Sooner04
1/25/2009, 12:18 AM
Fool's gold. Iron sulfide. I've allowed it's cold, gangly fingers to wrap around my sporting heart on many different occasions. As an eternal optimist, I take any and all flashes of brilliance and use them to trumpet greatness down the road. This epidemic has plagued me my entire life, and it's led to countless bouts of heartbreak that have left me emotionally scarred to this day.
It stands to reason then that I would tread cautiously when reminiscing about what I saw today. But no. I'm going to leap in head first. What we saw in the final 17 1/2 minutes of the first half today was perfection. Absolute, total, undeniable perfection.
We've seen this team win by double digits when Blake doesn't have a field goal (Utah, 70-52).
We've seen this team win by double digits when the shot clock starts every time we go on the fast break (Rice, 70-58).
We've seen this team win by double digits when a team tries to muck it up (Nebraska, 72-61).
We've seen this team win by double digits when the opponents has waves of bodies to throw at our posts (Texas, 78-63).
And now, we've seen this team win by double digits when our opponent tries to run (Baylor, 95-76).
What has to be said now is that this team doesn't really have an identity. Throw what you want at us, we'll deal with it, adjust, and win. We can fast break you, we can defend you and we can score off sets. My theory on really successful basketball teams states that the really great teams have four guys who can go for 15 on any given night. In our five conference games, we've had five different guys go for at least 16 points. Critical mass has been attained.
Baylor sucks defensively. Abysmal. Still, when Baylor wanted to run, we ran better. When we wanted to shorten the game and extend our offensive possessions, we held them at bay. When they tried to make a run, different shots fell from different shooters. Omar hit a big three. Taylor made several jumpers. We came at them in waves, and they sank like the Bismarck.
Keep this game on your DVR for a bit. You may watch every game this year, but I doubt you'll see us look any better than we did in the first half. Total, absolute, unquestioned perfection.
SCORING BREAKDOWN:
1st - 26 [flies in the vasoline we are.]
2nd - 32 [sometimes it blows my mind.]
3rd - 14
4th - 23 [keep getting stuck here all the tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiime!]
LEADING SCORERS:
20 - Blake Griffin [the early alley-oop was an all-timer.]
18 - Taylor Griffin
17 - Willie Warren [he first committed to Baylor, so he thought he'd twist the dagger.]
12 - Tony Crocker
[b]LEADING REBOUNDERS:
17 - Blake Griffin [and he was gassed by the end.]
7 - Taylor Griffin [I'm your garbage man, guaranteed to satisfy.]
5 - Tony Crocker
PLUSES:
1. Juan Pattillo: Whenever a solicitor would enter the grounds of Burns Manor on [i]The Simpsons, Mr. Burns would usually call for the hounds to be released once they made it to the front door. As I see it, in the moments leading up to the Texas game, Jeff Capel sat in his office and twiddled his fingers before telling his assistants to "release the chupacabra". You see, that whole "Juan wants to redshirt" fiasco was a ploy. In reality, our coach is nothing more than a free thinking anarchist. He held Pattillo, the chupacabra, back so he'd have fresh legs to be unleashed once conference play began. The energy he brought off the bench today was undeniable, and he will only get better as he gets more acclimated to the pace of the game. You heard it here first, the chupacabra lives, and thrives, in Norman.
2. Blake Griffin: 20 and 17 with four assists. Running the floor like a gazelle. Passes behind his back or around his head. There is no better player in the country.
3. Austin Johnson: Five conference games, we've 5-0. AJ's averaging 12.6 points a game with 5.6 assists. 28 assists with only seven turnovers. Play like that has turned us from a well-oiled machine to a runaway locomotive.
4. Taylor Griffin: The garbage man. Taylor cleans up the mess. The jumpers are nice, but they won't be there every night. Being there on the weakside is a consistent place to hang out, and there will be plenty of opportunities to fill up the stat sheet. Today's line was gorgeous (18 points, 7 rebounds, 4 blocks, 3 steals and 1 assist). Four turnovers, but I shant bitch.
5. Bench: You won't see this very often, but our bench was 8-11 from the floor for 20 points. Four assists and no turnovers from Omar Leary. Like I said, total perfection.
6. Capelables: We're up 56-28, and they start the "Same Old Baylor" chant. Simple, yet effective.
7. Free Throw Shooting: 18-23. 78.3%. Be still my beating heart.
MINUSES:
1. Second half rebounding: We go lackadaisacal because we were kicking the tar out of the Bears, but a couple of times it looked like they might make a game of it. We had the answer offensively, but the rebounding in the second half prevented this game from being the unholiest of ***-whippings. It was our lone flaw.
I've been down this road before. In 2001, after several big wins in a row, we went to Stillwater with a chance to take hold of the conference race. We returned home with a 72-44 butt kicking tattooed to our backside. I was at that game, so that probably has more to do with our abysmal showing than anything. I will not be present in the cess pool of Payne County Monday night, but I know our Sooners will be. Will we lay a brontosaurus-sized egg like we did eight years ago? I doubt it. Whatever those orange-clad clowns throw at us, I'd wager we'll be ready for it.
19-1 and 5-0 in the conference, with a chance to really take hold of this thing by its jewels. I cannot wait for Monday night.
Thank you for your time.
It stands to reason then that I would tread cautiously when reminiscing about what I saw today. But no. I'm going to leap in head first. What we saw in the final 17 1/2 minutes of the first half today was perfection. Absolute, total, undeniable perfection.
We've seen this team win by double digits when Blake doesn't have a field goal (Utah, 70-52).
We've seen this team win by double digits when the shot clock starts every time we go on the fast break (Rice, 70-58).
We've seen this team win by double digits when a team tries to muck it up (Nebraska, 72-61).
We've seen this team win by double digits when the opponents has waves of bodies to throw at our posts (Texas, 78-63).
And now, we've seen this team win by double digits when our opponent tries to run (Baylor, 95-76).
What has to be said now is that this team doesn't really have an identity. Throw what you want at us, we'll deal with it, adjust, and win. We can fast break you, we can defend you and we can score off sets. My theory on really successful basketball teams states that the really great teams have four guys who can go for 15 on any given night. In our five conference games, we've had five different guys go for at least 16 points. Critical mass has been attained.
Baylor sucks defensively. Abysmal. Still, when Baylor wanted to run, we ran better. When we wanted to shorten the game and extend our offensive possessions, we held them at bay. When they tried to make a run, different shots fell from different shooters. Omar hit a big three. Taylor made several jumpers. We came at them in waves, and they sank like the Bismarck.
Keep this game on your DVR for a bit. You may watch every game this year, but I doubt you'll see us look any better than we did in the first half. Total, absolute, unquestioned perfection.
SCORING BREAKDOWN:
1st - 26 [flies in the vasoline we are.]
2nd - 32 [sometimes it blows my mind.]
3rd - 14
4th - 23 [keep getting stuck here all the tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiime!]
LEADING SCORERS:
20 - Blake Griffin [the early alley-oop was an all-timer.]
18 - Taylor Griffin
17 - Willie Warren [he first committed to Baylor, so he thought he'd twist the dagger.]
12 - Tony Crocker
[b]LEADING REBOUNDERS:
17 - Blake Griffin [and he was gassed by the end.]
7 - Taylor Griffin [I'm your garbage man, guaranteed to satisfy.]
5 - Tony Crocker
PLUSES:
1. Juan Pattillo: Whenever a solicitor would enter the grounds of Burns Manor on [i]The Simpsons, Mr. Burns would usually call for the hounds to be released once they made it to the front door. As I see it, in the moments leading up to the Texas game, Jeff Capel sat in his office and twiddled his fingers before telling his assistants to "release the chupacabra". You see, that whole "Juan wants to redshirt" fiasco was a ploy. In reality, our coach is nothing more than a free thinking anarchist. He held Pattillo, the chupacabra, back so he'd have fresh legs to be unleashed once conference play began. The energy he brought off the bench today was undeniable, and he will only get better as he gets more acclimated to the pace of the game. You heard it here first, the chupacabra lives, and thrives, in Norman.
2. Blake Griffin: 20 and 17 with four assists. Running the floor like a gazelle. Passes behind his back or around his head. There is no better player in the country.
3. Austin Johnson: Five conference games, we've 5-0. AJ's averaging 12.6 points a game with 5.6 assists. 28 assists with only seven turnovers. Play like that has turned us from a well-oiled machine to a runaway locomotive.
4. Taylor Griffin: The garbage man. Taylor cleans up the mess. The jumpers are nice, but they won't be there every night. Being there on the weakside is a consistent place to hang out, and there will be plenty of opportunities to fill up the stat sheet. Today's line was gorgeous (18 points, 7 rebounds, 4 blocks, 3 steals and 1 assist). Four turnovers, but I shant bitch.
5. Bench: You won't see this very often, but our bench was 8-11 from the floor for 20 points. Four assists and no turnovers from Omar Leary. Like I said, total perfection.
6. Capelables: We're up 56-28, and they start the "Same Old Baylor" chant. Simple, yet effective.
7. Free Throw Shooting: 18-23. 78.3%. Be still my beating heart.
MINUSES:
1. Second half rebounding: We go lackadaisacal because we were kicking the tar out of the Bears, but a couple of times it looked like they might make a game of it. We had the answer offensively, but the rebounding in the second half prevented this game from being the unholiest of ***-whippings. It was our lone flaw.
I've been down this road before. In 2001, after several big wins in a row, we went to Stillwater with a chance to take hold of the conference race. We returned home with a 72-44 butt kicking tattooed to our backside. I was at that game, so that probably has more to do with our abysmal showing than anything. I will not be present in the cess pool of Payne County Monday night, but I know our Sooners will be. Will we lay a brontosaurus-sized egg like we did eight years ago? I doubt it. Whatever those orange-clad clowns throw at us, I'd wager we'll be ready for it.
19-1 and 5-0 in the conference, with a chance to really take hold of this thing by its jewels. I cannot wait for Monday night.
Thank you for your time.