 4-men - Manek and Freeman aren't exactly space eaters. I believe it's important for Odomes and CJ to rebound at a high level

 

[AdaSooner]

I think OU really suffers when Lattin is out of the game rebounding-wise. I think Doolittle will help when he returns, but our 4-men - Manek and Freeman aren't exactly space eaters. I believe it's important for Odomes and CJ to rebound at a high level

Agree 100% with everything you said, jaymOU! McNeace is too soft. He’s good for two things: blocking shots and making short jump hooks.

He always seems to be out of position to rebound effectively, mainly because he doesn’t even try to improve his position. Watch him in the next game and you’ll see what I mean. He plays defense in a similar manner, poor positioning because he doesn’t move his feet.

And, yes, I know he got a later start in competitive basketball than others on the team. But, there comes a time when using that as an excuse begins to wear on people, which is why I refuse to defend him anymore. It would be a shame if he completes his career at OU without ever achieving anything close to his potential.

 

[chuckb]

Agree 100% with everything you said, jaymOU! McNeace is too soft. He’s good for two things: blocking shots and making short jump hooks.

He always seems to be out of position to rebound effectively, mainly because he doesn’t even try to improve his position. Watch him in the next game and you’ll see what I mean. He plays defense in a similar manner, poor positioning because he doesn’t move his feet.

And, yes, I know he got a later start in competitive basketball than others on the team. But, there comes a time when using that as an excuse begins to wear on people, which is why I refuse to defend him anymore. It would be a shame if he completes his career at OU without ever achieving anything close to his potential.

Some of that is because he's trying to block shots. That happens with shot blockers.