YES!!! NCAA Game 3 thread - Sooners vs Spartans

Unless we make an adjustment and rebound...yeah I think it's over. I hope I'm wrong

 

See? No rebounding

 

Well, we're going to have to get some Sooner Magic in the last 3 min from
Buddy, 'cause Cousins hasn't been worth squat offensively. Geeez us, O/board for them. Last thing we needed.

 

Because our big doubled on the perimeter.

 

Been that way all game. No adjustment whatsoever

 

We need a stop, and a good offensive poss

 

We should be fouling them every chance we get.

 

GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH is Spangler the only guy we have that can rebound??

 

Apparently

 

The shooting alone was pathetic. But giving them chance after chance on the boards was just inexcusable.

 

Didn't deserve it. When nobody in the paint has the ability to create their own shot, you are damn lucky to get to the Sweet Sixteen. Funny thing is, this team could've easily snuck into the Final Four with the way the bracket opened up, but it just wasn't in the cards.

Fouling with 1:20 left in a one possession game was downright idiotic too.

 

We got thoroughly out-husled by MSU. They fought much harder for loose balls and rebounds. That was the story of the game.

 

About the biggest disappointment besides us getting bent over in the 2nd, was no Geico chicken/Roy O music ad to keep us from flipping channels during these yawner ads and these dumbazz "Buick wi-fi ads like anyone with half a brain would choose a new vehicle solely because it had wi-fi. Hell, I'd probably shy away from it if all things were equal because it probably would make it easier to hack the door unlock, hack the start up and steal it.
Oh well, I don't know whether to lay the blame on the SAEs or the Nazi art bad vibes, but it just wasn't in the cards tonight. Agree, that we probably won't get an easier draw to a possible final 4 than this year.

 

This is just painful. Absolutely painful.

Not even so much that there is any shame in losing a dogfight like that to a team like MSU. Izzo is a great coach, Trice is a great player, and their whole team fought hard. It's just so hard to swallow would could have been. If we had a guy like Trice, we would have walked into the Final 4 so easily that we'd have had been so puffed up with confidence that we would have expected to take down Kentucky if it came to it. Shoot, any guard that could create half-court offense would have pushed us to the Final 4.

We played heroically on defense, but Izzo stuck it to Kruger late. I'm almost not even disappointed in Kruger. It was like a professional going after an amateur. There was nothing Kruger could do. Kruger didn't really do anything wrong; Izzo just put together a masterpiece (even for his standards). It was incredible the way he forced us into a half-court game, was able to draw up plays to get shooters like Trice open late, and was able to draw Spangler to the perimeter both of the last two possessions (which allowed the game-clinching offensive boards).

Now it's time to regroup. The only player we have to replace is Thomas, but as we saw last year, replacing one player can be more challenging than it appears. The loss of Clark decimated our offense beyond what anybody would have expected this year. Now we have to replace our only low-post threat, and when you couple that with an already terrible half-court offense, it's easy to see reasons for concern. Let's hope Buford is the real deal, because Final Four opportunities don't come around often at places like OU, and I can't stand to see us blow it in back to back years. I'm normally against one and done players at a place like OU, but I think this coming year would be the time to grab one. Hopefully some of those big-time recruits that are still undecided were watching.

 

This one hurts.

I still think this was a successful year, but when we lose to a team that a) we are better than, and b) had several opportunities to beat, then it hurts. In the end, there were a lot of factors that led to this loss, but the biggest one was our inability to make baskets down the stretch. I give a lot of credit to Izzo, he made several adjustments (late in the first half, then again in the second) that we couldn't over come. That's what makes Izzo so good, and he's been doing this long enough and seen enough tournament basketball to know what to do, and when to do it...not that Lon is bad, he just isn't Izzo.

I thought Buddy played better tonight than he had in either of the first two games, but it didn't feel like anyone else stepped up. We also struggled on offense (specifically in the second half), we were either missing on shots, or ended up putting up bad shots. I don't know how much of that was just our guys not executing, or Michigan States good play, but it doesn't really matter.

I'm still happy about the season overall, and proud of what this team accomplished. Thomas is the only real loss that we'll have to replace, and between Lattin and Manyang (the JUCO kid), we should be able to cover his departure (not that either player will be as good, but I think one of the two can be productive). Lot's to look forward to next year, and it was nice to still be interested in the tournament past the first game.

 

I pretty much agree with the assessment, but I'm not a fan of this part. I've looked on other boards, and it seems to be almost a consensus that Lattin (or possibly Manyang...we don't know much about him other than he's huge) will be inserted into the starting lineup alongside Spangler, but I just don't have high hopes for that. Defensively, that makes us even better, but I don't think we can handle another downgrade of the half-court offense. Lattin + Spangler could be the worst low-post offensive duo in the conference.

If we're going to be better next year, I think Buford is going to have to step in at the 4, and we'll probably need to relegate Spangler to the bench in order to couple him with Lattin. This team would still be dancing if it had Cam, and I think Buford may have some similarities. Of course, if Buddy bolts, we may need Buford to step to take his place on the perimeter.

The cool thing is that, despite the fact that we've been loading up a run in this coming season for a few years, we look like we'll have a promising group of players even after Buddy and Isaiah leave. Woodard, Lattin, and Buford should be a formidable trio in 2 years if they're still around, and hopefully Odome and/or James pans out. James looks like he could be in the mold of Cousins and Thomas, and I'm hoping Odomes' reputation as a shooter is accurate, and that he can take Booker's minutes. Kruger might not be the guy to finish it for us, but he's done a good job of rebuilding us to respectability.

 

Just got back from the Dome and some quick thoughts from pretty good seats. Buddy didn't play well but also didn't play poorly, forced some shots but that happens when the rest of your team doesn't do much. I like Ryan Spangler as a person but he is so over matched athletically that he doesn't belong on the floor as much as he is. Woodard is a Jekyll and Hyde still, the pass he threw away late in the game is inexcusable. And oh Bong Hit Cousins, looked lost once again, driving into no mans land and taking crazy shots. And the best for last Frank Booker, just absolutely horribly from all facets of the game.

Good news is if they can get a solid post offensive option next year, more consistent play from the guards and better option than Spangler in the starting 5, they could be very good.

 

This game went exactly how I thought it would. I was surprised how well we started but I knew the massive dry spell was just a matter of time. Oh well, I enjoyed the vat of fermented gravy I made after we got our first post season win in the big 12 tourney. Good season.

 

And there is hope with some hard work and one addition this team could be really good next year.

BTW since I'm actually awake now Michigan State's game plan is exactly what is wrong with college basketball.

 

MSU is exactly what's RIGHT about college basketball.