Scott Brooks: Open Mike podcast on the OKC Thunder coach’s growth
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Big 12 football schedule: The byes of Texas are upon Oklahoma State
Here’s some quick thoughts about the Big 12 football schedule, which was released (finally) on Tuesday:
The byes of Texas upon OSU: The Cowboys have a bye before and after their Sept. 29 Big 12 opener at home against Texas. In fact, considering their Sept. 15 game vs. Lousiana and the Oct. 13 game at Kansas, Oklahoma State fans could experience one Saturday of interesting football in five weeks. Not that Mike Gundy and his staff care much. No Big 12 coaching staff has a more favorable preparation opportunity to the start of league play.
Toughest closing stretch: Initially I thought that belonged to the Sooners (at West Virginia Nov. 17, home vs. OSU on Nov. 24 , at TCU on Dec. 1) and I may stick with that. But TCU closes at Texas and at home versus the Sooners. If the Longhorns are still searching for a decent quarterback come Thanksgiving, it’s not terribly troubling. If they’ve found one, the Horned Frogs could come limping home.
Iowa State, Kansas and TCU are the only teams facing OU and Texas in consecutive weeks.
SEC-Ya: Texas found a new Thanksgiving weekend date: the TCU Horned Frogs. The old rival, Texas A&M, gets Missouri in College Station on Nov. 24. Advantage Longhorns.
The Morgantown baptism: Baylor gets to go first, making the Big 12′s first trip to Morgantown, W.Va., to face the Mountaineers.
New kids on the block: Big 12 schedule makers were definitely kinder to West Virginia than TCU. The Horned Frogs go to Kansas Feb. 15 for the Big 12′s first league game, but the rest of the Horned Frogs road schedule is far more difficult (at Baylor Oct. 13, at Oklahoma State Oct. 27, at West Virginia Nov. 3, at Texas Nov. 24) than WVU, which has to go to Oklahoma State Nov. 10 but should be favored in its other three conference road games.
Jeremy Lin: Did “Linsanity” tour start too late for Oklahoma City?
Well, Oklahoma City, you can’t have everything.
When it comes to the NBA, we’re pretty fortunate out here on the Great Plains. The Thunder owns the NBA’s best record (21-6). Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are young All-Stars locked into long-term contracts. The Thunder has been the league’s darlings most of the last two and a half seasons. And OKC home crowds are developing a reputation among the league’s best.
But Oklahoma City will miss out on the NBA’s biggest story this season unless the Thunder and New York Knicks meet in the NBA Finals.
When the New York Knicks made their one and only Chesapeake Energy Arena appearance on Jan. 14, Knicks phenom Jeremy Lin barely played. He got five minutes of run in a game the Thunder led by 30 when Durant sat down for good with two minutes left — in the third quarter.
Lin’s OKC line: 3 points in five minutes on 1 of 2 shooting and a 3-pointer.
A month later, Lin is taking the world — yes, the world — by storm.
The Knicks are 4-0 in Lin’s first four career starts. His 109 points in those four games are the most for four any NBA player in his first four starts since 1976-77. He’s the first player in NBA history to tally at least 20 points and seven assists in his first four starts.
He’s averaging 27.3 points, 8.3 assists and 2.0 steals as a Knicks starter while breathing life into a dormant franchise. All of which has earned Lin the NBA’s Eastern Conference Player of the Week honors. Westbrook won the league’s Western Conference weekly honors for the second time this season.
As for Lin, he is doing for New York what the Knicks thought the additions of Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire would do. The story of the Asian-American kid who came from the end of the bench to sudden stardom, who still sleeps on a couch in his brother’s apartment, is captivating the NBA like Tebowmania captivated the NFL last season.
When the Knicks played in Minneapolis last week, the Timberwolves attracted their largest crowd in eight years.
The NBA says that 12 percent of all customized jerseys sold on NBA.com last week were Lin’s No. 17 Knicks jerseys. The Knicks themselves reported a 3,000 percent increase in online sales last week.
And Monday business analysts were saying Jeremy Lin could help settle the dispute between MSG and Time Warner Cable Inc. According to Associated Press reporter Marley Seaman, Knicks games on the MSG network aren’t being broadcast on Time Warner Cable due to a dispute. But Lin’s popularity could bring Time Warner back to the negotiating table. Ratings for Knicks broadcasts were up 36 percent for Lin’s first two starts.
The Madison Square Garden Co. shares reached an all-time high Monday at $32.27 in afternoon trading.
Thunder-Blazers aftermath: Choosing not to play the victim and criminalize a bad call
NBA referee Scott Foster missed the call. Replay clearly shows that Blazers forward LaMarcus Aldridge blocked Kevin Durant‘s layup before the ball hit the backboard, and with the ball still on the way up late in regulation. Watch it again for yourself.
But….
While you’re watching you’ll also hear that Blazers TV play-by-play man Mike Barrett thought it was goal-tending until he saw the replay. Unfortunately for the Blazers and Foster, the call was not reviewable under current NBA rules, though it probably should be in the future. It was a tough call that he missed, tying the game 103-103. OKC went on to win 111-107 in overtime.
To Portland’s credit, from players to coaches and even some fans, the response to Foster’s call has been refreshingly tame.
Here’s the Blazers on the goaltend/block, via OregonLive.com, The (Portland) Oregonian’s web site.
Coach Nate McMillian: “I thought it was a good block. The game should have been over.”
Aldridge: “I don’t want to sound rude, but it doesn’t really matter now. They made shots in overtime, and we didn’t, and they got some calls their way, and they win the game.”
“It could’ve been (a clean block) — it doesn’t really matter, does it? I’m not trying to sound rude today, guys, but it’s just when you lose a game like that, I don’t really want to go back and forth on if it was or if it wasn’t because that would’ve changed the game. They played better than us, I guess.”
Even this blog post, titled “Scott Foster Is Not The Enemy,” refuses to blame the loss on the call. Like I said, refreshing.
NBA referee Scott Foster, shown here talking to Stan Van Gundy, made the crucial goal-tending call on LaMarcus Aldridge's block of Kevin Durant's layup late in regulation of last night's game in Portland, Ore. The call tied the game 103-103 and the Thunder went on to win 111-107 in overtime. ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO.
Tom Brady: Meet the Purcell, Okla. man who tried to talk Brady out of football
Once upon a time Tom Brady was a high school catcher who actually contemplated allowing a Purcell, Okla., man to talk him out of football. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola, File)
His coaches at Michigan underestimated him.
Thirty-two NFL teams passed on him, over and over.
But Purcell’s Jim Fleming knew Tom Brady had what it takes — to play professional baseball.
Fleming, a former University of Oklahoma baseball assistant coach and Purcell, Okla., resident, was the West Coast cross checker in the Montreal Expos scouting department in 1995 when a tall, left-handed-hitting catcher from San Mateo, Calif., caught his eye.
The Expos selected Brady with the 507th overall pick (18th round) in the June amateur draft the summer before his freshman year at Michigan. You’d think that might makes Brady’s wait in the 2000 NFL Draft seem short, but it sure didn’t feel that way.
Fleming says Brady would have gone higher if he wasn’t headed to Ann Arbor.
“I’d say five, eix, seven — around there,” Fleming told MLB.com reporter Joe Frisaro in this story. “We said he got ino the teens, we’d take a shot. We were going to spend a pick (in the first 10 rounds) on him, because there was so much uncertainty on him.”
Brady’s bat speed, power potential and throwing arm made him a baseball prospect. He came from the same Junipero Serra High School program that produced Barry Bonds and Gregg Jefferies.
“We took him down a little lower and worked with him over the course of the summer,” Fleming told MLB.com. “I think we got him to consider baseball, but in the end his heart was in football.”
Fleming kept tabs on Brady through college in hopes he’d change his mind. Lloyd Carr and Drew Henson did their best to help. He never did.
Today, Fleming is the Miami Marlins’ special assistant to the president of baseball operations. Our man Ryan Aber talked to him for a Collected Wisdom, a regular Sunday feature in which sports figures share their world view, influences and thoughts.
As for Brady, he’ll be in Indianapolis Sunday, reminding a bunch of NFL scouts what they’re missing.
Today, Jim Fleming works in the Miami Marlins front office. But in 1995 the Purcell, Okla., resident was a Montreal Expos scout trying to talk Tom Brady out of playing football. Photo by Nate Billings, The Oklahoman.
Blake Griffin: The revenge of Timofey Mosgov and how to change the subject
Apparently there are some folks in Oklahoma City who are tired of hearing about Blake Griffin’s dunk on Thunder center Kendrick Perkins in particular, and Griffin’s dunks in general. For the record: I’m not one of them.
But those unfortunate weary souls have a new and unlikely hero: Timofey Mosgov.
Mosgov is a Russian center who plays for the Denver Nuggets. Until this week, Mosgov was the poster boy for Blake Griffin posterization. His moment came last year while wearing a New York Knicks uniform.
But Mosgov fought back Thursday night in Los Angeles. His hard foul on Griffin denied a dunk in the middle of a dominant third quarter that carried the Nuggets to a 30-point win at the Staples Center.
Nothing dirty about it. Just a clean hard foul.
These plays are fun to talk about and analyze in the light of day. But it’s interesting how things we talk about for days on end can get lost in the immediate aftermath of a game.
When Griffin posterized Perkins on Monday night, The Oklahoman’s John Rohde made reference to it in a story that posted on NewsOK in the wee hours of Tuesday morning but not in a short story written for The Oklahoman under a tight deadline. His story focused on how the Clippers handed the Thunder a decisive defeat, and what the loss may have revealed about Oklahoma City.
When Mosgov got his revenge late Thursday night, the Los Angeles Times’ Baxter Holmes understandably focused on the Clippers’ worst performance of the year, calling it a “wet blanket dousing a roaring fire.” The words “Timofey Mosgov” are found nowhere in this 659-word account.
By the way, the Blake dunking on Perk video has slipped all the way to No. 13 on Youtube’s most viewed videos this week, right behind something called the “SPELLING BEE — Bobby Lee video.” Is Perk’s long national nightmare nearing an end?
Said Timofey: “After my dunk, everybody said the dunk was unbelievable. Nobody thinks it can be a little bit better. And, two nights ago … [Perkins happened.] So who will be next?”
Who should start in Thabo Sefolosha’s place?
Oklahoma City's Daequan Cook (14) and James Harden (13) near O.J. Mayo (32) of Memphis in the first half during game one of the Western Conference semifinals between the Memphis Grizzlies and the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA basketball playoffs at Oklahoma City Arena in Oklahoma City, Sunday, May 1, 2011. Photo by Nate Billings, The Oklahoman
Seeing Darnell Mayberry’s Tweet that Thunder guard Thabo Sefolosha won’t play tonight (Wednesday) when the Thunder plays at 7 p.m. game at Dallas reminded me of a popular conversation topic last season during the Western Conference Finals:
Why is Thabo Sefolosha starting to start with?
It began when the Mavs-Thunder series did, and intensified as the OKC offense struggled. The theory: Thabo is a defensive specialist who majors in slowing down primo shooting guards, and the Mavericks didn’t have one. Why waste minutes trying to shutdown DeShawn Stevenson? Why not start James Harden?
There’s been plenty of you signing in that chorus, and I’ve heard my good friend Darnell hum a few bars from time to time. But the signing died down considerably after the Thunder’s 112-100 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers Monday night.
James Harden started that game, and — as Darnell pointed out to me on Monday and Berry Tramel blogged on — seemed to promptly disappear. He scored seven points in 42 minutes, going 2-of-10 shooting. The net effect of starting Harden against the Clippers seemed to be losing him among the first-teammers (Durant 36 points, Westbrook 31 points) and removing his presence and playmaking entirely from the second team.
All of which reinforced what coach Scott Brooks has been saying for a while about his rotation — played out clearly in Los Angeles.
Which brings us to tonight’s game. Will Brooks give Harden another shot at starting, betting that what happened against the Clippers is not a representative sample. That seems to be likely. This is not a coach or a franchise that waffles or changes on whim. Darnell raised the possibility of starting Daequan Cook (plausible, I guess) or even Lazar Hayward (doubtful).
Who do you think should/will start in Thabo’s place?
Courtney Gardner: The many travels of a JUCO standout the Sooners swiped from Arkansas
http://youtu.be/bP9fH1Qg35M
News that California junior college wide receiver Courtney Gardner signed with Oklahoma can’t be sitting too well with Arkansas. First the Hogs lost out on the nation’s top prep receiver (Dorial Green-Beckham) to Missouri. Then, in Gardner, they lost the nati0n’s top JUCO pass catcher to the Sooners.
But its cause to celebrate in the Sooner coaching offices. Co-offensive coordinator Jay Norvell has restocked his receiving corps quite well.
Here’s the receivers on the OU roster before classes were in session: Kenny Stills, Jaz Reynolds, Trey Franks and Kameel Jackson. That’s it.
Here’s the receiving corps Norvell and the Sooners since have signed:
– Trey Metoyer, perhaps the nation’s top receiving recruiting last year, returns to Norman from Hargrave Military Academy as the top prep school recruit. The five-star recruit probably has a different perspective on campus life now, having worn a military uniform to class last fall.
– Duron Neal of St. Louis spent his prep career playing in DGB shadow and comes to Norman with a bit of a chip on his shoulder, looking to prove he’s underrated — hence the Twitter handle @UnderratedNeal. Norvell calls him a student of Sooner football history and one of the favorite kids he’s ever recruited.
– Those of us who have watched Sterling Shepard’s career and know his background wonder if Norvell wasn’t actually talking about the Heritage Hall star, who signed Wednesday. Norvell made it clear in his segment on OU’s signing day webcast that he was looking for ways to the ball in the hands of late Sooner receiver Derrick Shepard soon.
– Derrick Woods of Inglewood, Calif. grew up just blocks from the Fabulous Forum, former home of the Los Angeles Lakers. Norvell enjoyed talking about Woods’ Los Angeles roots, and holding off a late charge from USC to sign him.
– And then there’s Gardner, who along with fellow juco standout Damien Williams (a running back from Arizona Western) provided the Sooners with a couple pleasant signing day surprises.
Norvell said when he was in the NFL for six years as an assistant he spent time looking for receivers like Gardner, a 6-foot-3, 215-pounder with speed. The guy was a state champion in the long jump (25-7) and triple jump (48-6). Other measurables: 10.67 100 meters, 21.4 200 meters, 315 bench, 425 squats.
You can watch him in action in the video above.
And after watching him and seeing Norvell’s words its natural to wonder what a guy like that is doing at Roseville (Calif.) Sierra Community College. Academic eligibility issues usually play a role for juco standouts. In Gardner’s case, the impact of Hurricane Katrina can’t be dismissed in his travels, which took him from Louisiana, to Reno, Nev., to prep school in North Carolina to the northwest outskirts of Sacramento and now, apparently, to Norman, Oklahoma.
Beyond signing day, this is the kind of story we like to tell in The Oklahoman and on NewsOK. Looking forward to learning more about Courtney Gardner.
