My Fiver on WVU's loss to the Sooners in Norman Wednesday night...
1. Pack-line & hard-hedges on the PnR? So, we came out with pack line principles, and we were frustrating Oklahoma to no end. We went up 18-12, OU was turning the ball over recklessly and all was well. Then, OU attempted a pick-n-roll from the top of the key, and inexplicably, we double hard-hedged - both our guy getting screened and our guy guarding the screener jumped up the floor toward the ball-handler. This left the lane wide open, the screener rolled toward the basket, the OU guard hit him with a pass, and in he went for a dunk. On 2 of OU's next 3 possessions, they did the exact same PnR concept, we double hard-hedged each time, and OU got another dunk and a trey out of it. From this point forward, our defense was out of sorts. We did hold OU to "29" in the first half, but our offense was a hot mess as well, so we still trailed by 4. But, the gates had opened, OU had figured out our weakness (unable to guard ball screens) and they just went to town, scoring 48 second half points on their way to a rout. If you're going to play pack line, commit to it. Don't jump the screens. Go under, pack it in, force them to shoot over you. Josh Eilert said it in the presser after Texas, when you play this pack "D", you learn to live with it if the other team is able to get hot hitting long three-point shots.
2. Kerr Kriisa. I'd start limiting his minutes. I know we've invested a ton of money into him, but I'm far more comfortable with Noah Farrakhan out there.
> Kriisa: 27 minutes, 1-5 from field (0-4 from "3"), 2-2 FT, 4 points, 4 assists vs. 4 TOs, 2 rebounds, 0 steals, 4 fouls
> Farrakhan: 23 minutes, 6-11 from field (1-2 from "3"), 1-1 FT, 14 points, 2 assists vs. 1 TO, 0 rebounds, 2 steals, 3 fouls and one nasty posterization dunk. (The Tech called on him was absolute BS)
3. -14 rebounding margin, including betting beat 10-3 on the offensive glass. Goodness gracious...soft. We may need to toy with a big lineup with Farrakhan, Battle, Slazinski, Akok and Suemnick.
4. 19 turnovers for Oklahoma and only 2 fast break points for WVU. How is that even possible? We are allergic to playing fast. The good news is that we have forced 39 turnovers in the past two games since adopting the pack line style of "D". The bad news is that we are seriously lacking in any fast break points, and this has got to change. We are tailor made to score on the break.
5. I was hopeful that we'd steal one in Norman, as I'm just not impressed with Oklahoma at all. However, they completely outplayed us from 18-12 onward in both phases. We have to shore up our "D", and we have to find a way to get out and run a bit on offense...that's where Farrakhan, Battle, Kobe Johnson, Akok and Pat Suemnick will shine. Suemnick in particular could be a hell of a finisher on the break...if we ever get out on one....
1. Pack-line & hard-hedges on the PnR? So, we came out with pack line principles, and we were frustrating Oklahoma to no end. We went up 18-12, OU was turning the ball over recklessly and all was well. Then, OU attempted a pick-n-roll from the top of the key, and inexplicably, we double hard-hedged - both our guy getting screened and our guy guarding the screener jumped up the floor toward the ball-handler. This left the lane wide open, the screener rolled toward the basket, the OU guard hit him with a pass, and in he went for a dunk. On 2 of OU's next 3 possessions, they did the exact same PnR concept, we double hard-hedged each time, and OU got another dunk and a trey out of it. From this point forward, our defense was out of sorts. We did hold OU to "29" in the first half, but our offense was a hot mess as well, so we still trailed by 4. But, the gates had opened, OU had figured out our weakness (unable to guard ball screens) and they just went to town, scoring 48 second half points on their way to a rout. If you're going to play pack line, commit to it. Don't jump the screens. Go under, pack it in, force them to shoot over you. Josh Eilert said it in the presser after Texas, when you play this pack "D", you learn to live with it if the other team is able to get hot hitting long three-point shots.
2. Kerr Kriisa. I'd start limiting his minutes. I know we've invested a ton of money into him, but I'm far more comfortable with Noah Farrakhan out there.
> Kriisa: 27 minutes, 1-5 from field (0-4 from "3"), 2-2 FT, 4 points, 4 assists vs. 4 TOs, 2 rebounds, 0 steals, 4 fouls
> Farrakhan: 23 minutes, 6-11 from field (1-2 from "3"), 1-1 FT, 14 points, 2 assists vs. 1 TO, 0 rebounds, 2 steals, 3 fouls and one nasty posterization dunk. (The Tech called on him was absolute BS)
3. -14 rebounding margin, including betting beat 10-3 on the offensive glass. Goodness gracious...soft. We may need to toy with a big lineup with Farrakhan, Battle, Slazinski, Akok and Suemnick.
4. 19 turnovers for Oklahoma and only 2 fast break points for WVU. How is that even possible? We are allergic to playing fast. The good news is that we have forced 39 turnovers in the past two games since adopting the pack line style of "D". The bad news is that we are seriously lacking in any fast break points, and this has got to change. We are tailor made to score on the break.
5. I was hopeful that we'd steal one in Norman, as I'm just not impressed with Oklahoma at all. However, they completely outplayed us from 18-12 onward in both phases. We have to shore up our "D", and we have to find a way to get out and run a bit on offense...that's where Farrakhan, Battle, Kobe Johnson, Akok and Pat Suemnick will shine. Suemnick in particular could be a hell of a finisher on the break...if we ever get out on one....
