Sooner04
2/1/2009, 03:12 PM
Throughout my childhood I came to fear one game on our road schedule more than any other: Ames. You knew Lawrence would be tough. You expected Columbia and Stillwater to be tough, but you never knew what to expect when you traveled to Ames. We've won easy, and we've been blown out. We've won close ones, and lost heartbreakers. I've never gone into a game in Ames the least bit confident, and yesterday was no exception.
Being the bullies of the league like we are this year has its advantages. Sometimes our guys are protected by the officials and sometimes we're allowed to get away with stuff we'd ordinarily get whistled for (like the travel on Blake's fadeaway dagger). But on the flip side we have to be ready for the best our opponent has to offer. A team like Iowa State will look like garbage and lose to a team like Colorado but, at home, they turn into an uber-motivated beast. Yesterday's game was a non-stop affair of haymakers and uppercuts. We'd make a small run, and they'd respond. We'd punch, they'd counterpunch. As a fan, it was a helpless feeling. I can't imagine how aggravating it would be for a player.
We finally had them. It was 65-60, and we were one stop away from really putting the clamps on them. Then they hit a three with a hand in the face. Then we miss. Then they hit another three, and in a span of about 40 seconds we'd gone from up five to down one. Regardless of perceptions held about how good or how bad Iowa State is, you look at the scoreboard and see you're down 66-65 with a few minutes to go. You either fold or make the plays to win the ball game. Instead of folding, we outscore them 13-2 the rest of the way and win 78-68. That, my friends, is the sign of a championship ballclub.
Wake didn't make those plays yesterday.
Texas didn't make those plays yesterday.
Duke didn't make those plays earlier this week.
But we did. And we've been making them all year long. Those thoughts will serve us very well come March.
SCORING BREAKDOWN:
1st - 19 [spit.]
2nd - 14
3rd - 18 [millions of loogies, loogies for me.]
4th - 27 [you need coolin', baby, i'm not foolin'!]
[b]LEADING SCORERS:
29 - Willie Warren [finest freshman guard to ever play at OU, in my opinion.]
23 - Blake Griffin [turning into a second-half monster.]
10 - Juan "The Chupacabra" Pattillo
LEADING REBOUNDERS:
15 - Blake Griffin [ho, hum. another 20/15 game.]
6 - Willie Warren
4 - Taylor Griffin
4 - Tony Crocker
PLUSES:
1. Willie Warren: It's so odd to see a true freshman carry us through games, but we definitely lose both the Rice game and the Iowa State game without him. I'm convinced we're working on those 27-footers in practice because we hit them with regularity. But then to be able and stretch the defense and take advantage of it by driving to the hole when needed speaks to a very high basketball IQ. The kid is a phenomenal player. PHENOMENAL. And that dunk, holy cow. We've had more all-timer dunks this year than I ever thought possible.
2. Blake Griffin: How many times can a guy put up 20 and 15? It's incredible. His offensive rebounding was special yesterday. He kept possessions alive where we desperately needed points. His falling down assist to Pattillo was one of the greatest plays I've ever seen by a big man. His vision from the post might be his most underrated asset. He also had a tremendous block at the end of the game that erased what would've been a sure lay-up.
3. Austin Johnson: We saw now what he means to us on the defensive end of the floor. We were forced out of position by Johnson not being able to guard Garrett up top. With everyone moved up a spot, the lane was an open freeway for the Cyclones and they took advantage of it when he wasn't on the floor. When he came back, he again stepped up to the plate and hit another big shot to put the game out of reach. He did it against eATMe, he did it against the Aggroids, and he did it against Iowa State. Three huge road wins, three huge shots by Austin Johnson.
4. Juan "The Chupacabra" Pattillo: He's still raw to the speed of the D-1 game in certain phases, but the guy has got great hands and he's using them to finish on the opposite side of Blake. He's the key that's turned us from a generous Top 10 team to a sure-fire Top 5 bunch. His athleticism has left me slack-jawed on many different occasions.
MINUSES:
1. Taylor Griffin: Probably his worst game of the year. He blew a couple of lay-ups and had a rough time defending Brackins. He'll be better, but he may lose quite a few minutes to The Chupacabra as the year progresses.
2. Broadcasting Crutches: If you took a sip of Schlitz every time you heard the words "Hilton Magic" yesterday you would've been loopier than Eddie Sutton on his way to the airport.
3. Rebounding: We did well overall, but we let a few get away defensively that led straight back to Cyclone points. There's no way they should've had 10 offensive rebounds. But, I shant gripe too much.
7-0 in the Big 12 with a pair of home games ahead this week. K-State did us a huge favor yesterday in Austin, so we just have to keep taking care of our business. Once you start rolling like we are, the confidence just continues to swell. Right now we don't just think we can win the close games, we KNOW we're going to win them, and that is extremely refreshing. I've died a thousand deaths watching us lose close road games over the year, but I never felt like we were going to lose in the second half yesterday. I just knew we'd make plays, and we did. I'm really starting to believe in this group, and it's scaring the hell out of me. It's a good scared, but it's still scary. :)
Thank you for your time.
Being the bullies of the league like we are this year has its advantages. Sometimes our guys are protected by the officials and sometimes we're allowed to get away with stuff we'd ordinarily get whistled for (like the travel on Blake's fadeaway dagger). But on the flip side we have to be ready for the best our opponent has to offer. A team like Iowa State will look like garbage and lose to a team like Colorado but, at home, they turn into an uber-motivated beast. Yesterday's game was a non-stop affair of haymakers and uppercuts. We'd make a small run, and they'd respond. We'd punch, they'd counterpunch. As a fan, it was a helpless feeling. I can't imagine how aggravating it would be for a player.
We finally had them. It was 65-60, and we were one stop away from really putting the clamps on them. Then they hit a three with a hand in the face. Then we miss. Then they hit another three, and in a span of about 40 seconds we'd gone from up five to down one. Regardless of perceptions held about how good or how bad Iowa State is, you look at the scoreboard and see you're down 66-65 with a few minutes to go. You either fold or make the plays to win the ball game. Instead of folding, we outscore them 13-2 the rest of the way and win 78-68. That, my friends, is the sign of a championship ballclub.
Wake didn't make those plays yesterday.
Texas didn't make those plays yesterday.
Duke didn't make those plays earlier this week.
But we did. And we've been making them all year long. Those thoughts will serve us very well come March.
SCORING BREAKDOWN:
1st - 19 [spit.]
2nd - 14
3rd - 18 [millions of loogies, loogies for me.]
4th - 27 [you need coolin', baby, i'm not foolin'!]
[b]LEADING SCORERS:
29 - Willie Warren [finest freshman guard to ever play at OU, in my opinion.]
23 - Blake Griffin [turning into a second-half monster.]
10 - Juan "The Chupacabra" Pattillo
LEADING REBOUNDERS:
15 - Blake Griffin [ho, hum. another 20/15 game.]
6 - Willie Warren
4 - Taylor Griffin
4 - Tony Crocker
PLUSES:
1. Willie Warren: It's so odd to see a true freshman carry us through games, but we definitely lose both the Rice game and the Iowa State game without him. I'm convinced we're working on those 27-footers in practice because we hit them with regularity. But then to be able and stretch the defense and take advantage of it by driving to the hole when needed speaks to a very high basketball IQ. The kid is a phenomenal player. PHENOMENAL. And that dunk, holy cow. We've had more all-timer dunks this year than I ever thought possible.
2. Blake Griffin: How many times can a guy put up 20 and 15? It's incredible. His offensive rebounding was special yesterday. He kept possessions alive where we desperately needed points. His falling down assist to Pattillo was one of the greatest plays I've ever seen by a big man. His vision from the post might be his most underrated asset. He also had a tremendous block at the end of the game that erased what would've been a sure lay-up.
3. Austin Johnson: We saw now what he means to us on the defensive end of the floor. We were forced out of position by Johnson not being able to guard Garrett up top. With everyone moved up a spot, the lane was an open freeway for the Cyclones and they took advantage of it when he wasn't on the floor. When he came back, he again stepped up to the plate and hit another big shot to put the game out of reach. He did it against eATMe, he did it against the Aggroids, and he did it against Iowa State. Three huge road wins, three huge shots by Austin Johnson.
4. Juan "The Chupacabra" Pattillo: He's still raw to the speed of the D-1 game in certain phases, but the guy has got great hands and he's using them to finish on the opposite side of Blake. He's the key that's turned us from a generous Top 10 team to a sure-fire Top 5 bunch. His athleticism has left me slack-jawed on many different occasions.
MINUSES:
1. Taylor Griffin: Probably his worst game of the year. He blew a couple of lay-ups and had a rough time defending Brackins. He'll be better, but he may lose quite a few minutes to The Chupacabra as the year progresses.
2. Broadcasting Crutches: If you took a sip of Schlitz every time you heard the words "Hilton Magic" yesterday you would've been loopier than Eddie Sutton on his way to the airport.
3. Rebounding: We did well overall, but we let a few get away defensively that led straight back to Cyclone points. There's no way they should've had 10 offensive rebounds. But, I shant gripe too much.
7-0 in the Big 12 with a pair of home games ahead this week. K-State did us a huge favor yesterday in Austin, so we just have to keep taking care of our business. Once you start rolling like we are, the confidence just continues to swell. Right now we don't just think we can win the close games, we KNOW we're going to win them, and that is extremely refreshing. I've died a thousand deaths watching us lose close road games over the year, but I never felt like we were going to lose in the second half yesterday. I just knew we'd make plays, and we did. I'm really starting to believe in this group, and it's scaring the hell out of me. It's a good scared, but it's still scary. :)
Thank you for your time.