What are your expectations for next season?

What are your expectations for next season?

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OUHoops

OUHoops

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Let's see where everyone stands as of today. I voted Sweet 16.
 
Sweet 16. Our guards will get better, our defense will get better, Our Bigs will get better with more depth.

I know we could get upset in the tourney, like a duke or cuse... but Sweet 16 would be great.
 
Sweet-16

We should see continued growth and maturity in the "core class" of this team, as they become Juniors next season. I am hopeful that the most noticeable improvement next season will be the team defense, along with improved toughness.

What do I mean by toughness? As I watched Iowa State beat North Carolina yesterday, I saw a Cyclone team that was mentally tough enough to overcome whatever obstacles were thrown at them. They overcame the adversity of losing Niang to injury. They had a mature senior leader in DeAndre Kane as their team FOUGHT the tough fight.

I expect the OU team to have more FIGHT next season. Someone needs to step up to be the team leader. I'm just not sure which player has the personality to be that leader. I would prefer that one of the guards become the leader of the fight, but I'm not sure any of them have the personality for it. My best guess is Ryan Spangler will become the leader.
 
We have some real good players...need to develop some gamers. Kane and Ejim, those guys are gamers.

Believe a Sweet 16 run would be great, but it's all about match-ups in the tournament. What if we faced a team which was seeded to low in the second round? Lots of variables. Making the tournament is solid expectation, anything less is a failure. After making the tournament, lets see who we're playing before casting expectations.

We aren't to the point where we can just roll the ball out and beat anybody, still some necessary gaps to fill.
 
As I watch the tourney, the throught came into my head that maybe our guys just aren't as good as I thought and our play this year was solely b/c of kruger. It's frustrating to watch these games with teams we should be better than and thinking "man I wish we had a guy who could to that".
 
SoonerBounce13 said:
As I watch the tourney, the throught came into my head that maybe our guys just aren't as good as I thought and our play this year was solely b/c of kruger. It's frustrating to watch these games with teams we should be better than and thinking "man I wish we had a guy who could to that".
Click to expand...

Kruger did a phenomenal job this year...we punched above our weight class often and came out on top.
 
SoonerBounce13 said:
As I watch the tourney, the throught came into my head that maybe our guys just aren't as good as I thought and our play this year was solely b/c of kruger. It's frustrating to watch these games with teams we should be better than and thinking "man I wish we had a guy who could to that".
Click to expand...

I think that you are right. We could have just as easily won 18/19 games and been a NIT bubble team.

Kruger deserves whatever credit he gets. But, the extra practice in the summer and European exhibition games got us some advantage going into the nonconference games. We got off to a good start, gained some momentum, and the kids worked their butts off.
 
With the talent already on campus, the length and athleticism that is on the way, the way this coaching staff develops players, and the way these current players put work in on their individuals games, I expect a significant improvement from this year to next. It probably isn't the best way to look at it but, if you just say this squad was 3 games better than last season, I expect to be 4-5 games better next year. Obviously our schedule and conference strength will have a say on what our win/loss looks like in 14-15 but I think this group will be good enough to be a top 10-15 team, have shot at competing for a conference championship, and be a top 3 seed in the tournament.


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Tournament is too hard to predict. I expect us to be a top 16 team, so I clicked Sweet 16.
 
KBaden145 said:
With the talent already on campus, the length and athleticism that is on the way, the way this coaching staff develops players, and the way these current players put work in on their individuals games, I expect a significant improvement from this year to next. It probably isn't the best way to look at it but, if you just say this squad was 3 games better than last season, I expect to be 4-5 games better next year. Obviously our schedule and conference strength will have a say on what our win/loss looks like in 14-15 but I think this group will be good enough to be a top 10-15 team, have shot at competing for a conference championship, and be a top 3 seed in the tournament.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

This is the way I prefer to think. And by the way, guys, there's no penalty or punishment involved if you pick OU to make it to the Sweet 16 and they don't.
 
SoonerTraveler said:
Sweet-16

We should see continued growth and maturity in the "core class" of this team, as they become Juniors next season. I am hopeful that the most noticeable improvement next season will be the team defense, along with improved toughness.

What do I mean by toughness? As I watched Iowa State beat North Carolina yesterday, I saw a Cyclone team that was mentally tough enough to overcome whatever obstacles were thrown at them. They overcame the adversity of losing Niang to injury. They had a mature senior leader in DeAndre Kane as their team FOUGHT the tough fight.

I expect the OU team to have more FIGHT next season. Someone needs to step up to be the team leader. I'm just not sure which player has the personality to be that leader. I would prefer that one of the guards become the leader of the fight, but I'm not sure any of them have the personality for it. My best guess is Ryan Spangler will become the leader.
Click to expand...
I was disappointed in the play of Buddy he needs to drive the lane and take his lumps. It is a lot less painful to shoot a three, but driving the lane should be more rewarding and also a good sign of toughness.
 
The last 3 years we have had that 4 guy that has been a mismatch problem on the offensive end(Osby and Clark). Spangler is going to have to be that guy now. I think he will do it. Should make us a team that can go deep in the tournament...doesn't mean we will.
 
Hard to predict without seeing match ups, but I'd think we'd be well positioned next year for a Sweet 16 run, so I'm clicking that.

On the other hand, it might be 2016 before we're at that point. We're asking a lot of freshmen bigs next year.
 
We have not won a post season game under Kruger. We're losing our top rated talent in Clark & replacing him with lower rated guys. Spangler is not going to grow and is ineffective vs legit post players. I don't see much upside to anybody on our roster other than Cousins, Bennett & possibly Booker. If we don't add a stud transfer post player the odds are we tread water.

Making the tournament is all that should be expected based on the facts.
 
I voted "make the tournament". I have no real insight into the recruiting class other than I see a lot of potential from watching some videos but that does not necessarily make difference-makers for next year.

Most of us agree that when you look at the overall year we exceeded expectations this year. If the frosh develop nicely during the year and others continue to improve then we could be very good next year. However, until I see a threat of an inside game and a defense that can lock down when needed I am not going to predict winning any tournament games but I figure we can be competitive against just about anyone.

Although he was inconsistent I think we could miss Clark's ability to create a mismatch and hit needed jumpers off the dribble. Cousins has that ability but we need others.
 
bocabull said:
We have not won a post season game under Kruger. We're losing our top rated talent in Clark & replacing him with lower rated guys. Spangler is not going to grow and is ineffective vs legit post players. I don't see much upside to anybody on our roster other than Cousins, Bennett & possibly Booker. If we don't add a stud transfer post player the odds are we tread water.

Making the tournament is all that should be expected based on the facts.
Click to expand...

Yep, Buddy Hield has no upside...:facepalm
And there's no way Spangler, the guy who went from 50% at the line in non-con to 80% in conference, could possibly develop his game more.
 
coolm said:
expecting a sweet 16 finish is ridiculous.
Click to expand...

If we were fans for TCU, I would agree. But I think it's okay for well-meaning fans of a school like OU with a coach like Kruger to expect a Sweet Sixteen finish. Doesn't mean we will ... but we are fans. We hope for the best for our team.

And I would guess that the team has the same or greater expectations for themselves.
 
coolm said:
expecting a sweet 16 finish is ridiculous.
Click to expand...

How? We'll have height with pretty much the same team as last year. Everyone will be more experienced (Buddy, Cousins, Spangler, Hornbeak, Woodard) not to mention if SOMEHOW one or even two of the three (Lattin, Buford, and Mcnease) are complete duds which I don't think will happen, we still have Bennett and Booker providing defense and points.

I think we take the next step to being a very good and tough team next year.
 
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