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Mid-Season Observations


TrueBlue82

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Albert has been up and down every year....mostly a disappointment for a 6-9 260 guy...he has one move....and as pointed out above, he sometimes appears disinterested and unmotivated.....yet one game earlier this year he had 33 points...so it's in him to score....but not in him to rebound....he does seem like a good guy and from all reports Albert is a fine teammate....TheEagleman hopes he finishes his career at ORU on a strong note but it needs to be from the bench....again, as pointed out above...Albert is still getting 15-20+ minutes per game.....:eagles:

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I think he's great as an option off the bench. He doesn't offer the stability and consistency you want from your starting center, but he has the potential to be a sparkplug for us to get the offense going. Props to him for keeping a positive attitude and continuing to be a positive influence in the locker room. It's gotta be really tough having a new coach take your starting spot from you. 

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20 hours ago, Section A said:

If Owens is not in the dog-house why was he benched for the Missouri State game.  Did he say something he shouldn't have to someone or was he blamed for the Southern Nazarene loss?  In that game Owens, Nzekwisi, White and Miller had 14, 6, 11 & 6 points respectively.  The other three big-men didn't show-up until AFTER Owens was benched. 

Owens was a pre-season conference first team selection  and now Old Titan has him "fortunate" to have a role with this team in his senior year. 

I agree about the back court. They are the key reason ORU only won 2 of its first 11 games.  Shot poor in these games and have been on and off as of late. 

 

I think it's pretty obvious Coach Mills saw SOMETHING from Albert that warranted him being benched for the entire Missouri State game.  I don't think it was punishment or "blame", but he did something (or, perhaps more accurately, DIDN'T do something) to justify such a drastic move.

And yes, Albert IS fortunate to lose his starting spot and yet still get significant playing time.  In some instances, a player gets buried deep on the bench after such a demotion (or, quits the team in frustration). More often than not, that demoted player can become a locker room cancer, ESPECIALLY if he's a senior.  Takes a lot of guts for both the player and the coach to devise a plan to make it work on a reduced scale.

Finally, just because the media and/or SID's in a league recognize some returning player with a fantasy award in October based on how he MIGHT play in the coming year should not figure into a coach deciding whether that player deserves playing time during the actual season.

If that was the case, 2016 preseason "Freshman Of The Year" Dez MacDaniel should have been starting from Day 1 for Scott Sutton last year...

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Hello all, I am new to the ORU sports forum community. I am very close to a number of former ORU basketball staff/team members from the late nineties to the present day because I found a wife and never left Tulsa after graduation :).  I caved in and finally started to make an account after all these years because this is the first big change ORU has seen in quite some time. New coach, logo, a lot of new faces etc.  

 From asking around the athletic department this is what I have been able to glean concerning Albert Owens: there was basically an inside look taken of the team by the coaching staff. Obviously Albert had been at ORU for all 4 years, which was a rarity during Sutton's final years. He had genuine offers to grad transfer back home to Baylor or go an hour away to play at OSU which would have been ironic considering Sutton's hiring. However, he chose to stay here because he genuinely loves his teammates and he has a pretty serious girlfriend that he's dated since freshman year on campus. Regardless the teams early losses were put on his shoulders because he was who the coaches ran the offense through. As mentioned above he averaged 15 and 5 for the first however many games for a reason. Sometimes when you only see the box score and you get a much different tale than the actual game. Owens left the Montana game after being the leading scorer and rebounder at half because of coaches decision, he didn't play most of the the second  half of Penn St because of coaches decision. Even after he got benched at Mo St he has played more minutes at center than Chris Miller has in just about every game. If something works why change it? When the stats are taken into account from an advance point of view (Per 40, Net Rating, Offensive Efficiency etc.) the simple truth is Owens is better than Miller and thats why his playing time still reflects it. Owens has a per 40 of 18 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Miller's per 40 is extremely similar at 18 points, 8 boards, but only 1 block. The kicker is that Miller would average 10 fouls a game if he played 40 min while Owens would only pick up 3. This type of stuff makes a huge difference and is why Owens is still seeing much more time. No one on this team currently has a positive net rating except for Javan White at +4. Miller and Owens both have negative net ratings for their careers (-16 and -6 respectively). At the end of they day from what I have heard Mills is looking towards the future. He wants Miller to get as much experience as possible and unfortunately Owens has to take a reduced role. He is a 1000 point scorer 4th all time in ORU blocks and soon to be 500 career rebounder who last year showed he was honestly a top player in the league regardless of position with Daum, Mooney, Miller, and Mo Evans. It is truly unfortunate that there was not enough of a supporting cast around him and Nzekwesi last year for the team to compete day in and day out. If White had been healthy and the extreme roster turnover stable that team last year could have competed with anyone in the summit. This is just what Ive heard from people closer to the situation than any of us..

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Owens got suspended for Missouri State for straight up disrespectful comments to an assistant coach during the Nazarene game.  It's not a dog house it's a rule and I'm sure everyone has moved on.  The irony is that it's turned into a nice situation.  Miller is way more skilled than I originally thought and AL is a great option off the bench.

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Yes, I am sorry ParentLurker I have heard that as well I am not saying anyone on the team is free of issues.  All I am saying is that this situation may be more a stroke of luck than it was a stroke of genius or bravery on Mills's part.. 

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It took recognition/bravery to sustain it... Glad Albert embraced the move; it has helped him and the team. 

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11 hours ago, ORUALUMNUS99 said:

Yes, I am sorry ParentLurker I have heard that as well I am not saying anyone on the team is free of issues.  All I am saying is that this situation may be more a stroke of luck than it was a stroke of genius or bravery on Mills's part.. 

ha... coaching moves are rarely as calculated as we think anyway.  It's 40% paranoia, 40% luck, and 20% strategy.  Yeah I'm joking.  I do think its pretty easy for a coach to bench a star player when the team isn't winning.  What do you have to lose?  Plus, as a new coach it sets an example to the other players that you aren't to be trifled with. 

 

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Being fortunate (blessed/lucky/fill-in-the-blank) accounts for a lot of the good things that happen in life. You need to be prepared to capitalize on it (which usually requires hard work) but you need a little luck. The Golden State Warriors are a good example of this too. If Minnesota would have said yes to the Kevin Love / Klay Thompson trade, we likely never see the Warriors become what they are today. 

Not sure it works like this but here's to some of that Golden State luck rubbing off on the Golden Eagles! 

 

 

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Trust The Process.....:geek::eagles:;-)

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18 hours ago, ORUALUMNUS99 said:

Yes, I am sorry ParentLurker I have heard that as well I am not saying anyone on the team is free of issues.  All I am saying is that this situation may be more a stroke of luck than it was a stroke of genius or bravery on Mills's part.. 

ORUALUMNUS99's earlier post and his comment here that the Owens "situation may be more a stroke of luck than a stroke of genius or bravery on Mills's part"  is exactly my point in my initial post on this matter.

Let's go ORU! Men (away) and women (home) v South Dakota tonight.

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First-time posting, but I have followed the men's basketball board discussion and the team for a few years.  Albert is a better player than Miller even though, based on Chris' motor, it can be close at times.  To permanently make a proven senior the sixth man is a difficult pill for anyone to swallow.  Surprised and pleased that he did not leave the team.  ORU's problems are not as much coaching as are the issues the program has with internal dysfunction, facilities and attendance.  It will be always be difficult to recruit in this environment and the first impressions I have of Mills is that he is a good X's and O's coach.   However, watching from afar, I don't think I would recommend sending a student athlete to ORU again.  Playing for next year, will always leave you a little disappointed.  This team has the ability to do something this year.  He should not let it go to waste.

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  • Well I am new to this site. Love reading it.  I respect all comments. However i am more interested in hearing thoughts on the zone and some of the other players. Do I have to start a new thread?
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  • 2 weeks later...

Am I the only one who thinks this team hasn't been the same in the wake of RJ Fuqua's diminished role following Ruder's return from injury, resulting in fewer perimeter deflections on defense, more ill-advised threes on offense, fewer entry passes to the post, and fewer drives to the basket from out top, all contributing to the subsequent dips in production from White, Nzekwezi and Miller?

Just sayin... :^)

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YES!....^^^^^^ this!!!...+1...absolutely correct....less Ruder....More FUQUA!!!.....RJ is the future...not Ruder....I would only put in the Missouri State kid when we are in need of some long range quick scoring.....:geek:

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Also, is it just me, or is ORU always on the losing end of the foul totals?  Seems like every game we have several more team fouls than our opponents.  Are our players not disciplined enough to play D w/o fouling, or are we getting called for several questionable fouls?

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