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BarryBnds
2/5/2006, 03:31 PM
I know you guys will rip anyone that questions the deity that is coach Denim, but honestly when are we going to quit accepting mediocrity? It's the same BS every year.

Sure you can point out that we have the fifth best record in all of D1 Basketball and that we have made it to exactly one Final Four under coach Denim, but is that enough? I think that with a team that wins that much pure statistics say you're going to make one Final Four in 12 years or whatever the stat is. I'm tired of watching all balls and no brains basketball. Take the F-ing lid off the basket in practice and run some sets that will keep you from 15 minute dry spells. I hear the same crap I heard when people were calling for Blake's head. He's a good guy. He's developing the program. He's got good kids. That's all fine and well but he gets paid a HUGE amount of money to get the F-ing job done. I'm tired of running good kids off. Sure some will leave but you can't tell me that everyone of the kids that have left have been bad kids. DeAngelo was a great kid.

I guess my question is what is it going to take for some people to realize that we need some changes. Either force Kelvin to make some changes or force his *** out.

crawfish
2/5/2006, 03:36 PM
I think Coach Denim is gonna leave someday and we'll see what REAL mediocrity is.

CtheB
2/5/2006, 03:40 PM
There was Oklahoma basketball before Sampson, and there will be Oklahoma basketball after him. Don't be afraid to make a move with someone because you're afraid who might get the job.

BarryBnds
2/5/2006, 03:41 PM
I think Coach Denim is gonna leave someday and we'll see what REAL mediocrity is.

Wasn't this the same gloom and doom we heard when we fired Blake? Honestly we could do worse but at the same time we could do better. We've had how long to figure out Kelvin is going to keep us in the respectable tier of college basketball but NEVER take us over the top. So do we accept just sitting in the middle or trying to take the next step?

JohnnyMack
2/5/2006, 03:44 PM
Audrey: He worked really hard, Grandma.
Art: So do washing machines.

Just sayin'.

ucosooner
2/5/2006, 03:51 PM
Quit freaking out people.

Dio
2/5/2006, 03:53 PM
Quit freaking out people.

Are you saying we should be happy with what happened today?

SoonerDood
2/5/2006, 04:04 PM
Wasn't this the same gloom and doom we heard when we fired Blake? Honestly we could do worse but at the same time we could do better. We've had how long to figure out Kelvin is going to keep us in the respectable tier of college basketball but NEVER take us over the top. So do we accept just sitting in the middle or trying to take the next step?
if he's here long enough, he'll get a free pass like Jim Boeheim or Saint Eddie.

GottaHavePride
2/5/2006, 04:30 PM
Boeheim did manage to win an NC, though. granted, it took Carmelo Anthony to do it, but still.

CtheB
2/5/2006, 04:38 PM
Carmelo Anthony...career 8 point 3 board a game guy in Kelvin's system. Transfers after year 2 to second rate school. Now in Europe.

suncoastsooner7
2/5/2006, 04:38 PM
Yeah mediocrity is being the winningest team in your conference over the last decade, going to the Final Four, winning three conference titles, and only finishing out of the top 4 in the conference twice in 12 years.

God forbid should you ever have to experience what real mediocrity is if you think this is it.

suncoastsooner7
2/5/2006, 04:39 PM
Wasn't this the same gloom and doom we heard when we fired Blake? Honestly we could do worse but at the same time we could do better. We've had how long to figure out Kelvin is going to keep us in the respectable tier of college basketball but NEVER take us over the top. So do we accept just sitting in the middle or trying to take the next step?

Blake wasn't the winningest coach in school history.

PrideTrombone
2/5/2006, 04:40 PM
Yeah mediocrity is being the winningest team in your conference over the last decade, going to the Final Four, and winning three conference titles.

God forbid should you ever have to experience what real mediocrity is if you think this is it.

And God forbid you might ever have to experience greatness if you think that this is it.

GottaHavePride
2/5/2006, 04:42 PM
Yeah mediocrity is being the winningest team in your conference over the last decade, going to the Final Four, and winning three conference titles.

God forbid should you ever have to experience what real mediocrity is if you think this is it.

Mediocrity is getting bumped from the NCAA tournament in the first round by Indiana Freaking State. Wait, we did that. ;)

PrideTrombone
2/5/2006, 04:46 PM
Mediocrity is getting bumped from the NCAA tournament in the first round by Indiana Freaking State. Wait, we did that. ;)

Don't forget the NIT loss to Michigan, or the early round exits against Purdue (lower seed), Utah (lower seed), Temple, and Manahattan.

suncoastsooner7
2/5/2006, 04:48 PM
Mediocrity is getting bumped from the NCAA tournament in the first round by Indiana Freaking State. Wait, we did that. ;)


Yeah because it wasn't as though we weren't bumped from the NCAA tournament in the first or second round of the tournament by Indiana (second round), Evansville (first round), Memphis (second round), UNC (second round and worst UNC team in the last 20 years), and Southwest Louisiana State (first round) the previous decade and a half before he got here. :rolleyes:

GottaHavePride
2/5/2006, 04:56 PM
So you're saying there's been no substantial improvement in our NCAA tournament performance since Kelvin got here? ;)

Like I said, I like Kelvin, I just hate losing games because we get a lead, go into clock-burning mode and can't come out of it to score points when the other team decides to take advantage of that.

BarryBnds
2/5/2006, 04:56 PM
Yeah because it wasn't as though we weren't bumped from the NCAA tournament in the first or second round of the tournament by Indiana (second round), Evansville (first round), Memphis (second round), UNC (second round and worst UNC team in the last 20 years), and Southwest Louisiana State (first round) the previous decade and a half before he got here. :rolleyes:

WTF does Tubbs have to do with Kelvin? Tubbs built this program from nothing. Under him we were a perennial power. Under Kelvin we are capable of losing to any team we play. Since you are a suncoast guy and like to pump, are you happy with what's going on? This was supposed to be our year and now we aren't even the top of the terrible Big XII class anymore. Where do we go from here? If the conference was halfway decent we'd be heading to the NIT again with a senior laden team.

suncoastsooner7
2/5/2006, 05:19 PM
WTF does Tubbs have to do with Kelvin? Tubbs built this program from nothing. Under him we were a perennial power. Under Kelvin we are capable of losing to any team we play. Since you are a suncoast guy and like to pump, are you happy with what's going on? This was supposed to be our year and now we aren't even the top of the terrible Big XII class anymore. Where do we go from here? If the conference was halfway decent we'd be heading to the NIT again with a senior laden team.


Sorry Bruce Drake built this program from nothing. Both Billy and and Kelvin had very little in the way of overall talent when they came in but neither "built" this program. Sorry I could only use Billy's stats in the Tournament but it was so rare that Bliss, Ramsey, MacLeod, Steven, or Parrack ever made the tournament period there just aren't many stats for from their eras to use. But if you like MacLeod got us bounced in the first round, at home, against Hawaii in the NIT.

Fact of the matter is that only three coaches out of eleven in Sooner history have made it to the tournament on a consistant basis, and a Final Four... only one of those has done it more than once and his name is neither Sampson or Tubbs.

In short I wasn't bashing Tubbs but unless I go all the way back to the WWII era we haven't really EVER made the tournament on a consistant basis to compare our performances against.

As far as perennial power under Tubbs, that wasn't the case. We were a "power" for three years, about the same as under Kelvin Sampson. And just like with Sampson that was due just as much to assistants that were brought in and then left.

suncoastsooner7
2/5/2006, 05:35 PM
I also think you have the Sun Coast confused with the Gold Coast. Sun Coast = Gulf Coast where we like to lay in the shade with bungalows in the background and stiff drinks in our hands. I believe you are thinking of the Gold Coast which is the Pacific coast where they like to look like Arnold, hit the roids, and have a skyline in the background. ;)

BarryBnds
2/5/2006, 05:37 PM
I see you avoided my question. Are you happy with the state of the program?

suncoastsooner7
2/5/2006, 05:44 PM
I see you avoided my question. Are you happy with the state of the program?

Do I think that we could do better occasionally. I sure do, there are fans of about 200+ Division I programs that probably feel the same way as well. Am I content and proud of what our program accomplishes though is another question and yes I am. For people who think that there was basketball at Oklahoma before Tubbs and Sampson they are right, the problem is that it was almost 3 decades before they came into the program. Kelvin's worst season has never been as bad as it got under the only two other notable coaches in our schools history though. Kelvin does a good job.

I think too many of our fans have our basketball program confused with the football program in the aspect that we should be a top 5 team each and every season or confused with programs in Chappel Hill, Durham, Lexington, Bloomington, Lawerence, and Pasadena. Even those programs are not top five or even ten year in and year out. Oklahoma has also been more consistant than any of those programs over the last decade as well.

BarryBnds
2/5/2006, 05:51 PM
Do I think that we could do better occasionally. I sure do, there are fans of about 200+ Division I programs that probably feel the same way as well. Am I content and proud of what our program accomplishes though is another question and yes I am. For people who think that there was basketball at Oklahoma before Tubbs and Sampson they are right, the problem is that it was almost 3 decades before they came into the program. Kelvin's worst season has never been as bad as it got under the only two other notable coaches in our schools history though. Kelvin does a good job.

I think too many of our fans have our basketball program confused with the football program in the aspect that we should be a top 5 team each and every season or confused with programs in Chappel Hill, Durham, Lexington, Bloomington, Lawerence, and Pasadena. Even those programs are not top five or even ten year in and year out. Oklahoma has also been more consistant than any of those programs over the last decade as well.

You just proved the whole premise of my thread. You are accepting mediocrity. Why can't we expect a top 5 team? We were ranked their to start the year. If we pay our coach as much as we do and expect to get 12K to every game then by god I want to expect us to win. The thing I love about Joe C is that he NEVER thinks we can't win it all in all the teams we field except for basketball. Because Kelvin has the media love he gets a free pass. Lastly I don't care about winning 20 games every year and then getting disappointed in the tourney. I'd rather be inconsistent and have a killer team every other year and have to rebuild the other years.

Paperclip
2/5/2006, 05:54 PM
I'm tired of having my spirits crushed by OU men's basketball. Why should I invest anything in this team?

Soonerus
2/5/2006, 05:56 PM
I'm tired of having my spirits crushed by OU men's basketball. Why should I invest anything in this team?

...because they are pretty darn good...

suncoastsooner7
2/5/2006, 06:00 PM
You just proved the whole premise of my thread. You are accepting mediocrity. Why can't we expect a top 5 team? We were ranked their to start the year. If we pay our coach as much as we do and expect to get 12K to every game then by god I want to expect us to win. The thing I love about Joe C is that he NEVER thinks we can't win it all in all the teams we field except for basketball. Because Kelvin has the media love he gets a free pass. Lastly I don't care about winning 20 games every year and then getting disappointed in the tourney. I'd rather be inconsistent and have a killer team every other year and have to rebuild the other years.

Oklahoma being the second winningest team in the country over the last decade reinforces your point?

What was your point again?

Thank the lord this is an Oklahoma board and not an ACC or Big East team board because you would have gotten ran long ago for such asinine statements. No one is accepting mediocrity and if you think that being in the top 20 almost permanently over a twelve year time span then you haven't a clue what mediocrity is. If you want one go talk to Mizzou, texass tech, or Iowa State fan.

BarryBnds
2/5/2006, 06:03 PM
You said we shouldn't expect to have a top 5 team and shouldn't compare ourselves with the big dogs in Chapel Hill etc. That means you don't expect greatness from our school. You're lucky we aren't in the ACC cause we would be Clemson.

suncoastsooner7
2/5/2006, 06:06 PM
You said we shouldn't expect to have a top 5 team and shouldn't compare ourselves with the big dogs in Chapel Hill etc. That means you don't expect greatness from our school. You're lucky we aren't in the ACC cause we would be Clemson.


Yeah Clemson has won three confernce titles and been to Final Four recently. :rolleyes:

I said we shouldn't expect a top 5 team each and every year. Don't put words on my keyboard that I didn't type that won't work so well for you.

Scott D
2/5/2006, 08:11 PM
You said we shouldn't expect to have a top 5 team and shouldn't compare ourselves with the big dogs in Chapel Hill etc. That means you don't expect greatness from our school. You're lucky we aren't in the ACC cause we would be Clemson.

guess it's a good thing that Duke, UNC, and occasionally Wake Forest are such football powerhouses then eh?

ucosooner
2/5/2006, 09:40 PM
Are you saying we should be happy with what happened today?

No, I wasn't happy about what happened today. What I'm saying is that every loss OU has, everyone calls for Sampson's head. I don't agree 100% with his coaching philosophy, but he has built a consistantly good team. The way college basketball is today, with talent so spread out, I think he's done a good job keeping the talent stocked (yes, even considering the transfers, but that's those kids problems).
Maybe we should also get rid of Stoops, I mean he did lose 3 games this year, and while we're at it, how about Sherri Coale, she's also lost some games.
Like I said before, quit freaking out people.

IronSooner
2/5/2006, 10:56 PM
That's it. We're a good team. We aren't a great team, and we rarely will be imho. We'll bust our asses, go after loose balls, rebound, and shoot 3's. We'll also have at least a 4-min scoring drought in every meaningful game we play. Our M.O. is to win around 20 games a season, be close in the conference tournament, sometimes win it, then lose in the 2nd round of the NCAAs. That's OU bball.

Rock Hard Corn Frog
2/6/2006, 09:58 AM
Oklahoma being the second winningest team in the country over the last decade reinforces your point?

What was your point again?

Thank the lord this is an Oklahoma board and not an ACC or Big East team board because you would have gotten ran long ago for such asinine statements. No one is accepting mediocrity and if you think that being in the top 20 almost permanently over a twelve year time span then you haven't a clue what mediocrity is. If you want one go talk to Mizzou, texass tech, or Iowa State fan.

Exactly. Compared to MU's overall success we are Duke.

Worst case you could say the team has consistantly underachieved, although I think that is wrong too. Maybe occaisionally underachieved. If the program really was mediocre we would make the NCAA tourney about 1 out of every 5-6 years and we would probably average about 16-17 wins a year. Mediocre was OU baskeball prior to the early 80's. Since then we have been anything but.

&$*$ we lose at road game at AFH and half the posters are ready to throw in the towel.

ucosooner
2/6/2006, 11:04 AM
That's it. We're a good team. We aren't a great team, and we rarely will be imho. We'll bust our asses, go after loose balls, rebound, and shoot 3's. We'll also have at least a 4-min scoring drought in every meaningful game we play. Our M.O. is to win around 20 games a season, be close in the conference tournament, sometimes win it, then lose in the 2nd round of the NCAAs. That's OU bball.


That would make a great intro video for the guys to come out to before the game.

Rock Hard Corn Frog
2/6/2006, 11:14 AM
There is only one Oleg Restov.

JohnnyMack
2/6/2006, 11:18 AM
There is only one Kellen Sampson.

1stTimeCaller
2/6/2006, 11:20 AM
Kelvin Sampson = Gary Gibbs. Great DC but terrible OC.

oumartin
2/6/2006, 12:17 PM
I'm tired of having my spirits crushed by OU men's basketball. Why should I invest anything in this team?


There is so much said in this statement!
maybe thats how much of the empty LNC feels!

Sooner04
2/6/2006, 12:42 PM
Yeah because it wasn't as though we weren't bumped from the NCAA tournament in the first or second round of the tournament by Indiana (second round), Evansville (first round), Memphis (second round), UNC (second round and worst UNC team in the last 20 years), and Southwest Louisiana State (first round) the previous decade and a half before he got here. :rolleyes:
Memphis beat us in the Elite 8.

We didn't lose to Evansville. We lost to Indiana in the second round IN Evansville.

You try beating SW Louisiana with your star center on the bench with a shredded knee. It ain't easy.

NickZeppelin
2/6/2006, 12:46 PM
If you watched Kelvin all 2nd half he was telling these guys to push it down the court and to make certain plays that were open. But they didn't. You can only do so much coaching if the players don't execute it won't matter.

oumartin
2/6/2006, 01:17 PM
no Nick, Kelvin wasn't telling them to do that I'll almost guarantee that.

Now, if you have proof go ahead and show me.

NickZeppelin
2/6/2006, 01:31 PM
Yes he was. Watch the game again if you can get a tape you will see him yelling at the players to push it down the court a ton of times during that and he was trying to tell them to hurry the offense up. Just watch the game again and you see him going crazy at times.

CtheB
2/6/2006, 01:52 PM
Yes he was. Watch the game again if you can get a tape you will see him yelling at the players to push it down the court a ton of times during that and he was trying to tell them to hurry the offense up. Just watch the game again and you see him going crazy at times.

Dude, can you read lips or something? All I know is that unless he's locking his index fingers over his head (man to man), or pretending to blow out his brain with one of those index fingers, I really don't know what he's thinking.

suncoastsooner7
2/6/2006, 02:00 PM
Memphis beat us in the Elite 8.

We didn't lose to Evansville. We lost to Indiana in the second round IN Evansville.

You try beating SW Louisiana with your star center on the bench with a shredded knee. It ain't easy.


Nothing but excuses. And actually I messed up by putting Evansville when I meant to type Dayton.

Once again not trying to knock Billy Tubbs but he was 0-2 against Southwest Louisiana State but I suppose you have an excuse for losing to them in Norman as well. :rolleyes:

Fact of the Matter is that Tubbs, Sampson, and Drake are pretty darn even in accomplishments, despite what the you and the Sampson bashers, or what the Billy bashers say. The difference between the two is would you rather watch us score 100 and lose/win by twenty or score 65 and lose/win by 2.

Sooner04
2/6/2006, 02:08 PM
Nothing but excuses.
How is losing to Memphis in the Elite 8 an excuse?

Sooner04
2/6/2006, 02:11 PM
The difference between the two is would you rather watch us score 100 and lose/win by twenty or score 65 and lose/win by 2.
No, the difference between Billy and Kelvin is Billy won the conference outright four times while Kelvin has yet to win an undisputed conference championship just once. Winning the conference gets you national recognition.

Winning the conference tournament gets you a trophy and a big WGAF from the Selection Committee.

CtheB
2/6/2006, 02:16 PM
Yes he was. Watch the game again if you can get a tape you will see him yelling at the players to push it down the court a ton of times during that and he was trying to tell them to hurry the offense up. Just watch the game again and you see him going crazy at times.

Well, Nick, you know what I was thinking? When we made it 53-38 and Rush hits his first three, Kelvin checked clock and thought about taking air out to limit KU possessions down the stretch.

Also, everyone please quit whining about the officials, especially you Kelvin. If there is one program in the country that has benefitted from Thugball in the past five years its OU. Even Self planted you firmly in your seat yesterday when he heard you start your moaning.

Oklahoma basketball....hamster in a wheel.

suncoastsooner7
2/6/2006, 02:34 PM
No, the difference between Billy and Kelvin is Billy won the conference outright four times while Kelvin has yet to win an undisputed conference championship just once. Winning the conference gets you national recognition.

Winning the conference tournament gets you a trophy and a big WGAF from the Selection Committee.

Billy won when there were only two other real teams in the conference. Kansas State had started it spiral into oblivion, Oklahooma State had yet to comeback to the national stage, Iowa State had yet to be a real team on the scene, Nebraska and Colorado were Nebraska and Colorado.


But I expect this from you 04 you have always had the brown mess on your nose from Billy.

oumartin
2/6/2006, 02:35 PM
I'm starting a sense a change around here.

Stoop Dawg
2/6/2006, 02:41 PM
Scoring 100 points and blowing out weak competition gets you on the highlight reel at ESPN.


Fixed.

Sooner04
2/6/2006, 02:50 PM
Billy won when there were only two other real teams in the conference. Kansas State had started it spiral into oblivion, Oklahooma State had yet to comeback to the national stage, Iowa State had yet to be a real team on the scene, Nebraska and Colorado were Nebraska and Colorado.

But I expect this from you 04 you have always had the brown mess on your nose from Billy.
We won the conference in '88 and three of the eight Big 8 teams made the Elite 8.

Real oblivion those Wildcats were living in, huh?

oumartin
2/6/2006, 02:57 PM
me and ole' Sooner04 don't see eye to eye very much but i've got his back on this one.

CtheB
2/6/2006, 03:32 PM
We won the conference in '88 and three of the eight Big 8 teams made the Elite 8.

Real oblivion those Wildcats were living in, huh?

How about Iowa State with Jeff Hornacek and Jeff Grayer? They were really bad too.

Rock Hard Corn Frog
2/6/2006, 04:50 PM
We weren't mediocre when Tubbs was coaching and we aren't mediocre now. There have been some real good and real bad moments for OU teams under both coaches. The 88 team was as exciting as OU b-ball could get and it was fun watching the team roll up 172 points against Loyola Marymount. I also remember needing a 3-point shot at the buzzer in the NCAA tourney to beat 16-seed Eastern Freakin' Tennessee St, and losing to Rajun Cajuns, etc so don't say that Tubbs teams never underachieved. I think/thought Billyball was great but it worked a lot better when we had Tisdale, Mookie, Grace, Grant, etc then it did with Jeff Webster and a handful of borderline DI players.

If you want the closest comparison to Billyball in big time basketball now it is probably Pitino with Louisville but even that isn't as much up and down the court as we had. I don't think it really works anymore unless maybe you have 6-7 McDonalds AA on your team. It didn't work the last 2 years that Tubbs were here either and he didn't exactly get Lamar to the NCAA tourney.

College basketball in general has evolved like the NBA (like it or not) into a defensive oriented, contest every basket, sort of game. The shot clock is probably the only thing preventing some games from being in the 30's.

It's obvious that Kelvinball is not as pretty as Billyball. The San Antonio Spurs last year were nowhere as exciting as the showtime Lakers. That isn't how the game is played anymore. So if someone thinks that we just bring in a now coach and the team averages 90 points a game next year it isn't as simple as that.

Sampson is the 2-time National Coach of the Year. That puts him in a pretty select group. We've had some real good teams lay an egg early in the NCAA tourney and it sucks but I've also seen a team with Renzi Stone and Robert Allison that would make our current team look like the best in the country talent wise overachieve and beat teams we had no business winning against.

Anyway mediocrity is what this program was before Tubbs and Sampson and very well what might be in the future if a two-time coach of the year that averages about 23 wins a year can't cut it.

suncoastsooner7
2/6/2006, 06:33 PM
Well said Rock hard. I'm sick of both the Kelvin and Billy bashers. They both were/are good coaches and the fact that some feel the need to degrade one to make the other look better is just simply pathetic.

GottaHavePride
2/6/2006, 06:40 PM
College basketball in general has evolved like the NBA (like it or not) into a defensive oriented, contest every basket, sort of game.


BWAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!


Sorry. Carry on.

NickZeppelin
2/6/2006, 06:54 PM
You don't watch much NBA do you Rock?

Rock Hard Corn Frog
2/7/2006, 09:47 AM
GHP, I probably should have said "half-court bar fight" or game where players like Dennis Rodman or Ron Artest are considered stars. I went Baldric on you for a moment there.


No, I don't watch a bunch of NBA but I watch plenty enough to have an informed opinion. I'll also seriously reconsider the contest every shot comment. I do stand by the comment that it is a defense oriented game now where many players who were stars in 70's and 80's would be role players now. They would get beat up unless they seriously bulked up. Shooting is less at a premium now that it was say 15-20 years ago and the game is more physical that it has ever been. Scoring is way down too. 120-130 point games are very rare now and games in the 80-90 range are typical.

Before you think I get too nostalgic about the old NBA go back and watch an old NBA game or two on ESPN classic. The game is up and down the court and few open shots are missed but there are also many easy uncontested baskets.

The NBA game has evolved and to a lessor extent so has college baseketball.

oumartin
2/7/2006, 09:50 AM
Todays game in both college and NBA is full of nothing but great athletes. Not great basketball players.
the old school NBA of magic,bird, and others would not match up physically with todays players but would school them in basketball. IMO

Rock Hard Corn Frog
2/7/2006, 10:01 AM
Todays game in both college and NBA is full of nothing but great athletes. Not great basketball players.
the old school NBA of magic,bird, and others would not match up physically with todays players but would school them in basketball. IMO

Exactly, if the game was called tight. If Shaq was playing the old Celtics under today's rules then the whole Celtics front line would foul out by the middle of the 3rd quarter. (and Shaq would be 15 of 35 from the line).

IronHorseSooner
2/7/2006, 10:38 AM
Todays game in both college and NBA is full of nothing but great athletes. Not great basketball players.
the old school NBA of magic,bird, and others would not match up physically with todays players but would school them in basketball. IMO


I absolutely agree. Our performance in international ball (i.e Olympics) is a perfect example. Our players can put on some highlight-reel dunks, but they can't shoot. When Richard Jefferson is the Olympic team's best outside shooter, that's scary. The same is on the college level. The two best players in the country are, without a doubt, Morrison and Reddick. Why, because they are pure shooters. They are throw-backs to an era of basketball (late 70s, early 80s) where shooting was at a premium. Everybody wants to be on the highlight reel on ESPN. How do you do this? By dunks and Vince Carter-esque moves. So, therefore, players don't practice shooting and FTs as much as they used to do. If you can mix great athletic ability with great shooting (i.e. Kobe, MJ, Duncan, Garnett), then you have a truly amazing player. However, I say that they REAL reason players don't practice shooting anymore is the ESPN effect that I just described. As Coach Iba once said "there are only 2 plays, "South Pacific" and "put the ball in the basket." I wish more players would remember that.

NormanPride
2/7/2006, 10:53 AM
The Spurs and Pistons have proved that a great defense is what gets you to the highest level consistently. Even the All-Star team Lakers with the Mailman got punked BAD by a relatively unheralded Pistons team with very few offensive threats.

It seems like OU is trying to move to a more balanced offense. It looks like Sampson would rather have 10 points from everyone than 60 from two people and I like that more, because it means if one person has a bad day you can still do well. This year still boils down to the fact that we don't have a leader on the court.