MAJOR disappointment...

[Guest EagleBackr]

...we lost on a neutral floor to a mediocre team that didn't even play that well. We got outshot, outrebounded, outhustled and outcoached. This team the past few seasons continues to come up short in the big ones - and even in the ones that might actually lead to something big. I can accept losing to better teams - I'm sick of losing in critical games to teams that aren't as good as us...

[orumom]

And it was all your fault for not being at the watch party. We missed that one extra fan to send the extra positive vibes to win the game. You let us down

[ashVID]

It is the LSG hang over... how many times did he hit the big shot last year in these close games? Especially early in the season... ORU needs to focus on winning the mid-con, securing the #1 seed and winning the conf tourny. After that they can make some noise in the NCAA tourny...

ash =o)

[Guest Rob Marshall]

Ash, you're partially correct. YES, absolutely ORU needs to focus on winning the Mid Con regular season title and thus securing the #1 seed for the conference tournament; THEN ORU has to win the Mid Con tournament championship and I agree they could have some more fun in March.

NO, you're wrong that this team misses Spencer-Gardner to take/make the big shot. Yes, Luke took and hit a few in his final seasons, but Tutt was aweful ALL game against Marquette until the final two minutes of the game, and he found himself and was awesome. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see the game on ESPN 360 so I don't know how the final seconds ticked off other than Bluitt missed a three to tie the game with five (5) seconds left.

Why Tutt didn't have the ball to take that shot is the $50,000 question. Was he denied the ball? Did they even have a play called to get Tutt the ball? Could Bluitt even see Tutt to get him the ball or did JB just run the ball of the court and throw up a despiration three unaware there was plenty of time (five seconds) left to get a better shot? Why did Bluitt take the last shot? Perhaps because he has experience dropping threes at the buzzer against other opponents (IUPUI)? I don't know.

Honestly, the last possession certainly didn't lose the game. Maloy and Bluitt BOTH missed a FT in the closing minutes of the game which would have made it a one point game and then you get the ball to Green inside for the win. To me, Bluitt's missed FT was a bigger deal than missing the three at the end.

Sorry I missed the watch party last night! I'm sure you guys had a blast, especially during our last minute rally to make it a game at the end.

[ttowncount]

...we lost on a neutral floor to a mediocre team that didn't even play that well. We got outshot, outrebounded, outhustled and outcoached. This team the past few seasons continues to come up short in the big ones - and even in the ones that might actually lead to something big. I can accept losing to better teams - I'm sick of losing in critical games to teams that aren't as good as us...

Pretty well expresses my feelings as well. We've lost 3 of the last 4 games, all of which we should have won. I'm getting a bit weary of losing those we should be winning.

[ORUTerry]

Observations:

1. Please value the basketball..... We made a lot of careless turnovers. The guys need to focus and understand that every possession counts. Tutt ended up with seven (7!!) to's.

2. Our perimeter shooting was atrocious. Not sure what that means - maybe a result of the 3-point arc being extended. Here's the answer - get Caleb Green the ball more. He should touch the ball on every possession.

3. Not sure why Larry Owens did not play more in the 2nd half. Or why Riouse or Vealy did not see more court time. The effectiveness of the press late in the game make me wonder if we should have initiated it sooner.

4. Missed free throws. Meloy and Bluitt both missed free throws late in the game. Make those free throws and we are shooting to win the game - with an entry pass to Green - at the end of the game.

5. Key moments:

* The Marquette rebounds off missed free throws giving them an extra possession.

* Missed free throws by Bluitt and Meloy (see above)

* The Marquette player saves the ball from going out of bounds on the ORU side of the court with a no-look pass to a streaking teammate who passes ahead for a dunk/layup. That seemed to deflate us. A timeout right then would have been nice.

* Tutt's offensive charge; it was a good call, except that we were playing with experimental rules with an arc under the basket that excludes charges in that area. Oh well....

* Owens steals the ball under our basket with the press (the ball is thrown right to his hands) and he fumbles it out of bounds. Would have been an easy dunk.

[tmh8286]

The thing I found remarkable was how close the two teams were in almost every statistical category.

ORU Marquette

FG% 40.4 41.0

3pt% 17.7 23.5

FT% 75 67.9

PF 20 20

RB 37 39

A 15 16

TO 16 16

BLK 5 2

STL 10 8

While we shot the trey terribly, so did they - something I didn't really realize while watching the game. The announcers made such a big deal every time Novak, the 6'10" guy, hit one that I thought he had a bunch - he was 2-6 on threes and had only 12 pts - hardly the standout we were led to believe.

They shot the ball only .6 of one percent better than us, but we shot free throws better - a fact that didn't really matter, since they seemed to snag nearly every one of their own missed free throws. In spite of that, they only beat us by two in rebounding - which came as a complete shock to me. I expected that we'd been out-rebounded by 10 or more.

Turnovers were even (another surprise) personal fouls were even, and assists were nearly even. In the defensive categories of blocks and steals we perform better than they did.

On the one stat that counted, though, in the final tally, they led, 73 to 70

[tmh8286]

nm

[Dr. Cornelius]

There's no excuse to lose to these teams (Utah St. and Marquette). Tutt still seems to be in the slump he fell into at the end of last season. Our outside shooting is downright AWFUL! Lack of subs probably cost us the game. Meloy and Yemi keep getting minutes when they aren't contributing... where were Larry, Veally, and Riouse?

[tmh8286]

I can't understand the absence of Larry in most of the second half. Maybe we'll get an explanation in the coaches' show on Tuesday.

Another question is why no time out was called during the Marquette run with two minutes left. My guess is that Sutton knew that the next whistle would bring about a media time out, he had only two TO's left, and in a closely contested game he wanted to save them for the end. He gambled that a whistle would blow before more damage would be done by Marquette, and lost. Wouldn't you have given anything for another time out right at the end, even as it was?

Another thing about the Marquette run - didn't it seem like in the middle of that run that Marquette was getting away with all sorts of physical play that they hadn't gotten away with earlier? I've noticed this in many games, and not just ones involving ORU - when a team goes on a run, often times the refs suddenly are allowing them to get away with stuff they hadn't allowed all game. It's almost as though the refs get caught up in the action of the run and aren't about to blow a whistle to stop it. I've seen this many times, and sometimes to the benefit of ORU. In this game, one whistle puts an end to the Marquette momentum, brings about a media time out, causes a change of possession, and really alters the direction of the game, and possibly the outcome. I can't say whether those guys actually go through the mental exercise of considering all that, but the way they swallow their whistles at key times sure leaves you wondering.

[ORUTerry]

The fact that ORU got down eleven points with about four minutes to go and fought back to make a game of it speaks well of this team's mental toughness. I also think our defense is okay. Just need to work on turnovers and shot selection - as well as rebounding.

Just like with Utah State, if we shoot the ball from the perimeter like we are used to seeing, we win the game.

[MadAdder]

The question in my mind now is "Is this team underachieving, or are they not as good as we all thought they would be?"

I think the team also missed Fowlkes last night. I thought he played well against USC and showed that he's a pretty good defender and quick with the ball. Fortunately he'll be back after the Monmouth game.

Not sure why we missed so many threes. Can anyone that was watching on ESPN360 tell me if they were missing open shots, missing contested shots, or just taking bad shots?

Caleb seemed to play well, but we need our perimeter players to make their shots. IMO that will open it up for Caleb to be even more effective.

I won't even get started about turnovers, lol.

[ORUTerry]

They missed everything.... did not matter if they were open or contested.

The two 3-pointers that Tutt made late in the game were arguably the most contested shots he took. We just could not hit anything.

[Dr. Cornelius]

Caleb seemed to play well, but we need our perimeter players to make their shots. IMO that will open it up for Caleb to be even more effective.

Caleb and Mickey played great! Caleb basically carried the team against double and triple-teams all night long and Mickey hit some surprising jumpers!!! It's just when they pass out nobody can hit a shot uncontested or not.

[ashVID]

Same questions as TU a few years back when Harrington left. Bottom line is that ORU is 3-0 with LSG right now. Have you guys forgotten that he was by far and away the best perimeter defender on your team? He also had ice-water in his veins and a heart the size of an elephant. How many FTs did he miss in the last 5 minutes? How many big shots? Assists? Steals? Defensive stops?

The team is adjusting to life without LSG. At some point it will all click and ORU will get rolling. ORU is going to HAVE to get some others to step up because Tutt IS going to have off nights and Green IS going to get double teamed and denied some nights. I think Owens needs to be used more but he seems to really get lost in any complicated set. I would run some things with him flashing from the low post to the high, etc. He is a freakish athlete...

ash =o)

[orumom]

ttown, I could swear we are 2-2 not 1-3. Help me out here.

ORUterry, I couldn't agree more with your take. I would have like to have seen a whole lot more of Larry & Chelo the last 10 minutes of the game.

How much can someone play before they can't red shirt? I think if Chelo isn't going to play more this year that we need to save him & get 5 years.

What do you think?

[tmh8286]

As far as red shirt's go, someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think you can red shirt if you've played in even one regular season game, unless it is for medical hardship, in which case you can play in something like 20% of a season's games, which works out to about five. If you're wondering about Chello, I think it's already too late for him, unless he has a season ending injury. But don't give up on him quite yet - before the season is up he may be a major contributor. He's just not there yet. If his defense is soft, we really couldn't use him in a game like last night. Hopefully we'll see more of him later.

To allay any confusion, we have played in three regular season games, and our current record is 1-2.

[tmh8286]

Ash, I think you're right about Owens. I suspect he was either having trouble running the offensive sets (like Vealy) or was getting lost on defense. In spite of that I think we needed him more in the second half because of his athleticism.