Game Thread: Zags v Sooners

[S.PadreIsl.Sooner]

Tip-off is getting close.

Boomer!!!!!

[S.PadreIsl.Sooner]

Just started. Says by 2, but 3 quick fouls on the Saga.

[S.PadreIsl.Sooner]

Zags!

[S.PadreIsl.Sooner]

10-5 Zags. 4 fouls on them. None on us.

[SoonerorLater]

I'm reserving judgement right now.

[S.PadreIsl.Sooner]

We look really green. We can't get a shot vs their halfcourt defense. 12-5 bad guys.

[S.PadreIsl.Sooner]

18-13. A mini-run by us.

[S.PadreIsl.Sooner]

Sooners are poor shooters. Pretty much sums everything up.

[OUster]

I'm stuck in holiday land...what's the score!?

[SoonerorLater]

OU defense A- / OU Offense D

[S.PadreIsl.Sooner]

27-21. Late first half.

[SoonerorLater]

Without better shooting we don't have the horsepower to stay with these guys especially inside.

[S.PadreIsl.Sooner]

Another turnover in the halfcourt set.

29-21.

[S.PadreIsl.Sooner]

Sooners are a long way from being good. Way too inexperienced.

[S.PadreIsl.Sooner]

32-22 half. Ugh!

[Soonerjeepman]

Sooners are poor shooters. Pretty much sums everything up.

no doubt, we made a run got it to 3, but bad shots/missed easy shots...

[Soonerjeepman]

figured this is a loss but wished we were closer. We have no size, we still have no sets in the half court offense it looks like. Pass it around, maybe throw inside, if you have a shot take it. Ah well, hopefully we can get a few recruits.

[SoonerorLater]

My thoughts after watching a half of BB against a good opponent is that we still have some work to do. Our inside presence is non-existent.

[BoomerSooner123]

Can Lon make adjustments that beef up the shooting %?

[S.PadreIsl.Sooner]

Doubtful. He looks determined to get experience for the freshmen. That may be the best path for us to becoming better. Our shooters are missing wide open looks repeatedly.

[SoonerorLater]

I think Kruger is going 10 deep to keep up the defensive pressure, Without that this game would already be looking like a blowout.

[S.PadreIsl.Sooner]

I Like the experience gained by 10 deep. But its gonna be hard to win when you shoot 26% for a half.

[Soonerjeepman]

wow...we are getting smoked...good WAIT TIL THEY ARE UP BY 20 time out....geeze

[fadada1]

our play is about as inspiring as the crowd is big. the phantom menace is on spike... maybe that will be more entertaining.

ugh.

[OU_Sooners75]

Never once thought we would beat Zaga, but from what I am seeing the OU team is just playing pathetic.

Not boxing out. Not trying to penetrate to the paint, and relying solely on jump shots.

They have got to take it to their opposition and stop trying to shoot nothing but long jump shots.

The defense the first half was pretty good but bad so far the first 3 minutes of the second half.

[Soonerjeepman]

sorry, I don't think OU will get to 20 wins...I had said 21 I think. Our best shooter is a freshman. Clark is NOT good.

Ah well, hopefully OU can get to the NIT. Yes, I know, this is just one game, but if you look at the others so far, not very dominating.

[Eielson]

Not impressed with Lon.

[OU_Sooners75]

Again another shot without getting the ball to the paint. Stop at the free throw line and chunk it up.

This team will fall short of even my modest expectations if they can't learn how to drive the lane and look for better shots.

[Soonerjeepman]

it will be interesting to see how the Zags do against the rest of the Big12....already beat WV, pretty good. Prob beat OU by 20+, play BU, KSU and OSU.

[OU_Sooners75]

Not impressed with Lon.

I have been and still am.

The guy was hand a very bleak lineup. The freshmen we have will be good. The guys coming in next year will be good. But this year we still have to play with a lot of guys that wouldn't be starting for D2 schools.

[OU_Sooners75]

Not impressed with Lon.

I have been and still am.

The guy was hand a very bleak lineup. The freshmen we have will be good. The guys coming in next year will be good. But this year we still have to play with a lot of guys that wouldn't be starting for D2 schools.

[Soonerjeepman]

Not impressed with Lon.

I hate to say it, but I'm seeing that as well. Basketball is a simple game. I know 50% is about talent, especially in college, we don't have it yet. But this is the 2nd time the team has either been up by 20 and lost 13/14 points or down by 8 and then 20...WITHOUT a time out. I really don't understand that.

[Soonerjeepman]

I agree with our talent. when 2 of our starters from last yr are replaced by a fr and transfer that is not good news. ah well...

[Soonerjeepman]

luv Ftiz's attitude but he just isn't a true post. prob 6'6 at best.

[SoonerorLater]

There is no way we keep up with Gonzaga inside. OU would have had to turn this into a full court game to have a chance. Combine that with poor shooting and you have the recipe for a blowout.

[Soonerjeepman]

wow...25...what a ****tynight...can't pass, can't shoot, can't block out...

[Blue]

Garbage. Hopefully they will get better.

Besides the two years of Blake its been a long decade for Sooner Bball. I hate you Jeff Capel.

[Soonerjeepman]

at least the guys don't seem to be giving up...not making great decisions, but not giving up.

[Soonerjeepman]

actually I hate KS...if he didn't cheat he might not have left...maybe he would have for a basketball school...but at least not on probation, along with JC...hopefully Krug can get a winning attitude and some games

[OU_Sooners75]

This team has only played 4 games with each other.

We are replacing 2 starters with freshmen. And those starters are on the bench this year. We have 3 freshmen in our first 6. We have a Junior transfer playing/starting.

This team should get better while the season progresses. Didn't think we would win tonight. But they damn sure aren't giving up. Under Capel they would have thrown in the towel already.

[Soonerjeepman]

true about giving up, but I'm seeing some real issues with D, overplay and not being able to work the pick and roll, defensively.

I know we are really young. I hope he can keep the young guys with a positive attitude. I do commend Krug for starting those guys if they are better than Fitz/Grooms/Neal. It will be a rough learning season. The prob is big time recruits MOSTLY want to come to good programs that are already winning. We'll see. I didn't think OU would win tonight, but getting blown out is not what I expected.

[Soonerjeepman]

wow...25 pts and we looked like CRAP...ah well, long season.

[Eielson]

I have been and still am.

The guy was hand a very bleak lineup. The freshmen we have will be good. The guys coming in next year will be good. But this year we still have to play with a lot of guys that wouldn't be starting for D2 schools.

This isn't a lineup devoid of talent. Pledger and Osby would either be a starter, or get starter-like minutes on nearly every basketball team OU has ever had. M'Baye was picked as the Big XII newcomer of the year before he ever stepped on the court. Clark looked like he was gonna be a stud under Capel. He has since floundered under Kruger. Our starting lineup from last year returned and only two of them are starting this year. OU doesn't have a talent issue.

[SoonerorLater]

I guess there is really no point for me to whine about this. It's just a talent deficit. We don't have one player who would be starting for an Elite Eight Team. Probabaly not a sweet sixteen team.

[BoomerSooner123]

I never thought I'd lose interest in OU basketball until all those McD All Americans quit trying. My faith is still rattled from that tragedy. I'm still hopeful. Bad shooting game, really bad. But I can't wait to see how they respond with WV.

[OU_Sooners75]

Mju
This isn't a lineup devoid of talent. Pledger and Osby would either be a starter, or get starter-like minutes on nearly every basketball team OU has ever had. M'Baye was picked as the Big XII newcomer of the year before he ever stepped on the court. Clark looked like he was gonna be a stud under Capel. He has since floundered under Kruger. Our starting lineup from last year returned and only two of them are starting this year. OU doesn't have a talent issue.

There are quite a few players that get minutes that wouldn't start at very many D2 schools. Yes our new starting lineup is decent but pretty darn young or new. Hell 3 of the 5 starters Capel didn't even recruit. One trasnsferred in his last year here. Pledger is okay. But in most of OUs history he wouldn't be a starter. Especially under Sampson or Tubbs.

There is a talent issue, just not with our top 6 players. The other 4-5 coming off the bench is where the weaknesses come in.

This isn't a Kruger issue. This is youth and still trying to get the personnel that work in his system.

Ill take Krugers track record and trust him to get OU basketball turned back around in the nest couple of years over the ineptness of what we had under Capel.

[OUmillenium]

Lon subs a lot in these early season tourneys to save legs as well as to get a look at different lineups and see what young guys can do. They will settle into a solid starting 5 with a lot better depth than we have had in years.

Sooners shot terribly tonight and had lots of good looks in 1st half. Fitz and Oz even missed free throws to show how out of it we were offensively.

We can still win 20 games. Once again, way more depth than we have had in years. Most of our offense was secondary fast break stuff. Didn't hardly run any half court sets for pledger like we will in the future.

[SoonerorLater]

If our starters weren't bad enough tonight the bench was almost non-existent. I can't remember seeing a box score where the bench contributed so little. Fitzgerald, Clark and Neal they accounted for 7 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 of 3 from the free throw line between all 3 of them. To go along with 2 turnovers and 5 fouls.

[tycat947]

Mju

There are quite a few players that get minutes that wouldn't start at very many D2 schools. Yes our new starting lineup is decent but pretty darn young or new. Hell 3 of the 5 starters Capel didn't even recruit. One trasnsferred in his last year here. Pledger is okay. But in most of OUs history he wouldn't be a starter. Especially under Sampson or Tubbs.

There is a talent issue, just not with our top 6 players. The other 4-5 coming off the bench is where the weaknesses come in.

This isn't a Kruger issue. This is youth and still trying to get the personnel that work in his system.

Ill take Krugers track record and trust him to get OU basketball turned back around in the nest couple of years over the ineptness of what we had under Capel.

I agree. LK is getting this young team ready for the Big 12 season.

[Eielson]

There are quite a few players that get minutes that wouldn't start at very many D2 schools.

This is definitely not true.

Gonzaga is clearly a great team. They may even be underrated. We can still have a good season, but I thought we were past these days. That was tough to watch. We have new guys, so I'm not going to say this is a coaching issue yet, but the talent is there. I'm not saying fire Lon, but I'm not that impressed to this point, either.

[S.PadreIsl.Sooner]

This team has only played 4 games with each other.

We are replacing 2 starters with freshmen. And those starters are on the bench this year. We have 3 freshmen in our first 6. We have a Junior transfer playing/starting.

This team should get better while the season progresses. Didn't think we would win tonight. But they damn sure aren't giving up. Under Capel they would have thrown in the towel already.


Word!

[TopDog8025]

Mju

There are quite a few players that get minutes that wouldn't start at very many D2 schools. Yes our new starting lineup is decent but pretty darn young or new. Hell 3 of the 5 starters Capel didn't even recruit. One trasnsferred in his last year here. Pledger is okay. But in most of OUs history he wouldn't be a starter. Especially under Sampson or Tubbs.

There is a talent issue, just not with our top 6 players. The other 4-5 coming off the bench is where the weaknesses come in.

This isn't a Kruger issue. This is youth and still trying to get the personnel that work in his system.

Ill take Krugers track record and trust him to get OU basketball turned back around in the nest couple of years over the ineptness of what we had under Capel.

LOL. I think our top 6 are all Big 12 caliber players and after that everyone that sees major minutes is at least DI caliber. Are you really telling me that Cam Clark, Andrew Fitzgerald, and Sam Grooms would not start at D-II schools? Give me a break. Gonzaga is a top 10 team with realistic final four hopes. I never expected us to win this game. I expected us to keep it a little closer, but still I don't see any reason to panic. I still think this team can certainly make the NIT and will probably be on the NCAA bubble come March.

[Soonerjeepman]

obviously our guys prob would all start D2 schools...BUT are they big12/top 20 talent? prob not. Cam has done nothing for 3 yrs, so he gets a great jam once in awhile. Not sure what the deal is but I just see it from him. Neal, not seeing it either, but again, I think Krug was just looking for bodies his first yr. Hell there were times we only had 7/8 guys even in a uniform under capel.

I'm sure Krug will get the guys in he wants in the next 2 yrs. I do see lots of potential in the 3 Fr he got.

[SoonerorLater]

The reason Fitzgerald, Clark, Neal and Grooms are not starting is they just aren't that good. In the case of Neal he really isn't a DIV I talented player. Fitzgerald has his moments but his skill set is limited, same with Grooms. Clark has never achieved what it was thought he should.

Of the starters only Pledger and maybe Osby would get significant playing time at a top 10-15 program. I'll reserve judgement on the Freshmen since four games isn't much. My take is so far that none of these guys look like game changers.

To their credit this team has played hard but they just lack the horsepower to stay with good teams. To tell you the truth I didn't see a lot of talent differential between OU and UTA.