DenverSooner
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Maybe Kruger wanted them to struggle and learn.
We have offensive problems....
- Thread starter soonerhoops2012
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Maybe Kruger wanted them to struggle and learn.
cfin5256
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Unfortunately. The spoiled football fan syndrome seems to extend to all University sports. :facepalm
PeteHoops
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I agree that's what it looked like to me. A win is a win...
I think so. Now he has a clinic for the guards to watch film from and be told what they did wrong and what they need to do in future and how to do it.
He made ONE adjustment - he sent in Grooms. In hindsight he should have sent him in a few minutes earlier when it was obvious Hornbeak was not going to get the ball past the halfcourt line.
That was not an easy game to watch, but confident this team will be better as a result of the outcome. Also, I'd like to think UTA had something to do with at least part of our struggles.
Escape Goat
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Exactly. Chickenlittleitis drives me nuts.
p230
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As I watched us fall apart and watched the young kids struggle I wonder what he was doing. When the TV would show Coach he was concerned but did not seem to be giving them much direction. I thought he look like me when one of my kids says "I can do it!" and I just step back and let them have at it...until they completely crap out and then I help them. Maybe I am wrong but it looked like he wanted to show them that they are still Freshman and now small fish in a big pond and will need to work hard to be big fish. Props to Sam he was our Crash to the young guys Nuke last night.
If Kruger did want to see them struggle, then he is a fool. Kruger almost cost us the game with his interchangeable lineup that hes doing. This team is not good enough to go 10 deep. There shouldn't be 5 guys on our bench getting 13 minutes or more a game.
Look at KU's team..a Team that went to the championship game last year who is projected to win the big 12 this year. Right now, 4 of there starters are avg more than 28mpg. Only 3 guys on there bench are avg more than 11mpg.
We are at our weakest part of the schedule, if Kruger doesn't start playing our best players the majority of the game...We won't even make it to the NIT.
skyvue
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The weakest part of a team's schedule is exactly when a coach would want to use more players, especially when he's got three freshman and a juco transfer whose performance during game action he needs to assess.
And what in the world does KU have to do with us? Different team, different talent, different coach. What works in one situation doesn't necessarily work in another. It may be very clear to one coach who his starters are going to be going forward, while the other team's situation may be more undefined in the early going. Every coach faces a different challenge.
MsProudSooner
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I had the same thought.
Early season games that are won by 30 points teach a team nothing. There are a lot of good lessons to be learned from last nights game. It's a perfect scenario for a coach - and we won the game. Win/Win.
mict085
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I was also wondering why Kruger wasn't using a Timeout to stop the uta run and calm down his team. If he was using it as a teaching moment then I can live with that. It was a little too close for me, but if the players learn the lesson then it's worth it. There are many valuable lessons a team can learn in these kinds of games that make them better. If that's not what he was doing then I don't know what to say.
SoonerinNC
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We would have lost this game last year.
I think one of the keys is to get the rotations down. I still think we will play 10 but am not sure what the rotations should be for smooth playing.
We will probably drop a game or two in the pre-conference season but should have it together by conference time. We a significantly better than last year.
One thing we found out is that our freshmen are really freshmen.
And every time we beat someone it doesn't mean they are a bad team. UTA looked pretty good to me.
I think one of the keys is to get the rotations down. I still think we will play 10 but am not sure what the rotations should be for smooth playing.
We will probably drop a game or two in the pre-conference season but should have it together by conference time. We a significantly better than last year.
One thing we found out is that our freshmen are really freshmen.
And every time we beat someone it doesn't mean they are a bad team. UTA looked pretty good to me.
WTSooner
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I'm THRILLED with what we've seen from out three freshmen this season, but you make a good point. I think we all got a little ahead of ourselves on what to expect from them this season. I'm still very excited about all three, and all three will help us out tremendously this season, no doubt. But what we saw last night was why I thought Sam Grooms would at least start the season as our starting pg. Folks underestimate how difficult being a young pg can be. Probably the toughest adjustment to make, and Cousins is doing it without having been a true pg during his HS days. Excited about his future, but there are going to be games where we need the vets to bail us out. Experience really is invaluable.
I was a little annoyed as well with all of the lineup changes... I screamed at my radio(I only have basic cable... Don't judge me!) "Get Neal out of there!" however, at the end of the day, we have to trust that LK knows what he is doing! I mean the guys track record speaks for itself. So slow your roll!
Also, your logic of using KU as an example of what we should be doing, is ill-conceived. As Skyvue said, We are not and never will be KU! We will make the NCAA tourney because we play like OU, not KU.
I remember a Blake Griffin led OU team barely escape the LNC with a win against Gardner-Webb. We played about as poorly as we could on offense and made it out of there with a win on the road against a decent mid-major opening a new arena. We will get better, I'm sure of it.
This. :clap
AdaSooner
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Solid post, SoonerinNC!
I have a feeling Kruger will take a different approach to his rotation in the Old Spice Classic next week. As Skyvue correctly pointed out above, the early portion of the season is the time to find out how the newcomers will handle pressure and react to adversity. I won't be at all surprised if we see a change or two in our starting lineup during that tourney. Not that who starts matters all that much. The player having the obvious impact on our season so far has been coming off of the bench.
The only thing I disagree with is that LK will continue with a ten man rotation. I believe he will eventually settle into an eight, and no more than nine man rotation, and only go to the bottom end if someone gets in early foul trouble. I also think he will have a better handle soon on which players are better in certain match ups, maybe not next week or two weeks from now, but definitely by the start of conference play.
After last night, I think your guards will see a lot more full-court, trapping defenses in the first half of the court. And probably play a lot of man-to-man to prevent the OU 3-point shooters from getting easy looks. Make OU beat you inside or on the offensive glass. If we had pressured your guards earlier, we might have gotten just that extra steal or two we needed. We're normally a great rebounding team, but your guys really did a good job keeping us off the boards.
DenverSooner
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I think OU is going to play a 9 man rotation most of the year unless Hornbeak or Cousins stops getting PT. Grooms is going to get minutes either as the starting pg or backup. Cam Clark and Fitzgerald are going to get minutes. Hield is one of the best players on the team so he is going to get minutes.
I think it would be foolish to not let Sam Grooms have all of the backup pg minutes. He doesn't make a lot of mistakes and that is exactly what you need from your backup pg.
