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I watched the game yesterday and have been reading the various posts regarding the possible causes of our poor play and potential remedies like different defenses or focusing on defense in the off season and the need for fundaments all of which I agree with. But at this stage of the season our freshman and new players have basically a full season under their belt. There is clearly a breakdown somewhere, when I saw Jones get an offensive foul on a moving screen when he ran over to try and set a pick in the lane when our dribbler was backing his guy down- that was just a dumb play. When Smith comes in for him and gets an offensive foul a minute later on an inbounds where he just has to stand still as a screener but pushes the guard trying to get over the screen with his arm extended, which will be called 100 out of 100 times, I'm thinking to myself it's game 24 and we cannot set a screen!! Why not? I'm watching Appel and I'm wondering if A-do we have scouting reports? or B- we are making adjustments during the game? We've seen him for 3 years now and we can't figure out that he's left-handed, and is going to post up, get the pass, make an up fake and then go back over his right shoulder for a layup. I've seen that over and over and over again!! It's not rocket science coach, we need to have our bigs sprint back and meet him at the foul line, not 2 feet from the basket where he wants to post up and we continuously let him, make him work his way down the lane, not fighting him and fouling, just make him take a little extra time and maybe end up posting a foot or 2 farther out than he wants, when he get the pass we should run some help, but we don't- so the bigs need to stay on their feet and don't go for the up fake, keep your hands up on the shot which will not be right at the basket if we just stay on our feet and between him and the hoop, and box out. Basketball 101, man-me-basket!! The fact that we can't or won't box out at this stage of the season is probably our biggest failure. As bad as our offense scheme is or if we even have one, we should be able to play with effort, play defense and rebound by game 24! The fact that our play is so bad at this stage of the season, so lacking in basic fundamental skills either means coach is not motivating the team, not teaching them the proper techniques, or they aren't listening to him. All of these options point to a poorly coached team! It's his first year as the head man but he's been around college basketball long enough that we should be much better at game 24!! There are still 5 games left before the Summit tourney, I would at least like to start seeing some hustle and effort, let's play with some fight. Show some pride Eagles!!

The only good thing is that ORU did play better than Thursday night versus St. Thomas. They did come out and play SDSU tough for most of the game but ran out of gas in the final 6-7 minutes. So they were competitive, which I think was something we were unsure about after losing so badly to St. Thomas. This team has still really not found its identity. We see glimpses of what they could be and then we see a team that looks lost. There is still time. I hope they do eventually put it all together because it could be special. Thompson, Weaver, McBride have always been winners and helped the Eagles so much over the last few years.

So many things to ponder and honestly it is difficult to pinpoint the exact cause. For a team that has competed with some really good teams this year it really is a bit perplexing how we are fizzling out instead of peaking in February. Some things to consider are too much Hero ball, not enough passing, lack of intensity and hustle at times, players not listening, 1st year coach’s inexperience, needing players that buy into HCRS system. As a fan it is hard to watch our team that has the potential to win their conference under achievie and end up with a disappointing year. Believing that the ship gets righted and smoother sailing ️ ahead!

Let’s take a short reprieve tonight from our ORU woes and cheer on them Chiefs!!!

Take heart Eagleman. Baseball season starts on Friday.

This coaching staff is getting these results with players who have had previous success. Recruiting is falling off. So, what exactly is the expected result for future seasons if ORU can’t retain THIS talent level? Not good.

We really don’t have an offensive system, do we?

It seems like more than “coach-speak” to me. It is better to have a coach who truly believes in the value and vision of ORU because they will be more able to enthusiastically recruit to ORU. For fair balance, I also believe that Paul Mills believed in the value and vision of ORU as well. He just pursued an opportunity that he felt he couldn’t turn down after having 2 recent NCAA tournament appearances.