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View Full Version : 04's Attempt: OU at Madison Square Garden Recap



Sooner04
11/29/2008, 01:56 PM
As most of you know, I'm a glutton for punishment. I root for the Padres, I root for the Vikings, and I rooted for the Supersonics. I was born in 1982, and none of those teams ever won a championship while I was breathing. Forget Cleveland. Forget Philadelphia. They've got things to hold on to. They've got forefathers to tell them how things were. I've got nothing. Well, I've got OU football, but I value OU basketball more. So, needless to say, I've suffered while watching our boys lay numerous eggs on the national stage.

I've seen us lose to Michigan and BYU in Maui. I've seen Washington drill us in Anchorage. I've seen Butler and Wisconsin hammer us in Puerto Rico. I've seen us make trips to the Garden and look like warmed over death (Alabamuh and Duke). It seems like everytime we go somewhere to get the word out about how good we might be we land flat on our face.

No more.

I kept waiting for the shoe to drop against UAB, because the game reminded me so of the '02 Semifinal. But then, with five minutes to go, we said 'enough' and throttled them the rest of the way. Sure, Vaden had some looks, but his misses were scooped up by our rebounders and sent the other way. Against Purdue, I never felt confident, but we turned up the gas late and took advantage of bad officiating to get to OT and grab the win. You can tell this team is starting to understand they're good, but it hasn't quite settled in as a mindset yet. YET! If they come out and get after USC early and often on Thursday it will become kosher to dominate.


PLUSES:
1. Jeff Capel - Thanksgiving 2006 we were in Maui beating Chaminade for 7th place. Thanksgiving 2008 we're the preseason NIT champs and three of our six wins are over teams that will more than likely be dancing come March.

2. Blake Griffin - Has any school ever won the Heisman and Naismith in the same scholastic year? Sammy may lose to the Colt PR machine, but Blake Griffin is twice the player Hansbrough is. Hansbrough has inflated stats from the pace of UNC's play and he's also surrounded by studs. Blake's carrying a team that goes six deep right now. Blake's also six for six in leading us in rebounding and five for six in leading the scoring. Total, absolute monster.

3. Willie Warren - When things weren't going well against Purdue in the first half, he started attacking the basket and we sliced into their lead at the free throw line. That line of thinking has been sorely missed. Kid's a rising star.

4. Cade Davis - We don't win the UAB game without him, and his minutes have become vital off the bench. He's not just a shooter; he looks comfortable moving the ball around the perimeter. Some of his dishes to Blake were beautiful.

5. Taylor Griffin - We don't win the Purdue game without him. Hell, we probably don't win the Davidson game either. With Blake dominating, there's always going to be room on the weakside in the post. If Taylor can finish, he'll have LOADS of opportunities to score.

MINUSES:

1. Depth - Right now, we have none. There are few truths, but here's one: in conference play, on the road, Blake will be in foul trouble. The whistles will be frequent in Ames and Columbia. They'll be all over us in Austin and Stillwater. Who's going to step up? We don't have too many cupcakes left, so we're going to have to get Wright, Allen and Cannon some playing time to see who can help. Otherwise, we're sunk. We're six deep, and that WILL NOT cut it.

2. Tony Crocker - 11 of his 14 field goal attempts in New York were from behind the arc. Is that all he is now? Has his dribbling forced him to be a spot-up shooter? He's better than that.

3. Officiating Against Purdue - We shot 46 free throws, they shot five. Friends, that's terrible officiating. I know we benefited from it, but if the shoe were on the other foot I'd be beyond ticked.

4. Free Throw Shooting - That game yesterday should've never gone to OT. We missed them early, we missed them late, but still got the win. That won't always be the case. We shot 70% for the trip, and that's not bad, but I'd like to see it a bit higher. It's skewed because we shot so many, but we did miss 20 in two games!

5. Three Point Shooting - 12 of 42 for the trip. That's 29%. Barfy McBarferson, that is.


I think what intrigues me the most is we're winning with flashes. You can tell at times we're really good, but at otherwise times we stink. Still, somehow, we win. That's such a refreshing change. Once we get a little depth and a better rotation I think you'll see us really take off. Our guys are going to hit the wall the way we're going right now, so we're going to have to get our bench players more minutes.

We've got USC on Thursday and Tulsa in Tulsa on Sunday. Those will both be tough. Then we've got Maine in Norman next Wednesday. Throw our youngins to the wolves and make them learn. It'll pay monstrous dividends down the line.

All that being said, we're the preseason NIT champs. I just can't get over that. You could not wipe the smile off my face last night.


Thank you for your time.

Sooner24
11/29/2008, 04:13 PM
I have been waiting for you to get back.

We had three quality wins in the NIT. Wins that will look really good come March when the seedings are announced. Wins that were good in the fact we came from behind when things weren't going our way. These types of games are confidence builders.

Our defense is looking really good. I don't care what they shot from three point land because nearly every shot was contested. When Curry went off on us the other night I still felt like we played good D. This team has a long way to go to become a great team but there is a lot of time left to do it. Like you the lack of bench play has me concerned but like you also said we have some games coming up in which we can get a lot more subs into the mix.

I wish USC was undefeated coming into the LNC Thursday night but if we look at their record and think this is going to be an easy game we might come out of this game 6-1.

I don't want to be 6-1!

OUSKINS
11/30/2008, 10:18 AM
Jeff Capel - Thanksgiving 2006 we were in Maui beating Chaminade for 7th place.

I listened to that game over the internet....I think that qualifies me as a true fan and enables me to fully enjoy this current team :)


Willie Warren - When things weren't going well against Purdue in the first half, he started attacking the basket and we sliced into their lead at the free throw line. That line of thinking has been sorely missed. Kid's a rising star.


Pretty clear that he's the key, or "X" factor if you want to go the cliche' route. For the first time this year, someone other than Blake was the MVP of one of our games----I thought WW earned that distinction against Purdue, despite the strong numbers from Blake. For the second time this year (Gardner-Webb) Willie pulled us up when things were looking bleak. An OU guard breaking down a defense? Blasphemy!


Cade Davis - We don't win the UAB game without him, and his minutes have become vital off the bench. He's not just a shooter; he looks comfortable moving the ball around the perimeter. Some of his dishes to Blake were beautiful.


Oddly enough, he may be the third most important player on this team. Not the third BEST player mind you, but possibly more important than others. Willie, AJ, and Crocker are all streaky outside shooters....but Davis is reliable, and lately he's shown a willingless to drive the basketball and grab some boards.


Depth - Right now, we have none. There are few truths, but here's one: in conference play, on the road, Blake will be in foul trouble. The whistles will be frequent in Ames and Columbia. They'll be all over us in Austin and Stillwater. Who's going to step up? We don't have too many cupcakes left, so we're going to have to get Wright, Allen and Cannon some playing time to see who can help. Otherwise, we're sunk. We're six deep, and that WILL NOT cut it.


This is my one real criticism of Capel at this point. I think we HAVE the depth, but he just isn't using it. He's been very conservative with his lineups, even in games against American and MVSU. With Crocker off on another planet so far this season, I'd like to see a little more of Willis....and even if Wright, Allen, and Cannon are somewhat raw, they could be used in brief spells to give Blake a rest and keep he and Taylor out of foul trouble. I think Wright's lack of minutes are the most puzzling to me.


Tony Crocker - 11 of his 14 field goal attempts in New York were from behind the arc. Is that all he is now? Has his dribbling forced him to be a spot-up shooter? He's better than that.


Words can't describe how horrid he's been this year. He does still manage to play quality on-ball defense and his strip at the end of regulation against Purdue was very nice, but he's been putrid offensively this year. I can handle a guy missing shots....but Tony is turning the ball over, taking bad shots, and just generally being a space cadet. He needs to get it together quick. If I was Capel, I think I'd reduce his minutes a bit and see how he responds. Tony has been a clutch player for us in his two years, and we need him to be on target.


Officiating Against Purdue - We shot 46 free throws, they shot five. Friends, that's terrible officiating. I know we benefited from it, but if the shoe were on the other foot I'd be beyond ticked.

Disagree. Foul-shot disparity is NOT a good indicator of officiating. If you watched that game Purdue took almost NO shots from inside the paint. Their guards rarely penetrated, and they were completely dependent on hitting three's. The way they played, they SHOULD have been held to under 10 FT attempts. OU, on the other hand, has the beast inside, and Taylor was also more physical than anyone that Purdue threw out there. And then WW gave them big problems off the dribble. I thought a few loose ball calls went our way, but the actual foul story was totally legit.


Three Point Shooting - 12 of 42 for the trip. That's 29%. Barfy McBarferson, that is

That's gonna be the story all year. When we throw up bricks, we're going to have to grind out games. When we hit shots, we're going to blow people away. The best news is that we've won our last three games all while shooting blanks from outside. We are not a team that depends on the three like so many college teams do thesedays. It certainly makes life more difficult, but we proved this week that we can shoot poorly and still beat good teams.

badger
11/30/2008, 10:36 AM
How nice is it to beat a top 10 team while throwing up trash from outside?

I thought the fouls were a little in our favor, but Purdue did nothing to change the fact.

Also, can AJ not scare me every time he touches the ball? Good lord that kid had a terrible night!

(THIS POST BROUGHT TO YOU BY NP)

8timechamps
12/1/2008, 02:45 PM
Another well thought out review.

This team is special Brandon. Like '88 special.

One "plus" you didn't mention though: We were never in foul trouble. Given Purdue's tempo and style, that could have killed us in the end. Having all 5 starters available for OT (which, you are correct, really never should have been there) was big.

The year's squad is restoring some old feelings I have for OU hoops.

Sooner04
12/1/2008, 03:34 PM
I was a bit hasty in one comment I made earlier about us going only six-deep. I heard an interview with Capel and he mentioned how bad of a matchup UAB and Purdue were for our bigger lineups. Hell, he's right. UAB's biggest dude took nothing but jumpers and Purdue's "4" never stepped inside the line. Put in the big guys, and all they'll do is run around the perimeter and take them away from grabbing the key rebounds.

There's a reason Capel is coaching the #6 team in America and I'm stuck in this Soviet-era office with no windows and a lone door.

jkm, the stolen pifwafwi
12/1/2008, 04:33 PM
There's a reason Capel is coaching the #6 team in America and I'm stuck in this Soviet-era office with no windows and a lone door.

herpes?

SleestakSooner
12/1/2008, 04:37 PM
How nice is it to beat a top 10 team while throwing up trash from outside?

I thought the fouls were a little in our favor, but Purdue did nothing to change the fact.

Also, can AJ not scare me every time he touches the ball? Good lord that kid had a terrible night!

(THIS POST BROUGHT TO YOU BY NP)

I don't understand how you can claim AJ had a terrible night. He had a 2/1 assist to turnover ratio 6/3, he scored in double digits and had a steal to make up for one of those three turnovers. Yes he was off on his three point shooting only hitting one of six but he played his role and didn't lose the game for us.

Show the kid some love already, he's the best option we have as point guard right now.

KC//CRIMSON
12/1/2008, 05:31 PM
4. Cade Davis - We don't win the UAB game without him, and his minutes have become vital off the bench. He's not just a shooter; he looks comfortable moving the ball around the perimeter. Some of his dishes to Blake were beautiful.

Word. White boy and his treys totally saved our bacon that game.

Sooner04
12/1/2008, 05:37 PM
herpes?
pssh. I cleared that stuff out years ago.