NORMAN — Oklahoma made its public debut last Saturday with an hour-long scrimmage that coach Lon Kruger admitted was far from flawless.
After a week of practice, the Sooners will split up and go at it again at 3 p.m. today at Lloyd Noble Center.
The dominant issue with the opening scrimmage was play got a little sloppy and didn’t match the intensity Kruger had seen in daily practices.
“The last week has been really good for us because I don’t think we transferred all the stuff you’d like to see from practice into a game,” OU coach Lon Kruger said on Friday. “I think we’ll transfer it a little better tomorrow. We need to continue to be more physical, more talkative, more aggressive.”
That is the adjustment the Sooners have to make this season. The first-year class Kruger has brought in addition to Preseason Big 12 Newcomer of the Amath M’Baye has made the Sooners a much deeper team than the past few seasons.
That was one the thing the first scrimmage unveiled. The Sooners can easily go five deep off the bench.
“It’s easier knowing that you have someone behind you,” said guard Steven Pledger, who averaged 16.2 points a game last season. “You can go as hard as you can go because you know you can come out and get a sub.”
The scrimmage, which is open to the public and free, will end at approximately 4:15 p.m. Lloyd Noble Center’s north, east and west doors will open at 2:30. The format is for four 10-minute quarters.
Kruger just wants to see his team going at full tilt throughout all of it.
“I think the depth we’ve added is going to allow us to be more physical and play more aggressively — everything that comes with more depth,” he said. “Depth is something that I think is gonna be good for us. We’re going to have a lot of people play quality minutes.”
John ShinnFollow me @john_shinnjshinn@normantranscript.com
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