04's Attempt: OU vs. Iowa State Recap

[Sooner04]

Leading scorer? Out. Ankle.
#2 scorer and #2 rebounder? Out. Ankle.

That prognosis isn't bad when you're on the road against a juggernaut and it takes a superhuman effort for 40 minutes just to keep it close. But at home, against a team you should beat, in a game you HAVE to win, stuff like that can really send the season into a death spiral.

But that wasn't the case. TMG played the best game by a Sooner freshman in Norman since the late Wayman Tisdale roamed the paint. Cade Davis continues to be an assassin when perched inside the Lloyd Noble Center. Reserves not often called for critical duty, "Gamma" Ray Willis and Andrew Fitzgerald, both played quality minutes in long stretches.

For a thin team it was a thick effort. Iowa State's not the '76 Hoosiers, and they're not the 2000 Cyclones either, but we showed them the best ball we've played all year in the first half and we showed them with two pieces of our best artillery out of commission. What does that say about us? I say we're gutsy. We were completely out of gas at the end. Drained. Running on fumes, yet we were still able to find the fortitude to make some plays on the offensive end after Iowa State began carving us up late in the second half with fresher bodies.

The film will reveal much to repair, but also much to build upon. I'm not sure I could be any prouder of this team than I was last night. You'll hear people scoff and say Iowa State sucks. Whatever. You've still got to make plays. You've still got to hit free throws down the stretch. We did them both, and that's why we won.


SCORING BREAKDOWN:
1st - 30 [didn't anybody tell her?]
2nd - 18 [didn't anybody see?]
3rd - 15 [Sundays on the phone to Monday,]
4th - 26 [Tuesdays on the phone to me.........oh yeah!]


LEADING SCORERS:
38 - Tommy Mason-Griffin
24 - Cade Davis


LEADING REBOUNDERS:
7 - "Gamma" Ray Willis <---------- [that's my boy!]
6 - Ryan Wright
6 - Keith Gallon


PLUSES:
1. Tommy Mason-Griffin: Hate to play Captain Obvious here, but that was a stellar performance. Like I said earlier, I'm trying to think of a Sooner frosh who scored more than TMG's 38 and I'm thinking it's got to be Wayman. If it wasn't WWT then it's got to be either Alvan, Choo or T-Mac. That's heady company right there. But it was the guts at the end that impressed me so much. The dude's cramping all over the place and he goes up and hits the free throws he'd been missing all year late in the game. His last three games: how about an average of 28/4/4 while only turning it over six times. What a stud.

2. Cade Davis: Now if we could only bottle this up and take it on the road. Cade's averaging 16 points a game in conference at home but has been "No Show Jones" outside the friendly confines of the LNC. The guy definitely gives us his all, and it really shows on the defensive end. Last night was the eighth game this year where Cade's had three steals or more. Not quite Mookie-an, you've got to love the effort. It's contagious.

3. "Gamma" Ray Willis: Unabashed Ray fan here. Yes, that's me. Yes, I do write the newsletter and yes, I'm also a client. Ray had some bad breaks last night, a couple of shots were halfway in before they popped out, but he didn't let that effect him in other areas. He led us in rebounding and also provided three assists while only turning it over once. He's getting better on the defensive end, and I hope last night only adds to Capel's trust in him. Read all about it in the next "Gamma" Ray newsletter! :)


MINUSES:
1. Keith Gallon: Our team had nine turnovers last night. Gallon had five of them. That speaks to how good we were and how lousy he was.

2. Steven Pledger: Keep your head up, even though Capel's still screaming at you for defensive breakdowns.

3. Second Half Defense: Mercy. Iowa State looked like they were playing for Pleasantville in the second half, and our guys provided them that chance by playing the Matador Defense. It was atrocious, but I'll provide a modicum of humanity by pointing out that we were totally gassed by the end. You can make excuses when you win. [hyuck hyuck]

4. Orlando Allen: If he didn't play last night........


Again, I'm very pleased. We're 3-3 in the Big 12 and can are unblemished in defending the home court. Now we've got to take this circus on the road. Our next stop: Lincoln. We've played some unbelievably bad games up there the past few times we've made the trip, and I'm not sure we could ever use a victory in the Land of Corn more than we could this coming Saturday. With the conference as tough as it is, we really have most of our goals out there in front of us. All we need to do is play better on the road. We're improving, and anyone with a pulse can see we're a hell of a lot better on January 28 than we were on December 28.

Now let's translate it into road victories. Lincoln, Nebraska, is a real fine place to start.


Thank you for your time.

[NormanPride]

No, thanks for yours!

[soonerfan28]

Where was Gallon on defense? It looked like he just stood in the low post trying to figure out what was going on. When he should have been the backside help he was nowhere to be found. He needs to get it together or ride the pine. Show some damn heart. Loved TMG's play. That kid is playing like a warrior.

[soonervegas]

This team is young and dumb.....but with 5 freshman seeing playing time I like where things are headed circa 2012.

When Gallon finally figures it out......watch out.

[badger]

Congrats to the team for overcoming the loss of the scoring leader and the senior captain. The mens team definitely needed an Iowa State victory more than the womens team, so I'd like to think that the women took one for Sooner Nation yesterday ;)

Again, congrats for overcoming adversity and stuff :D

[the_ouskull]

Poor Orlando Allen.

I tried to warn you guys, though. The taint of PJC is all over him.

TMG remembered that he was a McD'sAA last night, no? :D

the_ouskull

[King Crimson]

tell me Willis and Fitzgerald have 60 minutes of PT between them and OU wins....

i will send money to Nigeria or buy that bridge or believe that it's good with a hot tranny (maybe).

not sure how far we get with TMG as the scoring load when teams double him on the perimeter and dare the rest of the team to beat us (minus Crock and WW).

we are hard to watch sometimes and prone to extended bad play on both ends....but, i haven't totally given up on this team as far as having a decent year.

[Sooner04]

It was amazing how good when we looked when TMG was running fresh in the first half. He'd run the break, he'd weave through the defense, and he'd score. If a scoring opportunity didn't present itself after the weave, he'd kick out to an open shot. If the defense made it back and the kick out shot wasn't open, we'd reset the offense and STILL get a good look later in the clock.

So THAT'S what good point guard play looks like. In all seriousness, the kid has been THE guy his entire basketball career. He looked pretty natural in shouldering the load last night.

Now he's just got to get "Gamma" Ray more touches. :)

[King Crimson]

Now he's just got to get "Gamma" Ray more touches. :)

really, TMG scores 38 or whatever but the story of the game is Ray's restraint on the O end. :D

[cjames317]

I really enjoy these recaps. Been too busy to sit down and watch much hoops this season.

[Eielson]

I heard last night that TMG has the highest scoring game in conference for any Big XII Freshman not named Michael Beasley.

[Bourbon St Sooner]

For about 5 or 6 mins in the second half we had five guys on the court taking up space. Then for a couple of mins after that we had one guy (TMG) playing and 4 taking up space. Luckily the other 4 decided to join in for the last 5 mins.

If Tiny plays 15 mins we maybe get 3 mins of quality time out of him. The few times he does get aggresive on the offensive end leave me salivating about what could be.

[OUSKINS]

The fact that Willie and Crocker wound up being out last night was truly a blessing in disguise. Had they played, we still most likely would have won of course, but I don't think we would have learned a whole lot. ISU was supposed to be a tourney caliber team this year, but they've been extremely disappointing and they will be very lucky to get into the NIT-- my guess is they don't. Brackins is solid, but not having a great year. They do have some athletes here and there, but overall, they are clearly a below average team.

But because we were without two of our top players, I do think we can take away some positives from this win. The first half was probably the best half we've played all year-- offense was smooth and controlled and we were scraping and getting to all the loose balls. Second half, we slowed down a bit offensively, but the big issue was on the other end of the floor-- our interior defense was just not there.... and when we finally started to clamp down on the lane a bit, ISU got a bunch of open looks from three and hit them.

TMG saved the day though. Man, this kid is something special. Something has clearly clicked for him. I had no idea he had that kind of mature offensive repetoire. He's 5'7, yet 100% capable of creating his own open shots. The midrange jumper is a lost art in college hoops, but it's a skill TMG possesses-- he dribble fakes to the hole and pulls up for the jumper and it's usually money. ISU laid off him and he just easily shot three's in their face. Then, the started to deny him the ball and instead he penetrated and either pulled up for his own shot or dished to an open man. 38 points and 6 assists for a tiny freshmen is pretty darn impressive. I do think he let ISU deny him too easily at times-- he needs to work harder to make sure he gets the ball in his hands, but that is a small criticism of an otherwise brilliant performance.

And I'd certainly be remiss to leave out Cade. We talk a bunch about what makes a good coach-- one thing I like to see is how the marginal recruits/talents develop. So far, I've been very impressed with what Capel has done with guys like Nate Carter, Longar, Crocker, etc.. each of those guys realized their top potential-- I think Cade is next on the list. He no longer just sits outside the arc waiting for shots-- he drives, he rebounds, he takes charges, he fights in the paint-- his is a "garbage man" that actually has some size and talent. He's turned himself into a first team all B12 defender and a really nice player overall.

Tiny is sort of a mess right now, but I'm cool with it. Clearly he's a big man that never had any coaching or real basketball discpline-- it's going to take some time to get him "right." But I do think he's willing and the fact that he's dropped over 50 pounds does show a certain committment. Again, he's a foul machine and some of them are beyond stupid. Interestingly enough though, on the biggest possession of the game, Capel called his number. ISU narrowed the lead down to 3 with about 4 minutes left-- Capel called timeout. Out of the break we ran a post-up to Tiny. He got the ball, faked, drove the lane and flipped in a beautiful hook shot off the glass, got fouled, and made his FT-- OU up 6 and ISU never got closer. Of course on the very next posession, Tiny tried it again, got flustered and traveled. Then, he lost his man on defense and gave up a dunk. Every time he makes an error, he immediately looks to the bench to see if he's going to get yanked. I think Capel is balancing the way he treats Tiny-- gotta whip him in shape some without destroying his confidence-- it's a tightrope Capel must walk.

Andrew Fitzgerald did a nice job....he is about as awkward and unathletic-looking as they come, but he uses his big frame well. He plays the way Tiny SHOULD play. I am afraid that Fitz is going to simply fall down every time he runs back on defense though.

A win they had to have, made slightly sweeter by doing it short-handed. Great night for TMG. At Lincoln on Saturday-- if we are ever going to win on the road, this might be where it has to happen. Nebraska is the only team in the league that I think outright "sucks" with no redeeming qualities. However, they are 0-5 in conference already and you gotta figure they'll win 2-3 games this year-- two years ago we went up there and got absolutely hammered--- I take nothing for granted on the road with this team, especially if the two guards are still out.

When Willie does return it will be interesting to see how he plays off TMG. It's clear that TMG needs the ball in his hands-- I hope Willie recognizes that and allows TMG to set him up rather than vice versa.

Get a win on Saturday and the season suddenly looks a lot less hopeless.

[misplacedsooner]

imagine tmg on last years team

[SoonerStud615]

TMG's 38 points tied as the most by a point guard in school history (Mookie Blaylock).

[the_ouskull]

imagine tmg on last years team

I hate you. :D

the_ouskull

[misplacedsooner]

i know!! right? i shudder to think of him running with blake and taylor

[Collier11]

I like Ray, whatever he is doing to not get much playing time, I hope it stops. I think Fitz will be good in a year or two as well, TMG is a superstar in the making. If we can get Willie figured out this team can make a run at a tourney spot, thats a big IF though

[Sooner04]

To put into perspective how good TMG was Wednesday night I went to my press guide to see how many times a true freshman has scored 38 or more for the Oklahoma Sooners. Here's the list.


51 - Wayman Tisdale, '82-83: Abilene Christian
46 - Wayman Tisdale, '82-83: Iowa State
44 - Wayman Tisdale, '82-83: Hawaii
39 - Wayman Tisdale, '82-83: Georgia Tech
38 - Alvan Adams, '72-73: Iowa State


In closing, and after EXTENSIVE research, I feel I've established a few truths:

1. WWT was incredible.
2. This is high cotton TMG is walking through (WWT and AA, good grief).
3. We have a history of true freshmen having big games against Iowa State.

[IronHorseSooner]

Next year, if TMG isn't first team All Big XII, something's wrong. He reminds me so much of Collins at KU. Just like the football team, this is a rebuilding year for the BBALL team. I like in 2010 having Landry and TMG leading OUr teams. We need another big man, though, or develop Hardrick into a serviceable 4-man.

[OUmillenium]

Great post 04, I need to get a new media guide. The last one I have is from the 87-88 season.