Our shot selection left a lot to be desired imo. We need to work the ball inside to out, not the opposite. One of the weaknesses I see in the scheme design under "Manningball" is that we don't seem to have a good set of inbound plays. That costs us dearly at times.
Wright shows signs of being a great player in the future. He has unlimited talent, yet hasn't developed the aggressive/under/control mindset to dominate the paint yet. Hopefully that will come with maturity. He's mobile, has a nice touch, and is a big body we need desperately.
We need to have Smith become a combo forward, able to play both inside and out. When we play a bigtime team in the AAC next year and some other NCAA caliber schools, we need a 6-7 swing player like UCLA did and if we can develope Big E or Swannegan can get physically better, that leaves room for that swingman. Just think how different the game would have been if we had just one more "good" inside player with size?
Now the question is who replaces Peete? I think our lineup could be a group of guards like SH, RR and JW and maybe Wilbekin at the two guard spots with hopefully Smith (or Littlejohn) at the small forward and Wright, Swannegan, Evans (if he'll accept an inside role) and maybe Big E at the posts.
That would be a decent AAC lineup.
Now that this year is over, we need to focus on the future and forget the past. We are in a whole new environment and expectation level.
Go TU!
We just didn't have the scorers we needed.......Woodard kept going to his right all the time, which made it awkward if he shot......Wright kept us in the game for awhile........got to have some 3-point threats.....more than one!!! UCLA gave us all kinds of opportunities to comeback in the game, we just didn't have anyone that could score and take advantage of it. I hope everyone on the team becomes a better shooter by next year......and maturity does help that. I still think we will be in the middle of the pack next year unless we can get a few more players scoring. The UCLA game was definitely not our best effort.....nerves were showing......next year it won't bother the team as much!!!
Good posts. I agree that our shooting is our achilles heel, especially our 3 point shooting.
My observations (lengthy) :
-NCAA games almost always reveal your best athletes & players. The "cream rises to the top" kind of deal. For Tulsa, I thought from early in the game on that Woodard, Wright, Ray & Smith were/are those players for Tulsa. Those 4 seemed to be able to make plays, get open & create their own shots against UCLA. My biggest concern was that Coach Manning stayed to a usual rotation & didn't get more minutes for all 4. Ray & Wright only played 22 minutes each, not enough IMO.
-Harrison slumped late & it hurt us. He had 5 assists & 13 turnovers in our last 4 games (CUSA tourney & NCAA game). He just couldn't get his driving shots off against UCLA, it seemed they blocked every shot he took & it turned in to a layup at the other end. He also had 5 turnovers, just not a good night for Shaq. ( I wouldn't post this on Rivals because Rippin really trashed Shaq on there. I like Shaq, just think he needs to keep improving). Shaq needs to improve his outside shooting before next year.
-Evans just couldn't compete effectively against UCLA. 1-8 shooting, he was out-quicked for almost every loose ball & rebound. He couldn't stay with his man on defense. I was most disappointed that Manning kept putting him back in the game. He played 20 minutes & that was way too many, IMO. Don't want to be harsh because he's played very well at times & really tries hard. However, if he doesn't improve his shooting dramatically next season, we can't afford to have him play 20 minutes a game, like he did this season. We will be playing a lot of UCLA-type teams (talent-wise) in the AAC & I am really concerned that Evans & maybe even Swannegan won't be able to compete against the high talent teams, like UCONN, Cincy, SMU & Memphis.
-Wright played a great game. He hit another 3 pointer & created his own shots. He played well at times on defense & blocked a shot or 2. That makes it all the more puzzling why he doesn't do that more often. Remember that Wright didn't even start games until part way through the season. We will really need Wright to play this way a lot more often to win in the AAC next season.
-Woodard played a good game. UCLA schemed to stop him & did a good job with that. I was very impressed with how well Woodard played during the CUSA tournament & this game. He is playing with a high level of confidence. I hope that carries in to next season. He is becoming a special player for TU.
-Ray played a good game as well. 6 points, 5 assists & 1 turnover. He needed to play more minutes all season, IMO. UCLA did a good job of having one of their big guards post him up. I'm sure that is part of the reason why he didn't play more minutes. TU will have to figure out ways to cover Ray ( & Wilbiken) when this happens to them. Ray really needs to improve his 3 point shooting in the off-season. He has good form & he barely misses a lot of his shots. It may be a confidence issue.
-UCLA is a very talented team. They are a deserving 4 seed. We would've had to have shot lights out, especially from 3 point range to win. No shame in losing that game. I do wish we wouldn't have folded late.
- BTW, Ray made a nice pass in to Wright to cut the lead to 59-54 with 4 1/2 minutes left. Manning subbed out Ray & Wright (for Evans & Shaq) & UCLA took over from there. Ray never came back in the game. Wright came back with 2 minutes left, but it was a 13 point game by then. This is part of my "more minutes needed for Ray & Wright" opinion.
-Still a great overall season for TU. Very happy for Coach Manning & the players, especially Tim Peete. So happy that the guy that was seemingly left behind in Tulsa ( while Clarkson & McClellan left for greener pastures) ends up being the only guy to make the NCAA tournament ! Peete made the most of his ability & really improved as a senior.
You got it with the 3 point shooting.......the 3 point shooting has been the key to this tournament so far.......without that, you are out of the tournament!!!! Sometimes, I think, we worry too much about a 3 point shooters overall game too much.......like he's not a great defensive player.....or he's not athletic enough......I don't care, if he can make 40+% of his 3 point shots......put him in the game......because without him, you ain't going to win today. It's a lot easier to shut down the inside game with various defenses but it is hard to stop a guy that can shoot from any where. Just get the best shooters you can get and you can work on the rest of their game!!!!!!
One of the things I've noticed is how many teams, big name and small name teams had at least a serviceable center.......most of the teams I saw had at least a decent center, that knew his position and played it pretty good. If a number of the no name schools can come up with that kind of center then obviously we should be able too. I'm starting to think we are looking for that STAR center and if we can't get that, we semi give up. Obviously it would be nice to get the 18 point, 11 rebound center but those are few and far between. We just need a solid player, like most of the no name teams had in the tournament.......8-10 points and 7-9 rebounds a game and plays some decent defense. Basically a no name center........Charlie Davis was just that kind of center, really a forward........not nearly tall enough to be considered a real center, but he guarded bigger guys and rebounded good.......I'm guessing he averaged 6-7 points over his career. That's all we need.......if we can come up with some 3-point scorers.