Sonners vs. La Tech

[SoonerorLater]

Looks like we have a little more spring in our step tonight.

[birddog]

We lost?

[birddog]

La tech has a lot of size and athleticism. Last I saw was 77·71 with 3 mins left.

[Eielson]

Their ball. We're down 2 with 2.2 seconds. It's in OT, and it's basically over if they inbound it.

[Eielson]

1.1 seconds left, and their best shooter at the line for 2.

[Eielson]

We lost 102-98 in OT.

[SoonerorLater]

La Tech just looked like the better team tonight.

[Eielson]

I'm not concerned that we lost. LA Tech is a good mid-major, and it's a rough time to play. I was disappointed in how sloppy we looked at times, though. Woodard had a lot of bad turnovers, and we had way too many defensive lapses to consistently compete in the Big XII. Hamilton carved us up all second half/OT, and that's just not acceptable. I really like Woodard, and I think he'll bounce back. I'd be surprised if he isn't our best player next year, but he clearly has some growing to do (which is to be expected from a true freshman). Clark is our best player right now and is going to be All-Big XII, but I don't think he's enough of a killer to make a run at first team. He's going to have to be big for us to make a run at the postseason. Spangler was great for us tonight, and I loved his intensity on the boards late in the game. He's been great for us against mid-majors, but I don't think he'll have as much success against the bigger teams in the Big XII.

I think these next couple weeks are going to be frustrating for us. Between tonight and our next five, I'd be pretty surprised to do any better than 2-4, and even that's going to be a challenge. We'll know a lot more about this team very soon (this weekend against Texas being a big measuring stick for us), but I'm not sure this team is a big threat to make the NCAA's. I'm not going to say it's impossible, but our defense is really going to have to pick it up. Having NBA-like scoring games against mid-majors is not going to cut it. We should be pretty good offensively, though.

[Soonerjeepman]

yes, agree with Eielson, they didn't take care of the ball very well. Lots of bad passes. LA Tech was very athletic. Def looks like we allow them to drive, swiping at the ball from behind or wanting help...didn't go so well.

I'd be surprised with a 2-4 record. It'll be a tough stretch.

[8timechamps]

I've been a little concerned about this game for a couple of weeks. I had the chance to watch LaTech a couple of times, and I was afraid there would be a match-up problem. In the end, OU is a better squad, but not tonight.

Turnovers killed us tonight. That's something that we've struggled with some, but seem to have been able to keep it contained. Not so much tonight. Just a pretty ugly game all the way around.

Oh well, in a weird way, I am kinda glad we lost this one. First, it's not going to be a "bad" loss at the end of the year (LaTech should win their conference (CUSA), or come really close). Then, I think this team was due for a loss in a close one. I'd rather it happen now, and keep that taste fresh in their mouths, and not in conference play. We are already facing a HUGE challenge right out of the conference gate, so maybe this is what the doctor ordered.

In any event, going 11-2 in OOC play is pretty damn good. Now, if we can play consistent (the way we know we can play), then would should be in good shape at the end of the year.

[Temujin]

1. We were extremely sloppy on defense all night long.
2. We took really bad shots.
3. We got ripped off at least 4 times in the 2nd half by bad calls.

The bad calls were enough to sink us, but we can't play like that in conference play. I think the reason we took some bad shots is because we've been attacking the basket the last few games and getting tons of free throws.

All that said, I like the way this team plays most of the time.


Having NBA-like scoring games against mid-majors is not going to cut it. We should be pretty good offensively, though.

15 years ago, I'd agree with this assessment. But the game has changed a LOT since the 90s and these days I'd put a much higher premium on guys that can score and/or create for the team - playmakers. I'd much rather see a team that can consistently make shots than a grind-it-out defense. Gone are the days where you can hold a team to 40 points...now you need to score and make just enough plays on both sides of the ball to win. I think we have a reasonable combination of both...a couple of guys that can make a play on defense and several who can make plays on offense. But tonight we just weren't smart.

[jdsooner]

We lost a game we should have won. It didn't help that Tech shot 14 free shots in overtime! Unbelievable! We led early and then gave up a 15 point lead in less than 5 minutes to end the first half. After tying the score with a buzzer beater 3 to go into overtime, we got down by four before fighting back to go up by four. Spangler shot an unsuccessful 3 with us up by one late in overtime. BAD IDEA--What was he thinking?? We were outhustled and played flat. Kruger should have used some time outs late in the first half to stop the bleeding. It seemed that he was flat as well. Jordan Woodard had a horrible game and Buddy Hield got in foul trouble and fouled out.
We are not as good as I thought we were and we are weak on defense.

[Eielson]

15 years ago, I'd agree with this assessment. But the game has changed a LOT since the 90s and these days I'd put a much higher premium on guys that can score and/or create for the team - playmakers. I'd much rather see a team that can consistently make shots than a grind-it-out defense. Gone are the days where you can hold a team to 40 points...now you need to score and make just enough plays on both sides of the ball to win. I think we have a reasonable combination of both...a couple of guys that can make a play on defense and several who can make plays on offense. But tonight we just weren't smart.

I agree with some of what you're saying. There are going to be several games where we give up 70-80 points no matter what players we have, and we still have to be able to win those if we want to be a great team. However, consistently giving up 90 points is not acceptable no matter who we're playing, and especially not against mid-majors like Tulsa, LA Tech, and UT-Arlington. In our 13 games, we've only held our opponent to less than 80 four times, and we've played some pretty awful teams. That's very concerning.

[badger]

It's my fault dudes. They only did well when I flipped the channel, but they kept coming back, so I kept coming back to watch.

My gawd what an awesome shot to send it to OT. When couldn't I have just left it at that and let the team win. Why did I have to tune in at the end of the first half (when Texas-Oregon was at half), why why why

[Boomer.....]

We have got to play better defense! La Tech was scoring/driving at will. It seemed like a miracle when we got a defensive stop.

Too bad Cam's buzzer beater will get overshadowed by the loss.

[SoonerorLater]

I have to give LA Tech credit for a good win. For the most part they defended the paint pretty well. Most of our good work inside came off of O rebounds. They were very effective in cutting down OU dribble penetration. OU loves to push the ball up quickly. La Tech was pretty much able to cut off any type of fast break points. Add to that our perimeter defense just wasn't very good. When you're already down one guard who provides some length on the outside and you have your other guards in foul trouble the whole game then this is the kind of results that you get.

The way Kruger likes to run up tempo OU really needs to go nine deep. Ten even better. Right now we go legitimately seven deep. Going forward into conference play what is going to be a real problem is depth at the 1 & 2 spots and a lack of size inside. Spangler has been good so far but he is going to need some help in the paint. It's just asking too much for him to play 30 minutes per game and try guard the real back to the bucket big men off of the blocks.

[Soonerjeepman]

yes, Cam's shot was unbelievable...

Perimeter D was horrible...some bad shot choices LATE in the game.

S/L yes, we definitely NEED to develop 9/10 guys. Guess, I've always wondered why back-ups don't get much more time....you can put them in for 2-3 minutes every 10 minutes or so. (i know the "reasons" but still think it puts stress on reg guys...Spangler won't last the whole season doing this)

I remember last year Kruger not calling a TO during several games when the opposition was going on a pretty good run. Seems to be his angle.

[Temujin]

I agree with some of what you're saying. There are going to be several games where we give up 70-80 points no matter what players we have, and we still have to be able to win those if we want to be a great team. However, consistently giving up 90 points is not acceptable no matter who we're playing, and especially not against mid-majors like Tulsa, LA Tech, and UT-Arlington. In our 13 games, we've only held our opponent to less than 80 four times, and we've played some pretty awful teams. That's very concerning.

You're right, and I agree. I probably should clarify that I wasn't particularly disagreeing with you, but trying to say that I'm actually not as concerned about our defense as I normally would be. I mean, yes, our defense has been terrible, and it definitely needs to get better. But you can teach good athletes to improve their defense. What you can't do is teach guys to make plays in crunch-time.

Our biggest problem last night was that we took bad shots. Because of our lack of size, we commit our guards forward to try and get offensive rebounds. That works really well we're shooting a good percentage and the opponent is surprised and doesn't box out properly. But last night our bad shots led to lots of misses, which led to long rebounds that got LT out and running and we couldn't get back quickly enough. The games where we do allow lots of points, it tends to be when we take bad shots and/or turn the ball over. And we did that a lot last night.

But overall I like what this team can do. We're very difficult to stop on offense, even when we do take bad shots. I really think we're headed in a fun direction.

[8timechamps]

We miss Hornbeak's minutes. Badly.

He may not be a big scoring contributor, but the kid is a solid ball handler, and plays really good defense. More importantly, he spells the starters and doesn't give much of a drop-off overall. I hate to say we are one player away, but I think that did make a difference against LaTech.

Like I said, this LaTech team has played pretty damn good this year, and should make a run for the CUSA title. Not a "bad" loss, but a loss is still a loss. And this one hurt more because we could have/should have won.

[Soonerjeepman]

and they seemed to hit every frickin 3 they shot...and we didn't