I feel bad for Capel

[Collier11]

If none of you have a subscription to ESPN the mag, there is a quote that says something close to the following "this is the worst coaching experience he has ever had because winning only reinforces some traits to players that make them uncoachable"

It is obvious that he completely misjudged certain players in this class. I have no doubt that he can coach but possibly he is a bad judge of character? LOL

[Spray]

I thought TMG's attitude with three minutes to go yesterday was poor. So that's Gallon, Warren, and TMG all displaying poor attitudes and/or no leadership qualities at various times throughout the season. And Pledger and Fitzgerald with the IQ of throw pillows.

Clean. Freaking. House.

[Frozen Sooner]

"this is the worst coaching experience he has ever had because winning only reinforces some traits to players that make them uncoachable"

Not really a problem this year...

[badger]

Part of hiring a younger coach is knowing that they will have learning experiences right along with the younger players.

[Eielson]

I thought TMG's attitude with three minutes to go yesterday was poor.

I really wouldn't want a player to have a good attitude when down by 25 with three minutes to go against somewhat of a rival.

...and hopefully you don't really think this team would be better off without TMG.

[Spray]

I also wouldn't expect a guy that we will need to be a leader to just act like he doesn't care, play extremely sloppy, and jack up 28 foot 3 pointers just because the game has been decided. At this point they need to play all 40 minutes like the game is tied- there is a lot of work to be done.

TMG is an incerdible talent, with incredible potential. But the same was said about Warren last year, and his attitude, not his injuries, has been the most disappointing thing this year. Warren can still be a leader for this team. TMG leaves me the impression that we will see "Warren: Part Deux" next year. Both need to adjust their attitudes if the Sooners are going to enjoy any success in the near future- they're too important.

I'm only a casual fan, but this is the impression they are leaving on me. Capel's biggest challenge is adjusting attitudes (his quote is right on the money), not needing more talent.

[misplacedsooner]

poor attitudes can really disrupt team chemistry, benching them is one thing but keeping them around after they are benched and still showing a poor attitude is disruptive to the team, sad to say but i would remove them and get them away from tmg so they dont rub off on him.

[StoopTroup]

Time to hire Nolan Richardson?

[ndpruitt03]

I like Capel as a guy, not sure about him as a coach. 4 years in and what system do we run at OU under Capel? I don't think we have a system that's what we need to change. Under our last coaches we always had somewhere to go and had at least one or two go to threats. Under Capel we had that with Blake because he's a star but outside of that we don't have a system to develop go to guys.

[nighttrain12]

Time to hire Nolan Richardson?

Hire a guy that is respected only enough to be hired by a WNBA team? No thanks.

[StoopTroup]

Hire a guy that is respected only enough to be hired by a WNBA team? No thanks.

Why do you hate Polka Dots?

[nighttrain12]

Why do you hate Polka Dots?

Polka dots should only be on 'itsy bitsy teenie weenie yellow polka dot bikinis', not on head coaches dress shirts.

[Collier11]

Not really a problem this year...

I think the point is that unfortunately when this team has the best chance to win is when they play the least disciplined

[bri]

Accusing TMG of having a bad attitude just 'cause he was frowny at the end of a brutal *ss-kicking is just asinine. He's smiling out there more often than the rest of the team combined. I think Crocker smiled once back in '05, didn't care much for it and decided to never do that again. :D

[the_ouskull]

Remember earlier this season when we beat OSU and I wasn't cartwheeling? That quote is what I was talking about. (I saw the same one in The Mag this week and was going to post something about it. Nice work.)

It becomes a "see, we did it my way and we still won" thing, instead of a "yes sir, coach," thing. That's always a problem. And spoiled and/or lazy players are like annoying kids, always with the, "why, why, why, why, why" crap. Run. Why? Because you're a fat piece of sh*t with the stamina of a doughnut, and much of the shape. Take smart shots. Why? Because you're not a good shooter, and you've fooled yourself into thinking that you are. Your field goal percentage used to be inflated by the number of layups you'd get, but also your scoring by the free throws. Now, one-on-one into a double team, a contested shot coming off of a screen you half-*ssed your way around, and turnover seem to be your only offensive weapons, Willie.

It'll be interesting to see how the rest of this year, and especially this off-season, shapes out. I'm actually excited for basketball again, with this recent round of "suspensions," and "illnesses," we're experiencing. I just wish it was our play that was making me all giddy.

the_ouskull

[OU_Sooners75]

Sounds to me like Capel needs to do some house cleaning.

Time to build a team around TMG...and get rid of any dirty laundry that is on the team...Warren, Gallon (looks like he got rid of himself for Capel), Pledger, Fitzgerald, and anyone else that does not want to work as a team.

IMO, and this may be a little off base, but the cause of our problems this year is not TMG, Crocker, or Davis...but about 3 or 4 other guys.


What pisses me off the most about this season....we are not even competitive on the road.

I could withstand these road losses, but when you are just blown the hell out, knowing you can play with these teams...that pisses me off!

[StoopTroup]

Polka dots should only be on 'itsy bitsy teenie weenie yellow polka dot bikinis', not on head coaches dress shirts.

Ed Beshara disagrees.

[tulsaoilerfan]

Polka dots should only be on 'itsy bitsy teenie weenie yellow polka dot bikinis', not on head coaches dress shirts.

U should be made aware that Nolan wore the polka dots cause his daughter that ended up dying of leukemia loved them

[StoopTroup]

U should be made aware that Nolan wore the polka dots cause his daughter that ended up dying of leukemia loved them

Not only that but here's how you get respect....

Nolan's Career numbers: 508 wins - 206 losses (.711), 1994 NABC National Coach of the Year, 1994 Naismith Coach of the Year, NCAA Division I Championship 1994, Regional Championships - Final Four (1990, 1994, 1995), 1981NIT title, 1980 NJCCA title

Also...he's 68 years old so it's always nice to throw an old guy who is still an active Coach under the train. Real Classy.

[stoopified]

Last year Capel was the second cominf of Wooden and suddenly this year he is Leonard Hamilton?I think everyone needs to chill and just trust Capel and his staff.If you recall Capel had the best record in his first 3 years of ANY Sooner coach in history.I am just as down about this year and all the turmoil as anyone BUT I have not lost faith in Jeff.In any case IF we fired Capel,who we going to get? I'll tell you who- an assistant looking for his first HC gig in D-1(Bliss) or a lower tier coach(Tubbs,Sampson,Capel) looking to climb the ladder.In either case that is a crapshoot and I would rather give Capel a couple pf more years and see where we end up.

I will say this ,Capel has not spared anyone from discipline to get his point across and I applaud his effort.One thing I know for an absolute fact ; winning cures everything.While I admit that this season is dead,I still look forward to the future.

[StoopTroup]

Yep. Jeff is going to be fine.

[nighttrain12]

Yep. Jeff is going to be fine.

I don't care whether Jeff or any coach is going to be fine. It's about the players, not the coaches.

[Curly Bill]

If we want to have a good team it's about the players and the coaches. Rarely is a team any good when one part of that equation is not right.

[soonerbub]

He's got about 2 million reasons not to need anyone's sympathy.

13-11 with 6 left plus at least 1 in KC--I don't see one easy win left.

Finish 13-18 and he needs to seek 2 mil elsewhere IMO. We need 3 more wins to have a winning year--can we do it?

[NormanPride]

I hate to be negative, but how is Jeff "going to be fine"? Next year let's look at what we have:

Willie gone (good/bad/whatever, he's a player that leaves)
Gallon might be gone as well
Wright gone
Crocker gone

And to replace that we add in two combo guards that are ranked pretty high. Sorry guys, but that's not going to fix anything. Unless one of those two is the second coming of Wayman, we're still going to suck next year.

[badger]

Even Sherri had an off-year after losing Stacey Dales and two other first-round picks (we only got a tourney bid that next year because we were 1st/2nd round host site, methinks).

Capel just lost the Griffin brothers and is having an off-year because of it. It will require a lot of stellar recruiting to get this team back into the rankings and back into the postseason (yes, we can safely assume that the postseason is only going to happen now with a strong conference tourney showing).

[starrca23]

The stupidity level of this thread is of record breaking proportion. Anyone on here think Roy Williams can't coach? Well, he is going through the same thing.

[ndpruitt03]

Right after we lost Tisdale in the 80s we weren't as good as we were with Tisdale still won an NCAA Tournament game and within a few years we were better than we were with Tisdale. We didn't have a year anywhere near like this one. It's not hard to win games at an Oklahoma without a star player.

[NormanPride]

The stupidity level of this thread is of record breaking proportion. Anyone on here think Roy Williams can't coach? Well, he is going through the same thing.

Actually, I have a pretty low opinion of him. With the amount of talent and depth he has at UNC, there should be no excuse for his current team.

[starclassic tama]

but how talented are they? sure UNC has mcdonald's all-americans, but college basketball can be a very watered down sport. it's not like football where there are tons of really good players, and have to stay 3 years. sometimes the well is just dry, you don't win 2 titles without being an outstanding coach even if you do have better talent.

[StoopTroup]

Right after we lost Tisdale in the 80s we weren't as good as we were with Tisdale still won an NCAA Tournament game and within a few years we were better than we were with Tisdale. We didn't have a year anywhere near like this one. It's not hard to win games at an Oklahoma without a star player.

Jeff should let you walk on and the next time we're down 25 with 8 minutes left...he can put you in and let you start the comeback.

It's not hard...lol

[Curly Bill]

Even Sherri had an off-year after losing Stacey Dales and two other first-round picks (we only got a tourney bid that next year because we were 1st/2nd round host site, methinks).

Capel just lost the Griffin brothers and is having an off-year because of it. It will require a lot of stellar recruiting to get this team back into the rankings and back into the postseason (yes, we can safely assume that the postseason is only going to happen now with a strong conference tourney showing).

I'd probably have an off year if I lost Stacey too...

..oh wait, you were talking about basketball right? :O ;)

[OUSKINS]

I hate to be negative, but how is Jeff "going to be fine"? Next year let's look at what we have:

Willie gone (good/bad/whatever, he's a player that leaves)
Gallon might be gone as well
Wright gone
Crocker gone

And to replace that we add in two combo guards that are ranked pretty high. Sorry guys, but that's not going to fix anything. Unless one of those two is the second coming of Wayman, we're still going to suck next year.

Don't necessarily agree that we'll suck again next year. As this year proves, games aren't won or lost on paper....give Capel an off-season to asess where he went wrong, turn the team fully over to TMG, and maybe the chemistry/effort level changes next year -- and thus, we get better results.

[Collier11]

Willie may be out for the year, FYI. I know some of you will say who cares but this is a big blow to an already struggling team

[RFH Shakes]

Sounds to me like Capel needs to do some house cleaning.

Time to build a team around TMG...and get rid of any dirty laundry that is on the team...Warren, Gallon (looks like he got rid of himself for Capel), Pledger, Fitzgerald, and anyone else that does not want to work as a team.

IMO, and this may be a little off base, but the cause of our problems this year is not TMG, Crocker, or Davis...but about 3 or 4 other guys.

This was exactly what I was thinking. TMG needs to take over this team 100%, not just when Warren isn't playing. Warren needs to play off of TMG not the other way around.

[meoveryouxinfinity]

Where to begin. So I haven't watched much basketball this year, however, I had season tickets last year. Let's just say I have heard much about one unnamed player (cough cough "Tiny" Gallon)..and it's not good stuff. The kid is 19, drunk off his *** at 101 every other week, spewing stuff like "I'm going to be a millionaire in a few months!" and "!@#$ this school. I'm going pro"

Take it for what it's worth but I've heard it directly from him.

[the_ouskull]

Seeing as it fits his personality profile, and his behavior on the court -- and because I called it already, I totally believe you.

What's 101?

the_ouskull

[Collier11]

its a 18 and over club in Norman which isnt even open anymore so im not sure, it used to be Kongos

[okienole3]

Got news for Tiny. He is not going to be a millionaire any time soon.

[meoveryouxinfinity]

its a 18 and over club in Norman which isnt even open anymore so im not sure, it used to be Kongos

i didn't hear him say it at 101 i just know that he claims to be drunk (i don't know a man that big can get drunk) and fights with one of my girlfriends. he was trying to holler at her and she put him on speaker phone. we call him millionaire boy now. lol i should record their conversations.
"ill be a millionaire in 100 days ive @$#!ed !@#$%es in all 50 states"
"ill let you count down when david stern calling my name and youll be watching me"


seriously, i couldn't/wouldn't make this stuff up. but he has talked about about the state/university in the past too.

[meoveryouxinfinity]

Got news for Tiny. He is not going to be a millionaire any time soon.

hey, a kid can dream.

[NormanPride]

If willie and tiny are gone for the year I want to see Gamma and Orlando out there all the damn time. What have we got to lose? At least they work.

[Collier11]

I would like to see TJ Franklin get more playing time, I know he is a walk on but the guy could be a decent backup to TMG IMO

[gr8fulsooner]

I have always given Capel the benefit of the doubt, but I don't think I can any longer. Any of us could coach a Blake led team to the tourney. Capel went to the Dance twice with Blake, and has not gone without him. As soon as he left, we started to play street ball. There is no method to our offense, and that has nothing to do with players.

It's also tough to win when Cade Davis is the only one who will attack the rim and not lose the ball on the way up (thanks for nothing, Willie).

[misplacedsooner]

whats the story on orlando?? i saw him play more last year i think than this year.

[badger]

If this was the South Oval, I'd start a copycat thread entitled "I feel bad for Coale."

Women's basketball just has too many people in attendance compared to the men's basketball games. All of those cheering fans must cause such a distraction.

Those pink uniforms Sherri Coale's team wore yesterday are obviously the result of a lazy uniform manager putting the crimson uniforms in the same load as the white uniforms. Fortunately, she convinced the entire (and entirely too large) crowd last night to also wear their laundry mistakes to the game yesterday so they could all be matching.

Finally, what is up with this fattening contract?! $840,000?!?! Aren't we supposed to be discouraging obesity of all shapes and forums in this state?

... but I won't start a copycat thread, because I promised that I'd limit womens basketball discussion to one thread this season and it seems to have worked out OK.