OU-TU observations

[Guest EagleBackr]

Well, the first half was simple: OU looked like a Top 10 team, and TU looked like one of the worst teams I had ever seen. The second half was a puzzler: did TU really play that much better, or did OU just lose focus and play selfishly? Answer - a little of both. I found myself wondering if maybe the difference between the two teams in the second half was conditioning - to their credit, TU kept playing hard the whole game, while OU seemed to get both physically and mentally fatigued in the second half, despite their obvious edge in talent and athleticism. I think it bodes well for us on both counts - I feel certain we will match TU's energy level for the entire game Saturday, and maybe OU will not be up for us on the 28th in Norman, since it's a non-con, during-the-holiday-break, there's-no-students, all-our-football-fans-are-in-San-Diego kind of game for them. In short, I didn't really see anything tonight that made me worry TU might beat us on Saturday, but I did see some things that made me wonder if we might have a chance in Norman on the 28th.

Other random thoughts on Saturday's opponent:

? Ramsdell is much improved offensively, but draws silly fouls.

? Price is still soft - and slo-o-o-o-w...

? The only time I noticed Crow until the last two minutes was when he threw not one but two forearm shivers at OU players out of frustration with their defense. The first one, near the end of the first half, was for all intents a punch - he should have drawn a flagrant foul and an ejection.

? The TU guard play in the first half was as bad as I've ever seen. If we press them like we did St. Gregory's, and they play like they did the first half, they might have 30 turnovers.

? I had forgotten how joyful the TU crowd is at the Reynolds Center - it sounded like they booed the entire second half! Throwing stuff on the floor was a nice touch, too...

? Couldn't believe it during the television broadcast when, just as Bob Carpenter and Charlie Spoonhour were getting ready to talk about the Mayor's Cup match-up with a minute to go, suddenly it cuts over to the Lotto Pick-3 Drawing! For those interested, tonight's numbers were 0-9-7. Never did get to hear what Bob and Charlie had to say, but both were complimentary of ORU earlier in the broadcast. "That's a nice team they got over there!" said Charlie...

? I could swear TU has a 200-lb. cheerleader, and I ain't talkin' about a guy, neither! For some reason, we kept getting close-ups - more proof that spandex isn't for everyone...

[ORUTerry]

Eaglebackr,

What did you make of OU's offense? Why no entry passes to Bookout or Gray? I was not impressed with their point guard play.... pretty selfish.

[ORUTerry]

TU wilted under the pressure defense applied by OU. Their point guard play was not good; wonder why they didn't put Wallace in more in the first half? I think he is a pretty good ball handler and would have handled the pressure better than the freshman did. They should have also played Ramsdell more in the 2nd half - fouls or no fouls.

As I said in another post, TU showed grit to fight back after being down by 19. Last year's team would have folded.

OU is overrated....

[Guest EagleBackr]

Eaglebackr,

What did you make of OU's offense? Why no entry passes to Bookout or Gray? I was not impressed with their point guard play.... pretty selfish.

I'll tell you what I DID notice - OU was trying that same squirrelly, spinning, bounce entry pass to their post men - with about the same results we had against Utah State! Who came up with that idea - Pete Newell, or Earl Anthony? That pass might pick up a 7-10 split in bowling, but it's IMPOSSIBLE for anyone over 6'-8" to catch! Everytime they tried it, Gray and Bookout either fumbled it or lost their balance scooping it up. LOB THE DANG BALL - THEM BIG GUYS WILL GO GET IT!!

Seriously, I agree their guards were selfish tonight. Everett is a terrific scorer, but just 3 assists from your point guard? Mickey is averaging more assists per game!! You know how I feel about "score first, pass second" point guards: figure out a way to stop them from scoring, and their entire team will suffer...

[Gold*]

OU is really athletic and really big. I agree that they are over-rated. That ranking and hype was from when they still had the two point guards that transferred. Bookout is just a stud inside, but I think he'll be injured one way or another by January. If it wasn't for the OU guards being really tall and built, one might have thought both teams exchanged jerseys at the half -- they turned the ball over a lot in the second half.

Some OU fans are really bad fans. They really didn't appreciate my "45-13" yell during their free throws or another fans references to Pete Carroll and USC.

A couple of the Ramsdell fouls were gawdawful calls. Bookout regularly got away with the same stuff. He does play out of control. It breaks my heart that he didn't redshirt last year.

I've never seen TU students throw anything on the court. That was bad. I doubt it ever happens again. The students did an awesome job, though, given how TU fumbled the effort to get them to the game. Those shirts are nasty ugly, but it's a cool idea.

Not sure what you're talking bad about Crow for. He got great at the end. The foul that was called on him late in the first half was one of the worst I've ever seen. The other guy fouled him and Crow fell into him after the slap. Crow also played good D on his man.

Price has his moments. I think his biggest issue is between the ears. At times he's just not that mentally tough. He did look way better than he did in the exhibition games. Wojcik will squeeze everything out of him that he can.

One thing that amazed me -- how on Earth does Price get no fouls in this game?! *

*NB: I changed the wording of that question from where I asked it on the TU board just for you ORU fans.

[BasPlayr]

I was not all that impressed with OU's big men. For that matter, I wasn't all that impressed with the entire team. Both Bookout and Grey get away with a lot of stuff. I would think that against your big men, more calls go against them than they did in our game.

All in all I like your chances against OU.

[tmh8286]

I would think that against your big men, more calls go against them than they did in our game.

All in all I like your chances against OU.

ORU never - EVER - gets any love from the officials. I can pretty much guarantee you, whether the officials are from the Mid-Con or from the Big 12, OU will get away with murder and the refs will not call it. I would rather see them let BOTH the teams play, within reason, than call a lot of fouls. As long as there is consistency in the officiating, I'll be happy.

[Guest EagleBackr]

...the guys on the "Total Dominance Hour" on the Sports Animal in OKC were chuckling this afternoon about TU fans chanting "Overrated!" near the end of the game last night. Their take was this: even if you are proud of your team's moral victory, you can't chant that when you're the losing team!

[Gold*]

I don't recall an "overrated" cheer. Must have been the Voice.

I do recall a "Put your son in" chant. It was hard to discern.

Anyway, those guys on the OKC radio are a bunch of hamburgers.

[JoeyO]

The overrated chant has to be the worst in all of sports. Backr, you pointed out why it's dumb when you lose but it is dumb when you win too. Say an underdog beats a higher ranked opponent and they crown chant "overrated" to the higher ranked team. Doesn't that diminish your victory? Does that mean you are proud of the fact that you beat a team that wasn't very good? Just my two cents.

[ORUTerry]

The OKC guys are bad..... if it doesn't have to do with OU, they find a way to force it to - kind of like seven degrees of Kevin Bacon. Is the OKC market that one-dimensional - OU all the time?

Of course, here in Tulsa we have Chris (How did I get/keep this job?) Plank. Do they ever do any preparation for their show? The producer (Poplin) is the only one that seems to have a clue. The lack of professionalism is astounding. I have come to grips with them not knowing or saying anything about ORU - even though our games are run on their station. I can't believe that they treat OSU the same way... and they are OSU's flagship station. They make fun of the OSU play-by-play announcer and have no knowledge (admittedly) of OSU athletics. At least read the newspaper!

The show on am1550 (Sports Cage) with Al Jerkins and Zig is much better. They know how to conduct an interview (imagine that) and seem to read about their guests or the topic of the day before airtime. Zig is obviously a TU guy but he is knowledgeable about ORU and can speak intelligently about the team.

[Guest EagleBackr]

The OKC guys are bad..... if it doesn't have to do with OU, they find a way to force it to - kind of like seven degrees of Kevin Bacon. Is the OKC market that one-dimensional - OU all the time?

Of course, here in Tulsa we have Chris (How did I get/keep this job?) Plank. Do they ever do any preparation for their show? The producer (Poplin) is the only one that seems to have a clue. The lack of professionalism is astounding. I have come to grips with them not knowing or saying anything about ORU - even though our games are run on their station. I can't believe that they treat OSU the same way... and they are OSU's flagship station. They make fun of the OSU play-by-play announcer and have no knowledge (admittedly) of OSU athletics. At least read the newspaper!

The show on am1550 (Sports Cage) with Al Jerkins and Zig is much better. They know how to conduct an interview (imagine that) and seem to read about their guests or the topic of the day before airtime. Zig is obviously a TU guy but he is knowledgeable about ORU and can speak intelligently about the team.

...Plank & Co. reached a new low this afternoon when, between the usual sex & drug references and NASCAR drivel, they started snickering about "Coach"s antics on the baseline at the TU game last night. Plank thought it would be "fun" to call him for an interview. They are, quite simply, jerks...

[Gold*]

I'll agree that Plank is bad. He's a genius at wasting my time. Last spring, I had a day off and stayed home one afternoon in part because I had heard Plank was supposed to have some big interview and scoop with the TU coaching search. It was supposed to be at 2:00 PM. Well, 2:30 runs around and after hearing technical problems and the crickets chirp a dozen times I decided to take a nap. I woke up a few times and each time Plank said the interview would soon go down. Finally, at like 5:45 PM they come on and say the interview will be the next day.

So, I happen to be driving the next day and listening for that scoop. What did they tell me? BOB HOFFMAN was a candidate.

I'm not sure that dude even got an interview. I think he stopped by and was told he wasn't even allowed to use the bathroom.

The OKC stuff gets on my nerves. Their morning show has a couple of bright spots, like the Stoops Thanksgiving bit. But some of those guys during the day do nothing but kiss up to Stoops. Al Esbach is a sick fusion of Lou Holtz and Ron Jeremy.

[JoeyO]

Backr, I think you are being too generous when you call them jerks. Jerks kind of implies that you are mean but you are a little above others. Plank and the gang really are a bunch of morons. They easily have the most laughable excuse for a radio show that I've ever heard. In fact, their show is one of the huge reasons that I got satellite radio. When you love sports talk and only have the afternoon buzz as your option then something has to be done.

[Guest Rob Marshall]

OU was so "disinterested" in playing the second half on Wednesday night at the Don Rey; to make anything of the "closeness" of the final margin other than TU didn't quit like they have in games such as this one the last two seasons is tantamount to investing in fools' gold.

Credit Wojcik for having his players attention and keeping them "hooked up" while the Sooners coasted to a victory that was never in doubt. If OU with the same intensity they did during the first fifteen minutes of the game, they win by 40+.

I realize Dave Sittler sang the praises of the Wojcik brothers in this morning's Tulsa World, and they are much more energetic but the nine point margin of victory had MUCH more to do with the Sooners mental exit during halftime as anything spectacular Tulsa did on the court. That said, I do really like the intensity of Doug Wojcik and believe he will revive the TU men's basketball program.

[Gold*]

So OU was disinterested when Gray fouled out with 10 minutes to go? Or when they left Bookout -- in my opinion, their best player -- in for all but a couple of minutes?

I think we both agree on the principle that TU played much better in the second half and that OU didn't play as well. But it's not like OU dogged it, either. After watching TU at every home game the last two years, I have a good eye for when a team is just going through the motions. I didn't see that Wednesday.