*WARNING* Extreme frustration will follow this statement and there is the possibility of comments being made now that will be later reconsidered.
I have made an attempt to give myself time before I jump on here and lose it but honestly this team and coaching staff are lost right now. Kampe has lost credibility with the way he has talked about this team in the preseason and continuing into the season. After YSU and Valpo losses he spoke about going back to finding the identity of this team and changing the mentality that we can't just come out on any given night and depend on running out a team with no strategy. I want to attempt to give some clear examples of why my frustration has boiled over.
1. The Offense. I have watched Oakland basketball for 12 years now as a student an alum. Throughout that time I have missed probably 10-15 home games. I don't pretend to be a basketball guru that understands all the offensive sets and strategy but I can honestly say I watch a lot of college basketball and I played through high school.
- The same offensive set that works for some players does not work for all players. Oakland has seen its fair share of great pure shooters (Kangas, Bader, Hooper are just a few). While each have a great shot each are more efficient in different ways. Hooper does not get open running the same offensive play that looks to create 2 screens and have him run the baseline to then curl around and get an open shot. Why doesn't that work for him? Well issue #1 might be that the biggest guy on the court most nights for both teams (Percy) sets a Sh*tty screen with no intention of actually getting in front of a guy which easily allows the defender to run around it and stay on Hooper. Issue #2 may be that Hooper has no where near the speed and quickness that Bader or Kangas had so even when a good screen is set there is still time for the defender to catch up. We have had to rely on this play in the past because we had teams that don't have the athletic ability to drive to the basket and draw in defenders and then kick it back out to a player that is set and ready to shoot. Hooper is definitely better when he is set. I would argue that if a player like Felder was running off the same play he would have the ability to be effective in the play and get away from the defender giving him enough time to set himself and shoot or fake the shot and drive to the hoop. Hooper shot over half of his shots last night falling backward with a defender in his face even when we ran the stupid play.
- Next point. When the opposing team is signaling to their team our player after kampe taps his head it is obvious they know exactly what we are running. Kampe has talked about the multitude of plays we have on the offensive side yet I swear I watch us run the same 3 or so plays 90% of the game and guess what. It doesn't take long for a well coached team to know exactly what that play is and be able to defend it properly. Since the offensive sets don't work the majority of the time we are left with Felder or God help us Nick relying on dribbling all over and trying to shed a defender and get to the basket.
Why is Jalen effective? Jalen is effective because despite an inept offense he has a couple great post moves and he understands how to use his feet down low to create a space where he can get the ball and it is also helpful that he is a lefty with a move that allows him to elevate and shoot over most defenders. He hustles and understands that setting a good screen actually gives him a better opportunity to get the ball in the post.
- In game coaching and management is just as important as what you coach outside the game. The scenario has played itself out far too many times over the 12 years I have watched Oakland basketball. Kampe is a rollercoaster of emotions throughout a game. Last night I witnessed a coach that went from screaming at his players and benching 1 player in particular after one missed assignment for the rest of the game while letting others work through their mistakes. There is absolutely no consistency from the coach and yet we are surprised to see "The most talented OU team" reflecting the same rollercoaster that Kampe is on.
Consistencies - Through this horrible last few weeks we have decided to keep the same freaking starting 5 lineup, never call a time-out to alleviate a run or fix an immediate issue, bench the same 1-2 players for one mistake and not let them play through it while others appear to have a longer leash, run the same offensive sets 80-90% of the time even if it isn't working,not appear to make a half-time adjustment.
Inconsistencies - Kampe will go from an engaged coach that is encouraging the team and has positive intensity to the next half where I look down and see a deflated coach that appears to be pouting and spends more time arguing about a cheap shot on one of his players with the ref then one that takes the time to be in a huddle with his team for the 5 min. review to figure out what needs to be changed as far as the play on the court. Maybe in the past we had coaches like Sorrenson and Tungate that could step in during these times and get through to the players but it is obvious now that this team is follwing the same emotion of the coach and the rest of the coaching staff is not finding the way to coach as a team.
Defense - The loudest person on defense is me sitting in the front row trying to talk to the players. Guess who doesn't talk? The 5 freaking players on the court. The easiest simplest way to fix defense is to talk and put your hands up. If a bunch of guys with far less athletic ability can out rebound us, out hustle us and be better in every facet of the game it is obvious to me that they care more about it and on defense they understand why communication is so vital. Guess what I don't want to hear for the rest of the freaking year. That we hold the teams to less than 1ppp and we are better a defensive team then we get credit for. I don't give a Sh*t what the statistics show. I see it with my own eyes. We don't talk on defense, we don't have our hands up, and this team has never embraced an identity on the defensive end of the court. Biggest sign that we don't play as a team and understand what that means is seen when you don't talk, and you struggle on the defensive side of the ball. You can manage to be a good offense with playmakers but you are a team when you can play defense. We have a bench that sits on the sidelines for most of the game showing no emotion and not talking to the players on the court.
We have an athletic administration that wants to spend more time reminiscing of the days of old meaning a month or so ago when we LOST to MSU, as well as putting together the Felder show so we can make sure everyone knows about him. Guess what OU Athletics? I am pretty confident that Felder has said in every interview I have heard it is about the team and getting a ring. Guess what OU? I happen to know about another team just a few miles down 75 that likes to live in the past and talk about the good ole days. Kampe preaches that it is about winning the Horizon league and the goal is getting a championship but I saw a team last night coaches included that didn't seem to care about it.
Why do we suck at home this year? Great question thanks for asking. Well I am not sure we have an answer right now but I do know one thing. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result. So... lets change it up a bit. How about we get the guys in a hotel room the night before home games I know that is what football programs do for their teams home games, how about we change up the starting line-up, how about we just do something different because obviously it is not sinking through to this team.
I am not even sure I feel better after what I just wrote but guess what it is called emotion. I can be a crazed fan that rides a rollercoaster throughout the season but if the team and coaching staff do the same thing it wont work. I have yet to watch the post-game press conference and honestly it might not be a wise choice for me at this point. Congratulations if you made it this far in my rant that did not pay any attention to sentence structure or grammar.
