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View Full Version : 04's Attempt: OU vs. O-State Recap



Sooner04
1/12/2010, 01:35 AM
It was providence that had me in Bella Vista, Arkansas, on Saturday. It was providence that their local cable provider picked up games one and two of the Big 12 tripleheader but failed to televise the abomination from Waco. If those two variables hadn't happened I would've been forced to watch what happened down there in Dr. Pepperville and I would've surely done what is so easy for fickle fans to do: give up.

But I didn't, so I won't, and that's why I made the trek to Norman tonight. What I witnessed was not vintage battles between the crimson and the cheez whiz. Instead we were all treated to a game uglier than the face of a bastard rat. We shot 38% from the field, 27% from deep, and compounded the grossness by making a balmy 52% of our foul shots, including a stellar 1-6 from the charity stripe in the second half.

And we won!

At one point tonight there were 94 points scored and 82 rebounds gathered. That's a whole lot of clanging and clunking for Lookeba-Sickles, let alone two D-1 programs with slews of NCAA Tournament wins over the last 25 years. It was hideous basketball. Open shots, bricked. Lay-ups, blown. Cattle, raped.

The only way a team like O-State gets to overtime after shooting less than 30% is to be on the sunny side of a hideous choke job. Make no mistake, our Sooners barfed all over themselves in the closing minutes. Whether it was going under a ball screen, which led to a wide-open trey from Penn, or turning on the Shaquille O'Neal Guide to Free Throw Shooting in the closing minutes, our Sooners gave the Cheez Whiz Brigade every chance in the world to escape God's country with a win tonight.

But they failed.....as they always do. That's what makes them them and us us. We're in complete disarray from top to bottom and they still couldn't beat us on a night when our play smelled like week-old ham in a musty shoebox.

Aggies. Gotta love 'em.


SCORING BREAKDOWN: - Will not be tabulated tonight due to CPU short circuit shortly after the 30-minute stretch where we scored, you guessed it, 30 points. Oh, the humanity!


SCORING LEADERS:
15 - Willie Warren
14 - TMG
13 - Keith Gallon

REBOUNDING LEADERS:
18 - Keith Gallon [damn!]
5 - Willie Warren
4 - four others


PLUSES:
1. Cade Davis: There's ALWAYS a place in every sport for hustle. Often times the difference between a win and a loss can be traced to the guy who wants it more. Whether it's chasing down a loose ball or taking a charge from a guy who's accumulated a full head of steam, Cade Davis stepped up tonight. Nine points and four rebounds doesn't look like much, but the three steals loom large. Anyone who watched this Exxon Valdez of a game knows we don't win it without the Pride of Elk City.

2. Keith Gallon: 18 rebounds. Damn. Too bad I'm still seething from the two lay-ups he missed at the start of the second half. You're 6'9''. DUNK THE DAMN THING!

3. Stephen Pledger: I'm grasping now but I thought he had three really big rebounds in the closing minutes. O-State was very physical down low, and for a freshman to come off the bench and get that ball was impressive.

4. Willie Warren: This is begrudging, but the effort was better. Still some needless showboating, especially with the game in doubt, but the effort was better. Some really stupid plays and, at times, totally careless with the basketball. His seven turnovers nearly cost us, but I'm not sure we win without the seven assists.


MINUSES:
1. Offensive Basketball: the two teams combined to miss 86 of the 127 shots attempted. That yak they've got tied up behind the GLC? He's absolutely puking his guts out.

2. Free throw shooting: So very lucky not to point to that stat and say it cost us the ballgame. 9 of 19 in regulation before we turned blistering hot and made 3 of 4 in overtime. Ryan Wright goes 3 of 4 while the rest of the team chips paint to a 9 of 19 clip. Ghastly.

3. BRING BACK THE GAMMA RAY!


I shall cease with the bitching starting now. As I dined on my Freebird's burrito prior to tonight's game I told the Mrs. that I was heading to the LNC with an open mind. This team is wretched, I said, and I will not allow myself to get my hopes too high. That plan, as most have in my short life, was a complete disaster, and I write to you from down here in Ardmore COMPLETELY spent. No matter how wretched, no matter how ugly, no matter how much grass that yak behind the GLC barfs up tonight: we won.

This season may tank from here on out. Or, we may build from it. Whichever path it takes, remember this: we won. Let's enjoy it. Remember they're absolutely miserable up there in the land of orange ties and swerving Durangos. We may be trying to wipe the sight of this clankfest from the backs of our eyelids as we lay down to sleep, but up north the lost opportunity is seared into their retinas. As is so often the case, it once again sucks to be them.


Thank you for your time.

bri
1/12/2010, 01:55 AM
Tonight I was in the student section for the first time since the '95-'96 season. We were so spent, when the game went to overtime we all whimpered a bit. This was an ugly win, but it was a win, and I'll take it after the prison rape in Waco.

okienole3
1/12/2010, 07:49 AM
It was UGLY, but at least we played good defense most of the time? Cade's hustle was the difference. He saved several possessions with it. The one where he skied to tip out a rebound comes to mind.

OUSKINS
1/12/2010, 07:51 AM
04-- You made a Soonervision appearance late in regulation, did you not?

badger
1/12/2010, 08:12 AM
30 points in 30 minutes?

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/2/1362599_02bcdea730.jpg

Hooray for beating the pokies, though!

Ton Loc
1/12/2010, 08:40 AM
Another good wrap up and I am emotionally and pphysically drained after that game.

I still have a lot of questions.

First, how did we win? I'm going to say the crowd (who deserved to be #1 in the pluses category)
Did we really turn a corner?
How did Willie Warren only end up with 7 turnovers? (It felt like 15)


Also, is it just me or did Caple change his coaching demeanor just a little last night? He seemed way too positive and encouraging even after what seemed like 3 straight WW turnovers/bad drives.

Boomer.....
1/12/2010, 09:08 AM
The team didn't look like the same one from this season. There was hustle and defense being played. The missed shots and free-throws sucked but hopefully this team will use this game as motivation for the rest of the season. The crowd and student section was great tonight.

Bourbon St Sooner
1/12/2010, 09:19 AM
I think you're really reaching to put WW in the plus column. I missed the first half, but the first 10 minutes he turned the ball over 4 times along with a handful of bad shots. I know he made some nice plays down the stretch and FINALLY made two free throws in OT. For that he earns a firm eh.

Plus #1 - at least the pokies aren't going to sweep us this year.

OUSKINS
1/12/2010, 09:37 AM
Make no mistake, it was ugly. Real ugly. But I think this was the "good" kind of ugly that actually winds up being entertaining. Both teams played extremely hard and the game was incredibly physical. Guys were flying around, cramping up, getting bloody....it was an intense and exciting game and one of the better atmospheres in Norman I've seen over the past few years.

A friend texted me during the game and told me he thought both teams were bad with no talent on either side. I disagree. Neither team is much a threat to do anything this year and they both have holes, but there is definitely talent out there. Penn and Mason-Griffin should be a fun match-up to watch over the next few years-- both of those guys played well. In a ragged game, TMG had zero turnovers-- and I believe he only has three over the past 4 games. He also hit our biggest shots of the night.

Tiny also gets major hustle points-- he played very hard and was all over the glass (18 boards). He missed some chippy's in the lane and I think he still has a ways to go conditioning-wise, but I liked what I saw from him.

Cade has become an amazing defensive player. It's remarkable how good he's gotten. He really bothered Anderson (who I think might be a lottery pick) all night long. He also made several hustle plays and had a major back-tap of a rebound late to help us secure the win. Now, if we could only get him to stop shooting.....

Willie had an interesting night from my perspective. Overall, he wasn't very good. Incredibly sloppy with the ball and still can't find his shot. But I thought he played the "right" way. He drove to hoop all night long and even though he was wild in doing so, I still think that's what he needs to be doing. He did have seven assists and he played better D than he has all season. Still not close to what we need from him, but for one night anyway, his heart was in the right place.

Team finally responded emotionally. OSU helped by clanging a bunch of shots, but if we're going to rip our defense for getting torched by Baylor and UTEP, then we need to give them credit for holding OSU to 27% shooting.

It was an obvious must-win situation and the team played desperately and with passion and found a way to get it done against a solid team and rival. I was very content with the way we played. Had we played like that all year, we'd be in fine shape right now.

Having said that, getting up for this game was pretty easy. We'll see how they respond from here. Did they have it in them just because if was OSU on ESPN or is this a sign of a turnaround? I'm not sure. I'm still pretty skeptical. I could see us reverting on Saturday against Mizzou with the pressure turned down a notch and the spotlight not quite as hot.

I'll reserve judgement on what this game "means" until we see what we do on Saturday. Win Saturday (home game at noon) and then maybe we can start talking about getting this season back in gear.

OUSKINS
1/12/2010, 09:41 AM
Also, is it just me or did Caple change his coaching demeanor just a little last night? He seemed way too positive and encouraging even after what seemed like 3 straight WW turnovers/bad drives.

Toughest thing in coaching, IMO = balancing the emotions of a team.

A good coach knows when to break em down and when to build em back up.

Capel has ripped the team publicly and privately and he's "punished" them several times for their lousy efforts-- he's been esepcially tough on Wille (rightfully so).

But at a certain point, tough love needs to give way to support. If Capel thinks WW was playing the right way even if was making mistakes, then that might be a time for a pat on the back rather than an admonishment.

Screaming and making guys run gassers only works in spurts. If that is your only identity as a coach I think players will eventually tune you out.

Sooner04
1/12/2010, 10:02 AM
04-- You made a Soonervision appearance late in regulation, did you not?
Yes, yes I did.

The crowd was great, at least those who showed up. I think we saw last night what a sub-par season and the OKC Thunder can do to attendance figures. But it was a loud group for sure, and the team obviously fed off of them.

The more I think about Willie the madder I get. I think back to his lay-up with about 30 seconds to go, the one that should've sealed the game. There he goes, back down the floor, prancing like a poodle frolicking in the snow. After so many boneheaded plays you'd think he'd have the decency to put his head down and get back down court. But no. Can't be doing that. Gotta show everybody that it's ME who leads this 10-6 juggernaut! I run so hot and cold with the guy. But when he takes it to the rack he can fill it up in a hurry. I'm just a fan. I can't imagine how rough he is to coach.

Kudos also go to TMG and Crocker. I thought TMG played another solid game (FTs exempted of course) while Crocker banged around down low all night long. Kid is a warrior. Had a Muonelo goose egg for most of the night but hit a couple of big shots late.

I still stand by my claim that the basketball was bad, but at least we saw kids caring out there. Aloofness took a back seat last night. That and O-State missed A LOT of shots.

Bourbon St Sooner
1/12/2010, 10:17 AM
I forgot to give props to Tiny for the defensive effort. I stepped out on their guards a couple of times at the end preventing open jump shots and did a decent job on Moses in the second half. When Moses got the ball deep he was unstoppable, but we didn't allow him many opportunities in the second half.

There, I said something positive. It was a win after all.

OUmillenium
1/12/2010, 10:31 AM
You stepped out on the guards?

badger
1/12/2010, 11:23 AM
that was NP, not me earlier with the huge manatee (wtf, np...)

A few questions for those of you at the game - what was the crowd chanting when Cade Davis got up late in the second half (might have been OT) after a hard foul?

Any original chants besides the usual O...S...U... SUCKS?

Did the Yellow Shirt Gestapo distribute the big player heads, or were those a student-led initiative, because that makes it really cool (student-led) or just a ploy to make ESPN think we're excited about being on TV.

I saw Jim Ross behind Bobby Knight. Were there any other notables in attendance, like from the football or wimmen's teams? Coaches?

For those of you in attendance, you missed some fun commentating by Bobby Knight. I hope our guys go back and listen to what he has to say. I think he had some good advice on defenses and shooting 3's.

SoonerMom2
1/12/2010, 11:36 AM
Was at the game and saw a very strong effort to play defense and a lot enthusiasm from the players to the crowd. When you see players encouraging the crowd to be louder, they are feeding off the noise from the crowd and at times felt OSU was getting rattled with the noise.

What's with their coach out on the floor all the time -- at one time three coaches were standing and if our player would have tried to get a ball near the sideline, they would have interferred. Don't like the teams taking their chairs out on the court and OSU several times were still on the court after players were supposed to be back on the court. The officiating sucked from the older ref. Why it wasn't an intentional foul near the end when they took Davis to the ground NOT going after the ball, anyone can guess.

OSU does a lot of hand checking that is never called. IOTW, there should have been even more fouls calls on Okie State. Some of them were blantant misses. That said, we should have been a lot more ahead if they had made the free throws.

Tiny showed a lot of intensity last night and is a fun player to watch. IMHO he will only get better.

Thought Capel did the right thing last night in being positive to the team and in the end they responded with hustle. Give this team a lot of credit for coming back from the blowout at Baylor to playing hard in this game to get the win. Could it have been better? Of course, but it was a real positive tonight to see them bounce back and play hard.

Reminds me of the football team at Tech and coming back to beat OSU. Maybe it is the orange they don't like as the OSU basketball uniforms hurt your eyes but then OSU SUCKS!

TMcGee86
1/12/2010, 11:37 AM
our FT shooting was the suck.

and watching us come out of the half you would have swore our entire offensive game plan can be summed up thusly: "Get past half court and launch a barrage of ill-advised three's".

But it was sweet to get a win.

Boomer.....
1/12/2010, 11:43 AM
that was NP, not me earlier with the huge manatee (wtf, np...)

A few questions for those of you at the game - what was the crowd chanting when Cade Davis got up late in the second half (might have been OT) after a hard foul?

Any original chants besides the usual O...S...U... SUCKS?

Did the Yellow Shirt Gestapo distribute the big player heads, or were those a student-led initiative, because that makes it really cool (student-led) or just a ploy to make ESPN think we're excited about being on TV.

I saw Jim Ross behind Bobby Knight. Were there any other notables in attendance, like from the football or wimmen's teams? Coaches?

For those of you in attendance, you missed some fun commentating by Bobby Knight. I hope our guys go back and listen to what he has to say. I think he had some good advice on defenses and shooting 3's.

The big head cut-outs are handed out by the Capables as well as the costumes.

NormanPride
1/12/2010, 11:53 AM
that was NP, not me earlier with the huge manatee (wtf, np...)


I thought you would like the picture, sweetie!

Frozen Sooner
1/12/2010, 12:02 PM
They were chanting Cade Davis.

Hotrod3157
1/12/2010, 12:19 PM
There was a lot of bad mixed in with the good last night. The only thing I'm really happy about is that they seemed to care last night and hustled. Capel looked relieved after the game for at least seeing that they might actually care a little. I hope this was a sign of a turnaround effort wise for the team. Cade worked his tail off and made some big hustle plays. Tiny was aggressive going after boards but I'm still wanting to see him aggressively DUNK the ball and not lay it up. Hope we can keep hustling the rest of the year. At least if the hustle is there we can start to work on the basketball mistakes and maybe just maybe have a basketball team by the end of the year. Now just gotta wait till Saturday.

westbrooke
1/12/2010, 12:26 PM
The more I think about Willie the madder I get. I think back to his lay-up with about 30 seconds to go, the one that should've sealed the game. There he goes, back down the floor, prancing like a poodle frolicking in the snow. After so many boneheaded plays you'd think he'd have the decency to put his head down and get back down court.

Didn't get to see the whole game, but your wrap-up sounds spot on. Very impressed with Davis, Gallon was a rebounding machine, and it was astounding to see the defensive effort. But this moment you described above made me want to throw something at the TV. I can understand being excited about an impending win, but that was clearly an ego-driven moment. Sigh...

badger
1/12/2010, 12:38 PM
I just looked at the box score to confirm it - WW had seven turnovers last night. However, he also had seven assists.

Next game is 12 p.m. Saturday versus Mizzzzzzzzzzzzzou, televised on ESPN2, according to SS.com

Of course, if you can't wait that long for more OU basketball, please for the love of gawd someone watch the wimmens team besides me - 7 p.m. Wednesday on Sooner Sports Network (one of the local channels. it'll probably be cable channel 3 up here in Tulsa).

Frozen Sooner
1/12/2010, 12:39 PM
Would you say Willie was flolloping?

NormanPride
1/12/2010, 01:04 PM
Willie Warren is flollop.

badger
1/12/2010, 01:27 PM
He put the lol in flollop.

Sooner98
1/12/2010, 01:28 PM
Tonight I was in the student section for the first time since the '95-'96 season. We were so spent, when the game went to overtime we all whimpered a bit. This was an ugly win, but it was a win, and I'll take it after the prison rape in Waco.

Was that you wearing the green hat, also making an appearance on Soonervision as did 04?

bri
1/12/2010, 02:16 PM
Yep, they got me with the basket cam.

The big head cutouts are property of the promotions crew.

Not making excuses, but I wasn't that surprised to see us clanging free throws late 'cause Capel didn't go very deep into the bench last night. You shoot with your legs mostly, and when you're exhausted the legs are the first thing to go. I was the most scared during the first couple minutes of overtime when we kept shooting 3's, 'cause I knew they didn't have the legs to make 'em.

And Travis Ford is probably STILL standing on our court at this moment. If I ever meet that hayseed f*ckstain, I'm gonna punch him in the dick.

Sooner04
1/12/2010, 02:17 PM
Of course, if you can't wait that long for more OU basketball, please for the love of gawd someone watch the wimmens team besides me...
Honest question: is there some sort of inside joke behind everyone spelling the women's team as wimmens? I've noticed this more and more lately and was wondering where it came from.

NormanPride
1/12/2010, 02:29 PM
Why is it moran or crybabby? It just happened...

Boomer.....
1/12/2010, 02:40 PM
teh or pron

Sooner04
1/12/2010, 02:45 PM
What are you guys talking about?

badger
1/12/2010, 02:46 PM
Honest question: is there some sort of inside joke behind everyone spelling the women's team as wimmens? I've noticed this more and more lately and was wondering where it came from.

It is not something I invented, but I think it's something this basketball board invented. I saw it here either this or last year, thought it was funny, so I started using it.

As for the people who mention that Travesty Ford spent a lot of time on the court, remember that he is a very, very short guy (shorter than Keiton Page!). I've found short guys to be particularly loud, almost shouting in conversation just to make sure you hear them like the taller guys around them. Since shouting wouldn't do any good at a loud place like LNC, Fordie probably thought he had to take the additional step... a few steps onto the court to get the ref's attention.

(btw, I will take credit for "Travesty" Ford... I started to misspell Travis on my computer one day and just continued to misspell it until I had the word "Travesty")

Not a knock on short people - I am probably shorter than all of you - it's just a little stereotype I've seen with short men. Think Dennis Kucinich... and a lot of celebrities :D

OUSKINS
1/12/2010, 02:52 PM
Oh and 04....I've never met you, but I recognized you on the scoreboard--does that make you a celebrity?

Sooner04
1/12/2010, 03:42 PM
Oh and 04....I've never met you, but I recognized you on the scoreboard--does that make you a celebrity?
My name is a whisper on the tongue of a myth. I exist only in shadows. I'm like Keyser Soze, but I do not smoke. I am who Dennis Green thinks I am, whatever that is.



:)

C&CDean
1/12/2010, 04:57 PM
Name this celebrity:

A redheaded mulleted dweeb in a mustard and baby-**** colored hat with SD on the front?

Boomer.....
1/12/2010, 05:14 PM
Ron Howard?

bri
1/12/2010, 05:30 PM
Clint Howard?

badger
1/12/2010, 05:45 PM
btw, do they still have that program where students can get basketball tickets free if they (or someone on their behalf) uses a certain percentage of them?

bri
1/12/2010, 05:51 PM
Yep.

badger
1/12/2010, 05:54 PM
Very cool. Sounds like there's a big student contingent each night even if the visible seats on tee vee are empty.

Sooner98
1/12/2010, 06:23 PM
I've been pretty impressed with the students this year. Other than the UNC and UMES games (during the holiday break) the student section has pretty much been packed every game.

bri
1/12/2010, 06:25 PM
The Capelables have done a great job of energizing the student section. Last night all three levels of the student section were packed.

bri
1/12/2010, 06:31 PM
Capel approves:

vB68XnpFtKc

StoopTroup
1/12/2010, 08:55 PM
Travis T. Ford....lol

TheBobbyTrain
1/12/2010, 09:11 PM
Name this celebrity:

A redheaded mulleted dweeb in a mustard and baby-**** colored hat with SD on the front?

soonerborn03's brother?

Boomer.....
1/13/2010, 08:59 AM
Capel approves:

vB68XnpFtKc

It is so impressive what they are doing. Hopefully the regular crowd will follow suit somewhat.

badger
1/13/2010, 09:37 AM
It is really cool that the students are getting behind the "new" guy. It looks like it's a lot bigger than Kelvin's Krew.

the_ouskull
1/13/2010, 12:42 PM
Honest question: is there some sort of inside joke behind everyone spelling the women's team as wimmens? I've noticed this more and more lately and was wondering where it came from.

Because we live in a society that, more and more with each passing day, not only accepts, but glorifies, ignorance and public displays of such. Look at who our "celebrities" are now, compared to who they were 10, 20, 30 years ago... People used to be famous for doing something. Now "celebrities" are famous for being famous; famous 'cause they have a rich friend who banged some nobody in night vision, etc...

I'm going to have to start re-training my liver again before I move to Ireland...

the_ouskull

the_ouskull
1/13/2010, 12:43 PM
It is really cool that the students are getting behind the "new" guy. It looks like it's a lot bigger than Kelvin's Krew.

Not the first couple of years. I mean, from what I hear and all... Kelvin's Krew was crazy. Krazy, even, until Griffin complained...

the_ouskull

badger
1/13/2010, 12:57 PM
Because we live in a society that, more and more with each passing day, not only accepts, but glorifies, ignorance and public displays of such.

This is a sentence fragment. The grammar cops officially award you a C-minus. ;)

the_ouskull
1/13/2010, 03:48 PM
It's only a sentence fragment if you picked up on the conversation right where I began... I tend to start most of mine Brett Easton Ellis style, just right in the middle of a thought. I end most of mine that way t

badger
1/13/2010, 04:12 PM
It's only a sentence fragment if you picked up on the conversation right where I began... I tend to start most of mine Brett Easton Ellis style, just right in the middle of a thought. I end most of mine that way t

I am glad that we got that cleared up... t???????