What a damn game. OU isn't a top 15 team in the country imo but they are talented, well coached and a likely tournament team. Getting a win on the road in the B12 is huge and I will take it every day of the week now some random thoughts.
Things I liked:
Things I didn't like:
Things I liked:
- Chance McMillian going on a heater - Not much more to it than that. For the second time this season Chance has been absolutely unconscious. But what I liked most about it was that his scoring was simple, efficient and in the flow of the offense. All of his looks were clean, and I love the way McMillian plays within the structure of the offense. And just from the eye test you can see him growing as a player. Unlike earlier in the season Chance is more confident off the bounce and attacking inside the arc more, something he didn't do in non-con, is a great cutter and has become a better rebounder and on ball defender. For my money there aren't very many third guards in the conference who are as good. Plus, he has the prettiest jumper Tech has seen since Moro.
- Scoring variety - Pop and Darrion were not efficient at all, Kerwin barely played but the Tech offense still found a way to put up 85 points on a top 30 defense. Tech will have some stretches where they can't buy a bucket, but I love how multiple the offense is and the number of weapons Tech has. They find a way.
- Old Reliable - Warren Washington is the model of consistency. You don't realize the impact he has until you look at the stat sheet: 10 points (5/6 shooting) 7 boards, 3 blocks, and 1 steal. And to top it off this offense does not work without his ability to serve as a central hub at times. He's a very good player.
- FT shooting - Tech has 4 guys shooting over 80% from the line. That'll play.
- Situational offense/defense - Grant and Co. have been masterful with ATOs on offense and on defense in "must-stop" situations. Tech does not have a good defense as of right now (it's actually worse efficiency wise than last year) but when they need a stop they seem to tighten up and force tough shots.
- Rebounding Margin - After getting blasted on the boards against BYU it looked like yesterday's game was going to be a repeat performance during the first half. And OU is a solid rebounding team with a size advantage across the board. But Tech really closed the margin in the second half, thanks to the efforts of Darrion, Chance and Warren. Denying OU second chance points was huge.
- Joe and Pop impact - Joe had several wtf moments yesterday but then you look at his stat line.... 14 points,4 steals, 6 assists. An uneven game? Sure, but he really showed up in very key moments. Tech doesn't win without him. Same went for POP. He struggled from the field but I actually thought he played well, especially in the second half. OU made it a point to attack every ball screen, so they really keyed in on Pop. To his credit he didn't really take many bad shots, got to the FT line and made some huge plays in the second half. One of the things I worried about with Pop coming into the year was if he is not hitting threes can he impact the game? Last year the answer was no but this year the answer is an unequivocal yes. He has become a good all around player and finds a way to make an impact when he's off a bit. That's a mark of a good player. Also an interesting stat: Pop has made more FTs than he even attempted last year in 6 less games.
- Being 16-3.
- Locking down McCollum - Joe T. and others took him completely out of the game.
Things I didn't like:
- Kerwin fouling out - Just a weird series of events. Tech really missed him on the floor offensively and he was playing very well when he actually played. He makes such a difference offensively. But he was really struggling to stay in front of OU's guards on defense.
- Struggling against size/hard hedges - This isn't really something that is necessarily Tech's fault.... I would characterize it as an "it is what it is" thing. But OU has very good size across the perimeter, and it really made a difference against Tech's smaller guards. They blitzed ball screens and really made life difficult for Tech in that sense which led to some very disjointed stretches. Again, this isn't really anything Tech did wrong but it is something to keep an eye out in as Tech takes on long and physical teams in B12 play.
- Depth - Could pretty much put this in every one of these. But Tech's rotation effectively consists of 6 players right now. That is a very tough ask for guys playing a shit ton of minutes. RJ is constantly lost on defense, can't finish at the rim, Lamar is a net zero on offense, and D'Maurian/KyeRon/EY are lost in a wormhole somewhere. I've thought Lamar has had some flashes here or there, but he hasn't been effective as a whole. Tech needs something, anything from 1-2 of these guys.
- Joe Toussaint flailing - Look, I love Joe, but it seems to me that he is constantly flailing when he has the ball. It almost looks like he is trying to play for the foul rather than trying to put the ball in the cup and I think this A) puts him in bad situations leading to TO's or wild shots B) changes the way refs officiate him. If you look like you are constantly embellishing contact, then refs are naturally going to eat their whistle and not give you the benefit of the doubt. This is super nit-picky, but it drives me crazy.
