eagle88 Posted October 4, 2022 Share Posted October 4, 2022 I am in the camp that believes ORU will win their Conference and make some noise in the Big Dance. With this said there are many intangibles that have to play out like unity, unselfishness, being coachable, lack of injuries, intense desire etc. Look at SD State last year. They went 30-5, 18-0 in Conference, won 21 games in a row and yet were very unimpressive in their 1st round loss to Providence. On the other hand in the previous year ORU didn’t even win 20 games and made it to the Sweet 16. Look at St Pete’s last year, their resume not nearly as impressive as SD State and yet reached the Elite 8. Just too many factors to take in and ultimately how do we play at the end of the year will determine where we end up. So I am choosing to believe that the coaches will do their part to weigh the intangibles in our favor and the players will buy in. There is no doubt we have the talent to go far unlike in many previous years. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EagleManiac Posted October 4, 2022 Share Posted October 4, 2022 12 hours ago, ORU40 said: We should play our best players! Unfortunately, based on last year and coach's comments, I don't think we will. The problem is, we will win 18 games no matter who plays and not be ready to beat the good teams we need to beat to get where we want (the true reason you play a difficult OOC schedule is to improve as a team,18 gimme games does not help you improve), but we can say we won 19 games!! Sadly, I guess that's what we want. I never saw anything from Herron that indicated he was ready to play significant minutes last season. Any time he was on the floor, the opponent went at him almost immediately because they knew it was an easy bucket. On the offensive side, he showed some flashes, but was for the most part lost on the court and unsure of himself. I agree with all on this board that there's a lot of upside there, but I don't understand the frustration with the coaching staff for not playing him. It was clear he wasn't ready. Hopefully he's ready this year. I can get behind the frustration surrounding Trey, but this one doesn't make sense to me. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORU40 Posted October 4, 2022 Share Posted October 4, 2022 21 minutes ago, EagleManiac said: I never saw anything from Herron that indicated he was ready to play significant minutes last season. Any time he was on the floor, the opponent went at him almost immediately because they knew it was an easy bucket. On the offensive side, he showed some flashes, but was for the most part lost on the court and unsure of himself. I agree with all on this board that there's a lot of upside there, but I don't understand the frustration with the coaching staff for not playing him. It was clear he wasn't ready. Hopefully he's ready this year. I can get behind the frustration surrounding Trey, but this one doesn't make sense to me. Maniac, we will just have to agree to disagree Maniac about Herron. I saw unlimited potential in a 6'9" phenomenal athlete that worked hard, played hard the couple times he did play- when coach put him on the front of our press to guard the in bounder then follow the ball to trap the initial pass and he was amazing. In the front or back of our half court 1-3-1 zone he would excel!! as he can push the O out farther when up top with his length and he is quick enough to get corner to corner on the back and big enough to challenge the shooter and then rebound!! He only got minutes a few times and it was early against poor competition, but in the homecoming game he played 13 minutes was 3-3 from 3-point line and scored 13 points and had 2 steals, against Haskell, he played 23 minutes and scored 13 points and had 10 rebounds and in 7 minutes at Houston Babtist 5 points 4 boards!! He looks like a guy that should have kept getting minutes that in my opinion he earned, he is a future star for us...if given the opportunity. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keenan Henderson Posted October 4, 2022 Author Share Posted October 4, 2022 Herron is the most athletic 6'9 guy ORU has had in quite a long time. If Coach puts him in the right position, he can be very good. Would love to see him on a breakaway dunk, that would be Sportscenter highlight material. However, if he is forced to bang underneath the basket all year that would not go well. He should get some playing time because of the lack of depth inside, especially if Connor is in foul trouble. The key for all young guys is consistency: they may look great one game and then disappear for 3 or 4 nights. Hoping that the old saying is true: most players improve from their freshman to sophomore years. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EagleManiac Posted October 4, 2022 Share Posted October 4, 2022 27 minutes ago, ORU40 said: Maniac, we will just have to agree to disagree Maniac about Herron. I saw unlimited potential in a 6'9" phenomenal athlete that worked hard, played hard the couple times he did play- when coach put him on the front of our press to guard the in bounder then follow the ball to trap the initial pass and he was amazing. In the front or back of our half court 1-3-1 zone he would excel!! as he can push the O out farther when up top with his length and he is quick enough to get corner to corner on the back and big enough to challenge the shooter and then rebound!! He only got minutes a few times and it was early against poor competition, but in the homecoming game he played 13 minutes was 3-3 from 3-point line and scored 13 points and had 2 steals, against Haskell, he played 23 minutes and scored 13 points and had 10 rebounds and in 7 minutes at Houston Babtist 5 points 4 boards!! He looks like a guy that should have kept getting minutes that in my opinion he earned, he is a future star for us...if given the opportunity. All fair points. I 100% agree with the last statement. He's going to be a big time player for us for sure. I didn't think he was quite ready for the bright lights yet last year, but am optimistic this is going to be a breakout year for him. With the loss of Eli, he's really going to need to step up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_TwoFive Posted October 4, 2022 Share Posted October 4, 2022 More times than not, if *insert player* is not on the floor playing significant minutes, there's a reason. He has not done something to EARN trust to be on the floor. Period. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORU40 Posted October 4, 2022 Share Posted October 4, 2022 10 minutes ago, Keenan Henderson said: Hoping that the old saying is true: most players improve from their freshman to sophomore years. There's an old joke and Coach Ken Hayes used it all the time: Q: You know the best thing about freshman? A: They become sophomores! Thank You, I'm here all week!! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted October 4, 2022 Share Posted October 4, 2022 39 minutes ago, Mr_TwoFive said: More times than not, if *insert player* is not on the floor playing significant minutes, there's a reason. He has not done something to EARN trust to be on the floor. Period. Early one evening a couple of months ago, I stumbled onto a spirited pick-up game in 100-degree temps down at "The Gathering Place" along Riverside Drive, and watched in horror as an ORU reserve-player-who-shall-remain-nameless got repeatedly punked in the paint by a 40-year-old with a 250-pound dad bod, while two of his ORU teammates were busy oohing-and-ahhing the crowd with a variety of moves and scoring drives. I keep trying to tell myself that maybe he was just tired from lifting weights and getting up a thousand shots earlier that day, but I can't get the vision out of my mind of someone who (at least at this stage of development) was somewhat lacking on the desire category... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted October 4, 2022 Share Posted October 4, 2022 Assuming Mr. Nameless was Herron ?? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted October 4, 2022 Share Posted October 4, 2022 12 minutes ago, theeagleman5 said: Assuming Mr. Nameless was Herron ?? See, the key element of the "remaining nameless" approach is that I'm not going to tell you the player's name. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Cornelius Posted October 4, 2022 Share Posted October 4, 2022 On 10/3/2022 at 12:54 PM, ORU40 said: I agree that defensive improvement will be the key to us winning the conf. tourney or ending like we did last year, But I disagree that it's our frontcourt D that is the primary problem. Our backcourt defense is very sub-par, and it puts a lot of pressure on the wings and bigs who have to constantly switch and help! Keenan basically says in his post above that Herron needs to prove he can play D to get more minutes, well hopefully coach holds the guards to that standard and not just give guys minutes that are playing horrible D because they are good 3-point shooters. Defense is a team concept, if you have one or 2 guys that are constantly getting beat off the dribble your entire team defense breaks down. Playing time should be earned on the defensive end of the court and minutes either increased or reduced based on defense, toughness and effort!!! I think that unless one of the guards becomes a defensive stopper like Yemi Ogunoye or Kyron Stokes it will fall on the front court to clean up a lot of defense lapses with help defense. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted October 4, 2022 Share Posted October 4, 2022 Well...I had to try.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_TwoFive Posted October 5, 2022 Share Posted October 5, 2022 1 hour ago, Dr. Cornelius said: I think that unless one of the guards becomes a defensive stopper like Yemi Ogunoye or Kyron Stokes it will fall on the front court to clean up a lot of defense lapses with help defense. This is true but philosophy plays a big role as well. Sutton’s prime teams, defended. They may or may not out score you, but they could shut your water off. Saying that, there’s no doubt that the current staff focuses and puts time into the defensive end - schemes, rotations, etc. I’ve seen it. But that’s not their identity. They pride themselves on playing extremely hard with multiple efforts, limiting turnovers, PPP, shooting the 3 ball, and ultimately going through Max. With their style of play, they can’t be great at both. They need those legs for the offensive end. It’s not a bad thing, they just have to find a way to get stops when needed. Whatever that looks like. They found ways to get the job done during their historic run. It can be done. 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keenan Henderson Posted October 5, 2022 Author Share Posted October 5, 2022 Last year the expectations were very high for ORU, and they struggled. Will that light a fire under them to have a big season? I would think with five seniors, all possible starters, that these guys would be fired up to make a run for their final season. Time to go out in a blaze of glory! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Titan Posted October 5, 2022 Share Posted October 5, 2022 The expectations are much higher this year; last season SDSU was the consensus No. 1 Summit League pick, with ORU and NDSU jockeying for predicted 2nd-or-3rd-place finishes. This year, ORU is the odds-on favorite, but seemingly with an asterisk: "...IF they play defense; otherwise it's SDSU or USD". In other words, if it was a struggle last year to prove the Sweet Sixteen run wasn't a fluke, then how will they fair "between the ears" this year with another (albeit different) bullseye on their backs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted October 5, 2022 Share Posted October 5, 2022 This is 2022-23...Time for ORU to kick A$$... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keenan Henderson Posted October 5, 2022 Author Share Posted October 5, 2022 One of the expectations for ORU is to play better at home. It was frustrating to watch the Eagles go 5-4 at home in conference. Even in the wins they struggled to put teams away and often had to battle back from slow starts. That just cannot happen again this year. Time to defend the Mabee and let those bigger crowds then we have seen in a while, enjoy some home wins! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_TwoFive Posted October 5, 2022 Share Posted October 5, 2022 1 hour ago, Keenan Henderson said: One of the expectations for ORU is to play better at home. It was frustrating to watch the Eagles go 5-4 at home in conference. Even in the wins they struggled to put teams away and often had to battle back from slow starts. That just cannot happen again this year. Time to defend the Mabee and let those bigger crowds then we have seen in a while, enjoy some home wins! Gotta win all home games. Sweep the ones you’re supposed to sweep. Split the Dakotas. It’s hard to win @ Frost. Can’t afford a bad loss. That should put you in contender for 1st or 2nd place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.