OSU Hoops Notebook: Pokes Prepping for Season Opener Against Green Bay

STILLWATER – Oklahoma State basketball is very quickly approaching the start of the 2024-25 season, which starts off with facing Green Back on Nov. 4. As we all know, Doug Gottlieb is the head coach of the Phoenix.

We’ll have more basketball articles before tipoff of the season opener, but head coach Steve Lutz met with the media on Thursday morning, and we’ve got a few tidbits which stood out.

Lutz on how he thought his team handled the SMU scrimmage.

“I thought it was good to play against someone else,” Lutz said of Saturday’s scrimmage against SMU. “All coaches and players this time of year are curious to see what you can actually do against someone who doesn’t know exactly what you’re gonna do.

“SMU has long and good athletes. They play a little bit differently than we do defensively, so it was good for us to make the adjustment to the way that they played, and I thought, as a result to that, our offensive ball movement was really, really good. We assisted on a large number of our baskets.”

While the Cowboys played well against SMU, there’s still a few things the coaching staff is trying to figure out. One could say it’s still a work in progress.

“I think there’s days where we’re pretty good and very much together as a team. Then there’s times where we’re fragmented, and that’s got to be our number one goal and our number one purpose, is to make sure that we’re always a team. The only way that we’re going to be successful and achieve our goals and get to the NCAA tournament is if we’re a good basketball team. We have a chance to do that, we’ve just got to make sure that we do it 100% of the time.

In bringing in Green Bay, there’s certainly a bit of risk in facing Doug Gottlieb. He’s been very vocal about wanting to OSU job for years and will be itching to win this game, possibly more than any other game on the schedule. Plus, there’s two former OSU players, one in Isaiah Miranda and former signee Jeremiah Johnson. So, plenty of incentive for Gottlieb and Co. to start off with a win.

“Doug is relentless in a lot of ways, and he was very aggressive in pursuing the game,” Lutz said. “With that being said, I also believe that being the head coach and the CEO of this basketball program, in order for us to have a great program, we need to take care of our own. This is Doug’s first head coaching opportunity. His university needs funds. If we’re gonna buy a team, or if we’re gonna give a team money to a university, it might as well be one of our own. I think, obviously, that’s part of the Cowboy code: we take care of one another.

“From the other side of the coin, it’s a little bit risky. Doug played here. He was a good player here. He’s voiced his opinion in wanting to be the head coach here. But the program is bigger than one game. That’s ultimately why I decided we’d go ahead and do this.”

With that being said, there’s a good chance the season opener is going to be one of the best-attended games of the season.

“The more we can gather interest in our basketball program, and we can get people in the building, I truly believe they will like the product that’s on the floor, and they will want to come back to see them again,” Lutz said. “If we have to do it by bringing Doug in or whoever, then let’s do it. Then it’s our job to play the right way and to have those people feel attached to the program and to the team and want to come back. That’s our job. We’ve done our part on the front end. Now we’ve got to execute on Monday.”