OU at No. 6 Texas, 1 p.m., ESPN+
You guys are gonna have to carry the day. I might be able to listen on The Franchise. In Tulsa on Saturday for Disney on Ice at BOK. Pearl is sooooo excited
Porter Moser
I ask about Otega's development?
It’s more just getting more minutes and having the game slow down for him a little bit. When you’re young, it’s so fast and you’re thinking. Now, he has some habits about where he knows where he needs to be defensively. Still making mistakes, but he’s slowing down. He had a really nice play off two feet. A couple of other games going in there too fast and finishing. Experience and knowledge – that’s why some of these older teams do so well. You can’t put a price tag on it. The more he gets, the more the game slows down for him and he can see where the ball needs to go and where he needs to be on defense. That’s what I’m seeing. It’s the minutes he’s getting and getting more comfortable in what he’s trying to do.
I ask about KSU/energy carry over?
You just see a great energy with these guys. They’ve had good energy. But to believe. One of the things we talk about is believing. It’s tough to go through a losing streak. It’s not like we lost four games in a row against the No. 200, No. 150 team. In the last 18 days, we beat the No. 1 team and the No. 12 team, so we try to instill belief in our guys. To see the guys have that energy along with the belief.
Can the 'Big 3' play well together again? (Tanner, Jalen, Grant)
They have so many opportunities in our offense and transition. There are always chances for them. The one thing I would say was intentional was getting Tanner more shots. We really talked to our guys that when Tanner is showing his numbers down there, he has to get more touches down there. I think the guys were intentionally looking for him. He was working unbelievably hard down there. I thought his effort was A-plus against Kansas State. Tanner has to get more touches. He has to get the ball down there.
Otega learning from Jalen?
"He's got a body and a makeup to be an elite defender. He's got to get the experience to do it. Like the intricacies of knowing how to switch, knowing how to really take the scouting report on the guy and get it into the game. To not let up. One of the biggest things with Otega and all freshmen is that sometimes they rest on the weak side. Then all of a sudden they're like, 'oh'. We call them oh crap moments or maybe we use a different word. And then they're behind the play. For him not to get behind the play. You've got to stay locked in. Especially if you're going to be a guy that's going to be taking on the task of the other team's best player like Jalen. You can't rest especially if you're on the other team's key guy. But he's got the length. He's got the strength. He's got the body. Jalen has got such a competitive defensively....that's a message for a lot of young guys. A lot of young guys, everyone's scored in AAU. They've scored a lot in high school. They come in and they think that's their value. The quickest way to get on the court is to defend and play hard. Defend. Rebound. Play hard. Because if you can't defend, it's really tough early on. Unless you're a lottery pick, you're not a freshman coming in where everything is geared towards you. And I think Otega's found his way on the court because he's defended and gotten better at it. And so I think his trajectory, you know, he couldn't have a better guy to follow along than Jalen and that is a great thing and we're pouring into that relationship to have him watch that. The intricacies of the technique stuff on baseline staggered - that outside hip separation. He's on the block. If a guard's on the block, something might be coming. You're not just resting and all of a sudden you have that oh crap moment. Those are the things that you really take pride in competitive defensively. And that's what I mean. I got sidetracked. That's what I meant about freshmen coming in. You develop...Jalen's developed this competitive pride on defense and sometimes freshmen don't walk in with that. Because they just scored so much in other places. And that's what you hope great defenders develop this competitive pride on defense early on in their careers."
Moody Center?
“How much longer we got for this? (laughter). There’s no question what an arena would do. For recruiting, for in-game atmospheres, for competitive edge, atmospheres, for fan bases. I’m looking forward to seeing it. I’ve seen it on TV. I’ve talked to Jennie. Jennie played there and was talking about it. What a modern day, perfect-sized arena could do. It could be monumental. Recruiting, game, competitive advantage, everything, excitement, enjoying coming to the games because of the atmosphere. Those new arenas you’re seeing pop up all over the place are game changers."
You guys are gonna have to carry the day. I might be able to listen on The Franchise. In Tulsa on Saturday for Disney on Ice at BOK. Pearl is sooooo excited
Porter Moser
I ask about Otega's development?
It’s more just getting more minutes and having the game slow down for him a little bit. When you’re young, it’s so fast and you’re thinking. Now, he has some habits about where he knows where he needs to be defensively. Still making mistakes, but he’s slowing down. He had a really nice play off two feet. A couple of other games going in there too fast and finishing. Experience and knowledge – that’s why some of these older teams do so well. You can’t put a price tag on it. The more he gets, the more the game slows down for him and he can see where the ball needs to go and where he needs to be on defense. That’s what I’m seeing. It’s the minutes he’s getting and getting more comfortable in what he’s trying to do.
I ask about KSU/energy carry over?
You just see a great energy with these guys. They’ve had good energy. But to believe. One of the things we talk about is believing. It’s tough to go through a losing streak. It’s not like we lost four games in a row against the No. 200, No. 150 team. In the last 18 days, we beat the No. 1 team and the No. 12 team, so we try to instill belief in our guys. To see the guys have that energy along with the belief.
Can the 'Big 3' play well together again? (Tanner, Jalen, Grant)
They have so many opportunities in our offense and transition. There are always chances for them. The one thing I would say was intentional was getting Tanner more shots. We really talked to our guys that when Tanner is showing his numbers down there, he has to get more touches down there. I think the guys were intentionally looking for him. He was working unbelievably hard down there. I thought his effort was A-plus against Kansas State. Tanner has to get more touches. He has to get the ball down there.
Otega learning from Jalen?
"He's got a body and a makeup to be an elite defender. He's got to get the experience to do it. Like the intricacies of knowing how to switch, knowing how to really take the scouting report on the guy and get it into the game. To not let up. One of the biggest things with Otega and all freshmen is that sometimes they rest on the weak side. Then all of a sudden they're like, 'oh'. We call them oh crap moments or maybe we use a different word. And then they're behind the play. For him not to get behind the play. You've got to stay locked in. Especially if you're going to be a guy that's going to be taking on the task of the other team's best player like Jalen. You can't rest especially if you're on the other team's key guy. But he's got the length. He's got the strength. He's got the body. Jalen has got such a competitive defensively....that's a message for a lot of young guys. A lot of young guys, everyone's scored in AAU. They've scored a lot in high school. They come in and they think that's their value. The quickest way to get on the court is to defend and play hard. Defend. Rebound. Play hard. Because if you can't defend, it's really tough early on. Unless you're a lottery pick, you're not a freshman coming in where everything is geared towards you. And I think Otega's found his way on the court because he's defended and gotten better at it. And so I think his trajectory, you know, he couldn't have a better guy to follow along than Jalen and that is a great thing and we're pouring into that relationship to have him watch that. The intricacies of the technique stuff on baseline staggered - that outside hip separation. He's on the block. If a guard's on the block, something might be coming. You're not just resting and all of a sudden you have that oh crap moment. Those are the things that you really take pride in competitive defensively. And that's what I mean. I got sidetracked. That's what I meant about freshmen coming in. You develop...Jalen's developed this competitive pride on defense and sometimes freshmen don't walk in with that. Because they just scored so much in other places. And that's what you hope great defenders develop this competitive pride on defense early on in their careers."
Moody Center?
“How much longer we got for this? (laughter). There’s no question what an arena would do. For recruiting, for in-game atmospheres, for competitive edge, atmospheres, for fan bases. I’m looking forward to seeing it. I’ve seen it on TV. I’ve talked to Jennie. Jennie played there and was talking about it. What a modern day, perfect-sized arena could do. It could be monumental. Recruiting, game, competitive advantage, everything, excitement, enjoying coming to the games because of the atmosphere. Those new arenas you’re seeing pop up all over the place are game changers."
