Originally Posted by
Sooner4FCD
I guess we can write of UCONN too because they lost a tough road game, and UNC too, Duke as well and....well pretty much every team. Everyone has lost tough road games this year.
First of all, welcome to the board.
Yeah, I'd say that we can write UConn off. I don't see them winning it all. Eventually, Thabeet will bump (literally) into someone much bigger and stronger, kinda like the Pitt game, and they'll be done 'cause he picks up his third in the first half.
But, losing a tough road game is one thing. I'm more concerned with the manner in which we lost it. We shot 53% from the line, 22% from the arc, and had an assist/turnover ratio of 2/3, which I would expect from Stevie Wonder, but not from a team with guards who, up until two weeks ago, played like they knew their role and weren't scared of some on-the-ball pressure. Our guards were scared, and, as soon as they were able, they gave the ball up to the post. Once that, and the inevitable double-team, happened, well, you saw the game. Our two "money" forwards, Blake and Patillo, combined for more turnovers than Mizzou's entire team. That's a bit more than "losing a tough road game."
You act like one game is an entire season.
That's because the team ISN'T acting that way. They're (still) acting like they can turn it on at any minute. SOMEONE has to recognize the sense of urgency that will be required for us to advance in the Dance. The NCAA is a one-and-done format still, right? One game IS an entire season...
You are wrong about OSU not being a good basketball team. They've won 6 in a row and are pretty much tournament locks barring two blowouts in their next two games which would still probably leave them in the tournament.
5 of those wins have come against teams in the bottom half of the conference and Tejas shot 31% against OSU, on the road, and still only lost by 9. Slow down before you start mentioning them a paragraph or two after the likes of UConn, UNC, and Duke. Are they a tournament team...? Perhaps. It'll kinda depend on which regionals they are being considered for. Also, when Siena is being considered one of your "big wins," it' s not exactly a ringing endorsement.
Our boys will prove the doubters wrong, don't you worry. It seems like so long since we had a home game with Blake lighting up the floor. Thank goodness the Big 12 tournament is in OKC. If we can win the tourney and get that #1 seed we won't play a team as tough as Mizzou until the elite 8.
I admire your optimism, but, I am saddened to report that I cannot share it with you. Blake hasn't "lit up the floor" in a while because of the play of our guards and their utter inability (yeah you, AJ) to handle tight man pressure without coughing the ball into the post as soon as they cross halfcourt rather than trying to reverse the ball around the perimeter a few times to help Blake shed those double-teams that he will pretty much see a healthy diet of from now until the Kings make him the #1 overall pick in the draft. And, while Mizzou is a good squad, with really good guard play, we should beat them fairly soundly, home or away, with a disciplined offense. THAT is the problem. We don't, and we haven't, had a disciplined offense in a couple of weeks now.
I don't know what kind of personal issues (actually, I DO know, which sucks even worse) the team is going through right now, but it's that time of the year. Shut up and ball. There are no more excuses. There is no time left for, "Aw shucks, we'll turn it up and get it going again, guys - just you wait."
There are two choices for this team right now: Put up. Shut up. There's not a lot of in between wiggle room. I think that, if we don't win the B12T, then we're looking at a 2 seed; MAYBE a 3, and we'll be hanging a Sweet Sixteen banner at the end of the year, wondering about what might have been. Guard play. Guard play. Guard play.
If AJ is a long-shooting, no-passing (to Willie) punk, Willie plays like a demure freshman, and Crocker continues to do his Ralph Ellison thing, not only are we an early out, but an easy one for any teams that are disciplined on offense, and committed to packing 'em in the paint. That's because our offensive frustrations start carrying over to the defensive end of the court, and our guards start gambling too much, and closing out (correctly) too little..
Basically, I'm tired of watching this team CHOOSE not to be the team that they're capable of being. That has nothing to do with optimism; nothing to do with "can they?" It has to do with WILL they... Right now, I'm not comfortable answering that question with a "yes."
But I'm glad to see that some people are. Like I said, welcome aboard.
