Oklahoma’s Brady Manek is expected to make his return to action against Kansas State on Tuesday night after missing the last couple of weeks due to COVID-19 protocols.
Without him, the Sooners changed their lineup to a smaller and more defensive approach that provided great success with Elijah Harkless moving into the starting five. They nearly pulled off a huge upset against Kansas in Lawrence and then followed that up with a blowout win over TCU one week ago tonight.
Obviously, you always want someone like Brady Manek back with the team. He has been arguably the face of the program since Trae Young left for the NBA.
But, the team did some really good things in his time out. So now the challenge presented to Lon Kruger and the coaching staff is how to reinsert the 3-point shooting stretch four into the lineup while also keeping up the highly-improved defensive play.
Kruger has shown a willingness to adapt and put whatever five players on the floor at the end of the game that he truly believes gives him the best chance to win. We saw multiple times this season where Manek himself was left on the bench late. For after a hot start to the season, he really went into a rough stretch prior to being out.
“We’ll proceed as we would any time in terms of putting the people on the floor that get us the best results,” Kruger said when asked if he would simply insert Manek directly back into the lineup when he returns.
It is not as simple as that Oklahoma is a better team without Manek and that is far from the point being made here. The point being made is that the Sooners defense has been wildly better the last couple of games and the change of play style they had without him may be what they need to go with long-term to have the most success.
So it is up to Kruger, Manek and the entire team to find a way to bring him in without losing that defensive edge. It will be fascinating to watch, and if it all comes together could create something really special.
Perhaps Manek being out gave Oklahoma the opportunity they needed to find their identity outside of their star player. That can be a good thing in the long run. Tonight should provide a great chance for a good start against a Wildcats team that simply hasn’t been very good.
The Sooners are sizable favorites tonight, a perfect opportunity to ease Manek back into the fold. But the mighty Kansas Jayhawks are next up on Saturday.
They nearly toppled them in Lawrence largely because the defensive play was fantastic. That will be the first test on if they can keep that up without Harkless in the lineup.
The pieces for this Oklahoma team are there to compete with the best, it is just a matter of figuring out how it can all fit together to provide the right mix of the high-flying 3-point shooting we saw early in the season and the slugfest defense we’ve seen over the last week and a half. It will be fascinating to watch it play out.
The Sooners host Kansas State at 5:30 p.m. CT on Tuesday night.
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