OUstud
8/7/2009, 04:22 PM
Insider knows you're hot for hoops during the summer, so we bring you a closer look at five programs on the rise, five on the way down and five at a crossroads. The series concludes with one more team at a crossroads, whose season could go in either direction: Oklahoma.
Oklahoma Sooners
30-6, Elite Eight
Blake Griffin. Blake Griffin. Blake Griffin. There. Now that that's out of the way, the Sooners can get back to normal. The departed National Player of the Year put up robust numbers (22.7 ppg, 14.4 rpg) and deservedly dominated the playbook because of it. But pre-BG, head coach Jeff Capel had been a 4-out, 1-in motion coach for most of his career. And with two returning starters and the No. 6 recruiting class in the country, Capel can be again.
"I know one thing," says sophomore guard Willie Warren. "You're going to see a lot more ball-screening, times when we run three or four guards at a time. We're going to be a fast team." With the return of Warren -- the top scorer (14.4 ppg) among Big 12 frosh last year -- and one of the league's best on-ball defenders in senior guard Tony Crocker, the Sooners have a solid enough core to prevent too much of a post-Griffin slide.
Only this year, a backtracking might not be theirs to control. The Big 12 boasts two Final Four maybes in Kansas and Texas, both of whom Oklahoma lost to last season without Griffin on the floor. Now that those two rivals are firmly out of rebuilding mode they'll try to impose order at the top of the conference. It remains to be seen whether the young Sooners can push back.
Welcome to campus
Tommy Mason-Griffin, 5-foot-11, PG (No. 24 ESPNU 100)
Coming off an upper back injury that kept him on the sideline for two months this summer, the bulldozing point didn't exactly look like the burger All-American teammates were expecting. "He was the only player I ever saw try to sub himself out of open gym," Warren says with a laugh, remembering Mason-Griffin's out-of-shape debut in Norman. The freshman quickly made up for it once he was full strength. "Crocker tried to press him the length of the court and he just kept beating it. I never had any doubts about him or his ball-handling after that," Warren said.
Keith "Tiny" Gallon, 6-9, F (No. 11 ESPNU 100)
It's tough to stuff a 300-pound guy anywhere, but Capel will try to cram Gallon back into the post initially. With his dainty jumper and ability to exploit mismatches on the wing, Gallon will still sneak out to the perimeter on occasion. The Oak Hill (Va.) alum dropped 60 pounds since his sophomore season there, all the better to keep pace with the guards. "He has days when he looks like a top-five draft pick. He can be a 16-[point] and 10-[rebound] guy," Warren says.
Andrew Fitzgerald, 6-8, PF (No. 68 ESPNU 100)
A recruiting target of both Pitt and Louisville, Fitzgerald is a more traditional post than Gallon. The Baltimore native can get into position underneath the hoop and has the soft mitts to reel in no-looks and convert them into points.
Hole to fill: boards
There's a 6-11, All-American-sized hole to fill on the Sooners' front line and only a few candidates to step into it. A certain NBA-bound forward helped Oklahoma to a plus-5.6 rebounding margin last season (25th in the country) and the team brings back a roster on which no player hauled in more than 3.2 rebounds per game. Gallon and Fitzgerald could help collect caroms immediately, but the more likely option is that rebounding will become a team-wide task with the guards helping to crash the boards too. There, Capel's squad should have an advantage, since Mason-Griffin is the only backcourt member under 6-4 who figures to get major minutes. Big-bodied upperclassmen like Crocker (6-6), Cade Davis (6-5) and Ray Willis (6-6) can position themselves to help out.
New role: Warren
Yes, Warren was the team's only other double-digit scorer last year (14.6 ppg) but he reached that figure on almost 100 fewer shot attempts than Griffin. The mantle of being "the man" is a new role for Warren in Norman, but having a big man who can step out on the pick-and-roll (Gallon) and a couple of options who can handle point guard duties (Mason-Griffin, Willis) should make it easier for Warren to get his (added) shots. On the court last season Warren showed he could be a playmaker, shooting 40.4 percent from 3-point range over his past 26 games, including six 3s to keep it close in that loss to Texas. Off the court, Warren's outsized confidence in the team's future marks him a player to follow. "I feel like we're not being respected," Warren says. "Somebody had us [preseason] ranked at 21, another cat didn't even have us in the top-25. A lot of people are sleeping on us."
Summer school
Back in Norman, the freshmen were initiated into the team's traditional (OK, so it's only been two years) Pilates routine. The youngsters spent most of July on campus while Warren lit up the beginning of the month at the LeBron James Skills Academy. "He looks like he can be the scorer he was in high school," one scout remarked about Warren's performance. That's good news considering he posted nearly 25 ppg as a senior for North Crowley (Texas) High School.
Team Twitter
Top Sooner Twitterer? That'd be Coach Capel. He made use of some downtime while recruiting at the AAU Nationals in Orlando to spill the secret on getting four McDonald's All-Americans (Griffin, Warren, Mason-Griffin and Gallon) in three years:
jeffcapel: "Here watching games with my boy Grant Hill. Last time he came and watched games with me we saw Blake Griffin! Hope his mojo works again!!!!" 8:16 PM Jul 27th from UberTwitter [sic]
Oklahoma Sooners
30-6, Elite Eight
Blake Griffin. Blake Griffin. Blake Griffin. There. Now that that's out of the way, the Sooners can get back to normal. The departed National Player of the Year put up robust numbers (22.7 ppg, 14.4 rpg) and deservedly dominated the playbook because of it. But pre-BG, head coach Jeff Capel had been a 4-out, 1-in motion coach for most of his career. And with two returning starters and the No. 6 recruiting class in the country, Capel can be again.
"I know one thing," says sophomore guard Willie Warren. "You're going to see a lot more ball-screening, times when we run three or four guards at a time. We're going to be a fast team." With the return of Warren -- the top scorer (14.4 ppg) among Big 12 frosh last year -- and one of the league's best on-ball defenders in senior guard Tony Crocker, the Sooners have a solid enough core to prevent too much of a post-Griffin slide.
Only this year, a backtracking might not be theirs to control. The Big 12 boasts two Final Four maybes in Kansas and Texas, both of whom Oklahoma lost to last season without Griffin on the floor. Now that those two rivals are firmly out of rebuilding mode they'll try to impose order at the top of the conference. It remains to be seen whether the young Sooners can push back.
Welcome to campus
Tommy Mason-Griffin, 5-foot-11, PG (No. 24 ESPNU 100)
Coming off an upper back injury that kept him on the sideline for two months this summer, the bulldozing point didn't exactly look like the burger All-American teammates were expecting. "He was the only player I ever saw try to sub himself out of open gym," Warren says with a laugh, remembering Mason-Griffin's out-of-shape debut in Norman. The freshman quickly made up for it once he was full strength. "Crocker tried to press him the length of the court and he just kept beating it. I never had any doubts about him or his ball-handling after that," Warren said.
Keith "Tiny" Gallon, 6-9, F (No. 11 ESPNU 100)
It's tough to stuff a 300-pound guy anywhere, but Capel will try to cram Gallon back into the post initially. With his dainty jumper and ability to exploit mismatches on the wing, Gallon will still sneak out to the perimeter on occasion. The Oak Hill (Va.) alum dropped 60 pounds since his sophomore season there, all the better to keep pace with the guards. "He has days when he looks like a top-five draft pick. He can be a 16-[point] and 10-[rebound] guy," Warren says.
Andrew Fitzgerald, 6-8, PF (No. 68 ESPNU 100)
A recruiting target of both Pitt and Louisville, Fitzgerald is a more traditional post than Gallon. The Baltimore native can get into position underneath the hoop and has the soft mitts to reel in no-looks and convert them into points.
Hole to fill: boards
There's a 6-11, All-American-sized hole to fill on the Sooners' front line and only a few candidates to step into it. A certain NBA-bound forward helped Oklahoma to a plus-5.6 rebounding margin last season (25th in the country) and the team brings back a roster on which no player hauled in more than 3.2 rebounds per game. Gallon and Fitzgerald could help collect caroms immediately, but the more likely option is that rebounding will become a team-wide task with the guards helping to crash the boards too. There, Capel's squad should have an advantage, since Mason-Griffin is the only backcourt member under 6-4 who figures to get major minutes. Big-bodied upperclassmen like Crocker (6-6), Cade Davis (6-5) and Ray Willis (6-6) can position themselves to help out.
New role: Warren
Yes, Warren was the team's only other double-digit scorer last year (14.6 ppg) but he reached that figure on almost 100 fewer shot attempts than Griffin. The mantle of being "the man" is a new role for Warren in Norman, but having a big man who can step out on the pick-and-roll (Gallon) and a couple of options who can handle point guard duties (Mason-Griffin, Willis) should make it easier for Warren to get his (added) shots. On the court last season Warren showed he could be a playmaker, shooting 40.4 percent from 3-point range over his past 26 games, including six 3s to keep it close in that loss to Texas. Off the court, Warren's outsized confidence in the team's future marks him a player to follow. "I feel like we're not being respected," Warren says. "Somebody had us [preseason] ranked at 21, another cat didn't even have us in the top-25. A lot of people are sleeping on us."
Summer school
Back in Norman, the freshmen were initiated into the team's traditional (OK, so it's only been two years) Pilates routine. The youngsters spent most of July on campus while Warren lit up the beginning of the month at the LeBron James Skills Academy. "He looks like he can be the scorer he was in high school," one scout remarked about Warren's performance. That's good news considering he posted nearly 25 ppg as a senior for North Crowley (Texas) High School.
Team Twitter
Top Sooner Twitterer? That'd be Coach Capel. He made use of some downtime while recruiting at the AAU Nationals in Orlando to spill the secret on getting four McDonald's All-Americans (Griffin, Warren, Mason-Griffin and Gallon) in three years:
jeffcapel: "Here watching games with my boy Grant Hill. Last time he came and watched games with me we saw Blake Griffin! Hope his mojo works again!!!!" 8:16 PM Jul 27th from UberTwitter [sic]