Men's Basketball Tonight @ Big 12 Tourney Bedlam #3 - Can OU WIN?

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OUBeliever56A
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Men's Basketball Tonight @ Big 12 Tourney Bedlam #3 - Can OU WIN?

Post by OUBeliever56A »

While it might be a bit disappointing that the Sooner Men's Basketball Team is playing tonight in the 'play-in' round of the Men's Big 12 Tourney, the chance is there to advance to the next round on Thursday. The Sooners play Oklahoma State in the 3rd Bedlam game this season between the two teams. OSU has won both of the previous meeting by a combined margin of 26 points. Can the Sooners make up those 13 points on average in the game tonight at 8:30 PM?

Looking at the first two games, the difference is inside. The difference is their scoring. The rebounds are basically even in the two games.

In the first game in Stillwater, the Cowboy BIGS outscored the Sooner BIGS 46-24. B. Thompson and Boone were the main scorers for the Cowboys. They outscored the 4 Sooner BIGS 34 to 24. It also did not help the Sooner cause that OSU scored 11 Second Chance Points to 0 for Oklahoma. The Points off Turnovers were in favor of the Cowboys also with 14 points to 7. OU committed 14 turnovers to OSU's 7.

In the second game in Norman, the Cowboy BIGS did it again. This time it was 52 to 17 in favor of OSU. Boone and Cisse (who did not play in Game 1) did the job for OSU as they scored 36 points against the Sooners with B Thompson adding 11.

Somehow, someway, the Sooners have to slow down the Cowboy Big Men tonight. If they can do that, they can build themselves some momentum towards an upset victory tonight in Kansas City. I have commented before about the matchups and the quickness advantage that OSU has over the Sooners. I wonder if Coach Moser might pull out a zone defense tonight and challenge OSU to beat the Sooners from the outside. If the Sooners could manage to neutralize the OSU Bigs by doing so, it would be interesting to see if OSU can score enough from the outside to win the game. But I think OU probably has not played a zone for more than a handful of possessions this season. It would be huge change of strategy for OU to do so.

Here is the staff writers preview article about the 3rd Bedlam matchup tonight.

https://soonersports.com/news/2023/3/6/ ... -wednesday

Good luck to the Sooner Men tonight.

Boomer Sooner!
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Bixby_Sooner
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Post by Bixby_Sooner »

In response to your question in the heading... Yes, they can win tonight... depending on which team shows up for the game. This year's rollercoaster of a season has been hard on everyone - players, coaches, staff, and fans.

I wish them well in the Tournment. Should they win tonight, they get to play :hornsburning: tomorrow.
A commitment is NOT a reservation - Brent Venables 3/21/22
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Post by OUBeliever56A »

Well, the Sooner Men's Basketball forgot to bring their good shooting shoes with them to Kansas City. The OSU defense was once again very good and the Cowboys shot good enough to win by 8 points in a game that felt like more than an 8 point loss, 57-49.

When your top 3 scorers shoot 7 for 34 (Sherfield, Hill and T Groves) for 20.6% it is going to be tough to win no matter if you are wearing classic Nike Air Jordan's.

The loss leaves the Sooners with only a faint chance to be invited to the NIT Tourney after the dust settles for the NCAA selection process. If the Sooners get the invite, Coach Moser said they would go compete. The Sooners 15-17 record would give the team a chance to win a couple more games before the end of their season. You can only get better by playing.

It will be interesting to see how the players react to the season. We know that Tanner Groves is out of eligibility. Beyond that, the rest of the team can stay or go via the portal. The life of a college basketball coach has to be a scary roller coaster ride with the portal playing such a big part.

Boomer Sooner!
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Post by Bixby_Sooner »

Personally, the way this rollercoaster season has gone, it would probably be best for all concerned to skip any post season tournaments and let the staff get busy recruiting and looking into portal possibilities. As it stands now, (according to rumor and articles) between graduation and portal exits, it looks like PM will have to cobble together another roster for next season. It appears we are looking at another season with a team of players that will have to learn to play together. This makes recruiting even more important, especially heading into 2023-2024 season in the SEC.

Part of the recruiting discussion has to include how does the LNC situation impact (positively or negatively) it? It's a chicken and egg thing. One side says we will recruit better if we have a new facility the other side says we won't get a new facility until we have a better team. Either way having a nearly 50 year old facility, even with occasional upgrades, can't be a plus, when other schools have much more modern facilities and ammenities.

I've recently read about a possible new facility off campus. I wonder if anyone has looked into possibly renting Paycom Center, while they demolish the LNC and build a new facility in the same location, or even if scheduling would allow for that? I have no idea what $$$ figures are involved in any of those options. I'm just thinking that it can't be a positive for recruiting. Then again, I'm not professional sports administrator so what do I know?

I just hope the powers that be can figure all this out and at least have a plan in place before they begin SEC play next fall.
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Post by SoonerTony »

The facilities need an upgrade…BUT

Baranczyk’s team plays in the same facility and just won a share of the conference championship.

I’d say this is 5 or 10% a facilities problem, and 90 or 95% Moser isn’t getting the job done. There is no reason for OU to be the worst team in the league and get beat 3 times by a very average-to-mediocre OSU team.

If there isn’t a HUGE improvement next year, we need to move on from him.
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Post by SD-OU »

Disappointed with the Moser hire. TCU, KSU, Iowa State, TTech should not have better BBall programs than us. If he has another losing season next year it is time to move on.
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