Sooner04
12/3/2009, 12:24 AM
I often wonder what determines whether a team comes out fired up or more laid back than a recording session with the Grateful Dead. You'd think after producing a brontosaurus egg for five halves in Anchorage our guys would be so fired up to play in Norman that they'd stun Arkansas with their drive and take the initiative early.
You'd THINK that, but you'd be wrong.
In a perfect world we'd come flying out of that tunnel and be knee-deep in the Hog's business. Contest every shot, dive for every loose ball and swarm every rebound; that's what we SHOULD do. But reality is a fickle mistress, and instead we came out like the team that was bludgeoned by San Diego, smoked by Houston and spooked by Nicholls State.
Eleven minutes in and we've got eight points. Who crafted that offense? Helen Keller? Sixteen minutes in and we've got 14 points. Landry-esque efficiency right there.
As I'm barfing into a bag I keep reminding myself of a theme we've discussed on here a few times during the rocky road that has been the start of this season; that being this team is extremely young and they'll look really bad at times but they'll also look really good.
And so, with our Sooners down 21-14 after 16 minutes of bile-boiling basketball, we decided now would be a fine time to go into beast mode. In the final four minutes of the half we put up eight shots and made seven of them. The one we missed was rebounded by Gallon and converted into a trey by Crocker. It was one of the quickest 20-6 runs I've ever seen. They had no answer (they also had no rebounds as well). The offense always looks better when the shots go in, but this was a visual "ENOUGH" shouted by the squad from the coaches on down.
In another welcoming trend we came out in the second half and, GASP, took the fight to them. Many times since Capel's been here we've seen our boys come out in the second half with visions of locker room recliners still in their heads, but tonight we turned a 34-27 halftime edge into a 48-30 snoozefest in the second intermission's first nine minutes. The bugaboo of taking it easy re-appeared for a few minutes as Arkansas reeled off nine straight quick points. That happened against Houston and we folded as if we were a walking seven-deuce, but we calmed ourselves down and bumped the margin back up to comfortability.
This was not a game to hang your hat on or bask in the glory of thine ownself. It was ugly, and don't forget that Arkansas really sucks. What it was was a fine defensive effort at a really good time. Cade played great. Crocket was fantastic, and TMG showed signs of being the floor general we've been waiting for. It's a vast improvement, but we must get better. Hopefully we'll see that on Sunday against Arizona.
SCORING BREAKDOWN:
1st - 8 [does not compute]
2nd - 26 [FREEZE-FRAME!]
3rd - 14 [we're losing him, Doctor.]
4th - 16 [pedals!]
LEADING SCORERS:
16 - Tony Crocker [the Crock Pot was cookin'!]
13 - Tommy Mason-Griffin
13 - Willie Warren [Sir-Clangs-a-Lot at the free throw line]
11 - Cade Davis
LEADING REBOUNDERS:
16 - Tony Crocker [ SACRE BLEU! ]
6 - Keith Gallon
PLUSES:
1. Tony Crocker: That, my friends, is what being a senior is all about. I used to get a little agitated at the over-importance laid on being a senior, but the cave was closing in around us in the first half. The Crock Pot heated up to Dutch Oven levels and dropped eight points through the hoop in a little under two minutes. He turned the tide, then shooed the flies with a mind-boggling 16 rebounds. 16 rebounds! An all-world effort! The wife was asleep on the ride home, and since her vote was unaccounted for I can proudly say that the Crock Pot was a unanimous selection for player of the game!
2. Cade Davis: Calling upon great Sooner defenders of the past, Cade played the part of the guy who put gum in your hair back in grade school. If Rotnei Clarke went to flirt with a pom-pom girl Cade was there with the block. If Rotnei went back to the locker room for a little more hair gel Cade was right there to break the mirror. Where you go, I go.....the very soul of hip-pocket defense. Rotnei ran Cade ragged and was worse for the wear. And to top it off, Rotnei had 11 points and so did Cade. Elk City was proud of its favorite son tonight.
3. Cream Unis: Gorgeous. And having "Oklahoma Sooners" on the front? Tear-inducing.
4. Rebounding: Won that battle 35-28. Now, me and four Hindu engineering undergrads might be able to out rebound Arkansas, but we'll keep that between you and me. Arkansas indeed sucks, but that's Pelphrey's problem. Once the effort problem was checked, we owned the glass.
MINUSES:
1. The 1st 16 Minutes: It was like the Carl Lewis national anthem and Joe Namath's interview with Suzy Kolber rolled into one horrifying dish of barf. I taped the game, but I'm not sure I could bear to see it again. Oh the humanity!
2. Julysses Nobles: Daddy's favorite General? Julius Caesar. But Momma prefers Ulysses S. Grant. Hmm, what to do? What to do? How in the world do you name your kid that? That's honestly the worst name I've ever heard. Even worse than Malcoln Kirkland (http://www.okstate.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/kirkland_malcoln00.html), and that was nothing more than a nurse's typo on the birth certificate.
3. The Master of Ceremonies: Good grief, this guy's voice is like nails up the chalkboard of my spine. HEY HEY! Here's the OU Pom Squad sponsored by ........ Tanning Spa! HEY KIDS! It's time for the Dr. Galapagos Smile Cam sponsored by Taco Cabana! HEY MOMS! It's time for the Summer's Eve D-Bag of the game!
I may have made that last one up, but this guy must be stopped. If a sniper snuck into the LNC and fired a shot right through the guy's foot I'd buy him a drink or twelve. Man, I'm going to hate listening to that garbage all year.
In closing, we win! Small victories lead to bigger things down the round. Right now our train is running downhill and our win streak has roared to two! 4-3 now with Arizona on their way to Norman. I can think of no one they'd rather face less than us. The highway is littered with Arizona teams who've had their dreams crushed by the Sooners, and I see Sunday being no different. I hope to see you there!
Thank you for your time.
You'd THINK that, but you'd be wrong.
In a perfect world we'd come flying out of that tunnel and be knee-deep in the Hog's business. Contest every shot, dive for every loose ball and swarm every rebound; that's what we SHOULD do. But reality is a fickle mistress, and instead we came out like the team that was bludgeoned by San Diego, smoked by Houston and spooked by Nicholls State.
Eleven minutes in and we've got eight points. Who crafted that offense? Helen Keller? Sixteen minutes in and we've got 14 points. Landry-esque efficiency right there.
As I'm barfing into a bag I keep reminding myself of a theme we've discussed on here a few times during the rocky road that has been the start of this season; that being this team is extremely young and they'll look really bad at times but they'll also look really good.
And so, with our Sooners down 21-14 after 16 minutes of bile-boiling basketball, we decided now would be a fine time to go into beast mode. In the final four minutes of the half we put up eight shots and made seven of them. The one we missed was rebounded by Gallon and converted into a trey by Crocker. It was one of the quickest 20-6 runs I've ever seen. They had no answer (they also had no rebounds as well). The offense always looks better when the shots go in, but this was a visual "ENOUGH" shouted by the squad from the coaches on down.
In another welcoming trend we came out in the second half and, GASP, took the fight to them. Many times since Capel's been here we've seen our boys come out in the second half with visions of locker room recliners still in their heads, but tonight we turned a 34-27 halftime edge into a 48-30 snoozefest in the second intermission's first nine minutes. The bugaboo of taking it easy re-appeared for a few minutes as Arkansas reeled off nine straight quick points. That happened against Houston and we folded as if we were a walking seven-deuce, but we calmed ourselves down and bumped the margin back up to comfortability.
This was not a game to hang your hat on or bask in the glory of thine ownself. It was ugly, and don't forget that Arkansas really sucks. What it was was a fine defensive effort at a really good time. Cade played great. Crocket was fantastic, and TMG showed signs of being the floor general we've been waiting for. It's a vast improvement, but we must get better. Hopefully we'll see that on Sunday against Arizona.
SCORING BREAKDOWN:
1st - 8 [does not compute]
2nd - 26 [FREEZE-FRAME!]
3rd - 14 [we're losing him, Doctor.]
4th - 16 [pedals!]
LEADING SCORERS:
16 - Tony Crocker [the Crock Pot was cookin'!]
13 - Tommy Mason-Griffin
13 - Willie Warren [Sir-Clangs-a-Lot at the free throw line]
11 - Cade Davis
LEADING REBOUNDERS:
16 - Tony Crocker [ SACRE BLEU! ]
6 - Keith Gallon
PLUSES:
1. Tony Crocker: That, my friends, is what being a senior is all about. I used to get a little agitated at the over-importance laid on being a senior, but the cave was closing in around us in the first half. The Crock Pot heated up to Dutch Oven levels and dropped eight points through the hoop in a little under two minutes. He turned the tide, then shooed the flies with a mind-boggling 16 rebounds. 16 rebounds! An all-world effort! The wife was asleep on the ride home, and since her vote was unaccounted for I can proudly say that the Crock Pot was a unanimous selection for player of the game!
2. Cade Davis: Calling upon great Sooner defenders of the past, Cade played the part of the guy who put gum in your hair back in grade school. If Rotnei Clarke went to flirt with a pom-pom girl Cade was there with the block. If Rotnei went back to the locker room for a little more hair gel Cade was right there to break the mirror. Where you go, I go.....the very soul of hip-pocket defense. Rotnei ran Cade ragged and was worse for the wear. And to top it off, Rotnei had 11 points and so did Cade. Elk City was proud of its favorite son tonight.
3. Cream Unis: Gorgeous. And having "Oklahoma Sooners" on the front? Tear-inducing.
4. Rebounding: Won that battle 35-28. Now, me and four Hindu engineering undergrads might be able to out rebound Arkansas, but we'll keep that between you and me. Arkansas indeed sucks, but that's Pelphrey's problem. Once the effort problem was checked, we owned the glass.
MINUSES:
1. The 1st 16 Minutes: It was like the Carl Lewis national anthem and Joe Namath's interview with Suzy Kolber rolled into one horrifying dish of barf. I taped the game, but I'm not sure I could bear to see it again. Oh the humanity!
2. Julysses Nobles: Daddy's favorite General? Julius Caesar. But Momma prefers Ulysses S. Grant. Hmm, what to do? What to do? How in the world do you name your kid that? That's honestly the worst name I've ever heard. Even worse than Malcoln Kirkland (http://www.okstate.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/kirkland_malcoln00.html), and that was nothing more than a nurse's typo on the birth certificate.
3. The Master of Ceremonies: Good grief, this guy's voice is like nails up the chalkboard of my spine. HEY HEY! Here's the OU Pom Squad sponsored by ........ Tanning Spa! HEY KIDS! It's time for the Dr. Galapagos Smile Cam sponsored by Taco Cabana! HEY MOMS! It's time for the Summer's Eve D-Bag of the game!
I may have made that last one up, but this guy must be stopped. If a sniper snuck into the LNC and fired a shot right through the guy's foot I'd buy him a drink or twelve. Man, I'm going to hate listening to that garbage all year.
In closing, we win! Small victories lead to bigger things down the round. Right now our train is running downhill and our win streak has roared to two! 4-3 now with Arizona on their way to Norman. I can think of no one they'd rather face less than us. The highway is littered with Arizona teams who've had their dreams crushed by the Sooners, and I see Sunday being no different. I hope to see you there!
Thank you for your time.