Wow, that was worse than anything Capel has thrown out there

[opsooner]

back away from the ledge.
BTW how can a game that we lost by 38 to be "not that close" lol

Not a worry about the ledge - it's just my front porch

Exactly on the score - hard to believe it could have been worse but it could have been. If Tubbs was their coach they would have beaten us by 60 :facepalm

 

[AdaSooner]

We lost by 38 points and it wasn't that close. I hate to hear that we "just don't have the players yet". That is true in some sense but we should be able to compete better than that with what we have now. I can't accept that we are just that bad right now. We brought in new coaches to make the team better and to determine the best way to use the skills that we do have. That was our 13th game, not our 1st. If we want to be better next year we have to get a lot better this year.

I realize that we are weak at PG and that can make you look very bad against certain teams. However, I see a lot of other things that concern me across the team, including players and coaching. It is my hope that we just need a few more games to adjust to the opponent quality but we shall see.

I have pulled back to my original goal of staying out of the conference cellar.

If it makes you feel any better, I don't believe OU is 38 points difference bad. The story will be different when we play Mizzou in Norman, but the outcome will be the same. OU will lose by double digits.

That's not the opinion of a pessimist. I truly hope I'm wrong. But I'm also a realist who can easily see that Mizzou's players are quicker, more athletic and just plain better than anything OU can put on the floor right now. That's the sad truth of how far our basketball program has fallen in the last couple of years.

As I have said numerous times in the past few weeks, I'm thrilled by what Coach Kruger and his staff have accomplished since the season began. This team is so much better than they were in the first three or four games, and they're light years better than last year's team. But make no mistake that we still have a ways to go before we're ready to compete with the top teams in the Big 12 conference.

 

[Krugerfan52]

This team is light years better than last year's team? Why? Because their record is better? They've played one ranked team and lost by 40. It was nearly the exact same group of players for OU and Missou outside of Cade/Osby/Grooms and yet we lost by 40 instead of 20. How is that light years better?


It's amazing to me how easily people can be fooled by a teams record. As much as I've enjoyed watching OSU lose all these games in the non-conference when we were 9-1 through 10 games and OSU was 6-4 it doesn't mean we are that much better than them. It just means they've played the toughest schedule in the big 12 and we've played 10 unranked teams. Flip those schedules and OSU would likely have been 9-1 and OU probably would have dropped a few.

 

[opsooner]

If it makes you feel any better, I don't believe OU is 38 points difference bad. The story will be different when we play Mizzou in Norman, but the outcome will be the same. OU will lose by double digits.

That's not the opinion of a pessimist. I truly hope I'm wrong. But I'm also a realist who can easily see that Mizzou's players are quicker, more athletic and just plain better than anything OU can put on the floor right now. That's the sad truth of how far our basketball program has fallen in the last couple of years.

As I have said numerous times in the past few weeks, I'm thrilled by what Coach Kruger and his staff have accomplished since the season began. This team is so much better than they were in the first three or four games, and they're light years better than last year's team. But make no mistake that we still have a ways to go before we're ready to compete with the top teams in the Big 12 conference.

I agree with that or at least the large part of it.

I was in the LNC the day that Tubbs lost to a non-scholarship team in his first year so I know it can be done. I have not given up and hope Kruger can do it too. Tubbs was able to get guys to help after that - getting Tisdale sure didn't hurt!

However, except for a year or two anomalies under Tubbs I've always seen OU basketball as I see, say, Kansas St football - where we need to do the little things better than our opponents, out-work them, and out-think them because we are not going to traditionally get Kansas or Duke talent all over the court. Much of that goes to coaching. There are still areas on both ends where I don't see it "yet".

"Yet" is the keyword for me because I am anxious to see us take some steps forward again THIS YEAR. I do like a lot of (most) things I see from Kruger overall. I just don't like the thought or believe that more talent is the only answer to all our problems. There are plenty of the little things we can still do to get the most out of this talent where they have been drilled and know what they can do and what they can't do. That doesn't mean we will win every close game and it doesn't mean we still won't take a thumping but it does mean we will compete, be prepared, and play as a team in the best way we can.

 

[campbest]

This team is light years better than last year's team? Why? Because their record is better? They've played one ranked team and lost by 40. It was nearly the exact same group of players for OU and Missou outside of Cade/Osby/Grooms and yet we lost by 40 instead of 20. How is that light years better?


It's amazing to me how easily people can be fooled by a teams record. As much as I've enjoyed watching OSU lose all these games in the non-conference when we were 9-1 through 10 games and OSU was 6-4 it doesn't mean we are that much better than them. It just means they've played the toughest schedule in the big 12 and we've played 10 unranked teams. Flip those schedules and OSU would likely have been 9-1 and OU probably would have dropped a few.

I don't think we are light years better overall, but we are significantly better from a structure and schematic standpoint (talent is another issue). People are looking too much into this loss and the final score...we ran into a buzzsaw and instead of the winning team slowing down (as often happens in blowouts, settling to around a 20-25 point win) Mizzou stayed hot. This game was over at halftime and you probably had the polar opposites of play coming from both teams. Mizzou's starters all played 27+ minutes (three played over 30) so the lead is inflated. (by no means am I insinuating Mizzou ran up the score, they are depleted and really have no one to play).

 

[SoonerBounce13]

This team is light years better than last year's team? Why? Because their record is better? They've played one ranked team and lost by 40. It was nearly the exact same group of players for OU and Missou outside of Cade/Osby/Grooms and yet we lost by 40 instead of 20. How is that light years better?


It's amazing to me how easily people can be fooled by a teams record. As much as I've enjoyed watching OSU lose all these games in the non-conference when we were 9-1 through 10 games and OSU was 6-4 it doesn't mean we are that much better than them. It just means they've played the toughest schedule in the big 12 and we've played 10 unranked teams. Flip those schedules and OSU would likely have been 9-1 and OU probably would have dropped a few.

it has little to do with record. Performance is the key

 

[AdaSooner]

it has little to do with record. Performance is the key

Exactly! I should have selected a better term than "light years" to describe what I see as improvements in the way this year's team has played in the majority of games so far. The two exceptions, of course, were against St. Louis and Missouri.

It's easy to forget after a blow out that this team has performed quite well in their ten wins. The biggest difference I see is on defense, particularly on the help side, in the way they defend in transition and in our half-court traps. Our offense is improved, too. We're pushing the ball more, penetrating more and generally playing with more discipline and purpose.

Last year's team was a -2.5 in rebounds at the end of the season. Even after getting destroyed on the boards at Mizzou, we're still a +8.5 in rebounds right now. I don't believe we can stay at that level all season. But I don't think we'll be on the minus side again either.

Call it what you want, this is a better team in a lot more ways than they are a wose team than what we saw last year. That's my opinion and I'm sticking to it.

 

[Section31]

However, except for a year or two anomalies under Tubbs I've always seen OU basketball as I see, say, Kansas St football - where we need to do the little things better than our opponents, out-work them, and out-think them because we are not going to traditionally get Kansas or Duke talent all over the court.

You're either very young or are trying to be indifferent.

OU was a top 5 program thru the 80s and into the 90s and ran some of the blue-bloods out of the gym. The only thing that stopped that run Dr. Tom Hill. KS then got them back to, again, beating the crap out of some of those same teams.

OU's hoops program is LIGHT YEARS ahead of KSU's football program - overall.

 

[Sawyer]

You're either very young or are trying to be indifferent.

OU was a top 5 program thru the 80s and into the 90s and ran some of the blue-bloods out of the gym. The only thing that stopped that run Dr. Tom Hill. KS then got them back to, again, beating the crap out of some of those same teams.

OU's hoops program is LIGHT YEARS ahead of KSU's football program - overall.

People forget how awful ksu is. Bill Snyder's had to sell his soul to win there. That program is historically among the worst in the country, and we saw how quickly they started to suck again when he retired the first time.

 

[Section31]

People forget how awful ksu is. Bill Snyder's had to sell his soul to win there. That program is historically among the worst in the country, and we saw how quickly they started to suck again when he retired the first time.

I agree, but that wasn't really my point. MANY OU fans don't really understand what this program has CONSISTENTLY done for the better part of 25 years. There are only a handful of programs that can match what OU's been over that time. ESPECIALLY during the late 80s and early 90s and then the early 2000s.

In other words, my comment wasn't necessarily a shot at KSU, but rather stressing just how good OU's been. No offense to KSU football.

 

[opsooner]

You're either very young or are trying to be indifferent.

OU was a top 5 program thru the 80s and into the 90s and ran some of the blue-bloods out of the gym. The only thing that stopped that run Dr. Tom Hill. KS then got them back to, again, beating the crap out of some of those same teams.

OU's hoops program is LIGHT YEARS ahead of KSU's football program - overall.

I'm old enough to have watched Bliss through today. I missed McCloud and before that. I attended almost all home games and many away games during the Tubbs area. I agree that we had a good (great at times) 10-year run and had some more very good years under Sampson.

Both Tubbs and Sampson, with entirely different styles, dictated play against their opponents and made opponents play us. They did that with some talent but not always and not often super talent. That's why I make a reference to KSt football but there are many other programs I could have picked. I was just thinking about them because they have a bowl game tomorrow and, living here in KC, I know a lot of KSt fans. You are right that our basketball is way ahead of their football program overall.

 

[Northbase]

"Wow, that was worse than anything Capel has thrown out there"

Capel is a much much much better coach, that is why. (T in C)

 

[Section31]

I'm old enough to have watched Bliss through today. I missed McCloud and before that. I attended almost all home games and many away games during the Tubbs area. I agree that we had a good (great at times) 10-year run and had some more very good years under Sampson.

Both Tubbs and Sampson, with entirely different styles, dictated play against their opponents and made opponents play us. They did that with some talent but not always and not often super talent. That's why I make a reference to KSt football but there are many other programs I could have picked. I was just thinking about them because they have a bowl game tomorrow and, living here in KC, I know a lot of KSt fans. You are right that our basketball is way ahead of their football program overall.

Fair enough. I probably jumped the gun. There are a TON of OU fans that don't understand just how good our program is/was. Sorry if I came off wrong.