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.
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.