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View Full Version : Sooner AD's Not A Happy Camper



ndpruitt03
3/11/2010, 01:57 PM
http://www.tulsaworld.com/sportsextra/blogs/blog.aspx?blogid=13

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The look on Joe Castiglione's face Wednesday night spoke a thousands of words. But he wasn't saying of them.

At least not yet.

Oklahoma's athletic director sat in the media section as he watched the Sooners get whipsawed by Bedlam rival Oklahoma State in the first round of the Big 12 Conference basketball tournament at the Sprint Center.

It was just one year and one week ago that Castiglione and the high-rolling Sooners played their first and second round games of the NCAA Tournament in the same arena. Those Blake Griffin-led Sooners would eventually advance to the Elite Eight in Memphis, Tenn., before their magical season ended one game short of the Final four when they lost to eventual national champion North Carolina.

Nobody in OU's athletic department, including Castiglione, expected this season's rebuilding team to match the success of last year's team. But nobody, and definitely not Castiglione, expected coach Jeff Capel's fifth OU team to have such a dramatic fall from grace.

The final margin in the 81-67 loss to OU's bitter in-state rival was embarrassing enough. But it could have been a whole lot worse. OSU jumped to leads of 20-2 and 40-17 against a lethargic Sooner team that started the game acting like the last thing it wanted to be doing was playing hoops. OU made a brief second-half rally that made the final score look a whole lot more respectable than the game actually was.

Through it all, Castiglione strategically placed himself in the second row of the press area, directly across the floor from the OU bench. He didn't move until the blowout finally ended and OU's nightmare of a season was over.

The always-congenial Castiglione attempted to put on a happy face when I visited with him during the numerous and never-ending media timeouts. But whenever the subject of his basketball team came up, Castiglione expression turned as grim as I've seen it in his 13 years at OU.

Castiglione is a proud man, who takes a great deal of pride in the dramatic improvements that have gone on across the board in OU athletics. Castiglione may best be known as the AD who struck gold when he turned a tradition-rich but downtrodden football program around by taking a chance on assistant coach named Bob Stoops when many "OU insiders" were urging him to hire a proven head coach.

The Sooner AD does indeed draw a lot of satisfaction out of the dramatic turnaround football made under Stoops' guidance the past 12 seasons. But Castiglione cares about all the athletics teams on his watch, especially basketball, because he hired Capel.

Castiglione's mantra has always been that "there is a certain way we do things at Oklahoma. And that's the right way."

As he glared at OU's bench and the scoreboard, Castiglione would only acknowledge that he's deeply concerned about the way the season has gone on and off the court. And that he expects changes to be made ASAP to ensure the Sooners don't suffer the type of humiliation the hot-shooting Cowboys put them through.

What changes does Castiglione have in mind? He's the only one who knows right now. But it's obvious he's concerned with the character of some of the younger players Capel has recruited. Two freshmen were charged with shoplifting during the season. Two more freshmen, who were McDonald's All-Americans, didn't come close to living up to their hype. And the team's best player, sophomore guard Willie Warren, had a forgettable season due to injuries and indifference.

What moves will "Joe C." make? That's the huge question that hovers over Capel and his team as they head back to Norman after completing one of the worst seasons in the past four decades of Sooner hoops.

Castiglione isn't averse to making major moves if he's convinced things aren't working. But he's also a boss who gives his coaches every opportunity to succeed and lets them do their job. A big part of Capel's job is not just recruiting high school All-Americans, but recruiting high-character kids who are coachable instead of pouting prima donnas who refuse to work hard and to be coached.

Some OU insiders believe the Sooners' problems started last summer when Capel hired a new weight and conditioning coach. Warren and senior guard Tony Crocker reportedly didn't like the new workout regime and rebelled. In doing so, they set an extremely bad example for the four incoming freshman, who all ended up getting in Capel's doghouse at some point in the season.

It will be interesting to see why type of team Capel brings to the Sprit Center for the 2011 Big 12 Tournament. It's a safe bet several of the non-seniors who suited in the Bedlam blowout loss to OSU won't be in a Sooner uniform next season.

Capel has been extremely vocal this season, often placing all the blame on his players. It seemed obvious after the last two games that Castiglione had a come-to-Jesus meeting with Capel, because the OU coach switched dramatically, taking the blame and saying he was "ashamed" for his team's performance.

Did Castiglione have a heart-to-year with Capel? He wasn't saying Wednesday night. But the perturbed expression on his face most of the night seemed to say: This type of behavior and performance will not stand at the University of Oklahoma.

jkm, the stolen pifwafwi
3/11/2010, 03:21 PM
Some OU insiders believe the Sooners' problems started last summer when Capel hired a new weight and conditioning coach. Warren and senior guard Tony Crocker reportedly didn't like the new workout regime and rebelled. In doing so, they set an extremely bad example for the four incoming freshman, who all ended up getting in Capel's doghouse at some point in the season.

what in the world?

NormanPride
3/11/2010, 05:41 PM
This was a weird article. Like something out of bleacherreport.com...

MI Sooner
3/11/2010, 05:48 PM
And TMG didn't come close to living up to the hype? I thought he played as well as expected.

bri
3/11/2010, 06:37 PM
TMG really stepped it up as the season progressed. You know, like a freshman usually does.

ndpruitt03
3/11/2010, 06:40 PM
TMG Scored a lot sometimes. Didn't really defend, turned it over too much. Disappeared at other times.

jkm, the stolen pifwafwi
3/11/2010, 08:51 PM
TMG Scored a lot sometimes. Didn't really defend, turned it over too much. Disappeared at other times.

you know, like a freshman normally does

bri
3/11/2010, 11:31 PM
When Nick was a freshman, he scored 50 a game and was such a lockdown defender that anyone he even glanced at was shut out. WHY CAN'T EVERYONE ELSE BE AS CRAZY GOOD AS NICK?!?!??!!

ndpruitt03
3/11/2010, 11:48 PM
When Nick was a freshman, he scored 50 a game and was such a lockdown defender that anyone he even glanced at was shut out. WHY CAN'T EVERYONE ELSE BE AS CRAZY GOOD AS NICK?!?!??!!

The problem is that this team didn't show progress as the year went on. That is really hard to do in basketball. But it's a trend that has happened 3 times under Capel's teams. I'm not sure any amount of practice changes these guys from band team defenders to good team defenders.

Collier11
3/11/2010, 11:52 PM
Joe C isnt going to deal with malcontents and bad attitudes that deface our program, I think thats the point

King Barry's Back
3/12/2010, 05:15 AM
That was a very strange article. Spelling/grammar errors making some points unclear, a mix of a few rumors, some facts, a bit of pure opinion, and lots of speculation...but I don't get the point.

Honestly, other than the rumor about a new weight training coach, that article really didn't tell us anything. You don't have to watch Joe C watching basketball to know that he is unhappy with ending the season on a NINE GAME LOSING STREAK.

Is the author trying to say that Jeff Capel is going to be fired this year? Doesn't sound like it.

Is the author trying to say that Jeff Capel has been or is going to be told that he has to "cut" some of this year's non-contents? That's possible.

Or, is the author's point that Jeff Capel probably got yelled at for blaming the team's problems on the players?

I've read the article twice, and I have no idea.

But I do know that Joe C doesn't like to lose all the time. But I already knew that before reading the article.

My 2 cents, by the way, is that Capel gets another season but if he turns in another sub-.500 disaster -- he'll be typing his resume. It's a tough jobs market right now, though, so for Jeff's sake I hope the recession will be over by then.

starrca23
3/12/2010, 09:59 AM
I hate to defend Nick, but there is an article in today's Tulsa World http://www.tulsaworld.com/sportsextra/OU/article.aspx?subjectid=92&articleid=20100312_92_B4_OUjuni618397
in which Cade Davis says some similar stuff.
I will say that Capel can't hang a coach out to dry at the beginning of the year. Doing that would give the players an excuse to disrespect authority even more and give them an excuse not to play hard. I"ll stand by Capel.
I am also interested in the fact that early on we all wanted to blame WW3. Not saying he is blameless, but to hear Crocker mentioned in this makes me understand why this season went south so fast.

NormanPride
3/12/2010, 10:29 AM
The team was comprised mostly of freshmen, and they hit the wall after the Texas game. And then things went downhill. Baj says this was a blog post, not a full-on article, which explains the informal tone and lack of verifiable sources.

starrca23
3/12/2010, 12:36 PM
The orginal post by Nick, was a Sittler blog. The second is an article with quotes from Badger's boy toy.