OU_Sooners75
10/29/2008, 03:34 AM
http://insider.espn.go.com/ncb/insider/news/story?id=3661924&action=upsell&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fncb %2finsider%2fnews%2fstory%3fid%3d3661924
COACH AND PROGRAM
Oklahoma Sooners
Last Season 23-12 (.657)
Conference Record 9-7 (t-4th)
Starters Lost/Returning 3/2
Coach Jeff Capel (Duke '97)
Record At School 39-27 (2 years)
Career Record 118-68 (6 years)
RPI Last 5 years 50-16-16-102-27
As well spoken as any coach in the game -- come on, he is a Duke grad -- Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel says all the right things when asked about last season, one in which the Sooners won 23 games and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament a season after the program's 25-year postseason tournament run came to an end.
"I thought we had a very good season. I thought we made a huge jump as a program," Capel said. "Finishing in the top four of the best league in the country and to win a game in the NCAA Tournament was huge for our program in so many different ways. When you make the tournament, especially as an at-large team, that means you've done something really good.
"Winning a game and being one of the final 32 teams left -- the experience our returning guys gained from that is invaluable. Also, getting our national respect back and getting our program back to what it was before 2006-07 when we didn't make the postseason were very important. All of those things give us really positive momentum heading into this season."
When pressed, though, Capel has another reaction to last March. "I think definitely we were embarrassed with how it ended, sure in hindsight you're proud of the season overall, but you lose by 30 points in a game you were effectively never in, that's embarrassing," he said of Oklahoma's 78-48 loss to Louisville in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
"In some ways, I think it sent a message that to reach that level, we have to work harder. That game was a mismatch -- there's no other way to describe it."
Still, season two of the Capel era in Norman was an overwhelming success on all fronts, especially considering the mess he inherited after Kelvin Sampson departed for Indiana after Phonegate I. The scary thing is, at least for the rest of the Big 12, Capel hasn't even played his preferred style the last two seasons because of a lack of depth, and, quite frankly, talent.
On paper at least, it appears that talent has arrived in Norman, and Capel is ready to unleash an entirely different style of basketball on the league.
"I'd like more full-court pressure; we've been playing basic man, zone full court, but I'm very excited about the athleticism we've brought in so we can cover more ground," Capel said. "I have no problem playing 10, 11 guys; our depth should be our strength.
"I'm anticipating us being able to pick our defense up, use multiple defenses and do different things. Offensively, hopefully we're able to create more from our defense, really run more, fill the wings and take advantage of our athleticism."
It's not a stretch in the least to say the anticipation surrounding this season rivals the glory years of Billy Tubbs, Stacey King and Mookie Blalock. The Sooners boast by many accounts -- including Blue Ribbon -- the preseason favorite for Big 12 Player of the Year (Blake Griffin, who is a first-team preseason All-America pick and on the cover of this publication) and one of the nation's top incoming recruits. Sure, Norman's still a football town, always will be, but the 33-year-old Capel had them talking basketball this summer, whereas in decades past, no one even mentioned hoops until mid-January or so. And one can be assured the Lloyd Noble Center will be sold out for all nine Big 12 home games this winter.
As for where this team might be come late March, Capel is modestly confident.
"Making the NCAA Tournament isn't anyone's birthright, I don't take it for granted," Capel said. "But if we do, if we stay healthy, this team can make a deep run come tourney time.
"We were a ways off from that level last season, we saw that against Louisville. This season, we want to become an elite program and I think we can and will."
PLAYERS
PG-AUSTIN JOHNSON (6-3, 170 lbs., SR, #20, 8.6 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 2.7 apg, 31.3 mpg, 1.1 spg, 0.4 bpg, .394 FG, .338 3PT, .733 FT, Palo Duro HS/Amarillo, Texas). Sometimes, a player is simply what he is, and in the case of Johnson, the Sooner faithful have seen that player the last two seasons. At times, that hasn't been enough, and the coaching staff and fan base have hoped for more. But it's rare that a player produced virtually identical sophomore and junior campaigns before making a dramatic leap as a senior.
And again, let's stress, Johnson is a nice player, led the team in minutes played last season with nearly 1,100 and his assist-to-turnover ratio was better than 2-to-1 (95 assists and 45 turnovers).
However, he struggled with back pain throughout last season, which raises a huge question mark entering this year.
"He has a really good feel for the game, he can affect the game defensively and he can affect it on the offensive end, especially when he's making shots," Capel said. "The big thing with A.J. is health. When he's been healthy, he's been a good player for us, at times very good. If he has a summer that allows him to work and get better, then the question becomes can he have a healthy fall and winter? If that happens, he has the chance to be a very effective player and really, really help us."
Johnson started 33-of-35 games last year, including the final 28. He can knock down the three (49 or 1.4 per game) and is a solid free-throw shooter (he shot .926 percent as a sophomore before a drop-off in 2007-08). And just to illustrate his importance to this team, he scored double digits 15 times last season and the Sooners were 14-1 in those contests, including an 8-0 mark in Big 12 play.
SG-TONY CROCKER (6-6, 206 lbs., JR, #5, 11.3 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 1.9 apg, 30.6 mpg, 0.9 spg, .441 FG, .424 3PT, .723 FT, The Patterson School/Lenoir, N.C. and Warren HS/San Antonio, Texas). While Crocker should be among the top two guards in the Big 12 this season, Capel sees an even greater upside for the junior, one that is contingent on improving one area of his game.
"The thing that's imperative for Tony to improve in order to become a better player, a more complete player, is his ball handling," Capel said. "That's something that I talked to him about in my end-of-the-year meeting with him. We obviously want him to maintain his ability to shoot the ball, but we want him to handle the ball better and get stronger.
"If he does those two things, he has the chance to really flourish and become one of the better guards in our league."
When asked how exactly a player at the college level improves his ball handling, Capel said, "Same way anyone would -- hard work, drills -- sometimes the coaches will follow him around the court hitting him with a pad or something to try and distract him -- but mostly, it's just hard work and dedication like anything else.
"When we were working with the players in the spring, there wasn't anyone working harder than Tony Crocker. Hopefully that's translated to the summer and we see it when we get to the fall."
First and foremost, Crocker can shoot, and his range more or less extends into the parking lot. And when he's locked in, watch out -- he made at least three three-pointers in 11 games last season and in those games he shot .646 from behind the arc. That's not a misprint. In games he made at least a trio of treys, Crocker shot roughly what Oklahoma did from the free-throw line last season. Yikes.
And how's this for a stat: In Oklahoma's 23 wins last season Crocker shot .532 (50-of-94) from three, while in its 12 losses he was just .246 (14-of-57).
He's also a willing rebounder and should average at least a steal per game in the new defensive system. Turnovers were an issue; his 76 tied for second on the team last season behind only Longar.
SG-WILLIE WARREN (6-4, 207 lbs., FR, #13, 24.9 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 4.7 apg, 3.4 spg, North Crowley HS/Fort Worth, Texas). One of the top recruits in the country, Warren will start from the first practice of the season. And amazingly, he was the only McDonald's All-American from his class to sign with a Big 12 school. The Big Four national recruiting outlets each had him among their top-20, one of them ranking him the fifth-best player in the country.
As for Warren, his goals for this season are modest. Well, maybe not so much.
"I want to average 15 points and eight assists, and maybe five or six rebounds," Warren said.
Well at least the kid doesn't lack confidence. As for his team goals & take a guess.
"Winning a national championship," he said. "Coach Capel and I have a little thing going. I feel I'm better than he was when he was a freshman. He said, 'When you lead your team to the national championship game, talk to me.' I said, 'Did you win it, Coach?' He said, 'No.' So I said, 'OK, then I've got a little room where I can be better than you.' "
As a senior at North Crowley High School last winter, Warren led the Panthers to a 5A (highest classification) state title at 38-1. He was an easy choice as the state's player of the year. And be sure to check out those YouTube clips -- Warren has already won multiple dunk contests.
"Willie comes in with a huge reputation, and I think it's warranted," Capel said. "He's incredibly talented. He can score in so many different ways, and that puts pressure on the defense. With that, I think he's been unfairly labeled as a selfish player. I think he really does have a good feel for the game. His greatest asset his whole life has been scoring. But just because you can score doesn't mean you can't do other things. Willie has the chance to make his teammates better because of his scoring ability. I think he's a good passer, an under-rated passer. I also think he can be a very good defender.
"A lot of things make him a very talented player. First of all, his size helps him. He's 6-4 and probably 205 pounds. So he's a really big, strong physical guard. He's incredibly gifted athletically, getting up in the air and moving. He's not the fastest guy, but he's faster than you think. He's just powerful and explosive.
"One of the biggest things is that he has confidence. He's an incredibly confident young man. And in order to be a really good player, especially as a guard, you have to have that. You have to have a confidence and a swagger. He handles it, he can score it in so many different ways. He can score it from deep, he has a really good mid-range game and, because of his strength and explosiveness, he can get to the basket and finish with contact."
Scoring is good, but, as you've no doubt gathered by reading this far, Capel expects his players to guard. He thinks Warren has the skills to do so.
"Willie has the potential to be a great defender," Capel said. "That's something we're really going to challenge him with. He wants to be really good. In order to be really good, you have to allow yourself to be pushed, and you have to go to limits you don't think you have. That's our responsibility -- to get him there. We look forward to pushing him beyond whatever limits he may have in his mind so he can be the player we think he can be. I think he can be one of the great ones."
Warren fancies himself as a three-point specialist, but he's streaky at best, and with the college line being moved back this season, look for his greatest success offensively to come via dribble penetration. As for his favorite move, "I would have to say my hesitation pull-up," he said. "I learned the move from Tracy McGrady -- you act like you're going to cross over, take a long step and pull up and hit the jump shot."
Continue on next post...
COACH AND PROGRAM
Oklahoma Sooners
Last Season 23-12 (.657)
Conference Record 9-7 (t-4th)
Starters Lost/Returning 3/2
Coach Jeff Capel (Duke '97)
Record At School 39-27 (2 years)
Career Record 118-68 (6 years)
RPI Last 5 years 50-16-16-102-27
As well spoken as any coach in the game -- come on, he is a Duke grad -- Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel says all the right things when asked about last season, one in which the Sooners won 23 games and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament a season after the program's 25-year postseason tournament run came to an end.
"I thought we had a very good season. I thought we made a huge jump as a program," Capel said. "Finishing in the top four of the best league in the country and to win a game in the NCAA Tournament was huge for our program in so many different ways. When you make the tournament, especially as an at-large team, that means you've done something really good.
"Winning a game and being one of the final 32 teams left -- the experience our returning guys gained from that is invaluable. Also, getting our national respect back and getting our program back to what it was before 2006-07 when we didn't make the postseason were very important. All of those things give us really positive momentum heading into this season."
When pressed, though, Capel has another reaction to last March. "I think definitely we were embarrassed with how it ended, sure in hindsight you're proud of the season overall, but you lose by 30 points in a game you were effectively never in, that's embarrassing," he said of Oklahoma's 78-48 loss to Louisville in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
"In some ways, I think it sent a message that to reach that level, we have to work harder. That game was a mismatch -- there's no other way to describe it."
Still, season two of the Capel era in Norman was an overwhelming success on all fronts, especially considering the mess he inherited after Kelvin Sampson departed for Indiana after Phonegate I. The scary thing is, at least for the rest of the Big 12, Capel hasn't even played his preferred style the last two seasons because of a lack of depth, and, quite frankly, talent.
On paper at least, it appears that talent has arrived in Norman, and Capel is ready to unleash an entirely different style of basketball on the league.
"I'd like more full-court pressure; we've been playing basic man, zone full court, but I'm very excited about the athleticism we've brought in so we can cover more ground," Capel said. "I have no problem playing 10, 11 guys; our depth should be our strength.
"I'm anticipating us being able to pick our defense up, use multiple defenses and do different things. Offensively, hopefully we're able to create more from our defense, really run more, fill the wings and take advantage of our athleticism."
It's not a stretch in the least to say the anticipation surrounding this season rivals the glory years of Billy Tubbs, Stacey King and Mookie Blalock. The Sooners boast by many accounts -- including Blue Ribbon -- the preseason favorite for Big 12 Player of the Year (Blake Griffin, who is a first-team preseason All-America pick and on the cover of this publication) and one of the nation's top incoming recruits. Sure, Norman's still a football town, always will be, but the 33-year-old Capel had them talking basketball this summer, whereas in decades past, no one even mentioned hoops until mid-January or so. And one can be assured the Lloyd Noble Center will be sold out for all nine Big 12 home games this winter.
As for where this team might be come late March, Capel is modestly confident.
"Making the NCAA Tournament isn't anyone's birthright, I don't take it for granted," Capel said. "But if we do, if we stay healthy, this team can make a deep run come tourney time.
"We were a ways off from that level last season, we saw that against Louisville. This season, we want to become an elite program and I think we can and will."
PLAYERS
PG-AUSTIN JOHNSON (6-3, 170 lbs., SR, #20, 8.6 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 2.7 apg, 31.3 mpg, 1.1 spg, 0.4 bpg, .394 FG, .338 3PT, .733 FT, Palo Duro HS/Amarillo, Texas). Sometimes, a player is simply what he is, and in the case of Johnson, the Sooner faithful have seen that player the last two seasons. At times, that hasn't been enough, and the coaching staff and fan base have hoped for more. But it's rare that a player produced virtually identical sophomore and junior campaigns before making a dramatic leap as a senior.
And again, let's stress, Johnson is a nice player, led the team in minutes played last season with nearly 1,100 and his assist-to-turnover ratio was better than 2-to-1 (95 assists and 45 turnovers).
However, he struggled with back pain throughout last season, which raises a huge question mark entering this year.
"He has a really good feel for the game, he can affect the game defensively and he can affect it on the offensive end, especially when he's making shots," Capel said. "The big thing with A.J. is health. When he's been healthy, he's been a good player for us, at times very good. If he has a summer that allows him to work and get better, then the question becomes can he have a healthy fall and winter? If that happens, he has the chance to be a very effective player and really, really help us."
Johnson started 33-of-35 games last year, including the final 28. He can knock down the three (49 or 1.4 per game) and is a solid free-throw shooter (he shot .926 percent as a sophomore before a drop-off in 2007-08). And just to illustrate his importance to this team, he scored double digits 15 times last season and the Sooners were 14-1 in those contests, including an 8-0 mark in Big 12 play.
SG-TONY CROCKER (6-6, 206 lbs., JR, #5, 11.3 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 1.9 apg, 30.6 mpg, 0.9 spg, .441 FG, .424 3PT, .723 FT, The Patterson School/Lenoir, N.C. and Warren HS/San Antonio, Texas). While Crocker should be among the top two guards in the Big 12 this season, Capel sees an even greater upside for the junior, one that is contingent on improving one area of his game.
"The thing that's imperative for Tony to improve in order to become a better player, a more complete player, is his ball handling," Capel said. "That's something that I talked to him about in my end-of-the-year meeting with him. We obviously want him to maintain his ability to shoot the ball, but we want him to handle the ball better and get stronger.
"If he does those two things, he has the chance to really flourish and become one of the better guards in our league."
When asked how exactly a player at the college level improves his ball handling, Capel said, "Same way anyone would -- hard work, drills -- sometimes the coaches will follow him around the court hitting him with a pad or something to try and distract him -- but mostly, it's just hard work and dedication like anything else.
"When we were working with the players in the spring, there wasn't anyone working harder than Tony Crocker. Hopefully that's translated to the summer and we see it when we get to the fall."
First and foremost, Crocker can shoot, and his range more or less extends into the parking lot. And when he's locked in, watch out -- he made at least three three-pointers in 11 games last season and in those games he shot .646 from behind the arc. That's not a misprint. In games he made at least a trio of treys, Crocker shot roughly what Oklahoma did from the free-throw line last season. Yikes.
And how's this for a stat: In Oklahoma's 23 wins last season Crocker shot .532 (50-of-94) from three, while in its 12 losses he was just .246 (14-of-57).
He's also a willing rebounder and should average at least a steal per game in the new defensive system. Turnovers were an issue; his 76 tied for second on the team last season behind only Longar.
SG-WILLIE WARREN (6-4, 207 lbs., FR, #13, 24.9 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 4.7 apg, 3.4 spg, North Crowley HS/Fort Worth, Texas). One of the top recruits in the country, Warren will start from the first practice of the season. And amazingly, he was the only McDonald's All-American from his class to sign with a Big 12 school. The Big Four national recruiting outlets each had him among their top-20, one of them ranking him the fifth-best player in the country.
As for Warren, his goals for this season are modest. Well, maybe not so much.
"I want to average 15 points and eight assists, and maybe five or six rebounds," Warren said.
Well at least the kid doesn't lack confidence. As for his team goals & take a guess.
"Winning a national championship," he said. "Coach Capel and I have a little thing going. I feel I'm better than he was when he was a freshman. He said, 'When you lead your team to the national championship game, talk to me.' I said, 'Did you win it, Coach?' He said, 'No.' So I said, 'OK, then I've got a little room where I can be better than you.' "
As a senior at North Crowley High School last winter, Warren led the Panthers to a 5A (highest classification) state title at 38-1. He was an easy choice as the state's player of the year. And be sure to check out those YouTube clips -- Warren has already won multiple dunk contests.
"Willie comes in with a huge reputation, and I think it's warranted," Capel said. "He's incredibly talented. He can score in so many different ways, and that puts pressure on the defense. With that, I think he's been unfairly labeled as a selfish player. I think he really does have a good feel for the game. His greatest asset his whole life has been scoring. But just because you can score doesn't mean you can't do other things. Willie has the chance to make his teammates better because of his scoring ability. I think he's a good passer, an under-rated passer. I also think he can be a very good defender.
"A lot of things make him a very talented player. First of all, his size helps him. He's 6-4 and probably 205 pounds. So he's a really big, strong physical guard. He's incredibly gifted athletically, getting up in the air and moving. He's not the fastest guy, but he's faster than you think. He's just powerful and explosive.
"One of the biggest things is that he has confidence. He's an incredibly confident young man. And in order to be a really good player, especially as a guard, you have to have that. You have to have a confidence and a swagger. He handles it, he can score it in so many different ways. He can score it from deep, he has a really good mid-range game and, because of his strength and explosiveness, he can get to the basket and finish with contact."
Scoring is good, but, as you've no doubt gathered by reading this far, Capel expects his players to guard. He thinks Warren has the skills to do so.
"Willie has the potential to be a great defender," Capel said. "That's something we're really going to challenge him with. He wants to be really good. In order to be really good, you have to allow yourself to be pushed, and you have to go to limits you don't think you have. That's our responsibility -- to get him there. We look forward to pushing him beyond whatever limits he may have in his mind so he can be the player we think he can be. I think he can be one of the great ones."
Warren fancies himself as a three-point specialist, but he's streaky at best, and with the college line being moved back this season, look for his greatest success offensively to come via dribble penetration. As for his favorite move, "I would have to say my hesitation pull-up," he said. "I learned the move from Tracy McGrady -- you act like you're going to cross over, take a long step and pull up and hit the jump shot."
Continue on next post...