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View Full Version : 04's Attempt: OU vs. MVSU Recap



Sooner04
11/18/2008, 01:17 AM
I doubt I was alone, but I was pretty discouraged after the first half. If not for finding my friend TopDawg during the intermission and striking up a good conversation, there's a chance my mood would've been best described as downright melancholy. In my uneducated opinion, we looked like lukewarm death in the first half.

Let me count the ways.

First off, our free throw shooting was abysmal. If last year's championship game taught us anything, it's this: poor free throw shooting will get you beat. It's not if. It's when. I have no use for it, and zero patience for it. It's dedication to the repitition, and we sucked at it.

Carelessness. Yeah, I know, MVSU was lousy, but we ought to totally outclass those guys just by showing up and we were far from accomplishing that feat. 35-19 at the half? I think I'll rearrange my sock drawer.

Blake Griffin at point guard? Yeah, it's cool a big can bring the ball up the floor, but not when he turns it over as often as he misses a free throw.

So yes, I was gnawing through my bottom lip by the time the Sooners emerged from the tunnel for the start of the second half. Two minutes went by and we still looked like maggot-filled roadkill................until my eyes saw the very thing that could separate this team from others when things begin to go bad: the press.

We were getting open shots, but we couldn't hit them. It was affecting nearly everything we did, so Capel changed the pace and brought out the ol' press. Suddenly our guys looked like gazelles out there. LONG ARMED gazelles. It took us 22 minutes to score our first 35 points. Once the press was unleashed, it took us 8:40 to score our next 35. I was awestruck.

This team is uber-athletic, and I think we're deep enough to spell the guys we need to in spurts to really run the press and run it well. Am I overly enamored with the prospect of such a thing? Probably, but I think dictating tempo like that always serves a team well who's equipped to run it. We are, and I hope to see MUCH more of it.

You really can't take much else from this game because MVSU is lousy. Those guys played hard, but they were overmatched. Blake Griffin put up 20 and 19 tonight and I didn't think he played very well. That's as easy a 20 and 19 as you'll ever see. The real season starts tomorrow night with Davidson. Play like we did in the first half, and we'll probably get beat. Play like we did in the second half, and we'll drill their ***.

SCORING BREAKDOWN:
1st - 16 [hacking wildebeast]
2nd - 19 [spit]
3rd - 30 [stop..........hammer time!]
4th - 29 [the humpty dance is your chance............]

LEADING SCORERS:
20 - Blake Griffin: Manchild.
14 - Ray Willis: Only took him 15 minutes too. I'm going to start calling him "The Microwave" if he keeps nights like this up.
14 - Willie Warren: Skiddish, but getting better.

LEADING REBOUNDERS:
19 - Blake Griffin: Freak
4 - Two others. Got to spread it out a bit, fellas.

PLUSES:
1. Ray Willis: Hello! Once he made his first shot he was out looking for more. I love guys like that. It seems to me that he's already a pretty accomplished offensive player. I love bringing guys like that in off the bench. I just can't decide if I want to call him "Gamma" Ray or "The Microwave". Stuff like that will keep me up all night.

2. Blake Griffin's Rebounding: 19 rebounds is hard in a game of HORSE. To do it against another team is pretty remarkable. If he could only hit the freebies.

3. 2nd half: 59 points! Long live the press!

4. Ryan Wright and Omar Leary: I can't decide what it is I like about Ryan Wright. Maybe it's his footwork. I don't know, but he's solid. So is Leary. A real non-rocker of the boat off the bench.

MINUSES:
1. Free throw shooting: 7 of 14 in the first half. I can do that.......blindfolded. You could build a new parking garage with some of the bricks Blake and Orlando Allen threw up there tonight. They're going to be passing out hardhats for the guys holding the cables underneath the goals at this rate.

2. Leaving early: My landman duties required me to drive 235 miles today. Then I drove 170 more on a roundtrip to the game. I stayed til the final horn, why didn't you?

3. Turnovers: 16 is about eight too many. We play at a quick pace that looks for easy baskets at times, so I understand the ball will be turned over. But if you're going to have Blake at PG, I imagine it comes with the territory. ;)

4. Willie Warren's Outside Shooting: The next one he makes will be the first. Oi! That hitch in his shot has me concerned.

5. Tony Crocker: Four points? In 27 minutes? At that pace, "Gamma" Ray Willis would've scored 28. Tony, you're a major cog. You've got to bring it EVERY night.


Tomorrow should tell us more about our squad. If we smoke Davidson I'll allow myself to become more vested. I'm still skeptical because I'm not sold on our guard play. Flashes of brilliance followed by Sampsonian moments of ineptitude. Aggressiveness has got to rule the day. It did in the second half, and we looked like world-beaters.

We'll see what mindset takes over tomorrow night.


Thank you for your time.

okienole3
11/18/2008, 07:41 AM
Notice how Ray lives it hanging after every shot. I love it.

Willie needs to abandon the long range for now and get to the hoop and create.

OUSKINS
11/18/2008, 07:58 AM
04,

I was going to do my own recaps this year, but your threads are awesome, and I hope you keep them up all season....I'll just post my comments in here.


I doubt I was alone, but I was pretty discouraged after the first half. If not for finding my friend TopDawg during the intermission and striking up a good conversation, there's a chance my mood would've been best described as downright melancholy. In my uneducated opinion, we looked like lukewarm death in the first half.

First half was pretty uninspiring, but I wasn't as discouraged as you were. I sort of gave them a "pass" for their nonchalant play. If they do that against the Davidsons of the world, I'll start to worry.


Blake Griffin at point guard? Yeah, it's cool a big can bring the ball up the floor, but not when he turns it over as often as he misses a free throw.


A little hubris there from BG, IMO. Just because he CAN do it, doesn't mean he should. And as you mentioned, he started turning the ball over, which is unnaceptable for a big man to do on the perimiter.


We were getting open shots, but we couldn't hit them. It was affecting nearly everything we did, so Capel changed the pace and brought out the ol' press. Suddenly our guys looked like gazelles out there. LONG ARMED gazelles. It took us 22 minutes to score our first 35 points. Once the press was unleashed, it took us 8:40 to score our next 35. I was awestruck.


I almost felt sorry for MVSU when we busted out the press. They didn't have a prayer after that. But I also think we saw why Patillo was redshirted...tons of great athletes on our squad, but some inconsistent shooters. That's where Cade Davis comes in. Even though he threw up the most beautifully arched airball I've ever seen in my life, the kid is a gunner. He can really, really, shoot the rock and he has great range. That's a weapon we'll need to use all season.


You really can't take much else from this game because MVSU is lousy. Those guys played hard, but they were overmatched.

Lousy? Not a strong enough word. Clueless. I felt sorry for them. I'm glad Capel called off the dogs late and they finished with a respectable final tally. Look at their schedule I posted in the other thread....this is a nationwide Trail of Tears for them right now.....I guess it's cool for them to get to see the country and all, but I'm not sure that approach is what college sports is all about.


Leaving early: My landman duties required me to drive 235 miles today. Then I drove 170 more on a roundtrip to the game. I stayed til the final horn, why didn't you?


I rarely, if ever, leave early, but I did last night-- with about 7:00 minutes left. I took my brother-in-law to the game who is not an OU fan (graduated from Pitt). And even though I provided the tickets, I sort of felt like he was doing me a favor by going to this particular game. I didn't feel the need to put him through those pointless final minutes. We left and watched the 4th quarter of Monday Night Football at BJ's.


Tony Crocker: Four points? In 27 minutes? At that pace, "Gamma" Ray Willis would've scored 28. Tony, you're a major cog. You've got to bring it EVERY night.


Disagree here a bit. Tony is what he is at this point (don't you LOVE that saying!). On THIS team I actually don't think we will need him EVERY night...what we will need is for him to "bring it" at opportune times. Last year, we were so desperate for guard production that when he went MIA, so did our offense. I think we can survive without him scoring for us on some nights this year. He'll simply need to recognize when the team needs him to do more.

Other Thoughts....

--Taylor has been REALLY quiet in these first two games. I don't expect tons of points from him of course, but he needs to be a banger and floor leader out there....I caught him drifting away from the hoop too many times these first two games. He needs to be our garbage man and take a little pressure off of his brother.

--Good test for our guards against Davidson. I assume AJ will be guarding Curry, which is a very tall task. AJ needs to use his length and keep a hand in his face. On offense? What else....pound it in to Blake.....that should always be our first option. Looking forward to it.

Boomer.....
11/18/2008, 08:27 AM
Someone needs to step up and help Cade with the outside shooting. I know AJ and TC can and that WW wants to help.

Willis looked great. It looked as if he was a upper classman and had been playing for years. Very comfortable.

OUmillenium
11/18/2008, 09:38 AM
Cade over arches his shot. Like Willie, he bends/loads his arm too much. They both need to load their shot less and speed up their release. They are strong enough to get up a 20 footer without shooting it like 9th grader. The only time you need a massive arch is if a bigger guy is really in your jock on a jumper. Massive arch on a wide open 3 (Cade) is unnecessary.

King Crimson
11/18/2008, 10:15 AM
i didn't see the game, but the box score says we're still pretty average as a perimeter shooting team and FT woes will cost us conference games on the road if that doesn't improve...but, 04's point about the press is an interesting one. in Capel year 1 the use of the press was certainly a bright spot.

TopDawg
11/18/2008, 10:54 AM
We weren't hitting our threes last night, but we showed last year that we're capable from behind the arc.

And I don't see how there can be any discussion...you gotta go with Gamma Ray over Microwave.

fwsooner22
11/18/2008, 11:25 AM
Cade over arches his shot. Like Willie, he bends/loads his arm too much. They both need to load their shot less and speed up their release. They are strong enough to get up a 20 footer without shooting it like 9th grader. The only time you need a massive arch is if a bigger guy is really in your jock on a jumper. Massive arch on a wide open 3 (Cade) is unnecessary.


Did I read this correctly ? Those two are the purest shooters we have. Their shots are refined and by the book. Take a look at the successful shooters. All of them have nice arch and touch on the ball. The rocket shooters are afraid of the airball. A quick release is one thing if you are in traffic or shooting off the dribble. If you are wide open they teach you to get the ball up in the air with as much arch as you are comfortable with. Its really is geometry when you get right down to it. Those two have shot thousands of shots are very refined.

Just my two cents

badger
11/18/2008, 11:36 AM
I know that KS had us in the Big Dance most years, but I really like Capel's style more.

It has nothing to do with the game, but I wish they put the crowded student section in an area that would show up well on television so it looked like a more-full LNC :(

noobalicious
11/18/2008, 02:34 PM
For all the praise of Ray Willis (and deservedly so, he played much better), he still is a bit sloppy with his ball handling. He keeps his dribble way too high and often too far away from his body. This led to a few turnovers or near turnovers. That's my big minus for him. He needs to get more comfortable taking a few dribbles; this will also help keep him from settling for 15+ foot j's all the time. One thing I like about his game is his aggressiveness. He drew quite a few fouls practically dribbling into a guy because the defender's feet were moving. Can't move your feet and body up on a guy. That's my big plus from him.

I'm not as down on Crocker as some. His stat line may not have been impressive, mainly because he missed a few open shots. Just wasn't his night. Overall he was very active, and it looks like he's blowing guys off the dribble. Not to mention he's very active defensively. He'll be fine.

Biggest Observation: I think having Taylor in foul trouble early hurt us. We played Orlando Allen a lot in the last 10 minutes of the first half and he's clearly a step down. We were steamrolling them before Taylor went out. I get the feeling he's the leader of the team, the floor general, and they seem to have a lot more energy on both sides of the court when he's in.

Say what you want to about Blake, Crocker or Willie, in my opinion what will make or break our season is whether or not Taylor can get a lot of minutes and be an active leader. Big test of that tonight!

TopDawg
11/18/2008, 02:37 PM
I think Willie, Willis and Blake all struggle sometimes with their ball handling in traffic. That's not uncommon...most people struggle with their ball handling in traffic. The main difference is that most people don't willingly go into traffic as often as Willie, Willis and Blake.

Crocker sometimes struggles with this too.

noobalicious
11/18/2008, 02:40 PM
Also wanted to add that it seems as though teams are collapsing an extra 1-2 guys down on Blake in the post when he gets the ball. If we start knocking down the outside shot with more regularity (this includes ALL of our starting guards: TC, AJ, WW), then that should free up Blake a bit more offensively.

More big positives: transition offense has been huge. And, I love that all of our guys are so good off the dribble. Seems like we are getting a lot of 2-3 step penetration towards the lane and then kicking it out. Just have to start hitting the open shot...

Sooner04
11/18/2008, 05:34 PM
Disagree here a bit. Tony is what he is at this point (don't you LOVE that saying!). On THIS team I actually don't think we will need him EVERY night...what we will need is for him to "bring it" at opportune times. Last year, we were so desperate for guard production that when he went MIA, so did our offense. I think we can survive without him scoring for us on some nights this year.
I disagree here a bit because I have fairly high aspirations for this team. To me, you reach the dangerous level when you have three or four guys who can go for 15. REALLY dangerous is when you have three who can go for 20. The '02 team had that, and I think this team can too. Crocker's got to be one of those guys. He's too good not to be.

NormanPride
11/18/2008, 05:53 PM
Who would be our three that go for 20 consistently?

Sooner04
11/18/2008, 05:59 PM
Who would be our three that go for 20 consistently?
Good question, and I really don't have an answer. Consistently is probably not a very good word. Threaten is probably more appropriate. The four who could, once we get comfortable, threaten to go for 15 to 20 would be Blake, Tony, Willie and Austin.

I'm going to be honest with you, I'm enamored with "Gamma" Ray Willis. I had to drive all over the eastern part of our state today, and my thoughts, when not mentally undressing various women, were focused on Ray. I shouldn't let 14 points against scrubs bug me, but it was how he put them up. It was really smooth. Really refined. It looked like a pretty non-chalant part of his skill set. I also really liked how he kinda pumped his fist after every made bucket. It's going to take him getting better on "D" to get the good minutes, but once he gets there..........watch out!

Then again, he may not score again for a month. You never know with freshmen.

NormanPride
11/18/2008, 06:04 PM
I'd love it if he was a change of pace guy. When we take Blake out to rest him and stop running the press, we have him to spice things up points-wise. He's got a knack for drawing fouls as well.

I agree, though. He's almost as exciting as Sherri Coale's new haircut. :D