I agree with most of this, and see a second side to it: Getting everyone more minutes early on, when possible, is something I think Saul could do a little better. Then again, I'm not at practice to see progress.

Assuming everyone returning that played major minutes this year, along with BVP and Carter, is healthy for the majority of the season next year, I don't worry much about being competitive in the MAC. That's a good core group. The development of Kirk and Butler over the summer is probably going to be a difference maker. If a scholarship opens up, getting another player who can contribute immediately - a grad or JUCO transfer - would be a priority in my mind. Someone like Mickle would work out really well in my mind.

If I were to guess right now, I'd guess that McMurray and Murrell will be capable of giving big minutes from the start. That, combined with the 'if' the Dozier scholly opens, and gets used well, gives 12 legit scholarship players competing for time. I think we'd have seen that this year if everyone were reasonably close to 100% all season from the start.

I think it's possible for Dozier to be close to graduating because, as was stated, he's 22, had a year of prep school, and has been in Athens for 3 full years. Maybe, maybe not. Time will tell on that one. I don't want to wish him away, I just want to see the scholarship player contributing. If he can/does, that's great.

The only 2 years we were good were the ones where Jaaron was here. Saul can’t win without Jaaron.

Slow down ball?????? This team was 47th in the country in tempo. They play faster than 300+ other schools. 2016 was in the 80s and 2017 was in the 60s so it actually looks like he is speeding the game up NOT slowing it down.

Oklahoma, NCState, AZ State, Fl State, and Auburn are the only Power Conference schools that play faster. Buffalo is the only MAC school playing faster and sit at 16th in D1

No comment on the team first aspect. Small sample size marred with to's and gaffes.

Like the thinking out loud about transfers but let's make sure we actually talk realities.

Bornacatfan, thanks for setting Bobcat1998 straight on tempo of play-Saul Ball. Difficult to weigh some of the comments we see on BA when they don't have the facts straight!

Boo freaking hoo.

OR

Maybe the staff should recruit guys who don't have a higher than normal propensity for injuries or an injury history (That would be SP fault).

OR

Maybe the staff should recruit guys who are more athletic so that we aren't asking them to over-exert themselves on a daily basis to try and compete at the D1 level and thereby increasing their odds of injury (That would be SP fault).

OR

Maybe the staff should focus more time in the weight room, on training/conditioning, on a proper stretching regimen, and on nutrition in an attempt to minimize injury risk of the athletes (That would be SP fault).

OR

Maybe the staff should recruit some depth, or at least something resembling a D1 bench so that in the off-chance you lose a player or two to freak injuries your entire team doesn't crumble and tumble to the bottom of a crappy mid-major conference (That would be SP fault).

OR

God hates OU. Saul is the unluckiest coach in the history of coaches. The freak injuries to multiple guys over multiple years is just....really really really bad luck. Maybe someday we can be healthy and see "what we've got". Until then, bring on Rio Grande! (This would NOT be SP fault. Hallelujah!)



Take your pick as to what sounds the most reasonable.

Did injuries derail this year and last? Certainly. Obviously. Does that mean we can't judge the coach/staff on the results anyway? Absolutely not. It's still their team, their players, their collection of talent, their bench.

It's a bottom-line business. No excuses.

SP is now 67-60 (.528) overall in 4 years.
SP is now 34-38 (.472) in the MAC regular season.
SP is now 2-4 (.333) in the MAC tournament.
SP is now 36-42 (.462) in the MAC overall.

Stop leaving scholarships open. Fill them. This season one scholarship was open. Plan for transfers. Don’t be afraid to sub your starting lineup when they are struggling. Saul waited too long to make the adjustment of Block in the starting lineup. Many wins came after the change with Gollon. Don’t fall in Love with the 3. Taylor can bang in the paint feed him more. Demand the highest performance out of each player. Have your bench ready to step in and challenge players for their spots. Injuries will come. It’s next man up. Looking forward to next season.

^^^^^ Bottom line business is correct! Saul is an employee of a public institution. His salary is in the top 1% of that institution. His job is to put a competitive product on the floor and deal with circumstances as they come. Regardless of the bumps in the road, Saul's job is to win and his bottom line is measured in victories and program advancement. The program has regressed. The recruiting is substandard. Attendance and student involvement is suffering. If the program is winning, the seats will be full. After 4 years we know what we have - a really nice guy who makes funny jokes on the post game and smiles a lot. Thad Matta was similar toward his end. Where is he these days? There are no scared cows..

Remember Saul's first year disaster? You know, the one where he "coached" our guys to 10 wins with (2) potential NBA players on the roster? Well, we all blamed Bean and Stevie but the concern was not at this level because we knew Jaaron and Kenny were coming the next season. If anyone here thinks we have a class remotely similar to that coming in, you're sadly mistaken.

I was not putting you in your place. My post never mentioned your name. My post was to stop the narrative that we are playing "slow ball" when in fact we are one of the fastest teams in the country. Do you suggest we just ignore posts when they are wrong? I want MORE fans coming here to discuss Bobcat hoops....but discussion implies that there is give and take without being hurt by facts.

Fake News? What the hell is that about? Intelligent posts? You're full of those aren't you, with all your childish hashtags. Yeah, you're a genius.

If you two are so smart, you should be coaching and recruiting D1 college basketball. All I said was maybe we'll be better if everyone avoids the trainers table.

Definitively good thoughts on not leaving scholarships open - I hope this is the last year that happens. I don't know how you plan for transfers if you're a coaching staff. Maybe you know someone might be halfway out the door sometimes, but other times I'd guess maybe you don't have a clue if you're a coaching staff. I'd been interested to know the dynamics of how coaching staffs handle this.

No disagreement on the juggling of the starting lineup as it relates to Gollon & Block. I would have like to have seen that sooner as well.

Re: falling in love with the three though, that's a trend in the game as a whole, not just at OU. And I doubt it's going away.

I didn't see any reason to start Gollon over Block before it happened but it sure worked out. Gollon impressed me late in year. I'd say SP handled that perfectly.

Okay, so with the transfers - they did alright with TK when Simmons left? Yes? I'm not sure how easy it is to have a quality recruit in the pipeline in every case if someone tells you they're leaving in May or June. Maybe someone smarter about recruiting could add to that. I think Ohio had everyone "D-1 ready to ball" this year, save Mr. Dozier. I don't think more needs to been gone over with regard to his situation, and I don't think more needs to be discussed on the injury situation at this point. It's done, and hopefully it's not this way next year.

I'd be interested in examples you have of teams that shoot lots of threes as part of their regular offensive system that just abandon what they normally do when three point shots aren't falling. I feel like most coaches and teams stick to what they do most of the time.