The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

[I.I.]

Stats show all three of the above .

The Good: K. Williams is shooting 24-26 FT . Glad to have a guard that can do this again. Urbancic 40% on three point shots.
Shumate shooting 75% from the field and has as many offensive rebounds in 33 total minutes of play as Richie does in 236 minutes. Rachal and Joiner nice stats all around.

The Bad: Idowu and KES only shoot 52% from the line. KES as a guard should be much better. Haywood only shooting 26% from the field and 23% from three. KES has 11 assists and 18 turnovers along with 25% from the three. Way off for a combo guard.

The Ugly: Jackson is 1-10 from three again this year even though he has won games with his high overall FG%. I will admit a bunch of the threes look really good and are close but no one is guarding him again.

 

[TulsaFan2000]

Stats show all three of the above .

The Good: K. Williams is shooting 24-26 FT . Glad to have a guard that can do this again. Urbancic 40% on three point shots.
Shumate shooting 75% from the field and has as many offensive rebounds in 33 total minutes of play as Richie does in 236 minutes. Rachal and Joiner nice stats all around.

The Bad: Idowu and KES only shoot 52% from the line. KES as a guard should be much better. Haywood only shooting 26% from the field and 23% from three. KES has 11 assists and 18 turnovers along with 25% from the three. Way off for a combo guard.

The Ugly: Jackson is 1-10 from three again this year even though he has won games with his high overall FG%. I will admit a bunch of the threes look really good and are close but no one is guarding him again.

I would argue that KES and Haywood's shooting is a bigger problem than Jackson's shooting. Jackson doesn't take enough 3's to waste possession after possession like those 2. I'd rather have Jackson's energy, playmaking and cutting to the basket than either of the two.

 

[TU_BLA]

Stats show all three of the above .

The Good: K. Williams is shooting 24-26 FT . Glad to have a guard that can do this again. Urbancic 40% on three point shots.
Shumate shooting 75% from the field and has as many offensive rebounds in 33 total minutes of play as Richie does in 236 minutes. Rachal and Joiner nice stats all around.

The Bad: Idowu and KES only shoot 52% from the line. KES as a guard should be much better. Haywood only shooting 26% from the field and 23% from three. KES has 11 assists and 18 turnovers along with 25% from the three. Way off for a combo guard.

The Ugly: Jackson is 1-10 from three again this year even though he has won games with his high overall FG%. I will admit a bunch of the threes look really good and are close but no one is guarding him again.

You say KES should be better, but Idowu is the one we absolutely need to be better. He has shown a knack around the rim and he's likely to get the bump or foul called just based on his position and function in the offense. At the end of the Temple game he went to the line like 3 straight trips and we were hovering around 10 down. Teams will start using the hack a Ray tactic in close games down the stretch figuring it will only be a 1 pt trip.

FTs need to be a coaching emphasis. I feel like TU puts that responsibility on the player to do his work because of coaching contact limits each week. However, I don't care if you're shooting 500 FTs a day...if you're doing it wrong then there won't be any consistent or long term improvement.

 

[TulsaFan2000]

You say KES should be better, but Idowu is the one we absolutely need to be better. He has shown a knack around the rim and he's likely to get the bump or foul called just based on his position and function in the offense. At the end of the Temple game he went to the line like 3 straight trips and we were hovering around 10 down. Teams will start using the hack a Ray tactic in close games down the stretch figuring it will only be a 1 pt trip.

FTs need to be a coaching emphasis. I feel like TU puts that responsibility on the player to do his work because of coaching contact limits each week. However, I don't care if you're shooting 500 FTs a day...if you're doing it wrong then there won't be any consistent or long term improvement.

How are you gonna fix someone's free throw form mid-season. That's the type of change that has to happen in the off-season because it will get much worse while they're adjusting to a new form.

 

[astonmartin708]

I find myself longing for the Bill Self, Danny Manning hi-lo. I know Kansas isn’t having success this season but I feel like that is partially on the roster they’ve put together and some injuries to guys like our friend Thompson.

 

[TU_BLA]

I would argue that KES and Haywood's shooting is a bigger problem than Jackson's shooting. Jackson doesn't take enough 3's to waste possession after possession like those 2. I'd rather have Jackson's energy, playmaking and cutting to the basket than either of the two.

Agree. Most of my issues with both KES and Haywood is not necessarily them taking those shots as much as when they take them in the context of the flow of offense. They're usually too quick to pull the trigger without trying to get the ball inside. It's hero ball. Haywood took a 3 the other day after the ball had been worked around and went inside and got kicked out to him. He was wide open. He missed the shot but, IMO, it wasn't a bad shot because it was in the flow of offense. The problem is when we race downcourt and the ball gets into one of their hands and they chuck up a shot less than 10 seconds into the shot clock.

 

[Original TULSAFAN]

The bad - Haywood.
The ugly - KES.

These guys would NOT play for any decent D2 program.

They suck.

 

[I.I.]

The bad - Haywood.
The ugly - KES.

These guys would NOT play for any decent D2 program.

They suck.

Not sure we need to attack them in that manner, but just document with stats why we are struggling many times this year. There is some bad and ugly in there but I can't say those guys have given up. I still hope for recovery, especially for KES....he was such a great player in high school and I just have to think it is a confidence thing or an injury concern or something.

 

[TU4ever2]

Not sure we need to attack them in that manner, but just document with stats why we are struggling many times this year. There is some bad and ugly in there but I can't say those guys have given up. I still hope for recovery, especially for KES....he was such a great player in high school and I just have to think it is a confidence thing or an injury concern or something.

I agree no reason for it to be personal like that, the stats say they shouldn't be playing that's enough. We don't know why they are struggling and they aren't professional so we should temper our criticism of their play.

Unfortunately I think it is a mental thing for both of them and that is a lot harder to fix than doing the wrong thing, or a low skill level in some area.

KES is not playing like I expected from what I had heard of his game and what tiny bit I saw in high school. It's also not the way he played the first two or three games this year. I think that is in his mind set. It may be an injury issue or in a personal issue distracting him from his normal approach. It may be his confidence in his ability to play that way at this level.

Haywood is all mental. He had solid shot selection early season, shots looked good, on line, lots of iron, lots of in and out. I think it got to him and atte away at his confidence giving him the tips. The deterioration has slowly spread to other parts of his game, first in just his offensive flow, than his shot selection, and now in his defense and rebounding where he has looked lost on occasion the last few games. Early his defensive play was strong and he would have blended in on the floor with last years team. Lately he is struggling to match up and sometimes looks like he missed the defensive change everyone else got.

 

[seniorgolfer]

Defend KES and Haywood or blast them....They had a red shirt year, a full off
season, a preseason, and now more than half of a full regular season....They
have bombed big time, and have not improved a stitch since day one....What
does that tell the unbiased fan......At this time, they are not capable of playing
winning D-1 basketball.....In fact, they have been so mediocre that they have
not been even mediocre....Their negative stats out weigh their positive stats...

Let's not apologize for their short falls....Let's simply set them down until/if they
gain that capability.....Eldridge Cleaver said it best....You're either part of the
solution, or part of the problem......If Richie is not in the same situation, he is
damned close to it.....I think it's time for our young players......

 

[seniorgolfer]

The bad - Haywood.
The ugly - KES.

These guys would NOT play for any decent D2 program.

They suck.

Not sure we need to attack them in that manner, but just document with stats why we
are struggling many times this year.

I almost always wholeheartedly agree with everything you say.....TULSAFAN may have a
point.....These two have not played hoops at any level of expertise that would encourage
me, as a D2 coach, to offer them....Haith had to see their short falls early in the preseason...
I think he gambled on their reputations instead of going with his freshmen....Had he gone
more with Shumate and Urbancic, he would be no worse off record wise, and a lot better
off going forward.....

I've watched TU hoops since I was a kid.....These two are playing at a very low level, and
are not improving.....What else can you say......

 

[t-townpod]

The best shooter on the team by far is Urbanic. Need to find some way to get him some court time. Yes he is slow and not sure he can defend but need to find a defense to hide him. Run screens to get him space and let it fly.
KES certainly is not playing as a 4*. Haywood's defense is very good but his shot and his shot selection are hurting us offensively. When we get down, our two best players Rachel and Joiner try to take it over which just makes us worse since neither are superstars. We have no wings on this team and it makes it difficult to score inside or even inside out so we end up with Idowe scoring or shooting contested 3"s or 3's outside the flow of the offense. Very ugly indeed.
I knew this year totally depended on our ability to shoot the 3 and everyone had reassured us how good we were shooting. We now know this is a weakness not a strength of this team. Thus our record.