Could OU have made the Final Four?
Watching North Carolina play, you realize the Tar Heels are not unbeatable but are a cut above the other elite teams OU has played this season. Syracuse, Missouri, Kansas, Purdue. It would have taken an excellent game to beat Carolina — starting with making some shots.
In retrospect, the Sooners’ best Final Four chance was finishing strong and getting a No. 1 seed, which was no easy deal after Blake Griffin’s injury. Some thought that OU might still be a No. 1 with a Big 12 Tournament title, but who would the Sooners have replaced? Not Louisville, not Pitt, not UConn, not Carolina. So OU’s No. 1-seed hopes likely were lost with the loss at Missouri, after Griffin’s return.
A No. 1 seed would have kept the Sooners out of the path of Carolina, which now seems to be the primary goal of any team. The Sooners were a very good team but flawed — inconsistent shooting and come-and-go guard play. When the Sooners were on, they were very good, as Syracuse can attest. But when they were off, they were not very good, as Carolina saw.
All in all, the Sooners got about as far as they deserved to get. They were one of the nation’s eight best teams. Probably not one of the nation’s four best. OU would have needed some bracket help or consecutive pristine performances to make the Final Four.
But still a team to celebrate. Not only did OU go 30-6, but Jeff Capel did it with a bunch of nearby recruits. Two Oklahomans in the starting lineup, plus Texans from Fort Worth, San Antonio and Amarillo. The sixth man, Cade Davis, is from Elk City.
So a very good team and a very good season.
Griffin-Hansbrough: Another epic matchup
OU’s Blake Griffin vs. North Carolina’s Tyler Hansbrough, with a spot in the Final Four on the line today. I wonder if Sooner fans realize how lucky they are?
Not only is OU having a school year for the ages, with great teams and great players, but the cosmos are aligning to provide the greatest of possible matchups.
Think about it. The Sooners had a Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback, and in the Big Bowl for the national championship, Sam Bradford was pitted against Florida’s Tim Tebow, the 2007 Heisman Trophy winner. Showdowns between players with Heismans are rare in college football history.
Now comes another worthy duel. Griffin, who has won or will win every legit version of basketball’s Heisman, against Hansbrough, the 2008 national player of the year.
And possibly looming in what would be an NCAA women’s championship game is an Oklahoma-Connecticut game that would pit Courtney Paris, a past national player of the year, against UConn’s Maya Moore, the likely 2009 winner.
Sometimes when matchups like this keep happening, you start to think they routinely occur. But they don’t. Which is why today’s game should be appreciated.
Oklahoma could play basketball another 100 years and not encounter a game like. The Sooners with a player for the ages against the leading scorer in ACC history. OU trying to reach a Final Four, but the nation’s grandest hoops program standing in the way.
It should make for a fabulous Sunday evening. Maybe the biggest night of OU basketball ever, considering the Sooner women play Pitt in a women’s regional semifinal at 9 p.m. tonight.
North Carolina is better than OU. Not a lot better, but a little. The Tar Heels would win a series against the Sooners. More elite players. More depth in general. But the NCAA Tournament is not a series. It’s a shootout. One and done or one and won.
The Sooners don’t have to play over their heads to win. In fact, play like they did against Syracuse, and OU will win.
And either way, it should be fun.
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.
Pattillo a key for Sooners tonight
Juan Pattillo has gone from redshirt in January to supersub in February to forgotten man in March. Last week in Kansas City, the Oklahoma basketball team barely used Pattillo. In the second half against Michigan, OU coach Jeff Capel didn’t substitute until the final 19 seconds.
But that should change tonight against Syracuse. Pattillo will be needed against the Orange.
Pattillo has struggled the longer he has played. Pattillo came out of redshirt status in January and was an immediate sensation. His shot-blocking became a serious defensive force for the Sooners, and Pattillo’s athletic ability led to a bunch of dunks off nifty passes and offensive rebounds. Plus, he made foul shots, which always is a plus.
But Pattillo struggled the longer the season went. He resorted to junior-college tendencies. Forcing shots. Getting lost on defense. Pattillo has had his moments of coming out of the funk. But against some opponents, his value lessens.
Michigan, for example. The Wolverines were remarkably unathletic for a second-round NCAA Tournament team. Michigan was well-drilled and could make a free-lancer look bad. The Sooners were better off sticking with starters or playing guys who more stayed between the lines.
But Pattillo’s athletic ability will be needed tonight. Syracuse is big and quick. The Orange has guards, notably Jonny Flynn, who can penetrate and break down the defense. The basket must be guarded, and Pattillo can do it. Pattillo’s rebounding will be needed, too, because Syracuse will crash the boards. The Orange has a big front line.
In fact, Pattillo could play on the perimeter some tonight. He’s athletic enough to guard wing men, like Syracuse’s 230-pound Paul Harris. I don’t think Pattillo is great defending outside, but he’s adequate. Plus Taylor Griffin will need some relief in the paint.
Expect Juan Pattillo to play a bunch tonight against Syracuse.
Memphis has not been kind to OU
Memphis has hosted four NCAA Tournaments: 1984, 1995, 1997 and 2001. In half of those, Oklahoma has come to town as a high seed and been sent home before sundown.
In 1995, Kelvin Sampson’s first year, OU was a No. 4 seed, but Manhattan pulled off a 77-67 upset. That was Fran Fraschilla’s launching pad to jobs at St. John’s and New Mexico. Manhattan lost to Arizona State 64-54 in the second round.
In 2001, OU entered the NCAAs fresh off a Big 12 Tournament title and again was a No. 4 seed. Yet Indiana State pulled a 70-68 upset in overtime. The Sycamores then lost 85-68 to Gonzaga in the second round. The most vivid memory from that OU game was in the locker room, where Sampson stood calmly answering questions, then when the final question was asked, but before the Oklahoma writers had departed, Sampson turned and slugged a locker just as hard as he could.
Both of those games were played at the old Pyramid, a Myriad-era building known for its huge triange-top architecture. The West Regional semifinals Friday night will be held at the new FedEx Forum, so maybe that’s good karma for the Sooners.
The only years in which Memphis hosted NCAA action sans Sooners were in 1997 and 1984. In ‘97, Memphis got a big upset anyway — 12th-seeded College of Charleston knocked off fifth-seeded Maryland 75-66. In ‘84, Memphis hosted no real upsets; its two survivors were hometown Memphis State and the University of Houston, in Hakeem Olajuwon’s senior year.
Iowa City to Memphis: A drive through Middle America
I drove 535 miles today, from Iowa City, Iowa, to Memphis, Tenn. From the site of an NCAA women’s regional to the site of an NCAA men’s regional. Late airline tickets are expensive, and connections from Cedar Rapids to Memphis aren’t exactly like Dallas-to-Houston.
So I volunteered to drive and didn’t mind it. I saw a section of the country I’d never seen before. I’m actually making a big circle. Drove from Oklahoma City to Kansas City last Wednesday, from KC to Iowa City on Sunday morning, now to Memphis, and either Saturday or Monday, I’ll complete the trip with a trek across I-40 back to Oklahoma City.
I’ve driven the OKC-Memphis byway a bunch. Same with OKC and KC, and even KC to Des Moines, which is about 100 miles west of Iowa City. Des Moines to Iowa City was fresh meat, but not terribly different from the rest of Iowa. My pal from the Denver Post, Tom Kensler, pointed out that Iowa is the only state in the union that’s not much different, no matter where you are. That’s a generality, of course, but Iowa is more alike across the board than virtually any other state.
All of which means the Iowa City to Memphis was going to be the real open-road adventure.
I left Iowa City going south on state highway 27, which went through some picturesque farm land and didn’t really go past many landmarks. Except you go by Mount Pleasant, a decent-sized hamlet. I kept racking my brain. Where had I heard of Mount Pleasant? When I got there, I remembered.
Mount Pleasant is home to Iowa Wesleyan College, where a lifetime ago a football coach named Hal Mumme hired a law graduate named Mike Leach to help him coach.
Into Missouri, I drove through Hannibal, the river town of Mark Twain, and the town was charming. Clean, modern. I didn’t have time to pull over and enjoy all the Twain stuff. That’s for another day. But Hannibal is definitely a place that made me want to return.
The best way to get to Memphis takes you through the St. Louis suburbs, though not the city itself. St. Louis’ western suburbs — Chesterfield, particularly — glisten. You realize the difference between Oklahoma City and St. Louis by its suburbs. The St. Louis suburbs seem to stretch for 50 miles, from Wentzville on the northwest to Arnold on the south.
The drive south of St. Louis reminded me of the Ohio hills south of Canton. Lots of rocky bluffs as the highway sits just off the Mississippi, though river sightings were few. I went through a couple of towns I’d always heard about — Cape Girardeau and Sikeston — and they seemed nice.
But south of Sikeston, the landscape turns into the Mississippi Delta, which frankly is probably my least favorite part of America. Northern Missouri, eastern Arkansas, eastern Louisiana. Not very pretty and not very prosperous.
I’m not that big a fan of Memphis, but I was glad to get here.
The open road is a fun way to travel. You get to see stuff. You get a feel for what different parts of America are like. I enjoy traveling the Oklahoma roads that I’ve driven hundreds of times. I always see something new. When you drive a highway for the first time, everything you see is new.
Horror flick: OU-Syracuse ‘03
OU plays Syracuse on Friday night, which means another Sooner matchup against the Orange’s 2-3 zone. Send the women and children below deck.
The last time OU played Syracuse, for a berth in the 2003 Final Four, the Sooners had perhaps their worst offensive performance in the Kelvin Sampson era, which is saying something.
It’s easy to blame that loss on Syracuse getting to play in Albany, N.Y., which is 145 miles of the Syracuse campus. But the crowd, while cheering wildly for the Orange, had little to do with that game. OU had no clue against the Syracuse zone.
Six years later, the numbers remain horrific. OU made 5 of 28 shots from 3-point range. The Sooners committed 19 turnovers in the first 32 minutes, then finally settled down and committed no more, but the game was long since over. OU was outrebounded 40-28.
With 8:57 left in the first half, OU led 17-16. Over the next 13 minutes, the Sooners made one of 18 shots and committed 10 turnovers.
The Sooners’ method of offense was to stand around the perimeter passing the ball to each other. There was no aggression. There was no penetration. There was no attacking the Syracuse zone.
On a team that included senior veterans Hollis Price, Quannas White and Ebi Ere, plus freshman standout Kevin Bookout, the best Sooners that day were De’Angelo Alexander and Jabahri Brown. Alexander had 14 points and made five of nine shots. Brown had nine points and seven rebounds.
Price was 3-of-17 from the field, 2-of-11 from 3-point range. White was 1-of-8, 0-of-4. Ere was 2-of-8, 0-of-4. That’s a senior backcourt, three men strong, that combined to go 6-of-33, including 2-of-19 from 3-point range.
That Syracuse team, led by Carmelo Anthony, went on to win the NCAA title. Against OU, Anthony had 20 points and 10 rebounds. Hakim Warrick had 13 points and nine rebounds. But the star of the game was Syracuse’s zone.
A March Madness tripleheader
Sunday was an interesting day. I took in a March Madness tripleheader, with three ways to experience a game.
* Syracuse-Arizona State on radio, while driving across Interstate-80 through Iowa.
* Oklahoma State-Pitt men on television, sitting at a Buffalo Wild Wings in Coralville, next to Iowa City.
* Oklahoma-Prairie View women live, in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
SYRACUSE-ARIZONA STATE
OU now gets Syracuse, and the Sooners would be much better off playing Arizona State, of course. That 2-3 zone by Syracuse gives everyone fits, though it helps that OU saw some of that defense against Michigan. Not that Michigan plays it with the same kind of ballplayers as Syracuse.
Listening on radio to a game that involves players you’re not that familiar with is a mental exercise. Who plays for who? What was the score again? But the announcing team of Tom McCarthy and ex-Kentucky Kevin Grevey was very solid.
Basketball on the radio is different from baseball or football. In both sports, you have to time mentally relax, because you know nothing will happen for 10-30 seconds. And if you do miss something, the play will be discussed. Not so in basketball. The action doesn’t always stop. You’ve got to pay attention.
From what I heard, James Harden, Arizona State’s lottery-pick sharpshooter, wasn’t aggressive enough. Zero points and one shot at halftime? That’s not what the Thunder needs.
I picked Syracuse to reach an all-Big East Final Four, and the Sooners could have their hands full.
OSU-PITT
What a great game, and what a tribute to Travis Ford, that he turned a mediocre team in January into this squad capable of playing anyone in the country, eyeball to eyeball.
Think about what the Cowboys did down the stretch.
1. Won at home in a tight fit over Kansas State in what might have been an NCAA Tournament elimination game.
2. Went to OU, which ended up a No. 2 seed, and lost 82-78 in a game that I said the Cowboys would have won if it had been played anywhere except Norman.
3. Beat Iowa State in OKC.
4. Beat OU in OKC in a thriller.
5. Played Missouri, which ended up a No. 3 NCAA seed, tough before losing in the Big 12 semifinals.
6. Beat Tennessee on Byron Eaton’s late shot in an 8-9 seed game in the NCAAs.
7. Took top-seeded Pitt to the final 30 seconds.
That’s big-time basketball. A tremendous, tremendous run, led by Eaton, who is a wondrous point guard. What a great way for Eaton and Terrel Harris to conclude their careers. Losing that last game is always a bummer, but the Cowboys can take pride in what they accomplished. They ended the stretch of so-so basketball in Stillwater and established a foundation for Ford’s program.
Sunday, the Cowboys simply weren’t big enough, and nothing they could do about it. Pitt’s big men, notably DeJuan Blair, was just too strong. Pitt won this game on the boards, pure and simple, and there was no antidote.
OU-PRAIRIE VIEW
Prairie View wasn’t nearly as overmatched as I thought it would be. The Panthers had some ballplayers. I figure Cynthia Cooper-Dyke, the former WNBA star, will get some coaching offers.
Some things have to improve for OU, though. Whitney Hand has to shoot better. Sooners still have to take better care of the ball. Amanda Thompson has to come back healthy. Nyeshia Stevenson has to step up her game; she’s been playing well but she can play better. Courtney Paris can’t go 4-of-9; 6-of-9 is more like it.
But all in all, a good start for the Sooners. Reaching Oklahoma City for the regional won’t be easy. I actually saw another game Sunday night. Georgia Tech took out Iowa, and the Yellowjackets are Texas A&M-like. They lost nine games, so they’re not as consistent as the Aggies. But G-Tech leads the nation in steals, it has athletes and good post players. Truth is, I don’t know how the ‘Jackets lost nine games. But the ACC is a very tough conference. This won’t be an easy game for the Sooners.
OU: Was Michigan best matchup?
A good debate before the OU-Michigan game: Which would you rather play against, superior talent or superior coaching?
Michigan beat Clemson on Thursday to get a shot at the Sooners. Clemson clearly has more talent than does Michigan. The Tigers are more athletic, bigger, quicker. The Wolverines reminded both me and Jeff Capel of Nebraska, which in the Big 12 was called the Munchkins. Clemson clearly could match up with OU better than could Michigan.
But Michigan coach John Beilein is a tough out. He proved that at West Virginia. His teams are disciplined, well-drilled and tough. Michigan hung with the Sooners most of the game before falling 73-63.
The first half made you think OU was better off vs. Clemson. OU led just 30-29, and it seemed anybody’s game. The second half made you think OU was better off against Michigan, as Blake Griffin and Co. wore down the Wolverines.
The Sooners seemed intrigued with the question. “Before this game, I would have said a team like Clemson,” Blake Griffin said. “With our guys playing the way they did, it was really easy on me.”
His brother, Taylor Griffin, said it was probably easier “playing a team like Clemson. When you have a team that runs its system so well, they’re hard to guard.”
Capel wouldn’t bite on the question but said, “We’ve seen all kinds of different styles. We’ve seen helter skelter, we’ve seen methodical, we’ve seen very patterned. We see all that in our league.”
Both Willie Warren and Capel mentioned that the Big 12 had prepared OU well in terms of various styles. Colorado and Texas Tech run intriciate offenses. Oklahoma State plays uptempo with lots of 3-pointers. Missouri plays fullcourt pressure defense. Texas A&M plays good man-to-man defense and methodical offense.
The trouble for OU from now on — and anyone that plays OU — is that you don’t find too many one-dimensional teams. In the Sweet 16, teams are both talented and well-drilled. Skilled and smart.
Emails in on Sooner basketball
The new emails are in, and lots of talk about OU basketball.
Greg: “On the abuse of Blake Griffin, everything which needed saying was said by Blake and Capel. I am glad Capel took an oblique but very public stand about what has been going on all year. If I were an opponent, I would be more worried about being blindsided and coldcocked by Taylor, who consistently appears to be a lot closer to retaliation for acts against Blake than Blake himself. A fist out of the blue by Taylor would do every bit as much damage and he knows Pattillo, Wright and Davis are behind him without a lot of dropoff in production.”
Terrill: “I appreciate your article on ‘The Flip,’ starring Blake Griffin. You did mention turning the other cheek, Blake’s stoicness and his on-court cool and smarts. I would like to mention why I believe he does what he does, and that is due primary to two things: the excellent parenting by his mom and dad which has instilled solid character into him, and his Christian faith that compels him to be not react when being hammered intentionally by his basketball foes. This is way more than taking one for the team. He is proving to be a superb example of how a true Christian should handle himself, not only in a game, but in life itself.”
Douglas wrote about more OU teams and how they finished: “The 1985 Elite Eight team had won 18 of 19 heading into the tournament. The 2003 Elite Eight team had won five of six heading into the tournament. This 2009 squad is finishing up much like these Sooner squads of the past: 1986 started 21-1, ranked as high as No. 5, lost seven of last 11 heading into the NCAA tournament, lost in second round of tournament to unranked DePaul. 1987 started 19-3, ranked No. 8, lost six of last nine heading into the NCAA Tournament, lost in Sweet 16 to top-10 Iowa team.”
Roger: “It occurs to me that it may really be a blessing that the Sooner men lost their first game in the Big 12 tournament. To win the trophy requires winning three games in three days – actually three games in just about 50 hours. That effort would drain the energy from just about any NCAA team. Maybe now they will be more fresh with a focus on their main prize – a Final Four finish in the Big Dance. What is the best finish for a team after winning the Big 12 Tournament?
Scott read my column about the NCAA Tournament shutting out the little guy: “I couldn’t agree more. I tell my students all the time that the appeal of the NCAA Tournament for the mass audience is those David-Goliath matchups. While they rarely go David’s way, it happens just often enough that it perpetuates the idea that it is a common occurrence. If the NCAA committee loses sight of that, they are undermining their own product. I have a little more to root for this year with Robert Morris in the field. Not expecting much against Michigan State, but there is always a flicker of hope for those of us who like to dream.”
Bruce: “Here’s my solution to all the at-large mess which leaves little room for deserving mid-major teams. Instead of having a play-in game for the 16 seed, have four play-in games for the 12 seeds. These eight teams must all come from the six power conferences. I think this is more than fair. I don’t like an automatic qualifier having to play that extra game.”
Now, on to other hoops subjects. Mark: “Courtney Paris putting up her scholarship money , a little over the top? Coach Coale didn’t say much, me thinks it was not a good idea.”
Joe, a Missouri fan, wrote: “Thanks for your interesting and generous column about the Tigers winning the Big 12 Tournament. Although their styles are different, Mike Anderson and Norm Stewart have built teams with guys who played hard-nosed defense and overachieved. We’ve had a few marquee players over the years but we’ve had a lot more who won by out-gritting the other teams. The current Tigers are fun to watch (for Mizzou fans) and we’re hoping to make some noise in the tournament. Best wishes to OU and OSU as well. Being from Missouri, I’m not sure I can be so charitable about KU. I’ve liked Mike Anderson since he arrived, being a fellow Tulsa alum and veteran of many Arkansas games in Barnhill, where my parents went to school in the 1930s. Norm Stewart arrived the same semester I began graduate school here,”
