This is a basketball post BUT.....

[SteelClip49]

in thinking of the 2003 and 2008 Oklahoma football squads, it had me thinking of the stories I heard from my uncle about how sick the offense was under Billy Tubbs from 1986-1992. I really didn't believe OU could put up such potent numbers in a basketball game until I saw some of the scores myself and I was just blown away thinking this could be done in 40 minutes of basketball. In football, over the years, we have seen programs light up the scoreboard- 1971 Nebraska, 1972 Oklahoma, 1983 Nebraska, 1995 Nebraska, 2003 Oklahoma, 2008 Oklahoma and Texas so it's likely that it can be seen again over the years in football but surprisingly in basketball, I don't think it's possible nowadays to see such scores again like many did from 1986 to 1992 under Billy Tubbs. You would think with the fast tempo of basketball nowadays it would be possible but no so much and not even really at the pro level.

And mods, please, don't move this to the bball room. That isn't visited much and there are football comparisons in here so it's legit!

Anyways, here are most of the gaudy scores from the Tubbs era. Simply, just simply unreal:

Billy Tubbs' Oklahoma Sooners from 1986-1992. Probably worst defense ever as well.

Here are some scores:

(86-87)
+ 119-110 over BYU
+ 101-76 over UTA
+ 109-92 over FSU
+ 108-62 over Colo St.
+ 106-89 over Creighton
+ 108-84 over Colorado
+ 133-97 over Nebraska

(87-88)
+ 123-73 over LoyolaCHI
+ 111-69 over Sam Houston
+ 152-84 over Centenary
+ 124-81 over Georgia State
+ 109-61 over Virginia
+ 151-99 over Dayton
+ 144-93 over ORU
+ 108-80 over Ok state
+ 109-86 over Iowa state
+ 120-101 over Missouri
+ 112-95 over KSU
+ 120-100 over UNM
+ 134-84 over Colorado
+ 113-93 over Nebraska
+ 102-99 over Missouri
+ 107-87 over Auburn
+ 108-98 over Louisville

(88-89)
+ 104-87 over SMU
+ 152-122 over ORU
+ 136-103 over LMU
+ 132-64 over Southern Utah State
+ 115-96 over UALR
+ 128-80 over TAMU
+ 124-95 over Texas
+ 111-96 over SHSU
+ 123-95 over Kansas
+ 122-86 over Colorado
+ 126-97 over Iowa State
+ 112-105 over Missouri
+ 106-88 over Colorado
+ 111-108 over Ok State
+ 124-81 over LTech

(89-90)
+ 173-101 over US Int'l
+ 146-51 over NE Illinois
+ 136-121 over LMU
+ 142-109 over James Madison
+ 147-94 over UNT
+ 134-81 over UALR

(90-91)
+ 162-99 over Angelo State
+ 141-105 over VCU
+ 172-112 over LMU
+ 113-97 over Colorado

(91-92)
+ 119-78 over Saint Louis
+ 144-81 over Morgan State
+ 118-99 over Morehead
+ 117-95 over MVSU
+ 130-89 over ORU


What do you all think? Pretty good stretch? What are a lot of yours thoughts who witnessed this and remember what you were thinking then. I was very young then and had no idea what was happening.

[fwsooner22]

The way the games are refereed now won't allow it. The clutch and grab on the break is no longer a foul and point guards now have to deal with a two-hand, hand check without a foul being called. Also, if you start running up the score like that now the politically correct police will come down on you hard.

[bigfatjerk]

OU played at a faster pace back then. They didn't really play that bad on defense till the early 90s. They scored more transition points than most teams out there. It helped that they had 3 NBA Pros in King, Blaylock, and Harvey Grant in the late 80s. And Blaylock and Grant played for 10+ years in the NBA. But we also had a lot of NBA caliber talent in that era. Daryl Kennedy, David Johnson, Anthony Bowie, Tim McCalister, Rickey Grace were all getting big looks from NBA scouts. I think some played a little in the NBA others didn't. But the talent we had was amazing.

The defenses probably weren't even close to the worst in OU history. The defense we play now is far worse. They don't cause any turnovers and allow other teams to blow them out. Maybe in the early 90s you could argue those defenses were mostly terrible.

[fadada1]

now you know why billy called big east basketball "the cure for insomnia".

my freshman year was 89-90 season. big time fun going to games. scores in the 90s might have been considered an off night. defense was definitely played - a TON of full court press... most of the game. if you're going to pull that off, you better have athletes. the only bad thing is smart/well coached teams know how to break the press. almost like playing against the wishbone - it works great for a number of years, but eventually teams figure out how to beat it by playing assignment/disciplined ball.

fun, fun games to watch.

[CobraKai]

I was at OU from 1988 to 1993, so I witnessed some really good Tubbs teams. I absolutely loved him as a coach, and basketball games were really exciting. I don't like thinking about it though because it reminds me of how far we have regressed.

[Blue]

The good ol days....sigh. Meanwhile we put up 42 on AnM the other night.

[A Sooner in Texas]

now you know why billy called big east basketball "the cure for insomnia".

my freshman year was 89-90 season. big time fun going to games. scores in the 90s might have been considered an off night. defense was definitely played - a TON of full court press... most of the game. if you're going to pull that off, you better have athletes. the only bad thing is smart/well coached teams know how to break the press. almost like playing against the wishbone - it works great for a number of years, but eventually teams figure out how to beat it by playing assignment/disciplined ball.

fun, fun games to watch.

Yes, they were. It was like watching 40 minutes of a horse race, with our thoroughbreds outrunning and outgunning Shetland ponies.

[AlbqSooner]

Also, if you start running up the score like that now the politically correct police will come down on you hard.

They came down on Tubbs. He had two CLASSIC responses.

When Norm Sloan whined about Tubbs "running up the score" the response from Tubbs was, "Don't like us scoring that many? Get Better."

During a press conference a reporter suggested that Tubbs did not have to "run up the score" like he did. He suggested that a more sportsmanlike approach would be to take it easy on a clearly outgunned opponent.

Tubbs reply: "What you are suggesting is illegal. It's called point shaving."

When OU played UNLV in 87, the over under - for a college game - was 201. The game went over!

[bluedogok]

My freshman year was 82-83, Wayman's freshman season so that is the basketball that I liked. The game now is boring, officiating has taken the up tempo game off the court.

Actually, because of all the big scores people assumed they weren't very good defensively but the pressing defense is what created a lot of those scores. Watching them in the late 80-s to early 90's they had a suffocating defense, Mookie Blaylock usually led the NCAA in steals. The Loyola-Marymount games were always fun, culminating with the 172-112 in 1991.

[AlbqSooner]

IIRC correctly Mookie came into the final regular season game needing 5 steals for the record. He had six that game.

[sooneron]

Those were fun times. I was at the infamous Mizery game. AWESOME!

[Soonerjeepman]

, culminating with the 172-112 in 1991.

when ya beat a team by 60 pts...there is obviously SOME defense being played...

do the avg SPREAD...that will tell ya...imho...if over 20..which I'd say is real close..then D is played...

[OUmillenium]

Talking about my favorite era of basketball, when fouls and walks were called.

If anybody has any game tapes from 86-87 please pm me. I only have the last game, OT loss v IOWA in Sweet 16.

Hoops way different now...
1. officials allow for a much more physical style of defense
2. premium placed on athletes not "shooters", every one of Tubbs recruits could light it up...or he would not want them
3. modern offenses rarely allow for quick guarded shots, when Tubbs teams didn't get a fast break they often got up a quick shot, even if guarded

[OUmillenium]

I am typing w 1 hand due to shoulder surgery or else I would be rattling off pages about Tubbs late 80s teams.

[texaspokieokie]

i saw a game (on tv) against unlv, where in the last 2 minutes, the refs & coaches letum play. no time-outs & few (if any) fouls. just "run & gun", it
was great. this is a vague memory & maybe not all that accurate, but it was fun.

[tfoolry]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1gm7IoGfQI

[NMSooner'80]

Probably the most amazing run-and-gun games back then were with Loyola Marymount. I saw the 172-112 game in Norman (Brent Price had 56, which is still an LNC record; Tisdale's 61 game in OKC). The one the year before, when both teams were a lot better, was 136-121 (OU) out there. Each team had a 40-point scorer in that one.

The latter was the game after the ill-fated Hank Gathers passed out on the court on the LMU campus. He came back that year and played, but missed the game with OU, then fainted again and never got up in March. :(

I forget the final on the game in Norman in '89, but I think it was 64-63 at the half. OU won that one fairly easily also, in the end.

As for now, I'd just settle for some of those games like we had when I was a freshman and our kiddie-corps team of '77 won those back-to-back thrillers with senior-dominated KSU and Mizzou in the LNC, almost by the same score (64-63 vs. KSU, 66-63 vs. Mizzou).

[tfoolry]

I still haven't recovered from this one. At least they don't have to play Iowa every year as some idiot announcer has to bring up "Danny & The Miracles" every time they play ku.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Aw0P_Em2cY

[NMSooner'80]

I still haven't recovered from this one. At least they don't have to play Iowa every year as some idiot announcer has to bring up "Danny & The Miracles" every time they play ku.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Aw0P_Em2cY


I will hate Manning with the intensity of a thousand blazing suns until the day they put me in the ground. But even that won't compare to my hatred of any of those "idiot announcers" who won't let that game go (much like the OU-Potato Aggy Fiasco Bowl).....

[CarolinaSoonerFan]

Mookie was the bomb

[CarolinaSoonerFan]

Didn't Stacey King get at least on ring with MJ in Chicago?

[bluedogok]

Didn't Stacey King get at least on ring with MJ in Chicago?
Yep, three consecutive rings with the Bulls (1991-93).

[OhU1]

The 1988 loss in the title game played in the back yard of a team we already beat twice is my most painful memory as a Sooner. Sorry to sound like I'm making Texcuses but it's one of those games you keep thinking "What if?"

[NMSooner'80]

The 1988 loss in the title game played in the back yard of a team we already beat twice is my most painful memory as a Sooner. Sorry to sound like I'm making Texcuses but it's one of those games you keep thinking "What if?"


Seriously, it was hard to even get up the next day and keep on keeping on after that. I'm 53 years old and I may NEVER get over it, in part because of how that game was billed elsewhere as "good" (KU) vs. "evil" (OU). :mad:

It was just our luck to make the Final 4 in a year where we were so universally hated, and surrounded by teams who pretty much billed themselves as so morally superior (Duke, KU and Arizona). :rolleyes:

[EatLeadCommie]

I'm still not over the KU loss. I went back to my room, put on the radio, and cried. "Beds Are Burning" by Midnight Oil was playing on the radio, and to this day I think of the loss whenever I hear that song.

I remember the Centenary score as the first big, "Holy crap!" score of the Tubbs era. I also remember watching Brent Price light it up against LMU on ESPN. He was ridiculous that night.

[tfoolry]

The 1988 loss in the title game played in the back yard of a team we already beat twice is my most painful memory as a Sooner. Sorry to sound like I'm making Texcuses but it's one of those games you keep thinking "What if?"

WTF is up with that? In football, we played Miami in Orange Bowl For NC in Miami 1/88 and LSU for NC in New Orleans 1/04. I hope there will be some NC games here in Dallas that OU can play in so we can turn the tables.

[70sooner]

check out this link and it will tell you about everything you'd want to know about that team. Boy were they fun to watch, as were all of Billy's teams...


http://www.soonersports.com/sports/m-baskbl/archive/022508aaa.html

[bluedogok]

It was just our luck to make the Final 4 in a year where we were so universally hated, and surrounded by teams who pretty much billed themselves as so morally superior (Duke, KU and Arizona). :rolleyes:
...but that is just how Billy wanted it, he kind of liked wearing the black hat. I would say that UNLV/Tark was about the only real good team that had a similar rep. Arkansas/Richardson was in there as well, they all played a similar full court press, up tempo style which has been officiated out of the game. I swear I saw officials call fouls just to catch their breath in some of those games they were flying up and down the court.

None of them top "Regardless of how terrible the officiating is, don't throw anything on the court".

YglrzDO2etA

[sooneron]

and I was there...

AWESOME!

[sooneron]

I still haven't recovered from this one. At least they don't have to play Iowa every year as some idiot announcer has to bring up "Danny & The Miracles" every time they play ku.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Aw0P_Em2cY

Thank you for helping me relive that moment that I had almost forgotten. The retching pain is back now...:mad:

[Soonerjeepman]

The 1988 loss in the title game played in the back yard of a team we already beat twice is my most painful memory as a Sooner. Sorry to sound like I'm making Texcuses but it's one of those games you keep thinking "What if?"

no doubt....living here in KC...I would always wear my OU shirt to play ball on the park court...the brothers call me "the white guy from OU"...LOL...referring to Dave S....

watching the game at my brother's house....ya would have thought it was New Years Eve after the game....then the next day...ugh...STILL WORE MY OU clothes..though...

[Soonerjeepman]

funny, looking back at those guys...they weren't much bigger than the team today....but man they could play....

[soonerbub]

Remember the time we hung 58 on the mighty red raiders including a whopping 20 in the 1st half?

good times