I am the last guy to beat on Trae Young - he's really a remarkable offensive force. He's got a quick shot, long range, and can really see the floor. Man he had some nice passes last night! That is elite passing. No fault of his, but how does Young not get called for clearing out every time he drives the dang ball? He throws his off hand out to make space for his shot or to maneuver. It's a foul right out of the Basketball Fouls 101 manual. It infuriates me to see him do that a half dozen times a game and never, ever get called for it. I call that poor officiating. A ref can't get caught up in the moment, they just can't. A foul is a foul, and it has be be applied equally.
Once each half last night, Young received the ball on a pass and took two steps before he dribbled it. No call. So mad. I think in the second half it happened twice.
Oklahoma didn't clear the ball after every made basket. You know, Tech makes a basket and then OU is supposed to take it out of bounds and throw it in. Twice in the second half I swear they did not clear the ball. Once the OU player was to the left of the basket and his foot was inbounds when he inbounded the ball. That's a turnover. Ref was right there and never called it. It may sound petty, but a team gains an advantage when they don't clear the ball.
I was really pleased to see Tech turn the game into a 37 minute affair. I was worried it would be tight late, and with Young around I worried that he would make plays to win the game.
The Raiders I think wore him out. His jumpers got really short late, he made a couple poor passes.
OU is on the outside looking in for the NCAA tourney, but they still control their own destiny. They have these games remaining:
vs. Texas - must win because OU is ahead of UT
@ Kansas - that would be a big time road win
vs. Kansas State - slightly ahead of OU in the standings, would be a nice win
@ Baylor - tied right now with OU, would be a nice road win
vs. Iowa State - must win home game against bottom feeders
They really need to hold court at home, that's the minimum and if that's all they do they will need to play on Friday during the Big 12 Conference Money Tourney to be firmly on the good side of NCAA bubble.
They suck without Young, and even with him they are 6-7 in conference play. I'm sick of hearing about him. 6-7! 6-7 with the best player in college basketball. Whatever. Best offensive player maybe, but best player? Give me a break. He would beat my sister in a game of 21, but she'd still get 13 on him. Ok enough OU babble, gack. Sick of them.
Culver has an odd shot. You guys notice that all season? He kind of spins the ball right to left when he shoots it. His right hand is up a little on the ball when he releases it. It's working for him, so no gripes really but every time he shoots it I expect him to miss - but he hits them pretty regularly.
We always hear about how the second and third leading scorers for Tech are Culver and Smith. One or both of them are also second or third in rebounds (both), assists (Culver, third), steals (both), blocks (Culver, third), and field goal percentage (Smith, I'm saying first overall).
Did Smith have the quietest 13 points ever last night? After the game I could only remember one basket and four free throws. He also had 3 assists, a steal, a four rebounds. Very nice game.
I thought Moretti and Ondigo were not ready, or the game was just way too fast for them. Hopefully next time they will be in the right frame of mind.
Conversely, I thought Odiase played a huge game. Did he really only play 20 minutes? Man he was huge. It felt like he played 40 minutes.
OU game is over, on to Baylor. Baylor is the second hottest team in the conference, going to be beastly!
Once each half last night, Young received the ball on a pass and took two steps before he dribbled it. No call. So mad. I think in the second half it happened twice.
Oklahoma didn't clear the ball after every made basket. You know, Tech makes a basket and then OU is supposed to take it out of bounds and throw it in. Twice in the second half I swear they did not clear the ball. Once the OU player was to the left of the basket and his foot was inbounds when he inbounded the ball. That's a turnover. Ref was right there and never called it. It may sound petty, but a team gains an advantage when they don't clear the ball.
I was really pleased to see Tech turn the game into a 37 minute affair. I was worried it would be tight late, and with Young around I worried that he would make plays to win the game.
The Raiders I think wore him out. His jumpers got really short late, he made a couple poor passes.
OU is on the outside looking in for the NCAA tourney, but they still control their own destiny. They have these games remaining:
vs. Texas - must win because OU is ahead of UT
@ Kansas - that would be a big time road win
vs. Kansas State - slightly ahead of OU in the standings, would be a nice win
@ Baylor - tied right now with OU, would be a nice road win
vs. Iowa State - must win home game against bottom feeders
They really need to hold court at home, that's the minimum and if that's all they do they will need to play on Friday during the Big 12 Conference Money Tourney to be firmly on the good side of NCAA bubble.
They suck without Young, and even with him they are 6-7 in conference play. I'm sick of hearing about him. 6-7! 6-7 with the best player in college basketball. Whatever. Best offensive player maybe, but best player? Give me a break. He would beat my sister in a game of 21, but she'd still get 13 on him. Ok enough OU babble, gack. Sick of them.
Culver has an odd shot. You guys notice that all season? He kind of spins the ball right to left when he shoots it. His right hand is up a little on the ball when he releases it. It's working for him, so no gripes really but every time he shoots it I expect him to miss - but he hits them pretty regularly.
We always hear about how the second and third leading scorers for Tech are Culver and Smith. One or both of them are also second or third in rebounds (both), assists (Culver, third), steals (both), blocks (Culver, third), and field goal percentage (Smith, I'm saying first overall).
Did Smith have the quietest 13 points ever last night? After the game I could only remember one basket and four free throws. He also had 3 assists, a steal, a four rebounds. Very nice game.
I thought Moretti and Ondigo were not ready, or the game was just way too fast for them. Hopefully next time they will be in the right frame of mind.
Conversely, I thought Odiase played a huge game. Did he really only play 20 minutes? Man he was huge. It felt like he played 40 minutes.
OU game is over, on to Baylor. Baylor is the second hottest team in the conference, going to be beastly!
