Post season thoughts

[dmarsh1985]

1. Hate that the season ended the way it did...on our home floor...playing some of the worst we have all year- reminded me of the OSU game (unfortunately that one was also on national TV)

2. Discouraged about what this means for the future. Trying not to put too much on one game, but its hard not to see the HUGE gaps that exist in our team with the returning nucleus. Guys can improve- some already have made great strides- here's hoping for a terrific off-season.

3. Roster turnover will be interesting. Really wanted to see more of Dew last night- hope to see lots in the future. Noticed that Micah was not on the bench. Coach really likes 7 guys. Those 7 guys have holes. When Woodard is off, our team is off. This is true of most teams. When your big time player plays poorly, the rest of your team hurts. Maybe another offensive shooting threat will take some pressure off of James?

4. Wright is a 4. He was a 4 in high school, he is a face-up 4 now, period. No low post moves.

5. Guys play with energy and effort- can't fault them for lack of trying. They are tough on themselves and want to improve.

6. Recruiting is the life-blood of the program. Due to injuries and coaching changes, we have a junior heavy class. This is not going to change too much going into next year. TU has a lot to offer, hope that the coaching staff can showcase this well. Upon reflection, Woj/Cason targeted some good talent and landed several guys to TU that would be welcomed additions- but the bench coaching was terrible and they never landed a shooter. Manning's bench coaching was surprisingly good, but seems that his recruiting was near dreadful. Can Haith put it all together?

7. Feeling glum today and glad to talk it out with fellow Hurricane lovers!

 

[goldenhurricane2]

All good points - I think we're all feeling a little down today after what we witnessed last night, but I'm not ready to throw in the towel on Haith. His quote in the paper this morning made me feel a little better in regard to talent level. I'm sure there will be some changes made before we take the floor next season, based on that quote alone.
Posted from Rivals Mobile

 

[lawpoke87]

Worried about recruiting. Dew played less and less down the stretch at a time when you would expect a freshman to be gaining confidence and experience. Littlejohn played 90 seconds mid-season, burned his shirt, and is now MIA.

Birt shot poorly down the stretch and was a role player for a JUCO team. Like much of our roster he has holes in his game. He can help us if he can come off the bench and hit some shots. Jury is out. Taplin is a volume shooter. His stats look good at first blush but he shoots under 50% from the field and 35% from three. These are not the percentages one would expect from a D1 player (Jolly shot 65% and 54% from three last year fwiw). I don't expect him to get much PT next year. Can he come in and adjust his game from a volume shooter to someone who plays a role?

Aside from Dew these guys all had very limited offer sheets likely for the reasons stated. Dew's offers were good early but largely disappeared by his senior season. Don't get me wrong, I've seen glimpses from Dew I really like. Disappointed with the lack of progression during the year and the fact that Haith seemed to trust him less and less.

Can we bring a few guys in that can get PT and contributed next season? It was hard to find minutes for newcomers this year. Birt will get a chance because has shown he can catch and shoot...something we need. Others?
This post was edited on 3/24 10:11 AM by lawpoke87

 

[I.I.]

Nice job dmarsh.... still collecting my thoughts and waiting for the final season stats to come out. I will add that when Juice has a defensive guy tied to his waist for 40 minutes he is not very productive. Most coaches would set specific screens for a shooter like that and not make him get his own shot. He never had a good outside look last night.

 

[libertychamp]

Lets look at our 11 losses
1 to d2 team
2 to p5 teams
8 to mid majors

We should be league favorites in the AAC
with 8 returning starters

 

[dmarsh1985]

We really need the conference to fair better with the out-of-conference schedule next year. I didn't feel that the scheduling was the issue, just win some of the games! We already seem to have 9 games set and none look SUPER easy.Please correct me if I'm wrong.
@ OU/ @ OSU/ @Creighton/ @Missouri St./ vs. Wichita/ vs. ORU/ vs. ULAR/ 3 games @Paradise vs.Depaul or South Carolina or Florida State/ Do we travel to Louisiana?

Win 1/2 and we're pretty good...bad trend I'm worried about...WE LOST AT HOME! We played better on the road, especially down the stretch. If we win our home games this past season, we might still be playing. We lost at home to OU/SEOSU/SMU/Cinci/Murray- just would think that the home cooking would get us a couple more victories than it did- even our home rims did not like us

 

[goldenhurricane2]

I believe our series with creighton is over.
Posted from Rivals Mobile

 

[TU Man]

We are what we thought we were.

A middle of the pack NIT team. A squad full of juniors should be better than that.

With no help coming in as of yet.

 

[hotterthanyourhusbandTU]

One of my favorite TU teams to root for...very flawed, but passion-filled.



Mostly played excellent defense...primarily out of necessity.Very athleticGood ball-handling skills at the guard position (few turnovers/game)Optically, the worst shooting TU team I've ever seen, including the bad JD Barnett year and Phillips/Wojcik transition years.
Haith mentioned they are going to focus hard on improving their shooting. From my experience, shooting doesn't really improve...either you have the ability to shoot, or you don't.

 

[I.I.]

Originally posted by hotterthanyourhusbandTU:
One of my favorite TU teams to root for...very flawed, but passion-filled.





Mostly played excellent defense...primarily out of necessity.
Very athletic
Good ball-handling skills at the guard position (few turnovers/game)
Optically, the worst shooting TU team I've ever seen, including the bad JD Barnett year and Phillips/Wojcik transition years.
Haith mentioned they are going to focus hard on improving their shooting. From my experience, shooting doesn't really improve...either you have the ability to shoot, or you don't.

hotterthanyourhusbandTU: Your last sentence is dead on..... Richard, Wheatley, etc..... Answer is simple. Recruit kids with really good shooting %. Think "Mark Price" or "Brent Price" An added bonus is the fact they can shoot FT too. This is not rocket science but coaches have gone crazy over athletes who can dunk but have not developed basic basketball skills.

 

[quincy101]

Same coaches next year, same team, same attitude(something like" well they don't emphasize defense so why should we bust our hump", same # of games won, give or take, EXCEPT the big ones. Think I'll save the $ & upgrade my football tix. Does anyone think they played the tough defense as soph's under manning as they did as Jr's under Haith? Maybe since this hoops season is embarrassingly over, maybe, just maybe, Hines will have daily(Ha!) coverage of spring football practice.

 

[lawpoke87]

This years team finished the season very close to last years squad.


2014-2015 team

Sagarin #82

23-11

Record against top 50 0-7

Schedule rank #105


2013-2014 team

Sagarin #76

21-13

Record against top 50 1-6

Schedule rank #143

 

[Cairns824]

Originally posted by lawpoke87:

This years team finished the season very close to last years squad.

Went through player-by-player earlier and really only Shaq had noticeable improvements. Meanwhile Wright got noticeably worse. Everyone else just sort of treaded water.

 

[astonmartin708]

My feelings:

1. We have a slightly better-than-par team right now that really needs help to take the next step. They also need to practice the long ball and freethrows in the offseason. All of our guys are athletes. They just need to learn to be basketball players.

2. I look for guys like Dew and T.K. to really take steps next season in developing their offensive games. That means making simple shots and freethrows.

3. Beyond Dew and T.K. there's not a whole lot in the cupboard other than (maybe) Littlejohn. I came into the tough stretch of the season thinking we need one more guy. With our whimperous finish I have started to think we need 2 more guys, not including the recruits we have. I really want to see Haith and company go after A JUCO big man and a good Small Forward who can shoot the ball from outside.

 

[astonmartin708]

That might be the case at the 3 or 4 positions, but guards can improve their shooting with time and reps. Just ask Jason Kidd or Michael Jordan.

 

[Hardmoneysniper]

Littlejohn is gone already.

 

[canefansincerhome]

Basketball is still a game of practice, if you are really dedicated to be the best player you can be you get in the gym and have someone shag the ball for you while you "MAKE" 500 shots per session (not shoot 500, but make 500). You work the whole floor and have someone work with you on shooting drills. The same goes with free throws...you make a 100 every time your at practice. Shooting is muscle memory and these current players can all improve their shooting next season if they sacrifice themselves. Someone wrote about Shaq Harrison being unguardable if he could hit a 15' shot, well he can be that player next season and the time is now to start working on everybodies game. Its not fair to Woodard to be the only outside threat available, there has to be more options. Good Luck on the off season.

 

[TulsaEye]

Fans are just starting to see what the players off the bench can do. They still have some upside. I am afraid though that that the players that have been playing most of the minutes for the last couple of years have mostly topped out with what they can do. Some have shown slight improvement to shooting and such, but most have not improved much since Manning was here. Only the top players have really shown any improvement at all. That really has to be a concern. Improving is mostly the want to get better and the willingness to put in the time to get there. I haven't seen that in this group much except for Smith and Curtis. The rest must either re-dictate themselves to significant improvement or just play out their time at Tulsa. With the personalities involved most will just play out their time or leave. Tulsa is an unbalanced team offense/ defense wise with a lot of liabilities. I don't see things changing much. But, I can always be wrong I hope.



This post was edited on 3/24 7:54 PM by TulsaEye

 

[Gmoney4WW]

Originally posted by Hardmoneysniper:
Littlejohn is gone already.

Supposition? Or did a little birdie hop on your shoulder?

 

[mvccane]

They will all be seniors next season. No excuses.

For a ten-game stretch during conference play, Shaq was an All-American. Other than that, he was really up & down. Can't shoot from the outside and not so good on the line. Drive and make foolish passes.

Does Woodard want to be the 'go-to' guy? I don't care if a guy is tied to his waist. The really good ones get open and score. Is Woodard a good player or a great one?

Ray played okay but he seemed to disappear down the stretch.

Smith is another one who played sometimes like he belonged as a 2nd Team All-Conference performer. And then, he disappears. A basketball player should never be this bad from the line. Never.

Curtis is a utility player. If he doesn't turn the ball over, he's an asset. Other than that, ??

Swanny - Big games followed by nothing.

Wright - How can one digress so much from his freshman season. He does have some skill, the body, etc. How can a guy fluidly score 18 on UCLA and struggle so much against bad teams.

Where are the leaders on this team? Where is Paul Pressey? Shea Seals? Harrington? A David Shelton who was 6-4 and played like he was 6-8 inside? Where is the toughness from one game to the next? Who is the leader on this team?

Murray State is a good squad but we shouldn't lose to Kentucky this bad on our home floor. Our kids deserve better but they got to play with hunger and anger. Haven't seen that yet.

 

[TulsaEye]

One of the things this team lacks is real cut and dried leadership. Leadership often comes from the personality type who is just driven to be better from year to year. There is not one player on the current roster who matches that personality type. I can remember Tulsa teams that had 2 or 3 with that personality type in the past. Not this one though.

This post was edited on 3/24 10:03 PM by TulsaEye

 

[WATU2]

We no longer have on the world's best big man coaches at TU

Wright - How can one digress so much from his freshman season. He does have some skill, the body, etc. How can a guy fluidly score 18 on UCLA and struggle so much against bad teams.