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View Full Version : OU misses on NIT...



Soonerus
3/11/2007, 08:07 PM
...with 16 wins they do not make it...

Soonerus
3/11/2007, 08:11 PM
Longest post season streak is officially over...

reevie
3/11/2007, 08:16 PM
Well, we'll just start a new one next year.

Soonerus
3/11/2007, 08:18 PM
Well, we'll just start a new one next year.

I like your attitude....

Eielson
3/11/2007, 08:23 PM
Well, we'll just start a new one next year.

In 2032 we'll have a pretty long streak.

LittleWingSooner
3/11/2007, 08:27 PM
I hope this fires up the team for next year. They played with no emotion this year.

OUSKINS
3/11/2007, 09:01 PM
I hope this fires up the team for next year. They played with no emotion this year.

Are you kidding? Those kids played their guts out all season long. They just didn't have any talent. I was very impressed with their effort, energy, and emotion all season long. I thought they played "scared" a few times-- but honestly, they had every reason to be.

Soonerus
3/11/2007, 09:04 PM
That's amazing it will take us until 2032 to get back to where we were....sobering...

LittleWingSooner
3/11/2007, 09:05 PM
If talent were a problem we would have been in more blowouts near the end of the year.

Jay C. Upchurch
3/11/2007, 09:06 PM
OU SID Report

NORMAN - The University of Oklahoma men's basketball season came to a close on Sunday as it was not one of the 32 teams selected for inclusion in the National Invitation Tournament.

The Sooners, who finished with a 16-15 overall record and tied for seventh place with a 6-10 Big 12 Conference mark, saw their 25-year postseason streak end. It was the longest streak in NCAA Division I.

"Not making the postseason is very disappointing," said head coach Jeff Capel. "That was a goal of ours at the beginning of the season, but we didn't do enough things to make it happen. We felt like we were a team that could have done some really good things in the postseason if we had the opportunity. But that's our fault.

"We're said about our streak ending and we're disappointed about it, but we're looking forward to starting a new one."

Oklahoma, which stood at 15-8 overall and 6-4 in the Big 12 in mid-February before losing seven of its final eight games, was strong defensively all season. OU surrendered just 59.6 points a contest -- the program's fewest since the 1977-78 season -- and allowed teams to shoot just 40.6 percent from the field. Only two teams shot above 50 percent against the Sooners all season and nobody scored more than 80 points against them.

Said Capel, "I thought this was a very productive first season. Did we win as many games as we would have liked to win? No. But I think overall our team got better in a lot of areas. Individual players improved, especially some guys who got their first taste of consistent minutes. I think our guys competed and played hard night in and night out.

"One of the things I wanted from the beginning of the year was to show improvement, and I think we did that in most areas. I'm proud to have been this team's coach this year, especially the seniors. My staff and I really appreciate the way they embraced us and really worked hard for us."

OU loses four seniors from this year's team in forward Nate Carter and guards Michael Neal, Kellen Sampson and Chris Walker.

Carter was a third-team All-Big 12 pick after he averaged 16.5 points and 7.1 rebounds in conference play. He scored in double figures in 15 of the team's 16 league outings and shot .865 from the free throw line on the year. Carter also set a school record by making 37 consecutive free throw attempts.

Neal, the 2006 Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, averaged 10.0 points per game this season and led OU with 49 3-pointers. He was the only Sooner to start all 16 conference games and he posted a .794 season mark from the foul line.

Sampson, who graduated in three-and-a-half years with a degree in communication, played in 12 games this season. He was 4-for-9 from 3-point range and scored 15 points on the year. He also earned an assist on the team's final field goal Friday against Kansas.

Walker played in 26 contests this season and made three starts. The point guard averaged 1.0 point, 1.2 rebounds and 0.9 assists.

The last time Oklahoma did not qualify for postseason competition was in the 1980-81 season, Billy Tubbs' first year as head coach.

Soonerus
3/11/2007, 09:09 PM
I am not a Capel-basher or 2006/07 season basher but how do you say this team showed improvement by losing 6 out the last 7 games ????

reevie
3/11/2007, 09:12 PM
I am not a Capei-basher or 2006/07 season basher but how do you say this team showed improvement by losing 6 out the last 7 games ????



Didn't John Blake say something like that?







Not that I think Blake and Capel are in the same league as coaches...

LittleWingSooner
3/11/2007, 09:24 PM
I think many of our losses near the end were close losses so it shows we have talent. Blake was blown out of almost every one of his losses at OU.

TripleOption14
3/11/2007, 09:34 PM
I respect your opinion LittleWing but I gotta disagree with ya. The games I was able to see this year (which was about 10) they always seemed to play their hearts out. However, playing ones heart out only gets one so far. If you don't have the talent you simply don't have the talent and thats what OU's problem was this year. All of the players on the OU bball roster right now are simply role players on many other big name teams. However i do believe that this team is on the right path. Once Capel's can start getting his type of TALENTED players on the team i am certain things will begin to change for the better. Patience is definitely the key in this situation.

birddog
3/11/2007, 09:42 PM
I respect your opinion LittleWing but I gotta disagree with ya. The games I was able to see this year (which was about 10) they always seemed to play their hearts out. However, playing ones heart out only gets one so far. If you don't have the talent you simply don't have the talent and thats what OU's problem was this year. All of the players on the OU bball roster right now are simply role players on many other big name teams. However i do believe that this team is on the right path. Once Capel's can start getting his type of TALENTED players on the team i am certain things will begin to change for the better. Patience is definitely the key in this situation.

i have to agree with you. we didn't have a go to player when we needed it.

a friend of mine who has played college ball and followed the game for 30 years said blake griffin is the best high school b-ball player he has ever seen.

i knew we weren't going to do much this year with the players we had but i think we will get some talent.

LittleWingSooner
3/11/2007, 09:42 PM
I don't think we played hard at times in some of the games. In fact that's why we lost some of those games. We didn't put up enough effort and heart for one half.

I agree not having a go to player hurts. But I don't see a go to player next year either. Blake Griffin is a good high school player but I think he's a guy that won't star as a freshman. If you expect him to score 20 and 10 he won't do that. As a freshman I'll be happy if he scores 8 and 6.

Soonerus
3/11/2007, 09:43 PM
I can't fault the effort, in most cases a talent difference was the problem...

LittleWingSooner
3/11/2007, 09:47 PM
And as far as talent problems. We have good talent here right now. Again we don't have a go to guy. We have athletic guys that are tough to score on. The problem is we don't have a good offensive system for these guys and there are too many times where they shoot shots they shouldn't be shooting. None of our big guys should be shooting outside of 5 feet unless they have no one with in 50 of them. If we had talent problems we wouldn't be that good on defense and we would be blown out a lot more.

william_brasky
3/11/2007, 10:16 PM
LittleWing, can you spot the sucker in this thread?

Ash
3/11/2007, 10:45 PM
And as far as talent problems. We have good talent here right now. Again we don't have a go to guy. We have athletic guys that are tough to score on. The problem is we don't have a good offensive system for these guys and there are too many times where they shoot shots they shouldn't be shooting. None of our big guys should be shooting outside of 5 feet unless they have no one with in 50 of them. If we had talent problems we wouldn't be that good on defense and we would be blown out a lot more.

I have to totally disagree. Defense and rebounding are two things in basketball that are about heart, desire and guts. Having tangibles like quick lateral movement, big wingspan, and hops helps on the defensive end but determination gets you farther than talent every time out.

Offense is about skill and the measurables. The one offensive aspect that is about heart is driving the lane and rebounding. You can add taking the clutch shot to that list as well.

The fact that this team was close in games despite a lack of skill players (i.e., offensive go-to guys) was a product of hustle and defense which means this team had a lot of guts and heart but not as much skill as their opponents.

Are they a bunch of duds? No, clearly the players have talent or they wouldn't be on a D-1 roster. But the level of talent was clearly not on par with the upper echelon teams we faced this season. The desire and heart was on par, however, which kept us in games.

LittleWingSooner
3/11/2007, 10:55 PM
I have to totally disagree. Defense and rebounding are two things in basketball that are about heart, desire and guts. Having tangibles like quick lateral movement, big wingspan, and hops helps on the defensive end but determination gets you farther than talent every time out.

Offense is about skill and the measurables. The one offensive aspect that is about heart is driving the lane and rebounding. You can add taking the clutch shot to that list as well.

The fact that this team was close in games despite a lack of skill players (i.e., offensive go-to guys) was a product of hustle and defense which means this team had a lot of guts and heart but not as much skill as their opponents.

Are they a bunch of duds? No, clearly the players have talent or they wouldn't be on a D-1 roster. But the level of talent was clearly not on par with the upper echelon teams we faced this season. The desire and heart was on par, however, which kept us in games.

When do we ever have talent with the upper echelon teams? I can only think of about maybe 5 or 6 seasons since Tubbs has been here that we've had that level of talent. We usually don't out talent teams we play smart, hard and out effort people. Tubbs hardly every got top classes neither did Sampson and I doubt Capel does that.

Gandalf_The_Grey
3/11/2007, 11:08 PM
Our biggest problem this year was that our 3rd tallest player was 2 inches taller than KU's point guard ;) We had no size and our little guys aren't exactly all word athletes either. I think Capel will be a great coach and when he leaves for a better job in 5 years, I will wish him luck ;)

King Crimson
3/11/2007, 11:39 PM
low % shooting team (above 40% was lights out for us)+poor ballhandling (extremely costly turnovers in close games, or "runs" of several possessions in a row in many games)=bad combination/our problem

inability to stop other teams inside or when they cleared out on possessions in which they needed a big hoop and we needed a big stop. see the 1st KU game (Wright) or MU game (their last bucket)....

Ash
3/12/2007, 12:07 AM
When do we ever have talent with the upper echelon teams? I can only think of about maybe 5 or 6 seasons since Tubbs has been here that we've had that level of talent. We usually don't out talent teams we play smart, hard and out effort people. Tubbs hardly every got top classes neither did Sampson and I doubt Capel does that.

good then, we agree.:twinkies: :twinkies: :texan:

TripleOption14
3/12/2007, 07:02 AM
a friend of mine who has played college ball and followed the game for 30 years said blake griffin is the best high school b-ball player he has ever seen.

Thats funny. King James was the best high school player i ever saw. ;) Live and in color with these two eyes i tell you. The best!! :D

soonerlaw
3/12/2007, 09:39 AM
We may have been outscored, but it would be hard for me to say we were out-hearted or out-coached. That really leaves me with hope for the future. If Capel can get some good solid athletes in here, I think he will do great in developing them and the program.

LittleWingSooner
3/12/2007, 11:19 AM
I think some of our gameplans early in games weren't as good as they have been in the past. We kept getting down by 15 at half time and it's tough for a young team to recover from that. When you have 15 wins with 7 or 8 games to go and you can't even make the NIT, the coaching deserves as much blame as the players.

Capel did a good job but the fact that there were so many close losses in those last games show he could have done a better job. And hopefully he will do a better job next year.

Collier11
3/12/2007, 11:40 AM
A few asessments on my part:

Capel did a really good job considering what he lost in the Seniors as well as the incoming freshman that opted out of their schollys. Consider that we played Kansas down to the wire and they have 5-7 future nba players, we could have beaten A&M and they have a few nba players and we have none. The guy can coach!!!

Capel can obviously recruit, Blake Griffin is a stud, look at Bobby Maze...we didnt even find him until late cus of scottie reynolds de-committing and I think Maze will be a very good player for Ou when its all said and done.

We had decent talent, but not enough all the way around. Carter and Crocker were the ONLY players we have that would have a shot at starting for A&M, Texas, or Kansas. Longar is solid player but the guy is 6'10'' and cant even make a layup. I love the way he plays but he would be a backup for most if not all of the better teams in the Big 12.


Its going to be tough again next year to make the tourney, it depends on how much of an impact Blake Griffin can have to give us a presence inside. Taylor Griffin HAS to improve his offensive game, we need Crocker to become more assertive, Longar needs to get stronger(hey hey, it rhymed), and we are going to have to find a go to guy with Carter graduating. Hopefully Cade Davis can do something for us but who knows.

Overall, dissapointing that we didnt get in, but we just werent good enough. I like the fact that we were in most of our games. OUR FUTURE LOOKS GOOD UNDER CAPEL!

badger
3/12/2007, 11:45 AM
i'm glad blake griffin isn't going to okie state. that game he was sitting in the crowd of orange made me a tad nervous that he wanted to play there...

but then again it's orange.