After watching Oklahoma's last two losses in basketball I can't tell if this team is uninspired or if they have the basketball equivalent of A.D.D. where they get absolutely lose focus for long stretches of time. I thought that maybe VCU was an exception because it was the biggest game to be played at VCU in...well...forever. The Rams were playing against their former coach and caught lightening in a bottle from an absolutely electric atmosphere. It was a bit of an anomaly from the way the season would shape up, right? Wrong! After watching OU just get dominated by San Diego its obvious that there are some glaring issues with this team that Jeff Capel is going to have to deal with pretty quick if they want to be competitive this season.
Offense - Oklahoma's first option is Willie Warren but it appears that he's also their second and third options and possibly even the fourth and fifth. I'm not for sure how many plays OU actually ran against San Diego but it appeared as if the offense consisted of dumping the ball down low for a turnover or having one of the guards jack up a shot from wherever they were on the floor while everyone else watches.
Maybe its youth or perhaps too many high school super stars trying to click on the same college team but something just isn't clicking in the offense. The post game is ineffective and the only guard who seems to be able to create a shot is Warren. To describe Oklahoma's offense as stagnate is a bit of an understatement but right now it doesn't appear to be going anywhere. All Oklahoma players not named Willie Warren scored a combined 34 points while Warren score 30 himself but it was on a 7-20 shooting night. As a team OU was 18-68 from the floor which tells us all we need to know about how the offense is working right now.
Transition Defense - Coming off a rebound, an inbounds play or a turnover the Toreros had little resistance from Oklahoma's defense while in transition.
Perimeter Defense - San Diego didn't necessarily blister the nets from three-point range but the eight shots they did make came at crucial times in the game and were often uncontested. The problem is that the defense gets sucked in somehow and team that has good ball rotation, not great ball rotation just good, can easily find an open man on the perimeter.
Rebounding - Despite having a size advantage the Sooners were beat on the glass 39-30 by San Diego. Most alarming was just 15 rebounds for Oklahoma when they missed 32 shots. That leads to a lot of one and done trips down the floor. Tiny Gallon is 6-9 and Orlando Allen is 6-10. When you have a size advantage and don't win the battle of the boards then the word soft comes to mind.
Hustle - I can understand new/young guys trying to learn their roles in a new system and adjusting to a higher level of competition. What I can't understand is standing flat footed on defense and a ball hitting the floor with no bodies on the floor chasing after it. That's a hustle issue!
If you didn't stay up and watch the OU/San Diego game then don't let the final score fool you. It wasn't as close as the 76-64 final. The Sooners were beaten soundly by a team that was less athletic but more disciplined and cohesive as one unit.
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