2008-09 Basketball Season Recap

[ORUTerry]

I thought that since the recruiting season is now over and all we have to look forward to are summer reports of player scrimmages, etc. (and next season) - I would try to give my impression of the past season.

We entered the season full of expectations because of the team's somewhat improbable success the previous year. In 2007-08 ORU saw the loss of the Green and Tutt tandem, but still managed to dominate the Summit League and earn a third straight trip to the NCAA Tournament. In retrospect, we (fans) should have tempered our enthusiasm given the four players lost after that season: Adam Liberty, Yemi Ogunyoe, Moses Ehambe and Sean King - three of whom played professionally this year.

This year's squad had four returning starters/contributors (Robert Jarvis, Marcus Lewis, Kelvin Sango and Andre Hardy). They were joined by newcomers: Kevin Ford, Dominque Morrison, Kyron Stokes, Beloved Rogers and Ken Holdman. Reggie Guyton was supposed to be ORU's starting point guard and replace Adam Liberty, but it did not work out. The lack of a true point guard was the most important factor in ORU's struggles all season long.

The lack of a true point guard meant that Robert Jarvis - the team's best perimeter shooter - was drafted to fill that role. This took him away from his natural position and hampered his ability to get open jump shots. Not having a point guard also kept the offense, especially in the post, from flowing. (The team's 2nd leading assist total (72) was held by a post player - Marcus Lewis.) ORU struggled offensively all season and a lot of the reason was the lack of a 'quarteback' on the court to distribute the basketball and run the offense. The Golden Eagles also lacked a consistent perimeter shooter to compliment Jarvis and keep opponents from concentrating solely on him.

The team shot poorly (31.2%) from the 3-point line all season with Jarvis shooting only 33.5%.... he shot 251 of the team's 536 three pointers. The Golden Eagles shot 66.7% from the free throw line, but had several players (post) shoot poorly. This poor free throw shooting impacted several games by making games that should have been out of reach closer than they should have been.

ORU did play decent defense when their offense was sputtering or inconsistent. The team also worked hard on the boards in grabbing rebounds. Good defense and winning the rebounding battle kept the Golden Eagles in games throughout the season.

ORU struggled with inconsistent play from its newcomers - which is not surprising for freshmen or transfers. This was deadly when coupled with a poor shooting night from Robert Jarvis.

As I mentioned above, the loss of Ogunoye (one of the best defensive players/stoppers in the nation) and King (shot blocker and rebounder), as well as Ehambe (perimeter shooter) and Adam Liberty (point guard) had a tremendous impact collectively on ORU's basketball squad. Arguably as much as the loss of Green and Tutt. The team faced a brutal out of conference schedule and played a lot of early season games away from the Mabee Center. This certainly impacted the players - especially the younger ones.

With all of the challenges (lack of point guard, lack of a consistent alternative perimeter shooter, mix of young/inexperienced players, etc) that ORU faced this year, they were still within seconds/minutes of winning another league championship.

[tmh8286]

Great overview, Terry!!  Thanks!!

[Old Titan]

The three main factors that kept us from winning 20 games this past year (in no particular order):

1.  Ridiculous non-conference schedule:  too many road games against too many top-tier programs.

2.  Robert Jarvis' inability (refusal?) to pass into the post early in the offense.

3.  Poor shooting from both the 3-point and free throw lines.

Correct those three factors (balanced non-conference schedule, feeding the post, higher percentage 3PT & FT shooting), and we're right back in the 20-win category in '09-'10.

[theeagleman5]

TheEagleman agrees with OT and Terry....the lack of a point guard and outside shooting was a killer this year along with brutal non conference schedule....however, let's look ahead to 2009-10 when we add two big men to go along with Kevin Ford....Pearson should be a big upgrade at point and if Morrison, Rogers and Stokes can hit the 3-ball somewhat consistantly, this should open things up underneath for Ford, DBH and Nasarre....the two big newcomers have shown the ability to score at previous levels...let's hope they bring that to D-1 ball which I agree is no sure thing....the key to our improvement is going to be at PG....if this guy Pearson proves as advertised...what a difference that makes...TheEagleman likes what he has seen of Domo and Stokes...those young men can play....Rogers has the pedigree but has to prove it at the D-1 level.....only 6 more months to go and we'll see....