After watching a number of games live and on television, I am convinced the #1 problem is lack of focus, and having coached myself (at the high school level) this is a tough nut to crack. Thank God we have a young team and often with maturity comes focus. However, this can be very frustrating to watch. How many times this season have we seen players (I really don't want to mention names but you know who I mean) try to do things on the court that they know they can't accomplish. Last night we saw this in the first half and often it lead to back to back turnovers and many Kent State points in a hurry.

Danny Nee and Charlie Coles were masters at teaching players to work within themselves. Often Coach Coles has had a modicum of talent compared to other school, yet his team can never be taken lightly. Coach Nee's last year at OU is a perfect illustration of this because in the years following we fell off a cliff. One of the great conundrums of OU Sports History is how with 2 future NBA players we ended up in the bottom of the MAC. There should be case studies done of Coach Billy Hahn and his methods to see how with a maturing talented team we could have literally went into a death spiral. Again Coach Hahn was a nice man who would chat with students when he was out and about in Athens. However, on the court, goodness what was the man thinking?

Coach Groce seems to be on top of things and by wearing his emotions on his sleeve he seems to want to demonstrate his frustration. However, I have always been a big fan of benching players (not for mistakes) but trying to do things they know they can't do, and thus hurting the team. Greg Oden said that while he was at Ohio State he thought Coach Groce was an offensive genuis. While systems are good, a little basic psychology and motivation is essential for success. Just a thought while trying to digest my frustration from last night.

Good analysis -- it makes more sense than any analysis I've read since the ambush at Kent.