How is the OU Women's Basketball team doing this year?
In the past they have done well. But this year I have not heard anything.
In the past they have done well. But this year I have not heard anything.
They are a mess right now.
They are too small, to have the general lack of quickness on the team. The are playing one forward and four guards in the starting lineup, but are slower than most of their opponents. They have some skill and some shooters. But everybody is playing them really tough on the arc, because they have nobody who can drive past a defense to take the ball to the basket.
And their lack of size and quickness is showing up on the defensive end. OSU hasn't been able to score on anybody. They scored at will.
The Sooner women will be lucky to finish in the top five of the conference. With all the players they brought back, they ought to be better, but right now, they're a mess.They are the worst team fundamentally that Sherri has had in at least five years. I usually watch most of their games, but the last several, they weren't worth the time. I'm not sure what's going on, but they've definitely taken a step back. It started with the second half against A&M and there has been precious little improvement since. KK Williams is a good solid post player. But she's really a four and most conference schools have players four or five inches taller that she's matched up against. It makes it hard for her to stay out of foul trouble.
Carter was hurt with a groin injury. She's back, but she has no explosiveness. She's never had great fundamentals, but now, her lack of quickness leads to lots of transition going the other way because she turns it over way too much.
I'm not sure how they fix it. Little is in a shooting slump. Manning is in a horrible shooting slump. But a big part of that is the lack of open looks. It's a structural problem in the offense, and the lack of anybody able to take the ball to the basket. So far, the most disappointing team Sherri's coached in close to a decade.
Actually, if they were to start shooting well, they are probably better than last year's team. There is more depth, and we simply did not have the potential that we have this year. If Peyton---or Maddie----were to begin hitting threes again, this team would be pretty good. Treece, Edwards, Vivi, Penzo, and Kellogg have shown some things at times from the bench. Consistency is a problem.They are not as good as years past, and quite honestly I can't put my finger on it.
The OU women are 12-4, 3-2 in conference play. How good are they? Let's look at how they have done against the top teams in the NCAA rpi.
#3 Baylor: lost at Baylor
#9 BYU: beat BYU by 26 in Norman
#16 Washington: beat Washington in Seattle
#28 Oklahoma State: lost to OSU in Stillwater
#31 Texas A&M; lost in Norman
#35 Utah: beat Utah at a neutral site in the Bahamas
OU fits in this group somewhere. BYU also beat A&M. OU had one bad loss, to North Texas in Norman. Then, they won about ten in a row, oer some decent teams: BYU, Boston College, Utah, Washington.
They are in a slump right now, primarily because a key outside shooter from last year, Peyton Little, has suddenly gone cold. Go figure. When I day cold, she didn't score a point in Stillwater. Curiously, we are probably a better team than OSU, as well as A&M. Just hit a dry spell with Peyton.. It hurts when you lose a key scorer in Carter. It hurts more when you lose two.
Kay Kay is not a four. She has no face up game, nor is she quick enough to cover a four. She is a feared five---when she plays intelligently. After five years, Kay Kay still lapses into trying to use her hands to slap at shots, resulting in fouls. When she plays intelligently, OU is pretty good. But, she, or her sophomore backup, Vionise Pierre-Louis (Vivi) has to be good. Sometimes, Vivi has a great game. She is learning more rapidly than Kay Kay did.
The best athlete on the team is probably Maddie Manning. Chad Thrailkill has said that they expect her to become the best player in the Big Twelve. She just hasn't hit on all cylinders yet. She can drive, and she can hit from outside. She, too, is in a shooting slump. But, she still can score by getting fouled. She also is a good shot-blocker, who gets a lot of tipped passes with her very long arms. She held down Coleman, a key OSU scorer because Coleman couldn't shoot over her. Unfortunately, not everyone did as well.
Gabbi was the guard on the gold medal winning US team this summer. So, she has played like a HS freshman this Fall. It's like she had never seen a court before. How did this happen?
The wheels right now are off this team, and it is not understandable. It makes no sense. But, wait a minute. This team is #19 in the nation, 12-4, and 3-2 in the Big Twelve. Prior to beating us, OSU was in a slump and had been totally destroyed in two games. So, they played over their heads in Stillwater against us, their first victory over us in two or three years. It was one game.