ORU at Kansas State

[dave]

The guys played really tough tonight. Play like this in the Summit League and they will pile up the wins. Once again, surrendering offensive rebounds did them in. Great effort, though. This should help them going forward.

[ORU40]

9 minutes ago, ORUalum said:

rough overtime from McBride.....too much pounding the ball

These minutes are ridiculous, you can't expect Kareem and McBride to play every minute of every game and execute and shoot well in minutes 40-45. They are both getting worn down and it's November.  A couple minute blow in each half would do a world of good at the end of these games, fatigue is inevitable but let's not get a key player hurt.

[Old Titan]

Is it possible that with the 5:00 of overtime figured in, Issac and Kareem are now actually averaging MORE than 40 minutes played per game?

That’s like traveling faster than the speed of light - both theoretical impossibilities.

[TrueBlue82]

Lots of positives from tonight that gives some hope to ORU fans.  I was especially pleased that ORU found a way to stay even in both halves, despite shooting 8-of-10 from beyond the arc in the first half and not making a single trey in the second half.  That's called resilience.

Bedford, Jones and Herron all had their best games of the season - and showed new aspects to their game that will pay huge dividends for ORU down the road.

My one critique for the night.  As much as I LOVED the execution of the play to feed Sir Issac the ball for the game-tying dunk, I really thought that the right play call was to get the best three-point shot possible.  Our guys were exhausted and had already recovered from two significant K-State runs.  The only way ORU was going to win the game was to steal it with a three at the end of regulation.  Yes, I know that K-State was likely expecting a three and that ORU was oh-fer for the second half from beyond the arc, but I still believe that this was ORU's best chance at a win.

While pushing the game into overtime was a moral victory of sorts, it also allowed K-State to make another run and for the zebras to take the game over to preserve a victory for the mighty Big 12... and both happened.

Great effort by the Eagles!

[TrueBlue82]

1 hour ago, Old Titan said:

Is it possible that with the 5:00 of overtime figured in, Issac and Kareem are now actually averaging MORE than 40 minutes played per game?

That’s like traveling faster than the speed of light - both theoretical impossibilities.

You are spot on.  Officially, Kareem and Issac have played 40.5 and 40.3 minutes per game, respectively.  Hear the sonic boom? 

[Keenan Henderson]

McBride and Bedford have a good chance to be the best backcourt in the Summit League.  It is also of note that Weaver struggled and Thompson was just average but yet ORU took K-State to overtime.  That means the others are stepping up and filling their roles.  The Eagles keep making steps forward and seem to play much better on the road (Texas AM and K-State come to mind).  Let's hope they continue this improvement in the Mabee Center on Saturday night!

 

 

[jmg1984]

Getting better all around except the O rebounds. Get that fixed and

[Keenan Henderson]

In the K-State postgame, Coach Tang was very impressed by ORU and McBride.  He basically said the Eagles are picked 2nd in the Summit but K-State played SDSU and ORU looks better to him.  Tang said it reminded him of a first round NCAA tournament game and he was impressed by how ORU hit some really tough shots throughout the game.  He went on to say McBride never seemed to be rattled and has such a quick jump when he shoots, which makes him very hard to guard.   Tang is an old roommate of Coach Mills and he thinks Coach Springmann is doing a great job at ORU.  Kind words from the opponent's coach.

[dbl78]

Just back from Manhattan - I agree with many of the comments previously made, the improvements since the beginning of the season are real encouraging, and if they continue at the present pace, March could be special.  I was very encouraged to see the improvement in Bedford's game, on both sides of the ball.  I am not one to complain about the officiating but during the last portion of regulation and the overtime period, it was horrible.  We were getting hammered inside, without getting a call.  

Thompson and Bedford are still getting used to playing together, as Thompson had a couple of errant passes, where Bedford cut one way, and Thompson thought that he was going to cut the other way.  Again, the season is young and hopefully when it really counts, they will be on the same page.

 

[dbl78]

6 minutes ago, Keenan Henderson said:

In the K-State postgame, Coach Tang was very impressed by ORU and McBride.  He basically said the Eagles are picked 2nd in the Summit but K-State played SDSU and ORU looks better to him.  Tang said it reminded him of a first round NCAA tournament game and he was impressed by how ORU hit some really tough shots throughout the game.  He went on to say McBride never seemed to be rattled and has such a quick jump when he shoots, which makes him very hard to guard.   Tang is an old roommate of Coach Mills and he thinks Coach Springmann is doing a great job at ORU.  Kind words from the opponent's coach.

After the game and the handshake line, Tang met McBride on the court, and after a big hug, put his arm around his shoulder and had, what appeared to be, a good conversaton.

[Ting]

9 hours ago, dbl78 said:

After the game and the handshake line, Tang met McBride on the court, and after a big hug, put his arm around his shoulder and had, what appeared to be, a good conversaton.

I hope it's just confidence boosting and not recruiting talk going on over there...

[Ting]

9 hours ago, Keenan Henderson said:

In the K-State postgame, Coach Tang was very impressed by ORU and McBride.  He basically said the Eagles are picked 2nd in the Summit but K-State played SDSU and ORU looks better to him.  Tang said it reminded him of a first round NCAA tournament game and he was impressed by how ORU hit some really tough shots throughout the game.  He went on to say McBride never seemed to be rattled and has such a quick jump when he shoots, which makes him very hard to guard.   Tang is an old roommate of Coach Mills and he thinks Coach Springmann is doing a great job at ORU.  Kind words from the opponent's coach.

 

[theeagleman5]

TheEagleman has to tip the cap to ORU for a gritty effort last night in Manhattan...taking the Wildcats to OT in a very tough place to play is admirable....while we take no joy in defeat this game did show that these Golden Eagles do have heart....the pass at the end of regulation and slam dunk by Herron was very impressive....now let's hope we see more of the same on Saturday Night at Mabee Center vs. TU....if we play like we did last night ORU should grab a W......GO BLUE!!    Speaking of caps....TheEagleman just received his new ORU basketball hat from the bookstore....it's the blue one with the ORAL ROBERTS in block letter.....LOVING IT and wearing the brand every day!!  

[Keenan Henderson]

I just listened to Adam's pregame report of the K-State game and he mentioned that the Wildcats were the 8th best offensive rebounding team in the country.  So that is why they had 19 offensive rebounds and took over the glass last night.  He also interviewed Tony Rossi the trainer and TR said Jalen Miller is out for 4-6 weeks with an outside chance at returning for conference play.  They did an MRI on Miller and it came back as expected.  Tony also said Demari is hopefully able to return for the Tulsa game.

I was surprised that Miller is out for so long.  It looked like at the Texas AM game that he hit his knee on the pad under the basket.  That area is padded but of course there is cement behind it.  Hopefully his rehab goes well and Miller can help ORU in Summit League play.

[tmh8286]

11 hours ago, dbl78 said:

After the game and the handshake line, Tang met McBride on the court, and after a big hug, put his arm around his shoulder and had, what appeared to be, a good conversaton.

I noticed in the handshake line after the game that players and coaches of both teams were interacting in a more personal way than is typical. Coach Springmann, in particular, was looking the K-State players in the face and saying things to them that made me feel like he was familiar with some or most of them. Kind of seemed that way between players as well. Could these guys had some connection over the off season or something? 

Many years ago ORU played OU at Lloyd Noble when Kelvin Sampson was still coaching there, and I attended the game with ORUTerry and our boys. As I remember ORU put on a good show but lost. Afterward, while going through the line, Kelvin stopped and said something to each of the ORU players, which I thought at the time was a pretty nice thing for him to do. It's the primary reason I've always liked Kelvin Sampson (in spite of his other issues!). We saw similar sportsmanship on the part of both coaching staffs last night.

[Old Titan]

10 minutes ago, tmh8286 said:

I noticed in the handshake line after the game that players and coaches of both teams were interacting in a more personal way than is typical. Coach Springmann, in particular, was looking the K-State players in the face and saying things to them that made me feel like he was familiar with some or most of them. Kind of seemed that way between players as well. Could these guys had some connection over the off season or something? 

Many years ago ORU played OU at Lloyd Noble when Kelvin Sampson was still coaching there, and I attended the game with ORUTerry and our boys. As I remember ORU put on a good show but lost. Afterward, while going through the line, Kelvin stopped and said something to each of the ORU players, which I thought at the time was a pretty nice thing for him to do. It's the primary reason I've always liked Kelvin Sampson (in spite of his other issues!). We saw similar sportsmanship on the part of both coaching staffs last night.

TH, not sure if you saw it earlier in this thread, but at least one ORU fan thought Coach Tang was a little TOO friendly with Issac McBride, and he was effusive with his praise for Mackey in his postgame comments (also listed above).

Issac technically has one more season of eligibility after this one, and could even transfer again if he graduates this spring.  Here's hoping Coach Tang's comments to him did not include an NIL amount...

[tmh8286]

23 minutes ago, Old Titan said:

TH, not sure if you saw it earlier in this thread, but at least one ORU fan thought Coach Tang was a little TOO friendly with Issac McBride, and he was effusive with his praise for Mackey in his postgame comments (also listed above).

Issac technically has one more season of eligibility after this one, and could even transfer again if he graduates this spring.  Here's hoping Coach Tang's comments to him did not include an NIL amount...

  Yes, I saw those. I didn’t recognize the threat! I'm still not mentally adjusted to the portal era . . .

Sheesh - it's almost like playing OOC games against bigger programs at this point in time is just a scheduled tryout for them to evaluate your best players in a game situation!! Let's hope that wasn't the purpose of Tang's post-game interest in Isaac!!

Kind of leaves you wondering if integrity plays any part in recruitment at this point, and where the line that shouldn't be crossed is - if there even is one. 

[Old Titan]

14 minutes ago, tmh8286 said:

  Yes, I saw those. I'm still not mentally adjusted to the portal era . . .

Sheesh - it's almost like playing OOC games against bigger programs at this point in time is just a chance to for them to evaluate your best players!! Let's hope that wasn't the purpose of Tang's post-game interest in Isaac!!

Kind of leaves you wondering if integrity plays any part in recruitment at this point, and where the line that shouldn't be crossed is - if there even is one. 

Nothing new under the sun:  your boy Kelvin Sampson brazenly went after both Caleb Green and Ken Tutt the summer following their breakout freshman years.  We can thank Caleb's dad (for one) for putting the kibosh on that (thankfully is was pre-NIL).

And, the door swings both ways:  players becoming interested in ORU after playing against the Golden Eagles; Obi Emegano transferring to ORU from Western Illinois jumps immediately to mind, along with Paul Bruns of North Dakota infamously (at least in the Dakotas) bolting from North Dakota to play for his home state South Dakota Coyotes once they showed an interest heretofore absent when he was a high school senior.