Sooners looked superb vs. Syracuse
Watching the OU-Syracuse game in the first few minutes, I was reminded of what the Sweet 16 means. This is a round not for the faint of heart.
This was a game pitting two big-time teams. OU won, 84-71, primarily because it hit its shots and Syracuse didn’t, and Orange coach Jim Boeheim’s pre-game analysis proved dead on: that the Sooners would have been a No. 1 seed had Blake Griffin not been injured in February.
And here’s how you win big-time games. You get lots of players playing well. Here’s how the individual Sooners played vs. Syracuse.
Blake Griffin: Played somewhere between fantastic and terrific, but then again, he always does. Griffin’s numbers didn’t depreciate against them massive Syracuse front line, and now there’s little reason to think they will against North Carolina, either.
Willie Warren: The freshman probably played the worst of any OU starter but still was solid. Warren didn’t shoot it great, 2-of-7, but he was 2-of-5 from 3-point range and had five assists. Warren also had four turnovers but didn’t seem like it. And his defense was very good. OU needs an even better game out of Warren against Carolina, but he’s capable of producing.
Taylor Griffin: Blake’s big brother came alive in the second half and played strong against Syracuse. Typical Taylor line — 9 points on 4-of-8 shooting, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and a bunch of body blows against the Orange big men.
Austin Johnson:Steady Eddie at point guard — 9 points, 4-of-8 shooting, 5 rebounds, 6 assists. He had four turnovers, but that’s not bad for 38 minutes of point guard in a Sweet 16 game. Johnson’s defense was OK against Syracuse standout Jonny Flynn; he will be hard-pressed to match up with UNC’s Ty Lawson, but who isn’t?
Tony Crocker: Him, I assume you know about — 28 points, 6-of-11 on 3-point shooting, several heady plays. Games like this help an OU blow out a Syracuse. Games like this would help an OU upset a Carolina.
Bench: Second straight game, Jeff Capel went with his starters a bunch. Cade Davis played seven minutes — and played well, I liked his aggression. But Juan Pattillo played only two minutes and Omar Leary didn’t play at all. Orlando Allen played five minutes — and played well, with a big first-half block when this still was a game. All in all, not a bad development. OU isn’t a squad of 7-8 thoroughbreds. It’s got a player for the ages in Blake, a freshman phenom in Warren and solid starters.
Is that enough to beat North Carolina? If everyone plays well, yes. And truth is, everyone played well vs. Syracuse. A repeat performance puts OU in the Final Four.
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.
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