Keenan Henderson Posted March 4 Share Posted March 4 At this point it is hard to know what kind of players Coach Springman is looking for? He seems to be looking harder at Juco players then ORU has in the past. I think it is a good call. Juco players are hit and miss like any level but usually they have a chip on their shoulder because they were often overlooked. He needs guys that will play hard and not worry about their own personal stats. At the end of the day, I think Coach will look for guys that are dogs: play tough defense, rebound and make the ugly/winning plays. I do not think he will just try and out shoot or out talent teams as Mills often did. ORU won so much and had a lot of success the last few years but this year lost its edge. The coach will need to find guys who are desperate to win and get that edge back. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted March 4 Share Posted March 4 TheEagleman is fine with most all of those players going.....hard to believe that Russ Springmann could be THAT bad as a HC with all his experience...guess it's possible but surely didn't see much heart/talent from the main players this year and they failed to show up yesterday.....they flat out quit.....perhaps HCRS is a problem but TheEagleman is not astute enough to know.....big changes are needed....hopefully someone can figure it out or as pointed out ORU men's basketball will have darker days ahead....after 30-6 last season this is just incredible...maybe Mills made a deal with the devil before he left....can't say but I am greatly saddened over the past couple months.......... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle88 Posted March 4 Author Share Posted March 4 17 minutes ago, theeagleman5 said: TheEagleman is fine with most all of those players going.....hard to believe that Russ Springmann could be THAT bad as a HC with all his experience...guess it's possible but surely didn't see much heart/talent from the main players this year and they failed to show up yesterday.....they flat out quit.....perhaps HCRS is a problem but TheEagleman is not astute enough to know.....big changes are needed....hopefully someone can figure it out or as pointed out ORU men's basketball will have darker days ahead....after 30-6 last season this is just incredible...maybe Mills made a deal with the devil before he left....can't say but I am greatly saddened over the past couple months.......... I think the proverbial saying “never lose twice with the same team” applies here. New life that will fight for each other and HCRS is a must! Coach Musick unloaded 10 players last year and it worked out well for her because she handpicked players that would play for her! 1 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theeagleman5 Posted March 4 Share Posted March 4 88 makes a wonderful point...look at the ORU womens team and the amazing turnaround in just one year with a new coach who apparently just needed her own players....it often works that way in the business world as well....Springmann may just need to bring in some of his own guys and coach them up.....TheEagleman is hoping he can do it just like Coach Musick did.... 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle88 Posted March 5 Author Share Posted March 5 This morning as I was perusing the ESPN basketball section I wandered upon the summit league standings and it was surreal to see ORU in dead last place! Now that we are at rock bottom there is no other way to go but up or stay in last place. From a fan’s perspective this should make for an interesting and fun off season as we won’t just see a change or 2 but many major changes. Hopefully our NIL $ will increase so we can get some dogs who know how to win. My gut tells me that HCRS is a winner in every way and he will get it figured out and be backed by the administration to make this happen. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2014Grad Posted March 5 Share Posted March 5 I don’t live in Tulsa, and it’s hard to see the bench from my somewhat non-legal streams I use to watch games . What’s coaches demeanor like while on the bench/coaching during the past few months? Yelling, frustrated, positive, encouraging etc etc?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keenan Henderson Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 ORU has to find a starting big next year who can post up and rebound. Herron, Jones, and Smith are ok coming off the bench but the Eagles desperately need a starting center from the portal, juco,etc. Easier said than done because of course everybody in the nation wants one of those! 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texasgrip Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 On 1/7/2024 at 1:39 PM, Texasgrip said: #tooearly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ORU40 Posted March 10 Share Posted March 10 It's never too early grip, in fact the next few weeks and months may be the most important of HCRS career, The transfer portal opens in a week! This off season is critical for who we can keep and who we can bring in. No team stands still in college basketball, you either improve or you get worse! Coach had a tough first year on the court, let's hope he has a strong first recruiting class of his own. Best case situation he has to replace DJ & KT, worst case Isaac and Bedford also leave! This offseason is crucial for the future of the program, do we get better moving forward? or do we get worse? 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle88 Posted March 10 Author Share Posted March 10 As ORU 40 stated this is a critical off season for HCRS. Not only does he need to recruit players that can help ORU compete for a conference title but the players have to have a good chemistry and fight for each other and for HCRS. This is clearly something they didn’t have this year. With all of Springman’s connections and years of recruiting if anybody can do it he certainly can. Since ORU is unlikely to get 4 or 5 star recruits the chemistry part may be the most important. My hope is just like we turned drastically in the wrong direction this past year hopefully we will turn the other way this coming year. Unlike previous years when there was no portal we could actually have a huge turnaround in 1 year! Let’s hope and believe! 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post ORUJason Posted March 11 Popular Post Share Posted March 11 I saw nearly every home game and I never got the sense that the players had “given up” on their coach or weren’t giving their best. Instead what I saw was a team that at times seemed lost offensively and at times seemed lost defensively. I saw a team that did not adjust well in-game to their opponent. Sometimes the team would play well defensively for the first 10 minutes and then lose that intensity for the rest of the game. And occasionally I saw McBride and Kareem giving their all but being a little fatigued from the huge number of minutes played. I believe to the end the players were giving their best effort but for a myriad of reasons it wasn’t good enough this season. 2 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post darrenj Posted March 11 Popular Post Share Posted March 11 11 hours ago, ORUJason said: I saw nearly every home game and I never got the sense that the players had “given up” on their coach or weren’t giving their best. Instead what I saw was a team that at times seemed lost offensively and at times seemed lost defensively. I saw a team that did not adjust well in-game to their opponent. Sometimes the team would play well defensively for the first 10 minutes and then lose that intensity for the rest of the game. And occasionally I saw McBride and Kareem giving their all but being a little fatigued from the huge number of minutes played. I believe to the end the players were giving their best effort but for a myriad of reasons it wasn’t good enough this season. There is never a reason for a coach not to be able to find 2 to 3 minutes per half of rest. No matter what. Between timeouts and short breaks that should be sufficient. Have to be able to catch a break for them. Way too many minutes for both players. Should be a learning season for Coach Springmann. Very big difference sitting in the 1rst chair instead of the 2nd one. 1 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otis 83 Posted March 11 Share Posted March 11 On 3/4/2024 at 9:47 AM, eagle88 said: because she handpicked players that would play for her! More specifically, it is my understanding that she picked players that could play her system. I emphasize that because I feel that is crucial for any coach…get players that fit your style of play. Coach Musick has a system and she found players that are capable of playing in that system. Frankly, I don’t know what HCRS’s system or style of play is. I hope he has one. Okay that was unfair. I know the alternative is great coaches conform their style of play to the talent that they have. Like Coach Musick, HCRS has an opportunity to turn this roster over and make it in his own image. Should be interesting. 1 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post TrueBlue82 Posted March 16 Popular Post Share Posted March 16 I have to admit that the last few weeks have been very challenging for me as an ORU fan. Golden Eagle Nation was very spoiled in 2023 with two incredible stories that carried our MBB team to an undefeated conference season and a NCAA tourney berth, followed by a remarkable CWS run by ORUBASE. The positive momentum during 2023 was palpable, and with the opening of the Mike Carter Athletic Center and the prospect of even more talented recruits, I was very excited headed into 2024. Yes, Coach Mills and three starters were gone, but the hiring of HCRS brought Issac, DJ and Kareem back into the fold. And, Coach Folmar amazingly recommitted to stay as ORUBASE Coach at a time when his market value was at an all-time high. Surely, this was FINALLY the time when ORU Athletics would rise above its place in the lowly Summit and become a mid-major power in both of its two high-profile sports. And, of course, all of those dreams have been dashed and the positive momentum has “left the station” after a losing MBB season and one of the worst starts to an ORUBASE season in the past decade. One thing that I have learned through all of this is to just “enjoy the moment”. Instead of looking to build a foundation for the future (and therefore becoming disappointed), I hope that I can remember the 2023 athletic year for all of the joy and excitement that it brought me, and the incredible year I enjoyed with the diehard ORU fans who surrounded me on that journey. And, while I am hopeful that ORU will have similar experiences sometime in the near future, I realize that it is not likely for ORU to remain at the mountain top for an extended period of time in this era of collegiate sports. I don’t know if any other members of this board have felt the same way recently, but I have to admit that I feel a little bit better after preparing this post. Message board = good therapy 3 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keenan Henderson Posted March 16 Share Posted March 16 Thank you TrueBlue 82 for expressing everyone's pain. It is difficult to see ORU fall so fast. We all love a rags to riches story but now it feels like the Eagles are going from riches to rags and no one likes that ending. Springmann was put in a tough position: taking over for a 30 win team that lost 2 first team All stars and 2 really good glue guys. He missed on some portal guys who could have stepped in and eased the pain. Coach also admits he made mistakes this season and it showed that he was a first year head coach. The key point for Springmann is just to slowly rebuild and not stay at 12 wins every year. I think a realistic goal is to win 15 next year, then 18 and 20. Baby steps at this point. I just think it will take a long process and it is hard to expect him to get back to what Mills did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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