I think it starts with our coach.
In the first half this team played lights and was actually pretty good on the defensive end. Things started to go awry when Naz made a poor decision and took a tough shot on the break instead of dishing it to Monte. The missed shot resulted in it going the other way, and OU scored two points. Insignificant, right? That poor decision led to a rash of more poor decisions. By the time Hoiberg called timeout the damage had been done, with the lead cut to 5 (or 3) and the momentum firmly on OUs side. The downfall continued into the half and as we entered a game tied when we should have had a sizable lead (TOs, rebounds, and rushed possessions really killed us).
As has been the theme throughout the entire season, Fred failed to coax effort, intensity, and control from his players in the 2nd half of a game away from Ames. We've either lost by getting pounded in the 2nd half (Maryland, South Carolina, KU and now OU) or made runs because we were ill-prepared to start the game (Baylor, Tech). Our coach has done a **** poor job of getting 30 minutes, let alone 40, of solid intensity from out players away from Hilton. Honestly, I think Fred's demeanor is a little TOO laid back, with our players taking on that personality. Lose a 10 point lead, no big deal, I'll just let my players handle it. If Fred's going to be on the bench (and he IS obviously) he needs to impact the game via wisely using TOs (which he's terrible at) and INVIGORATING our players to bring that intensity out of them. Fred absolutely sucks in this regard.
The persona of this team can be summed up by it's rebounding, which is atrocious. It's one thing to be rebounded over, but this team is consistently gone THROUGH to get boards. That's really all I need to know about our tenacity and toughness. If the crowd (Hilton) isn't providing it, we don't have anything.
Right now Fred is a good coach. People need to be honest with the positives (there are plenty) such as talent, recruiting, individual offensive progresson, etc. that he's brought to the program. With that however, he's also provided team defense that often looks lost, terrible rebounding fundamentals, poor usage of timeouts (prevention), and a problematic lack of intensity.
Where I get frustrated at Hoiberg is that I see very little progress in his weaknesses. He's made no inroads at managing games since his arrival. Our team rebounding fundamentals are poor. The team defense is a joke. We consistently have issues with intensity away from home.
It's a shame really. This roster is flawed, but I don't think Fred is managing it very well either. I'm sure I'll get flamed for not being a "Hoi Boi" but some people need to wake up around here. It's not all roses with Fred (while not all thorns either).
