Carbondale collapse?
by andrea cohen
It’s halftime of OSU’s first-round NIT game, here are some quick thoughts on why OSU is trailing the Salukis 26-19.
-Ice cold shooting. OSU is 0-11 from 3. Yep, ZERO of ELEVEN. And they’re shooting just 28 percent from the floor. Marcus Dove has missed at least two layups, and OSU is struggling to get high-percentage shots. The Salukis do play some defense, the stats don’t lie.
-Ridiculous rebounding margin. OSU has eight boards, SIU has 22. The Salukis have more offensive boards than OSU has defensive.
-Here’s a reason the score isn’t more out of hand than it is: OSU has committed three turnovers to SIU’s 13. Byron Eaton has been especially good, stripping the ball out of the post several times.
Defense makes a statement
By Mike Baldwin
The defense dominated the first scrimmage on Friday. Since it was a scaled down “thud” scrimmage and defenders weren’t allowed to tackle, and there were only 50 plays, 17 by the first-team units, it would be foolish to place too much emphasis on what transpired. Still, it was obvious the juco additions and young players like Richetti Jones and Ugo Chinasa should help upgrade the defense.
There was definitely a noticeable improvement in pass rush, which will be one of the key variables for OSU’s defense. Most importantly, there is improved depth. Markelle Martin, the high school early entry safety, intercepted a pass and took it to the house. Martin currently is running with the third team.
The defensive line will have much to prove but there are eight to 10 quality players that could figure into the rotation. The secondary should be fairly solid, especially if juco safety Lucien Antoine can carve out a key role. The key will be linebacker. Patrick Lavine and Andre Sexton should be solid on the outside. Orie Lemon played well in the scrimmage. Donald Booker, the juco transfer who reports this summer, recorded 161 tackles last season.
All in all it was a much needed confidence boost for a defense that has set a lofty goal of finsihing in the top 50 nationally. It’s much, much, much too early to draw any conclusions. But for Tim Beckman and his troops, it was a productive start.
1st half thoughts, OSU vs. Texas
by andrea cohen
First-half thoughts from OSU vs. Texas.
- Wow, Ibrahima Thomas. The freshman center had an unreal first half, and a truly incredible first half of the first half. He has 15 points at the break, including a pair of 3-pointers. Byron Eaton has been getting him the ball inside well, and he’s rebounding like crazy – he has three offensive boards and two defensive.
-Speaking of rebounding, OSU has a 19-11 edge. That’s thanks to 5 from Thomas, 4 from James Anderson, 3 from Eaton and two apieve from Dove and Terrel Harris.
-Wow, Damion James. Now James is a bona fide player, and isn’t a shock like Thomas, but the guy is playing really well. When he starts hitting 3s he becomes insanely tough to guard because he can also kill you in the post. OSU slowed him better late in the half, but not before he scored 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting.
-Big guy Gary Johnson is out for the day with that leg injury, a Texas spokesman just confirmed.
-Did anybody else notice Dove on Augustin at the end of the half? Interesting. He’s got about a foot on the Longhorns’ point guard – maybe he can block those 3s Augustin keeps draining with a hand in his face.
OSU tennis: Men beat Furman
FROM THE OSU ATHLETICS OFFICE
Cowboys Defeat Furman; Advance at Blue Gray Classic
MONTGOMERY, Alabama – Oklahoma State’s men’s tennis team advanced to the second round of the Blue Gray Classic with a 4-1 defeat of Furman in Montgomery, Ala., on Thursday.
The Cowboys picked up the doubles point with a solid output in all three matches. At No. 1, sophomore Oleksandr Nedovyesov and junior Nathan Byrnes dominated their way to an 8-0 win over Furman’s Chris Rhyne and Anrei Chvetsov.
Who’s Javon?
by andrea cohen
Yesterday Pat Knight followed the trend of using his postgame interviews to stick up for Sean Sutton. Knight’s main point was that fans should blame unexpectedly departed players and not Sutton for this season’s struggles.
Perhaps a valid point, but it hurts the argument when you’re lamenting the loss of Javon Curry. Yep, Javon. Knight called JamesOn Curry by the wrong name about five times during the interview.
Initially I didn’t know about this, because I was conducting postgame interviews with OSU players at the time. Transcripts of the interview had the name corrected. But this morning on the way to the Sprint Center a local television station guy was telling me how unfortunately unusable the clip was because of the misnomer.
But to be honest, whatever you want to call him, I agree at least a bit with Knight. OSU would have been a different team with Curry.
OSU track signs recruit
FROM THE OSU ATHLETICS OFFICE
Cowboy Cross Country/Track Signs Top Recruit
STILLWATER, Okla. – The Oklahoma State men’s cross country and track team signed the highest rated prospect in the history of the school Friday, adding to an already impressive class.
German Fernandez of Riverbank High School in Riverbank, Calif., headlines the class. Coach Dave Smith said Fernandez is considered one of the best prospects in the country.
“He is in everybody’s top five, mine included” Smith said. “Many feel that he is the best high school cross country runner in the country.”
OSU wrestling: NCAAs up next
FROM THE OSU ATHLETICS OFFICE
Next Up For Cowboy Wrestling
2008 NCAA Championships
March 20-22, 2008
Scottrade Center (St. Louis, Mo.)
Television: ESPNU (quarterfinals until finals) -AND- ESPN (finals)
Radio: KSPI 93.7 FM (Rex Holt and Roger Moore)
Internet Audio: www.okstate.com
The Basics
The Oklahoma State wrestling team (16-3-1 overall) goes after its 35th NCAA crown when the Cowboys compete at the 2008 NCAA Wrestling Championships at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis from March 20-22.
The Cowboy Contingent
Oklahoma State will be represented by eight wrestlers at the NCAA Championships, as 125-pounder Tyler Shinn, 133-pounder Coleman Scott, 141-pounder Nathan Morgan, 157 pounder Newly McSpadden, 165-pounder Jake Dieffenbach, 174-pounder Brandon Mason, 184-pounder Jack Jensen and heavyweight Jared Rosholt will all be in action.
OSU baseball starts Big 12 play
FROM THE OSU ATHLETICS OFFICE
#23 Oklahoma State (10-3) at #9 Baylor (11-3)
March 14-16 – 6:30 p.m., 6:30 p.m., 1 p.m.
Waco, Texas (Baylor Ballpark (5,000))
Oklahoma State
OSU is 10-3 on the season and opens Big 12 Conference play on the road against Baylor in Waco, Texas, on Friday. The opener, as well as Saturday’s contest, is scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. start, while Sunday’s series finale will begin at 1 p.m. The Cowboys finished third in the Big 12 last season with a 16-11 mark and have earned a spot among the top three in the final standings each of the last two years. OSU’s second-place finish in 2006 was its highest ever in the league.
Baylor
The Bears are 11-3 on the season and are coming off back-to-back losses at Oral Roberts. Baylor finished sixth in the league last season at 12-15, then advanced to the title game at the Big 12 Baseball Championship. (more…)
Stealing info for you, blog readers
I did a little spying for you, blog readers, listening in on the ESPN guy prep his crew for today’s game. It’s interesting to watch that happen — basically it’s 10 guys sitting around a table with a color team photo and the producer (I think) gives them a run-down. He told them all about OSU’s recent hot streak, talked about Marcus Dove being Fran Franchilla’s pick for defensive player of the year (you read it here first!), and made one point I thought was really, really sharp: This is an easy TV game to call and cover because the players of the game — point guards D.J. Augustin and Byron Eaton – will be touching the ball 90 percent of the time.
Dove under the weather
Oklahoma State’s most significant senior spent Tuesday, er, incapacitated. It seems Marcus Dove had the flu or food poisoning or something, because he was in a bad way Tuesday and didn’t practice. Luckily his parents are in town for tonight’s game and they took care of him. It seems the TLC did him some good as he’s out shooting around right now and reportedly attended this morning’s shoot-around as well.
