Emails in on Big 12 basketball
The new emails are in, and lots of talk about Big 12 basketball.
Greg: “Great article on Griner and the justice OU won and played clean. I even think Kim’s behavior and commentary mirrored the fact she and her team felt compelled to be on their best deportment. OU’s demeanor helped that. Griner can learn to be a great player. Her ability to shoot free throws makes her a candidate to average over 30 a game if she can learn to pivot to face the basket. And here is the tough part; learn that first crossover like Danielle (Robinson), who is the best of the best. Griner would be Kareem Abdul-Jabbar then. She has to be a bit better moving without the ball. It looks like her teammates give up on trying to get her the ball as she oftentimes just stands around.”
Griner isn’t going to learn any crossover dribble like Dani Robinson, but she doesn’t have to. If she can keep her fists to herself, Griner can be the transcendent player we always talked about Courtney Paris becoming but never did.
Jim wrote about Big 12 coaches dressing casual. “They should all go casual! Wearing a business suit to a sporting event is stupid. Look at the crowd in the stands. Most are in casual wear. Wearing a suit and tie to a basketball game sends the wrong message to students that it is OK to be inappropriately dressed. Would you go to a black tie event in casual wear? No, because it’s inappropriate. You state, ‘a lot of coaches don’t want to stand out, and the way to blend in is coat and tie.’ Who said this has lost all sense of reality, because all they do is stand out!”
Have I ever told anyone how much I hate exclamation points? Do you remember the Seinfeld episode where Elaine gets mad at her boyfriend, because he took a phone message for her, some big news, and didn’t use an exclamation point? I wouldn’t have lasted 15 seconds with her. I just ran an archive search, and I couldn’t find one story in my 19 years at The Oklahoman in which I used an exclamation point. People use them when they believe their argument is flimsy. And this one’s flimsy. Have you ever seen photos from the 1950s sporting events. Virtually every fan is wearing a coat, hat and tie. So trends change. Casual is fine. Business is fine. Appropriate comes in many colors. And coaches do NOT stand out by wearing coat and tie. Pat Knight stands out. Mark Turgeon does not.
Ed: “I enjoyed your discussion of what coaches wear. The trend toward being more casual goes along with mainstream society, I think New Yorkers now attend the Metropolitan Opera in blue jeans and sandals if they wish. Ted Williams was ahead of his time when he said, about ties, ‘They’re a pain in the a–, and they get in your soup.’”
I can remember when people dressed up to travel, like on airplanes. What a hassle. Gary Ward went to the Ted Williams School of Necktie Hatred. But I’m also not fired up to go see “The Lion King” at the Civic Center with a bunch of people in sandals.
John wrote about Frank Martin: “When Martin ascended to the job, everyone laughed at his high school coaching pedigree, much like Sherri Coale. No one is making jabs now. The intense face, the Marine Corps appearance and scowl is a bit over the top, but this is the story of this conference season. I don’t know where Martin’s contract lies in the comparison of Big 12coaches, but I suspect it is in the bottom six. KSU best get its pocketbook out and pay now, because someone, say Colorado, Arkansas, Memphis, all place where ambiance or tradition, or both, appeal to a lot more 18-year-old inner city kids than KSU, is going to open the wallet. My gut is when KSU makes the Sweet 16 or better, the time to pay preemptively will be over and someone will scarf up Martin. Can you imagine this guy and his intense defensive, very athletic style with five guys between 6-3 and 6-7, playing in player-rich places like the Pac-10, SEC or ACC? Right now, I would take Martin over every other coach in the Big 12, all of them, and yes, there are some good coaches out there, but they have a lot more to work with to assemble a team like KSU than does KSU. If the KU folks aren’t worried, they are lying. The ascension curve on the KSU program is even better than Kansas. Maybe not name players, but right now at this juncture of the season, they are the conference’s best team. So what big-name program dumps their coach and hires Martin by April 15? Colorado? N.C. State? Stanford? Cal-Berkeley? USC? Arkansas? LSU? Auburn? Maybe some of these schools are not basketball schools, but they are programs who can pay $1.5-1.95M and not miss a beat of the heart.”
K-State beat you to the punch, doubling Martin’s salary this week up to the $1.5 million range. But I think you’re over the top on Martin. He’s done a fantastic job, but who knows if his intensity will work over the long haul. And that list of schools is all messed up. Colorado can’t afford to buy a cheeseburger, much less buy out a basketball coach. Arkansas, you might be on to something.
Clay: “What is the deal with Carrie Underwood’s picture being in The Oklahoman every day? Who decides on this? I want to talk to him or her.”
I don’t know. Maybe it’s the same person who puts Sherri Coale’s picture in the paper every day. You’d think someone was trying to sell newspapers.
Bob wrote about Andrea Riley: “The headlines ‘Riley takes over for OSU’ and ‘Tough going for Anderson,’ continue to support the theory that Miss Riley is something other than a gunner. Anderson is 8-for-21, Riley 10-for-30. Check the statistics, Riley often misses 15 to 22 shots per game, her shot selection is horrid. Budke’s inability to rein her in has been a huge detriment to their team. Anderson, on the other hand, is the complete package. Scorer, defender, team player. If Miss Riley has a game where her shooting percentage is good, assists high, turnovers few, by all means give her credit. But her everyday performance of 25 points on 30 shots is not what quality basketball is about. Many players have the ability to score 25 a game if they take 30 shots, but this would lead their team to the same place where OSU women are, an average team at best.”
Here’s the problem. Bob’s final statement, which is the basis of everything he says, is in error. OSU is not an average team. OSU is a good team. The Cowgirls are in the Big 12 semifinals. Here’s why Riley is an effective player, even if she misses 28 shots, like she did Friday night. You can’t compare men’s and women’s basketball statistically. Women’s basketball tends to have more turnovers than men’s basketball; a missed shot is not the worst thing that can happen to a possession. A turnover is. Women’s basketball tends to have more offensive rebounds than men’s. You can’t rebound a turnover. Also, with this OSU women’s team, I don’t see a lot of offensive options besides Cunningham. The points about shot selection sometimes are valid. But generally speaking, I like to see Andrea Riley taking shots. Kurt Budke does too.
Jim: “Guess it’s obvious that as I watch all the tournament games, the teams that have at least one 6-10 or better guy in the middle, are the winners. OSU will need that type in the future or it will be one and done forever. Ford has taken them further than anyone could have expected with the size he has and now he loses Anderson and Muonelo.”
OSU won a game last season with Marshall Moses in the middle. Eddie Sutton went to the Final Four with a frontcourt that stood 6-6 (Joey Graham) and Ivan McFarlin (6-7). Sure, height helps. But it’s not mandatory. Ford needs more good ballplayers of all sizes.
Chris: “Barry, can we please stop using the word ‘Bedlam.’ Geez, is there a more overused word in Oklahoma media? It’s a stupid word. Ugh, I’m tired of hearing it.”
I’m tired of people misspelling my name. But that doesn’t stop people from doing it. Bedlam has been endorsed by the schools themselves. I think it’s a cool name for the rivalry. Gives the rivalry some national identity.
John: “Don’t tell anyone, but with Abi Olajuwon’s and Joanna McFarland’s efficient 12-16 points, 10-18 rebounds game, their total is not much of a dropoff from the Paris twins the rest of the team cannot make up the difference on offense. This team can play defense when they want to. This team can play with UConn. Personally, I think Tennessee may surprise UConn, but if OU could dent the Final Four once again, what an accomplishment.
Olajuwon and McFarland together make up about Ashley Paris. Not Courtney. And certainly not both of them. This is a team that one week ago got blown out at A&M. So let’s not get too carried away.
Jack wrote about my John Calvin blog: “One point of difference. John Calvin was a father of the Protestant Reformation. A ‘sect’ is a derogatory term for any group that breaks from an established religion. Today, Protestants would not be considered a sect since most organized religions in the United States are Protestant or derived from Protestants. Baptists, Methodists, Quakers, Presbyterians and even the pilgrims, to name a few, and most of those denominations renounced predestination years ago. This observation is based on the belief you are writing in the 21st century about Protestants and not the 16th, at which time Protestants would have been considered a sect of the Catholic Church, which, of course, was a first century sect of Judaism.”
I love talking religious history, but someone help me out here. Yes, I am writing in the 21st century, but I am writing ABOUT the 16th century. So shouldn’t I describe John Calvin in his time, not mine? I mean, if the guy was 5-foot-11, wouldn’t it be OK to call him tall, since he was in his day. In this century, 5-11 won’t get you in the post of a junior high game, but it was quite a stature 500 years ago.
Craig wrote about the Thunder: “Of the top eight Western Conference teams, the Thunder has the worst home record and they have the worst record within the conference. I hope not, but I get the feeling that could catch up with them.”
Oh, it will catch up with them. The Thunder will get ripped in the playoffs. But making the playoffs is a huge step.
Wayne: “Why is so much attention paid to bubble teams. Aren’t they just a bunch of teams that barely have winning records and with few, very few exceptions, will go out in the first round?”
Because life has so few surprises. We can see who’s going to make the NBA playoffs. Figure it out for yourself. But the NCAA committee room? Completely mysterious. All guesswork.
Brad: “What’s your take on OSU football and the offense? Do you think this will be successful in the Big 12? It obviously worked well down at Houston (even though it wasn’t going against Big 12 defenses, UH was pretty successful against Tech and OSU last year).”
I think it’s a fascinating move. And a wholesale change. Gundy got a lot of mileage out of Larry Fedora’s offense for five years. That’s not terrible shelf life for an offense. Maybe it’s time for a change, with a new quarterback and all. I’m not sure OSU has the needed personnel right now, so Dana Holgorsen might have to use a hybrid. But I think it’s got a good shot at success.
-------------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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Comments
My freshman year in high school,75-76, I played basketball for Owasso. On game day the team wore Dress shoes, slacks, dress shirt and tie to school all day and also to and from the game. To top it off there was a hair code also. Hair could not be over the collar of the shirt and a certain amount of the ear must be showing. I hated the tie the first couple of games but after a while I got used to it, and the girls seemed to like it also. As a team we stood out at any place we played and even if we were not that good, we looked good. One other fun fact, we didn’t have enough uniforms for the enitre team so there were 6 of us that paired up and alternated dressing for games. Fun times.
Agree with you 100 percent on the exclamation points! LOL!