...I think it is obvious to say something is up with this team. Speaking without the orange glasses on, this team just hasn't looked good the past four weeks or so. This team hasn't played anywhere near the level it did during the first eleven games of the season (both in the actual quality of play and effort given). Looking back at the last six games, this is what I see: MSU - Ok. Didn't play horrible, but did not play well either. Lost to a good team on the road. Alright, not that big of a deal. Wisconsin - Played them at home and the Badgers were without their best player. I know Wisconsin is a solid team, but we looked flat out bad that game and lost. TCU - Got the win, but did not play very well at all. St. Mary's - Played well against a quality team. After this game, I thought we were back on track. Missouri - On the road, and Missouri had played well earlier in the season against some quality teams, but we flat out stunk up the place and received a beatdown. Then we get to tonight. Nothing against Colorado, but they might be the worst team in the Big 12 and they owned us in the first half. Including tonight, this is what I see the past six games: 1 good game (St. Mary's), 1 so-so game (MSU), 2 bad games (TCU, Wisconsin), and 2 flat out eggs (Missouri, Colorado). I know there is still a lot of season left, but we have certainly stumbled out of the gates starting conference play. Here's hoping the team fixes whatever problems they have going on and gets things back on track
There has been some good news. Mason has had a nice 2nd half. I can't tell you how happy I am to see it. He still looks awkward on jump shots, like he's trying to re-learn how to shoot. I remember him in the Texas high school allstar game after his senior year. He stroked it with much more confidence then.
They totally outplayed us for all but about 5 minutes. Luckily, we totally kicked their *** for those 5 minutes. A wins, a win I guess
Much better 2nd half by AJ, Connor, James and DJ...we outscored them by 11. Mason played some killer defense tonight. We did kinda wear down in the last 5 minutes and Colorado made it close. The keys to victory? a) Getting back to what was working before Gary Johnson was inserted into the starting lineup a couple of weeks ago b) getting Damion James back on the floor instead of on the bench in foul trouble. c) We all know that this team kinda lives and dies by our 3 point shooting. When we started hitting 3's and got some stops, we surged to the lead. In the 2nd half, we went back to our pre-Gary Johnson starting lineup with Mason on the floor. I guess it's just a group with better chemistry. Plus it allows Damion James to defend a slower forward instead of a quicker guard. However... There are some major concerns with this team. 1) Our defense is very, very poor at times. 2) Clutch FT shooting. IMO, fatigue is a factor. 3) No depth and our bench is still very inexperienced. 4) We collapse on defense on every drive...which Barnes absolutely preaches (he doesn't want to give up layups at any cost). Teams are really picking up on this and are starting to kick the ball out for wide open 3's. We have to hold our breath to hope they miss. CU was nailing them in the 1st half. 2nd half they cooled off. Every game we play from here on out will be very close. I'm not sure what everyone's expectations of this team are, but I warn you to not get your hopes up too high. Unless something drastic happens on defense, then will be in a dogfight every game from here on out. Some we will win, and others will look very ugly. Also... I still stand by my evaluation of DJ Augustin. Great college player, but so-so NBA prospect. Yes, he scored 25 tonight, but he also got his shot blocked 5 times and threw up a couple of very bad shots. The players guarding him in the NBA will be much better than Richard Roby. CU players also penetrated on him at will. I love what DJ brings to our team because he's a great college player, but I have major questions about his NBA future. In other words, he should stay in college all for years. In any case, a win is a win, and I'll take it. Hookem!
EJC, I think you pretty much hit the nail on the head for what the team's problems are. Some of the problems are easier to fix than others. The thing that frustrates me is that the team obviously has tremendous potential (see the Tennessee and UCLA games), but we sometimes don't play with effort and intensity (especially on defense). This team is clearly not perfert. It has some weaknesses. However, if this team can give full focus, effort, and intensity for an entire forty minutes, I think it will help minimize a lot of our flaws. We do that, and I can live with the results of our games (win or lose).
DJ has got to make his free throws. That alone is just killing us. 7-11 and at least one miss is the front end of a 1-1. The other night he goes 0-2 twice.
While the Horns had a poor first half, the Buffs were hitting about 75% threes, 85% free throws and 65% field goals. Their hot shooting is what kept them in the game. Texas had a much better second half, but faded a bit at the end running clock. This was a good win against a team that got hot for most of the game.
The defense was lacking, but Colorado was hot and even great defense doesn't always keep the ball from going through the hoop.
Dogbert, They weren't THAT hot. 53.8 % in the first half on both FG% & 3P%. They hit 2 of 2 free throws. Second half, cooled off for a final game FG% of 44%, 3P% of 35%, and FT% of 75%. Very average %s and we win by 2 @ home? Monday night could get ugly in Stillwater!
I'm with you on trying to put a positive spin. I was there with my son and couldn't believe that this was the same team that some thought was a #1 seed a few weeks ago. What's going on???
Winning ugly is much better than losing ugly. We do need to start playing much better, but be thankful we got the win despite our poor first half.
J Mason played amazing defense or we lose this one at home. Energy on defense creates positive mojo in every aspect of the game. With our athletic horsepower we should play uptemo pressing defense, in my humble opinion. We rarely pressed tonite and I didn't see many traps..... I still like this team alot! We have incredible athleticism across the board. ...just gotta tie it all together. I trust that Rick will figure it out and we'll be dangerous, again, in March.
I was also at the game tonight, and I noticed some of the same things. It was incredible how wide open some of the Colorado players were in the first half, whenever they sank their treys. We were totally out of place on defense at times. Very maddening. Second half was fun to watch until the last few minutes, though. Glad we got the W, but I sure hope we pick it up as the Big XII season gets farther along. If we play the way we did tonight, we will get pwned big time by KU. Even teams like K-State, Texas Tech and Okie Lite could be a scary proposition. At least the Aggies seem to be experiencing a terrible slump right now. Ouch.
Our team looked like the team that ran off 11 great games to be 11-0 but the last four games or so we have looked slow and our defense worse then ever before. Last night the first 9-10 minutes of the second half we were uptempo and hitting our threes and running hard, then we went back to poor shotting , hanging around with DJ killing the clock.......
