Why is OU's D so bad?

Defense has NOT been our strong suit the past couple of years, that much is true.
 
Also, it's not like OU's freshman were known for being stellar defenders in HS either. They were much more offensively gifted than defensively.
 
We have been a pretty decent defensive team under Capel. sure its not as good as Sampson's teams, but our offense is better under Capel. Im sure we will get better. Losing Patillo really hurt.
 
We are not a good defensive team nor a good rebounding team. There is plenty to work on when Capel and the team gets home.

Even though this is not the kind of start I envisioned, I am willing to be patient for several reasons. Capel is still trying to find out the best combination of players, a couple of which are young. He is also trying to determine what defensive strategy works best for this group. I see talent on this team and depth. Those are tangible things to build around. It is hard to make a player better on the offensive end but it is very possible to work with players and make them better on the defensive end and better at blocking out. No doubt that will be the focus in practice over the next month.

No, I am not happy about the losses but I think that it is entirely possible this team will make significant improvement by the end of December.
 
Good team defense is not 'easy to play'. It takes a lot of teamwork to know when to help and where to help. Defensive responsibilities can change depending on where the ball is in relation to the defender. If freshmen didn't play for a high school coach that emphasized defense and their AAU coach didn't care whether they played defense, I can see how it would be a huge adjustment. But, that doesn't explain why the upperclassmen wouldn't be playing better on defense.
 
Denver your comments about Coach Capel are shocking. I guess the best thing for you to do is continue to watch the games. Coach Capel is young but he is very competent about this situation. Where's your faith dude. BOOMER SOONER BABY!!!
 
Jeff proved he can coach last year.

Yup having two NBA players didn't hurt, plus a underrated PG. Getting knokced by UNC last year in the 8 after waxing a Big East team was a strong run.

This team appears to be amazingly soft in the middle. Big O did have a couple of D blocks, That was nice to see however his feet appear to be stuck in concrete most of the time. Until we establish a post D enforcer/rebounder this team will struggle. Crocker at the 4 isn't the answer.
 
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