Sooner04
1/19/2010, 11:34 PM
Up 54-47 and riding the crest of a wave of good play that had seen us turn a 12-point deficit into a seven-point lead, Cade Davis made as good a pass as he's ever made to Keith Gallon. A sure two-handed slam and we're up by nine and eATMe is on the way to a crushing home loss. But Gallon forsakes the two-handed approach for a one-handed attempt, and the ball is swatted away.
That was huge.
TMG, who'd played the game of his young Sooner career up to the point in question, strolled to the line with his team up four and the possibility of two free throws to put us back up six and one again at arm's length. But TMG would miss that freebie, his only non swish of the night from the stripe, and two points so desperately needed were marooned in What-if-ville.
That was also huge.
When you lose 91-60 to Baylor you throw up your hands in disgust and say, "well, it's going to be a long year". But when you go down to College Station and lead for 2/3 of the second half and still lose.....well, that makes it tough to sleep at night. Instead of wondering what you might do to fix things you instead wonder of what might've been. What if Crocker had actually touched the guy on his fifth foul? What if Pledger had hit a shot? What if we'd made one extra pass when down 63-62? Is this a better feeling than the one we all felt after being drummed by the Bears? You bet it is.
This team still has a long way to go, but they've come miles in a matter of days. I hope Capel doesn't let this loss hurt them. No, he should let it infuriate them. They should all know when they board the plane tonight that they completely let one slip away, and it ought to be the first thing on their minds when they set foot on the floor in Lubbock on Saturday.
SCORING BREAKDOWN:
1st - 12
2nd - 17
3rd - 25 [rally round the family, pocket full of shells!]
4th - 8 :( :(
LEADING SCORERS:
21 - TMG
14 - Willie Warren
10 - Keith Gallon
LEADING REBOUNDERS:
7 - Cade Davis
7 - Keith Gallon
6 - Willie Warren
5 - Tony Crocker
PLUSES:
1. TMG: I remember many years ago in that same building but with far fewer witnesses a young, dimunitive point guard for Oklahoma named Drew Lavender went for (I think) 31 against the Aggies to lead us to a win. It looked as though Mason-Griffin was heading down that same path, but the missed one-and-one appeared to deflate him a bit. He kept us within reach in the first half and then made several plays to get us by the Aggies in the second half. Five assists and only two turnovers, which looks much better once you consider how rough Saturday's game against Misery was for him.
2. Cade Davis: Nine points and seven assists is a solid day, but the guy gives you everything he's got every second he's on the floor. Tonight that meant eATMe received no break from him because foul trouble put him on the floor for the entire 40 minutes.
3. Keith Gallon: Much better showing after that debacle against Mizzou. I just wish he'd go strong to the tin EVERY time he's close. If I were 6'9'' I'd be attacking the rim with extreme prejudice every time I was in the zip code.
4. Rebounding: Won the battle of the boards 33-30. Stunned!
MINUSES:
1. Steven Pledger: As good as he was against Missouri, he was just as bad tonight. I think we were up 60-59 when he had a chance to hit a wide-open three after a BEAUTIFUL drive and dish by TMG, but just like the other shots he took tonight this one too failed to drop.
2. Tony Crocker: Yes he fouled out, but he also played 31 minutes. We need more than four points and five rebounds from our best player of the first half of the season.
3. Willie Warren: We trailed by ten at the half and I thought Willie was the culprit considering he contributed only three points. He righted the ship in the second half, but I'd like to stop digging these 10-point holes if it's at all possible.
4. Ryan Wright: Thought he was meek tonight. Didn't seem to fight down low.
5. "Gamma" Ray Willis: Today was day one of the new semester, and I didn't see Ray on the bench. That's rarely ever a good sign.
Man, I'm still stewing over this loss. We could've really done some things with a win like this, but I hope we really take this hurt to heart and craft it into something positive. So many chances to drive a stake through their collie-worshipping hearts and we continually let them off the hook. Good teams close out games like this. Maybe next time we'll show ourselves that we've got what it takes to get to, and play at, that level.
Until then, it shall be a restless night's sleep.
Thank you for your time.
That was huge.
TMG, who'd played the game of his young Sooner career up to the point in question, strolled to the line with his team up four and the possibility of two free throws to put us back up six and one again at arm's length. But TMG would miss that freebie, his only non swish of the night from the stripe, and two points so desperately needed were marooned in What-if-ville.
That was also huge.
When you lose 91-60 to Baylor you throw up your hands in disgust and say, "well, it's going to be a long year". But when you go down to College Station and lead for 2/3 of the second half and still lose.....well, that makes it tough to sleep at night. Instead of wondering what you might do to fix things you instead wonder of what might've been. What if Crocker had actually touched the guy on his fifth foul? What if Pledger had hit a shot? What if we'd made one extra pass when down 63-62? Is this a better feeling than the one we all felt after being drummed by the Bears? You bet it is.
This team still has a long way to go, but they've come miles in a matter of days. I hope Capel doesn't let this loss hurt them. No, he should let it infuriate them. They should all know when they board the plane tonight that they completely let one slip away, and it ought to be the first thing on their minds when they set foot on the floor in Lubbock on Saturday.
SCORING BREAKDOWN:
1st - 12
2nd - 17
3rd - 25 [rally round the family, pocket full of shells!]
4th - 8 :( :(
LEADING SCORERS:
21 - TMG
14 - Willie Warren
10 - Keith Gallon
LEADING REBOUNDERS:
7 - Cade Davis
7 - Keith Gallon
6 - Willie Warren
5 - Tony Crocker
PLUSES:
1. TMG: I remember many years ago in that same building but with far fewer witnesses a young, dimunitive point guard for Oklahoma named Drew Lavender went for (I think) 31 against the Aggies to lead us to a win. It looked as though Mason-Griffin was heading down that same path, but the missed one-and-one appeared to deflate him a bit. He kept us within reach in the first half and then made several plays to get us by the Aggies in the second half. Five assists and only two turnovers, which looks much better once you consider how rough Saturday's game against Misery was for him.
2. Cade Davis: Nine points and seven assists is a solid day, but the guy gives you everything he's got every second he's on the floor. Tonight that meant eATMe received no break from him because foul trouble put him on the floor for the entire 40 minutes.
3. Keith Gallon: Much better showing after that debacle against Mizzou. I just wish he'd go strong to the tin EVERY time he's close. If I were 6'9'' I'd be attacking the rim with extreme prejudice every time I was in the zip code.
4. Rebounding: Won the battle of the boards 33-30. Stunned!
MINUSES:
1. Steven Pledger: As good as he was against Missouri, he was just as bad tonight. I think we were up 60-59 when he had a chance to hit a wide-open three after a BEAUTIFUL drive and dish by TMG, but just like the other shots he took tonight this one too failed to drop.
2. Tony Crocker: Yes he fouled out, but he also played 31 minutes. We need more than four points and five rebounds from our best player of the first half of the season.
3. Willie Warren: We trailed by ten at the half and I thought Willie was the culprit considering he contributed only three points. He righted the ship in the second half, but I'd like to stop digging these 10-point holes if it's at all possible.
4. Ryan Wright: Thought he was meek tonight. Didn't seem to fight down low.
5. "Gamma" Ray Willis: Today was day one of the new semester, and I didn't see Ray on the bench. That's rarely ever a good sign.
Man, I'm still stewing over this loss. We could've really done some things with a win like this, but I hope we really take this hurt to heart and craft it into something positive. So many chances to drive a stake through their collie-worshipping hearts and we continually let them off the hook. Good teams close out games like this. Maybe next time we'll show ourselves that we've got what it takes to get to, and play at, that level.
Until then, it shall be a restless night's sleep.
Thank you for your time.