A Saturday of hoops
I wrote an NFL column for Sunday’s paper, so I didn’t have a basketball assignment. I could have gone to any of the three interesting games: Texas Tech at OSU men, with Bobby Knight going for his 900th win; Kansas State at OU men, in the matchup of great freshmen; or Bedlam women, with the Cowgirls trying to beat the Sooners for the first time this century. You also had the NFL games, Green Bay-Seattle and Patriots-Jacksonville, the winners of both providing potential foes for Dallas.
I decided to stay home and watch them all. Interesting day of basketball. My thoughts:
1. OSU-Tech: When Obi Muonelo scores 21 points and make five of six 3-pointers, the Cowboys aren’t half bad. Remember last season; OSU’s swoon began when Muonelo was injured. He hasn’t played as well as a sophomore as he did as a freshman, but if can produce, then the Cowboys have James Anderson, Terrell Harris, Marcus Dove. That’s a pretty strong set of wing players. The Cowboys will still get butchered by teams good inside, but that’s not a lot of teams in the Big 12. Muonelo is key to this team.
2. OU-Kansas State: Michael Beasley is the real deal. Reminds me a little of Byron Houston as an OSU senior. A bruiser with good touch. Maybe not quite as good around the basket, but with a better mid-range shot. KSU is an absolute load with Beasley, who unlike Houston, will not be around the college game for four years. The loss for the Sooners was severe; if OU can win out at home, no sure thing considering Texas and Texas A&M still come to town, the Sooners still would have to win at least two road games to finish 9-7 in the Big 12. Thanks to the wins over Arkansas, Gonzaga and West Virginia, 9-7 should get OU in the NCAA Tournament.
3. Bedlam women: Kurt Budke called Andrea Riley the Big 12′s best player, and I’m in no mood to argue after her 45-point performance. Courtney Paris is an epic player, but good coaching and a good team can take her out of the game, though she still hit the Cowgirls for 15 points and 19 rebounds. But you can’t scheme against a point guard on fire. Riley’s performance was one of the best I’ve ever seen at Gallagher-Iba, ranking right there with Big Country against Kansas (33 points, 20 rebounds) and Donnie Boyce, who went off for 40something points for Colorado back in the 1990s.
-------------Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel. Visit Berry's website here.
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All the talk about Griffin going pro next year: In my opinion, he is or will not be ready by this year end. He not strong enough and needs to develop more if he is a forward in the pros.
Does anyone believe LeBron is 23 yers old? Someone lost his birth certificate a long time ago. That is the type player Griffin would have to stay up with and he is not that type yet.