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cheezyq
3/19/2008, 09:04 AM
Billy Tubbs was on the radio this morning in KC on 810 AM. He reminisced about a lot of stuff, it was cool. He talked about how coaches were allowed to speak their mind more 20 years ago than they are today.

He talked about a golf game where he and Norm Stewart were partners and were playing versus Bob Knight and Dean Smith. I guess Bob and Dean were ahead quite a bit, and Dean offered to shave a few strokes so that they could catch up a little quicker. Norm, being ultra-competitive, got ticked off but Billy calmed him down and said, "hey, we could use a little help". He also talked about how he and Norm would get into it on the sidelines, nearly choking each other if they'd been close enough during the game, and then 20 minutes after the game they'd go have a steak together.

But the one thing that really caught my attention was when he said that he wished he could roll his '88 team into this tournament. He said that the '88 team would mop the floor with this year's field. Specifically he was saying that in today's game, there are very few teams with real experience. If the Tisdales, Kings, Grants, Graces, and Blaylocks of the 80s played today, they'd be one and done just like Beasley, Durant, etc.

He talked about the parity of the game today, but in a way that kind of suggested that it hurt the game. You're not looking at good quality basketball like those days, because the teams aren't together very long. And the game is less fun because the coaches are required to be so politically correct. He actually lamented Knight's retirement because it signified the end of an era where coaches actually spoke their mind.

Anyway, it was an interesting interview, as it always is with Billy T. One funny quote, after one of the interviewers mentioned that Dave Sieger hit 5 3-pointers in that first half against KU: "Well, it shows you how much us coaches know. When I first saw him play, I told my assistant coaches that we'd be in trouble if that guy ever started for us."

Good stuff. Boomer!

primetime43
3/19/2008, 09:24 AM
Yesterday on ESPN Classic they showed the Kansas/Oklahoma national championship game in 88'. Wow what a game. We came so close. I forgot how stacked OU was that year. 3 future NBA players in that starting 5.

The Maestro
3/19/2008, 10:51 AM
Yesterday on ESPN Classic they showed the Kansas/Oklahoma national championship game in 88'. Wow what a game. We came so close. I forgot how stacked OU was that year. 3 future NBA players in that starting 5.

And if you look at the old box score, we only played two guys off the bench and they only played for two minutes each. The rest of the way was the starting five. Grace, Mookie, Seiger, Grant and King was the best starting five at OU ever and there's no question about it. Each played their position as truly as any team ever had.

OKC-SLC
3/19/2008, 10:56 AM
I agree with Billy wholeheartedly about the current NCAA game. There has been such an erosion of individual skill. I think picasso mentioned it in the Big 12 CU game thread--no one these days can dribble-stop-sink a jumpshot with any regularity.

And the NBA is certainly to blame. Not only because of players leaving early, but also because of the glorification of 'me' in the game.

It's really too bad.

r5TPsooner
3/19/2008, 11:02 AM
Awesome read. That was the best OU men's basketball team ever. We just played KU the one night that everything went there way, and having the home court advantage didn't hurt KU either.

birddog
3/19/2008, 12:33 PM
tubbs always brings back good memories. maybe the tournament just seemed more exciting in the '80's because i was so young, or maybe it was just really much better than it is now.

i remember sitting in my english class at pcn sweating out the game against east tennessee state with my radio in my pocket. i miss guys like rollie massimino and the shark. i remember seeing teams like towson state and chattanooga.

it's still a great tourney but i don't think it will ever mean as much as when i was growing up. hopefully capel brings that back to our program.

picasso
3/19/2008, 05:16 PM
first of all, they shoulda pressed in that golf match. maybe coughed a few times when Knight was putting.

second, that '88 team could mop the floor in many a year. That was OUR year, we beat those Kansas bitches twice.:mad:

too bad that game wasn't played in OKC.;)

tulsaoilerfan
3/19/2008, 08:17 PM
And if you look at the old box score, we only played two guys off the bench and they only played for two minutes each. The rest of the way was the starting five. Grace, Mookie, Seiger, Grant and King was the best starting five at OU ever and there's no question about it. Each played their position as truly as any team ever had.

That game was a nightmare; after scoring 50 in the first half, we only scored 29 in the second; i've always thought that Tubbs should have went to the bench more to give his starters a little rest so they would have been fresher; the Sooners had pretty good depth and had been using it all year, then for some reason he completely changed it up in the Final

Remembering Tom Stidham
3/19/2008, 09:22 PM
Norm Stewart came into the league the same year John MacLeod came to OU. Does anyone remember when, during a game against Mizzou, Alex Brown said something to Norm that caused him to erupt? I would love to know what he said. At the KC tournament, I sat with Pat Tubbs. She took that final loss very hard. I thought we beat KU that season both at home and away and then beat them in the tournament. But my memory is not so good anymore. I loved beating Arizona in the first game.

stoopified
3/19/2008, 09:24 PM
That game was a nightmare; after scoring 50 in the first half, we only scored 29 in the second; i've always thought that Tubbs should have went to the bench more to give his starters a little rest so they would have been fresher; the Sooners had pretty good depth and had been using it all year, then for some reason he completely changed it up in the FinalTrue dat.That game is aerfect example of why I DO NOT rewatch games we have lost.I just get mad all over again.

tulsaoilerfan
3/19/2008, 11:18 PM
True dat.That game is aerfect example of why I DO NOT rewatch games we have lost.I just get mad all over again.

I found the Arizona box score, and saw that Billy only used 7 players in that game also; Mullins played 7 mins and Andre Wiley played 17; didn't we have a couple other players that played off the bench that season or am i just totally wrong?

GrapevineSooner
3/21/2008, 12:30 PM
tubbs always brings back good memories. maybe the tournament just seemed more exciting in the '80's because i was so young, or maybe it was just really much better than it is now.

i remember sitting in my english class at pcn sweating out the game against east tennessee state with my radio in my pocket.

It's because Billy Ball in it's hayday was exciting. ;)

I remember that game back in 1989 because it was the day my parents closed on our house in Tuttle. I stayed back at my dad's apartment in OKC to watch the game.

Then a year later in the 8th grade, I remember going through the same thing you went through when OU had another tough first round game in 1990 (same year that bastard Rick Fox knocked us out of the second round down in Austin).