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Frozen Sooner
1/17/2009, 04:55 PM
I got a bit discouraged with Austin Johnson's play after the KSU game. To be clear I have always been a fan of AJ as a Sooner who was clearly working his *** off, but I felt that maybe he was overmatched at the D-1 level at that point.

So what does he do? Go off in two games against quality competition with clutch shots and stellar defense against the guy most consider the premiere point guard in the Big 12.

Way to go, Austin!

jkm, the stolen pifwafwi
1/17/2009, 06:06 PM
you know i'm still annoyed at that over and back call. both feet AND the ball have to be in the front court before position is established. AJ clearly reached back into the backcourt to get the ball so it never got established in the front court. gah, i was fuming over that call for 5 minutes.

Frozen Sooner
1/17/2009, 06:23 PM
Wasn't able to see today's game because I'm stuck at work, but that sounds like a blown call.

oumartin
1/17/2009, 06:32 PM
there weren't any bad calls in todays game! ;)


In the first half I thought OU could rough em up down low and nothing was gonna get called. Second half if you scratched yer nose you were gonna get a whistle blown on ya.(if you were in an Oklahoma uniform)

Cam
1/17/2009, 06:57 PM
I got a bit discouraged with Austin Johnson's play after the KSU game. To be clear I have always been a fan of AJ as a Sooner who was clearly working his *** off, but I felt that maybe he was overmatched at the D-1 level at that point.
Agree 100%


So what does he do? Go off in two games against quality competition with clutch shots and stellar defense against the guy most consider the premiere point guard in the Big 12.

Way to go, Austin!

X2

8timechamps
1/17/2009, 08:43 PM
I've never seen so many traveling/double-dribble calls in a college game. It did seem to go both ways though.

Anyway, AJ has had a good couple of games. Consider me part of the "jury is still out" crew until I see more than two games.

jkm, the stolen pifwafwi
1/17/2009, 10:33 PM
that one guy for the aggies might have gotten called for travelling in the NBA. he was complaining to the ref on one move where i went back and he took 5 steps before the ball left his hand.

i also thought that last charge on blake was weaksauce. that guy thought better of it about a 1/2 second before he got hit and was ducking away.

jkm, the stolen pifwafwi
1/17/2009, 10:41 PM
also, what were they talking about on that replay of that ball that we got out of bounds? i'm looking at the same replay they are and they are like "its clearly off the oklahoma player's leg". i'm looking at it and i'm like "the texas a&m players knee is behind the OU players leg". the ball also had a ton of steam when it came off the player that's normally means it hit a knee, not a thigh.

King Crimson
1/17/2009, 10:52 PM
also, what were they talking about on that replay of that ball that we got out of bounds? i'm looking at the same replay they are and they are like "its clearly off the oklahoma player's leg". i'm looking at it and i'm like "the texas a&m players knee is behind the OU players leg". the ball also had a ton of steam when it came off the player that's normally means it hit a knee, not a thigh.

a thread at texags.com they were saying that "review" was about the Aggies having 6 guys on the floor after ball goes out of bounds and Capel thought they should be called for a T--but weren't. which (the thread says) explains why he seemed disappointed after talking with the refs.

John Kochtoston
1/17/2009, 11:46 PM
I talked about AJ's play in the last two games here. http://www.examiner.com/x-2439-Oklahoma-Sooners-Examiner (shameless plug, I know, but I need the dues).

I ripped him after the K-State game, after three years of, at best, inconsistent play. He's really turned it on these last two games, though. Maybe the criticism got him into a higher gear. Or, maybe not. Maybe he's been better than I, and others have given him credit for.

If he plays out the rest of the games like the last two, not necessarily scoring-wise, but with good decisions and few turnovers, I'll go with the latter.

birddog
1/18/2009, 07:51 AM
good write-up on aj, post tamu...


OU men's basketball: Johnson wanted the ball
OU 69, Texas A&M 63
BY JOHN HELSLEY
Published: January 18, 2009


COLLEGE STATION, Texas – With Texas A&M in rally mode and the Reed Arena crowd in madness mode and the shot clock winding down late Saturday, Oklahoma’s Austin Johnson fired off a silencer — a 3-pointer from 26 feet.

Desperation?

Maybe for the Aggies. Desperate to stop him.

Johnson swished that one, then another, snuffing an A&M surge and igniting OU’s final push to a 69-63 win.

"I kind of like those situations,” Johnson said. "I wasn’t going to shy down to it when I had a chance.”

Instead, Johnson bucked up.

With Blake Griffin saddled with fouls and struggling through — for him — a sub-par game, Johnson produced, scoring a game-high 19 points with seven assists.

The senior point guard had a hand in 12 of OU’s final 15 points, scoring 10 and setting Griffin up for a dunk with a drive-the-lane assist.

"And he wanted the ball,” said Sooners coach Jeff Capel.

"That’s the main thing. Not a lot of guys want the ball in those situations. He really wanted the basketball.”

When Johnson scores, good things happen for OU, which improved to 17-1 overall and 3-0 in the Big 12 with two league road wins. A&M is 15-3 and 1-2.

Since the start of last season, the Sooners are 19-1 when Johnson scores in double figures.

He did that — and more — Saturday, hitting 6-of-12 shots form the floor, including 3-of-6 from the arc, grabbing four rebounds, blocking two shots and adding a steal, with just two turnovers.

"He was great,” said A&M coach Mark Turgeon.

"He’s a believer. He believes in himself.”

OU started strong, building a 19-9 lead through the game’s first 10 minutes. After A&M closed the gap to five, 30-25 at the half, the bulge was back with the Sooners up 48-34 with 12:44 to play.

"We knew they were going to make runs at us,” Capel said.

And the Aggies did.

The scene seemed set for an A&M comeback. The 12,720 in Reed Arena were getting rowdy. Griffin, sitting eight minutes of the second half due to foul trouble, struggled to get in a rhythm, finishing with 16 points and six rebounds, making just 6-of-14 shots.

And when Josh Carter drilled a 3-pointer from the corner with 4:38 left, the Aggies were within four, 56-52.

"This place was jumping,” Capel said.

On the other end, the Aggies were defending. With the shot clock winding down, the ball finally found Johnson well beyond the 3-point line.

According to him, it found the right hands.

"I work a lot shooting deep 3s,” Johnson said, "just playing around, you know. So I work on shots like that. It felt good when it came off my hands.”

Looked good, too, to the Sooners.

Still, the Aggies got within two at 59-57, with under two minutes to play.

Then Johnson struck again.

Then he went 4-for-4 from the line down the stretch.

And the Sooners had a win where no visitor had won this year and without a star performance from their star.
"That’s what we needed,” Griffin said. "I couldn’t really get into a rhythm today. I got in foul trouble. Other guys stepped up huge.”

crawfish
1/18/2009, 11:26 AM
also, what were they talking about on that replay of that ball that we got out of bounds? i'm looking at the same replay they are and they are like "its clearly off the oklahoma player's leg". i'm looking at it and i'm like "the texas a&m players knee is behind the OU players leg". the ball also had a ton of steam when it came off the player that's normally means it hit a knee, not a thigh.

It also left the court at completely the wrong angle to be off Griffin's leg from where it would have had to hit it. It may have grazed his leg on the way out, but there was definitely contact made against the ag player.

Sooner4FCD
1/18/2009, 04:45 PM
Oklahoma is 19-1 since last season when AJ scores at least 10 points.

That's an incredible stat.