04's Attempt: OU vs. Davidson Recap

[Sooner04]

I'm watching this game tonight from the comfort of my own couch and I'm totally perplexed.

We're better than these guys, and I know it.
We're athletically light years ahead of these guys, and I see it.
We're doing just about everything right and the scoreboard isn't showing it.

I've seen us lose hundreds of games like this. You lead the whole way, you feel good, but no matter how far ahead you are you never quite find the knockout blow. All of a sudden, they make a run, you make a mistake and it's a game. Then you lose, you get pissed, you go drink and the next thing you know you're laying in the bushes outside Cate Center with your shoes on the wrong feet.

But not tonight.

Everytime we'd land a haymaker they'd bail themselves out. Sometimes it was thanks to officiating, sometimes it was thanks to tired legs. We were up 61-40 and I had that Stoops moment from the OU-Texas game. I told my dogs we were pretty good. I told them the same thing about Davidson about a nanosecond later.

It was a slugfest, but we landed a few more punches. I sure would have liked to knock them out and bury them on national TV, but they're too damn good. Like I said, I've seen the other side and it's not pretty. A win's a win's a FRIGGIN WIN!

SCORING BREAKDOWN:
1st - 27 [Take a load off, Fannie!]
2nd - 11 [Vomting sorority girl with her date holding her hair back]
3rd - 25 [Mine eyes have seen the glory......]
4th - 19 [spit]

LEADING SCORERS:
25 - Blake Griffin: Three for three in leading the team. Who'll knock him off?
20 - Willie Warren: Hello, world.
16 - Taylor Griffin: Carried the load while blake got lost in the first half.

LEADING REBOUNDERS:
21 - Blake Griffin: Three for three here too.
7 - Taylor Griffin
4 - Cade Davis

PLUSES:
1. Stephen Curry: Good luck with that POY award, Tyler Hansbrough. This kid's got to be the closest thing to Maravich to walk the Earth in some time. I was in awe. True, he got some help from the officials, but the kid is a player. Frightening thing is he did not play his best game. I'm trying to think of the last player to hang 40 on us in Norman, and I think it was Marcus Moody of Memphis in December of '97. 11 years since we saw someone like this, and I think we'll hear more of Curry than we did of Marcus Moody.

2. Blake Griffin: Good luck here too, Mr. Hansbrough, ya overrated galoot. I don't know if it's the athleticism or the size or both, but when that rebound is in the air there is little to no doubt who's going to get it. He was four boards shy of outrebounding Davidson by himself. What a monster. I don't think there's anyone in the conference on the same planet as Blake.

3. Willie Warren: Again, hello world. He came out and asserted himself from the get go. If not for two bush league calls against him in the second half, we probably keep the high tide for a while longer. Austin was gassed from being on Curry, so you know Willie would've been fresher and would've had a better time sustaining the pace. Great game, though. First of many.

4. Taylor Griffin: Playing the part of Blake Griffin in Act I, Taylor Griffin. 16 and 7, all of them much needed. I'd like for him to get more touches, because he's got some offensive game.

5. Free throw shooting: I was breathing into a bag to keep myself from going into shock. Up they'd go, and down they'd go. I kept waiting for it to snowball on us, but we kept making them. It was like we'd been bodysnatched by those kids from Pleasantville. The freebies can win a game or lose it for you. Tonight.........winner winner.

6. The crowd: I don't know how many were there, but it was loud on TV. Well done.

MINUSES:
1. Ray Willis: I was high on the Gamma after last night, but he was wild from the outset tonight. We were leading when he was in there, but he was just all over the place. The final turnover sealed his fate. He'll get better, but he's got to moderate the wildness.

2. Tony Crocker: I'm being picky here, but I just want more. Fraschilla had a great stat on the broadcast tonight. In our 23 wins last year, he shot better than 50%. In our 12 losses, 25%. We've got more offensive help, but if he's there we can go into orbit. He asserted himself at the end, but he missed his shots. I like that he's the one wanting to take them.

3. Outside shooting: Only 6 of 18. Got to get better or we'll start seeing the ol' sagging zone before long. A couple would be daggers rattled out, otherwise we roll. Omar had one, and Austin had one at the very end. We rose above it though.


These guys will get a day off I'm sure and then host Gardner-Webb on Saturday. There will be 80,000 Sooner fans descending on Norman, surely we can get a few to stop by and see our boys in action. Don't forget, Gardner- Webb strolled into Lexington and drilled UK last year at Rupp. We're better than Kentucky, but we're prone to moments of aloofness.

Come to the game, and bring a friend. If you can't bring a friend, bring your mistress.


Thank you for your time.

[Soonerus]

Good report !!!

[King Crimson]

Gardner Webb with a trip to MSG coming up has "trap game" written all over it.

[TopDawg]

People, don't take these threads for granted. 04's a talented writer, can turn a phrase and knows his basketball. Whether he's reporting after returning from the game (most of the time) or reporting from the comfort of his own couch (for no good reason), his insights are solid. The only times I've ever known him to be wrong on basketball stuff is when he disagrees with me.

My 5 keys to the game for OU were:

1) Willie's start...he really only played one half.
2) Taylor's role playing...early on we needed him to score and he scored. Later on we needed his defense and he supplied it.
3) Blake's free throw shooting...huge.
4) Crocker's hustle...he didn't light up the scoreboard, but he caused a few loose balls to bounce our way and really made Curry work for his points. Before Curry got his second wind in the clutch, he went through a stretch where he missed some shots he'd been making all night. He was getting worn out because Tony was making him work for his shot. AJ also did a good job harassing him toward the end.

There was another one and now I've forgotten it.

Was there ever a point in the game where the ball went down and back without a foul? It sure didn't feel like it.

[badger]

Sure. During their mug-the-nice-OU-players-and-shoot-evil-3s stretch.

[okienole3]

Great report 04. The LNC was rockin tonight. I was pleasantly surprised. I think people may be coming around in realizing what a special talent we have in Griffin.

[Ardmore_Sooner]

OU Basketball > Bowling ya lazy butt. ;)

[Sooner98]

I consider it an honor to have attended that game tonight. Wow, two incredible talents going at it like that...we had better enjoy every minute of Blake being here before he goes league. Then there was Curry...if he hadn't had that cold spell there in the second half, he may have scored 60 on us. We may not see two talents like that playing against each other at the LNC for a LONG time.

[noobalicious]

Fans were great. It was quite loud in there. Students got some real nice chants going. I loved the right-left chant when the Davidson players fouled out. All in all, fan support is headed in the right direction.

Stephen Curry is the real deal. I saw his dad play maybe 5-10 times in person in the NBA. Real pure shooter, especially from deep. Easy to see where Stephen gets the shot from.

Pleased with the win. Davidson was 2 pts away from beating kansas in the tourney last year and getting into the final four. I'll take a 4 point win, especially considering some questionable officiating.

Willie had 20 pts playing a little under a half. Excellent job. He gets to the rim quicker than most college players that I've seen. He settled for the j a little bit less today and that helped. Also had his stroke tonight. Great job.

Big props go to Taylor, Cade and Tony Crocker. All 3 of them (except maybe Taylor) didn't have great stat lines but they got some balls to bounce our way, had some nice deflections or steals. Great job and they won't get the credit they need.

Negative for Cade. Why shoot that three with a little over a minute on the game clock? There were still 25 seconds left on the shot clock and we were up by 6! Let it run down a bit and make it tougher on them.

Blake averaging about a 24-20 right now. Insane.

[TopDawg]

I consider it an honor to have attended that game tonight. Wow, two incredible talents going at it like that...we had better enjoy every minute of Blake being here before he goes league. Then there was Curry...if he hadn't had that cold spell there in the second half, he may have scored 60 on us. We may not see two talents like that playing against each other at the LNC for a LONG time.

Blake: career high in rebounds
Curry: career high in points

[Sooner24]

I will be going up early to attend the game Saturday.

Curry, is in my opinion, the best shooter ( I said shooter not player) on a visiting team to ever show up at the LNC. His 44 points tonight is the record by a visiting player, but even if we had held him to under 40 I would still say the same thing. If not for the fact he sat the last six some odd minutes of the first half he might have gone off for 50 plus and the game might have had a different outcome.

Great win tonight and free throw shooting, rebounding and, believe it or not, great defense won this game.

[Sooner_75]

Blake is a freak. 38 minutes the rebrounds he pulls are awesome. My only worry is that everyone else is use to his dominance and they let some offensive rebounds occur when Blake doesn't grab the ball. I have never seen someone like an opponent like Curry. He is better then I though going in. I think Blake showed his greatness stepping up at the free throw line 11/12. He is a man.... He is 20 and he is a man.

[TopDawg]

Curry may actually be the best shooter...but he kinda had an off night. I know...he still scored 44...but he was shooting almost 60% from the field before tonight and shot "only" 41% tonight.

His 14-14 from the charity stripe was nice and he certainly made some incredible shots...the two that stand out the most was that one over Blake to cut it to three and that sick crossover-stepback three about halfway through the second.

That one was so sick, Jeff Green was cracking up as if to say "not even I could've stopped that one."

[Boomer.....]

I consider it an honor to have attended that game tonight. Wow, two incredible talents going at it like that...we had better enjoy every minute of Blake being here before he goes league. Then there was Curry...if he hadn't had that cold spell there in the second half, he may have scored 60 on us. We may not see two talents like that playing against each other at the LNC for a LONG time.

Agreed. Great win and write-up 04.

[stoops the eternal pimp]

Even though Curry scored a ton, I thought they did a decent job on him til down the stretch..Johnson was wore out..I enjoyed watching Warren last night..He has a little hitch in his shot but he plays hard..

[ouwapiti]

curry sat out the last 6 minutes(?) of the first half.....if not, the outcome may've been different.....outside shooting is still, and i guess will be, forever inconsistent......fun game to watch though......this has to be best OU team in a few years

[Cam]

Blake's FT shooting was HUGE.

I have a feeling we're going to see hack-a-Blake all year long.

[Taxman71]

+Every above, plus:

1. Curry is really good...hope he has the size to make it in the NBA.
2. Blake has improved his skill level tremendously over last year, the game is coming to him very smoothly right now. He decided to take over midway through the 2nd half and he did just that.
3. We haven't had a player like Warren in a long time. He just needs to get more conditioned/paced to stay in the game longer.
4. Ryan Wright, Willis and a few others are still trying to find the pace of the game.
5. The officiating was horribly inconsistent...traveling was never called while Curry got white glove treatment...as though he needed it.
6. Getting out of the LNC parking lot still $ucks.

Bottom line, great win against a very good ranked team. We were on the verge of blowing them out at one point in the second half.

Forgot to add, most importantly...best crowd for a November game since the Tubbs days. The students (nice touch moving them behind the opponent's goal) was rockin and they seemed to have a great time. The upper deck in my section was full....hadn't been in several years even for osu, texas, kansas, etc. Only negative was the usual padded seat donor section on the lower east side. Pathetic attendance both those people. OTOH, the lower west side section was packed and loud.

[tommieharris91]

http://ouhoops.com/showthread.php?t=546

[NormanPride]

I just wish the lower west side was on TV. When they did shots of the crowd, it looked good. But just watching the game, the crowd looked pathetic because all they show is old donors that don't do anything.

04, I don't understand the "scoring breakdown" section. Am I missing something?

[OU SoonerMax]

I was hating the 8:30 start time but glad to have gone! That will end up being one of the best games (and maybe the best) of the year at LNC. Taylor really had a heck of a first half. I would have loved to have seen Willie play more but that got robbed from us with the ticky tack hand calls. The crowd was given the refs the business last night. Seems like we couldn't get up and down the court twice without a foul. The team really persevered and played great together. This is going to be a historic year!

[starrca23]

Good win, good report. Allow me to add a couple of thoughts:
1. This was a very solid win against a veteran team (they start 4 juniors and a senior).
2. We looked really good when AJ went out and WW slid to the 1 and Davis came in at the 2.
3. We need to learn how to play with the lead. They got hot and I give them credit for hitting big shots, but we have to play smarter when we are ahead.
4. We looked a little out of shape, but played really hard. Loved the intensity.

[OUSKINS]

Wow, what a show!

I'll start with the crowd...the actual attendance numbers still aren't quite where I think they should be, but it's certainly WORLDS better than it was in the previous years and the student section was awesome. Furthermore, the crowd was VERY into the game last night and seemed to sense what a great show they were getting. Very loud inside the building all night long.

From the very beginning, the game had an NCAA Tournament "feel" to it. You got the sense that you were watching two teams that could go deep into March. Although Davidson is incredibly reliant on Curry.

The amazing thing about what Curry did last night was that I would rate our defense on him as somehwere between very good and excellent. Capel tried EVERYTHING. We threw different looks at him, threw different defenders at him, gave him space, bodied him up, etc... and he just kept finding a way.

When we overplayed....he cut to the back door.

When we went under screens, he shot over them.

When we went over screens, he shot around them.

When we were in his face, he put the ball on the floor.

Even when Blake gets him trapped in a corner, he still manages to get it in.

Having said that, 12-29 shows me made him work all night to get those 44 points. It wasn't easy--even though he made it look so at times. Both Crocker and AJ chased him around all night and should be given much credit for their efforts.

Curry is simply a great player....not just a great shooter. Trajan Langdon was a great shooter. Cade Davis is a great shooter. Stephen Curry is a great player.

He was fun to watch....even more fun considering he lost :)

As for OU....

I really have nothing to add about Blake that hasn't already been said. He's a special player. A real gem we have on our hands and he alone gives us a legitimate shot at a Final Four this year. He owns every rebound and his athleticism is off the charts.

That is BY FAR the biggest strength of the team.....we are incredibly athletic. It's weird to say that about an OU basketball team. When we get our press going, we can wreak havoc...great finishers and open court players.

Taylor was excellent in the first half as others have noted....and I would also like to add that Davis found ways to contriute as well...he plays very hard and isn't afraid to get into the paint, which is a bit of a surprise to me. Again, I think he's the biggest reason Patillo got redshirted.

But above EVERYTHING else last night...above what we saw from Curry and Blake...the most important development was what we saw from Willie Warren. Wow. In the first two games, he looked raw and sloppy...very much like a freshmen. But last night, it seemed that he sort of sensed the stage and wanted to make a mark as well. I really liked that.

We've been begging for a guard in Norman that can create off the dribble and finish in the open court....well, we've found him. In addition to his great finishes around the rim, he also made some excellent passes...even though we didn't always capitalize on them.

Too early to call Warren a dynamic player yet, but he's certainly a dynamic talent. I just love how he stepped up his game to prove he belonged on the court with the other two studs.

The LNC was buzzing last night....Sam Bradford sat a few seats away from me for a short period.....Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook were sitting courtside....it was really fun and really exciting.

OU plays Gardner-Webb on Saturday at 1:00. I will look forward to the bloodbath. Even though it's a lame opponent, I hope people come out to show some support...this team puts on a show....it's starting to look a bit like Billy Ball out there--something OU fans have longed for for 20 years.

Then, it's on to Madison Square Garden. UAB beat Arizona last night, so that's who OU will play on Wednesday....UAB is a tourney-caliber team and that will not be an easy game. Then, they will most likely play a top 10 Purdue team. If OU wins this tournament, expect to see them somwhere around #5, and that's when the expectations and hype will really get turned up. And that's when we'll find out if they can handle it.

[Rock Hard Corn Frog]

04 was really thorough. My take regarding nearly blowing the big lead is as good as Warren was he did force a few shots. Sometimes even big time freshman are still freshman.

Curry and therefore Davidson is also a very unique match-up. There are some other teams with good shooters but no one else that we will face that is so good that we will be chasing them all over the court to try to deny a shot.

I see the most athletic team OU has had since Mookie,King, Grant,etc. This team is going to get a number of easy baskets against most teams. Offensively we now have a good inside-outside balance and we look to be 9-deep.

There were some mistakes last night but most are correctable. I'm sure we will drop a few games here or there and might have 1-2 losses that make you scratch your head but the sky is the limit for this team.

[Sooner04]

Good reports, fellas. Hard to argue with anything that was said. I just couldn't give kudos to the "D" considering Curry got 44. I just couldn't do it, even though I know they did a great job.


04, I don't understand the "scoring breakdown" section. Am I missing something? When I was a little kid, I'd break down our scoring pace for the game every five minutes. With Tubbs, it helped me with my multiplication. With Sampson..........well, not so much.

Anyhow, the scoring breakdowns are half of the halves. Ten minute intervals. I'd like for us to score 20 points every 10 minutes. We're a spurty team right now, but we've got some offensive players who can get to the hole. That should help eliminate some of the longer scoring droughts we've seen over the past few years.

[TopDawg]

We need to work a little more on our turnovers. At one point late in the game it was OU - 16, Davidson - 4.

[NormanPride]

Thanks, 04, that's what I thought it was.

It's hard for Davidson to turn the ball over when their offense consisted of Curry dribbling around until he had 3 feet to shoot. We cut our turnovers in half if Blake stops taking the ball at the top of the arc...

[picasso]

is Patillo out?

[TopDawg]

It looks like he's redshirting.

[picasso]

ok, just saw that. darn it.

[soonervegas]

Pretty much ditto on what everyone has said.

Taylor, yes Taylor, is making himself some money this year if he keeps it up.

I am already ready for the possibility of playing Purdue the 28th in NYC and then coming home to play SC on the 4th. Is it still football season? I kid I kid.

[tommieharris91]

We need to work a little more on our turnovers. At one point late in the game it was OU - 16, Davidson - 4.

It ended up OU - 17, Davidson - 5. There was that time where they got 7 points in 5 seconds where OU turned the ball over 3 times.

[King Crimson]

turnovers are a problem we've had the last two years. we turn it over before taking a shot a lot. that's empty possessions that are hard to make up.

can't score if you don't shoot.

[8timechamps]

Very well done 04. Thumbs up.

[okienole3]

How good is it to see a big man, Taylor, progress this much from his Freshman year to his Senior year?