It's been a great run thru Non -Conf, winning all 11 games (note still have SEC-Big12 match-up @LSU on Jan 30th). We scored some good wins, @ Memphis, taking down Wisconsin and winning the Diamond Head Tourney. (Win over Nova' in Hawaii, thx rockonsooner) I have some concerns though as we prepare to begin big12 play. Preventing Offensive rebounds: This seems to be an issue, especially against decent size down low. Lot of second chances allow teams to stay close in games. Inconsistent post scoring.(Lattin). Lattin has had a few nice games but it's time for him to become more consistent down low. If this happens it would allow Spangler to venture outside and pull a defender out. This creates lanes to drive for our guards. Inconsistent bench play: I know we have a bunch of freshmen, but someone needs to step up and be that dependable 6th man. I thought it was James early on, but he has disappeared. Buford showed some promise but makes a lot of mistakes. Manyang, this guy is further behind that I would have thought. Cousins and his shooting: Good thing for Woodard against Harvard or we lose that game. Cousins need to find his shot, seems to be trying to hard. He seems to perform much better when he gets to the hole. I am sure others have questions, and look we've played well overall and when this team is on it, I believe they can beat anyone in the country, hands down. Big play starts off rough immediately with ISU in Norman and then 2 days later a trip to Lawrence. No one is going 18-0 in big12 play this year. Far to many good teams to battle on the road. I think 15-3 or even 14-4 wins the conference this year.
All great points, I see 13-5 or 12-6 in conference. Question is come tournament time can we get our best basketball
Don't forget about the 'Nova win....I'm thinking home court advantage will be large this year....KU & ISU in particular...95, your 15-3 or 14-4 looks good for the conference title..... OUr streak shooting makes my heart beat RILLY fast, 'cause we go cold just as fast as we get hot. Lattin wants to score too badly to be effective, he is a beast on shot blocking and the boards, Manyang sure is a project but for the bigs, needs to be Spangler moving out to the arch to open the lanes, as you point out. Cousins, Woodard and Heild...hmmmm..if two of the three can be on in the same game, we'll be tough. 6th man? Doesn't seem to be the same two games in a row... All in all, gonna be a fun year...ifn OU gets hot in March, could be sweeter than 16, more Elite than 8 even.......Boomer!
Good point on the Nova win, forgot to mention that one. Probably the best of the year so far. mookie, to your point, it will be important to pace ourselves thru this schedule. It's going to be brutal. Always want to be playing best in March.
Just two cents....... When the fast break isn't there it seems we still sometimes put up the shot too early instead of working for a better, higher percentage opportunity. Everything else '95 said I agree with. 5-0
Have had a chance to watch this team a good amount this year and to this point Buddy & Spangs are really the only consistent performers. Big 12 is going to be good this year with Kansas, Iowa St and OU.
agree with all points. Scoring - it's Buddy and 1 guy..usually a guard, few times a post. Rebounding - it's Spangler... Like I said in an earlier post... If Buddy and another guard (cousins and woodard) can get 40-50 together, post about 25 between the 3 (manyang, spangler, lattin) then another 10 by bench...we should be good. Cousins, love and hate the guy. Sometimes he does amazing things then he does crap like he did against Harvard... The GOOD is, if one guy or group isn't on (everyone BUT Buddy and Jordan) we can still win a game. Granted Harvard is not the big 12...but against Hawaii if ya told me Lattin was the 2nd leading scorer and we win I'd be surprised. We definitely struggle in half court offense, and the little zone we saw we really struggled. Fun ride..I'm not sure we are a top 5 team...we'll see. I'd say conf we'll go 13-5, maybe 14-4....that might be good enough to win it all. LSU looks tough on paper and they have a stud, but still just a little above .500 and not against great teams.
Good feedback, seems we all pretty much see the same things with this team. This is a good a team we've had since Blake, and actually might be a more like the Hollis Price team. I see more balance, when the balance is there. MSU went down the other night which means if we come out of the ISU/KU games we will be #1, however I am not expecting this to happen. Big12 is tough, probably best Conf in the nation tough, so we will have our ups and downs. I do believe we are a Top10 team for sure, and possibly Top 5. We will challenge for a #1 seed, and as tough as I see the Big12, finishing 2nd could still garner that top seed. There is no dominate team this year, which makes it a year for us to go as far as possible. STAY HEALTHY. Key. Really looking forward to this!! BOOMER!!!
Yup...should b a fun season. We've survived some ragged games...just a few...which is good. If we can get by isu on Sat...which i think we will, sets up big Monday #1 ku vs #2 ou. I dont see ou winning that one but as long as we're competitive I'll b good. Win home games, beat 4 or 5 on the road puts us at 13 or 14 wins.
