Player reaction to Capel's hiring

[Jay C. Upchurch]

Here's the link to Sooner Spectator's front page story...

http://soonerspectator.com/featureStory.php

[TopDawg]

Thanks Jay.

[boomersooner82]

Carter: As a team, I thought we had good talent and good chemistry — but there was a lot of inner stuff going on within in the basketball family. There were some distractions, but those have all be resolved. That’s pretty much all I can say about that.


What's that about?

[Taxman71]

Taj and Terrell = Fire and Ice

Actually, Terrell should be the blaze/fire and Taj the ice.

[sooner518]

Taj and Terrell = Fire and Ice

meaning what?

[okienole3]

meaning what?

I don't think they liked each other very much.

[soonerguild]

i heard that the team quit on Kelvin. I just don't think they will come out and admit it. Ive heard from numerous people on campus that this team quit on kelvin and weren't getting motivated anymore. From what i hear the majority of the team didn't like kelvin. I think that is what nate means by resolved.

[Taxman71]

I *heard* that Taj and Terrell had a rift off the court that led to incompatibility on the court. Several of the team members alluded to team conflict after the loss in the NCAA tourney. Considering both guys are done at OU, Nate's comment makes perfect sense that it has been resolved.

I have no idea what the alleged rift was about or who was at fault. I think it came to a head in the Whorn game in Austin when Kelvin and the team virtually quit simultaneously. Looking back, the chemistry of this team was awful.

[Total_Ignorance_Hour]

i heard that the team quit on Kelvin. I just don't think they will come out and admit it. Ive heard from numerous people on campus that this team quit on kelvin and weren't getting motivated anymore. From what i hear the majority of the team didn't like kelvin. I think that is what nate means by resolved.

It sure looked like it from mid-February on.

[Rock Hard Corn Frog]

I *heard* that Taj and Terrell had a rift off the court that led to incompatibility on the court. Several of the team members alluded to team conflict after the loss in the NCAA tourney. Considering both guys are done at OU, Nate's comment makes perfect sense that it has been resolved.

I have no idea what the alleged rift was about or who was at fault. I think it came to a head in the Whorn game in Austin when Kelvin and the team virtually quit simultaneously. Looking back, the chemistry of this team was awful.

That could be true and I have no reason to doubt it. That effort in the 2nd game was embaressing but I thought the team had problems even if there wasn't a rift. Individually I think Gray, Bookout and Everett are all very good players but when Everett was at the point and Bookout and Gray were both in we had a line-up that was a basically a 3, 2, 3,5,5 on the floor. Good at hitting the boards, not very quick. Bookout and Gray were too good to not play at the same time. Everett on offense was either real good or real bad but we had a hard time on the defensive end getting pressure and an even tougher time against good teams of playing up tempo. Personel wise we lose good experience and some strong physical players and we will be young but I think we are about to become much more athletic and much quicker so I think we still could be very good next year.

[the_ouskull]

I talked about this a bit earlier in the season... It's not so much that the players quit on Kelvin, but they quit on one another, which, in turn, means that they also quit on Kelvin. Taj and Terrell weren't getting along off the court, mainly because of Terrell's off-the-court, uh, "fun," and Taj didn't like how it was effecting things ON the court. Not to mention that he also didn't like Terrell's playing like he was trying to get drafted instead of playing to OU's strength's and winning basketball games. Couple that with the fact that Terrell was already playing out of position, and there you go. Problems.

The other players problems came from the fact that the team's two best players weren't getting along. Nate was REALLY affected by it as he was closer to the two of them than most. However, Nate realizes that, with their being gone, a STUD crop of frosh coming in, and a new coach, things will be different, so, rather than being all bitter, he just said his peace, and called it the end of it. Classy on his part, IMHO, especially considering how he felt about all of it DURING the season. (Yes, I talk to Nate fairly often...)

This year's team was by far the hardest-to-coach team that Kelvin's ever had here, and he hated to leave OU on THAT note, but it's just a timing thing all around. The problems with last year didn't contribute to his leaving because most of those problems are also leaving. The sweet deal, plus the chance to coach at a basketball school, are why Kelvin left. The old players are stoked because they get a chance to prove that last year wasn't their best game.

...and they WILL prove this.

the_ouskull

[soonerguild]

(Yes, I talk to Nate fairly often...)

Is there any truth to the rumor that i heard that at one point during a practice that kelvin got on kevin so hard that he walked out of practice and kelvin had to call and apologize to get him to not quit the team.

[GDC]

I wish Taj had at least one year with Capel and without Terrell.