PDA

View Full Version : Sustaining the Momentum of the Program



Sooner04
2/15/2010, 10:59 AM
It took me a long time to come to grips with what I feel is a truth, but I figured out a few years ago that OU BBall is nothing more than a sideshow. A diversion. Win, and the fans will show. Be mediocre, and so too will be your support.

Billy really had things rolling in the '80s, but his train was derailed by the December 1990 massacre of McCovery, Patterson and Jones.

Kelvin really had things going at the beginning of the last decade, but his train was derailed by an exodus of players and the pursuit of the best recruiting class in the history of the school.

And now Capel. He took a team that had been decimated by attrition and turned it into an NCAA squad in two years and a national championship contender in three. Granted, he had the fortune of landing the second or third best player in the history of the program, but he still had to get him here. He gets credit for that.

Crowds last year were superb from the word go. Attendance is always inflated, but the estimated attendance figures told a different story. We drew 10,000+ to nearly every game, and atmosphere at Lloyd Noble was as good as it's been in years. That's a long road traveled from the 5,500 who showed up for a national TV audience against Villanova in the fall of 2006.

But all the goodwill garnered from the two great seasons with Blake seems like a distant memory now. OU BBall fans need something they can relate to, something they can identify with, and this team is sorely lacking in that department. The Sooner fan who goes to work everyday and punches the timeclock before rushing home and heading to the game, who's he going to be pulling for? Other than Cade Davis, who hustles like a man possessed, there's nobody.

Is he going to pull for the former lottery pick who spent a good chunk of the non-conference slate sulking?

Is he going to pull for the dimunitive point guard who scowls and refuses to fight on defense?

Is he going to pull for any of the FIVE different Sooners who've missed games or starting positions for disciplinary issues?

Is he going to pull for either of the two shoplifters?

With 85 scholarships and 25 new bodies piling in every Spring you can afford to have a couple recruiting misfires. But in basketball, your misses on the recruiting trail are amplified by the accumulation of losses. The following is a list of guys who've been on campus under Capel's guidance and who've been cut loose for one reason or another:

Chris Early - thug
Keith Clark - grades
Bobby Maze - who knows
Tony Neysmith - who knows
Kyle Cannon - idiot
Juan Pattillo - grades

All of those guys could be on the 2010 team and NONE of them are. That's a lot of attrition, and a lot of holes that could be plugged on a team that turns to stone away from Lloyd Noble.

Dave Bliss won the Big 8 title in '79 and didn't do anything to follow it up. Two years later we were 9-18.

Billy Tubbs won the Big 8 title in '84 and '85 with the best player in the history of the conference. Three years later he put forth the best team in school history. That's sustaining the momentum.

Kelvin had a 3-seed in the 2000 NCAA Tournament. Two years later he went to the Final Four. Three years after that he won the conference. A year later, he was gone.

Capel ended our postseason streak in 2007, but sent us to the Tournament and into the national spotlight again over the next two years. Now we're in danger of posting our first losing season in a generation. Next year will be a crucial season for our program and for his career at Oklahoma. He has solid players coming in but he has continued to shoot for the moon with uber-recruits while failing to fall among the stars when he's missed landing them. His recruiting tactics have turned us into a team with solid parts but no glue to hold them together.

When the fall of 2010 arrives and the team convenes, what will they hang their hat on? Will we be a tough-nosed defensive team? Will we amp up the tempo and really play fast? What will we do? Watching this team, I have no clue what I'll see from game to game.

Except this: if we're not in Norman, we'll be terrible.

@VCU - Lost by 14
@Anchorage against San Diego - lost by 12
@OKC against UTEP - lost by 15
@Gonzaga - Lost by 14
@Baylor - Lost by 31
@Texas Tech - Lost by 10
@Nebraska - Lost by 17
@O-State - Lost by 19

The casual fans, the ones who fill up Lloyd Noble when the ship is sailing nice won't tolerate that crap. They need kids they can root for, kids who'll play hard, but this team is overrun with me-first personalities who have no cohesion. Hollis Price is still adored in this state. His numbers are dwarfed by several other Sooner guards, but you always hear his name as one who should be hanging from the rafters. Why? Because you always got every ounce of whatever Hollis had, and you got it with a smile. Hollis Price couldn't play for this team. They'd make him sick.

I apologize for the ramble, but I'm eager to see improvement. I thought I saw things getting better after the tough loss in College Station, but that seems longer ago than the Yalta Conference right now. Things are tough right now, and for an OU BBall die-hard, it's REALLY tough to watch.


Thank you for your time.

NormanPride
2/15/2010, 11:16 AM
I've always thought engaging crowds at OU was easy. Play hard, and score points. OU fans are stupid and don't know how basketball is supposed to be played. But if you show them five kids who play their hearts out and shoot real well then they'll love them. Kelvin had half of that most of the time, and both sometimes. The last two years we had both. Billy had it all the time (from what I can tell, as I did not watch sports back then).

Now, though, we have neither for the first time in a long time. I hate the majority of our players and, were they wearing any other uniform, would denounce them as the "Thing Wrong With Today's Game". That is terrible...

badger
2/15/2010, 01:17 PM
I still think Capel's the right man for the job of getting in solid recruits, teaching good basketball and leading this program to success. I just think that the sports gods were not satisfied in our football season ending with a bowl win, and decided to punish us further by taking our projected PoY and high ranking and making us wonder which season was worse.

In a non-blasphemous way, it simply wasn't meant to be this year and it's not our year. I am confident we will be better for this experience and improve next season. :)

toast
2/15/2010, 03:47 PM
Nice post '04. You did a great job.

I have followed OU basketball (not religiously as football) since a year or two before Wayman (David Little, Bo Overton, Chucky Barnett, etc). Every team needs a leader, someone the team can count on each and every game. OU does not currently have one. Until Capel can learn the nuances of recruiting and team chemistry I doubt there will be continuing momentum as you suggest. Just my thoughts.

okienole3
2/15/2010, 06:23 PM
OU Basketball fans appreciate effort. We had it in spades in the Sampson years (Minor, Erdmann, Hollis, Ed, etc...). We had it when the Griffin boys were here. Now, aside from Cade and Crock, its nowhere to be seen. Is it a product of how Capel coaches or a symptom of the recruits he has brought in?

Next year is a make or break year as far as I am concerned. I guess its looking like Willie will be back. Whether that is a good thing or a bad thing remains to be seen. My money is on Tiny being gone. The defections in and of themselves wouldn't be so bad, but when combined with the fact that Orlando, Willis and Hardrick are non contributors, it is devastating. Capel has to hit and hit big on Taylor, Clark and whoever else he brings in. We have to bring in some contributors. If not, it is going to be a long season.

soonervegas
2/16/2010, 10:21 AM
Nice post '04. You did a great job.

I have followed OU basketball (not religiously as football) since a year or two before Wayman (David Little, Bo Overton, Chucky Barnett, etc). Every team needs a leader, someone the team can count on each and every game. OU does not currently have one. Until Capel can learn the nuances of recruiting and team chemistry I doubt there will be continuing momentum as you suggest. Just my thoughts.

I am in the exact same boat. Capel may be a much better coach than he is a recruiter. Think about that for a sec.

He has to hit big on the next two classes or he is in trouble (quality basketball players that will hustle for him).

fwsooner22
2/16/2010, 10:47 AM
I am by no means an expert but I have had some recent exposure to the world of AAU basketball. Capel seems to be connected to the AAU world. Most kids play in this league I realize that.....but you have to have something more than that to play at this level. These kids are "tatted" all over at the age of 15 and are coddled by parents and coaches earlier than that. Its not a wonder why they don't want to work hard when its time to play for real. Please recruit the kid who wants to play 3 or 4 years.

The one and done has finally caught up to Texas and now I am afraid we are paying the price too.

badger
2/16/2010, 11:19 AM
The one and done has finally caught up to Texas and now I am afraid we are paying the price too.

Um... other than the transfers that basically didn't do much here to begin with, which players at OU were one-and-done?