Big 12/Pac 10 Hardwood Series so far
I’m watching the end of the UCLA at Texas game here waiting for the Oklahoma State game to start … We didn’t travel to cover the game in Seattle because of the combination of cost and the late game time (won’t be able to get a story in the paper before deadline) so I’m watching on TV and listening to the radio. I’ll also be trying to blog as much as possible throughout the game.
This game in Austin has been pretty ridiculously entertaining, and a close one in Norman, too. It will be veeerrrry interesting to see how the Cowboys hold up tonight given the strange circumstances in Seattle. Travis Ford deflected a question about Ibrahima Thomas during the radio pregame, saying (to paraphrase) that he’d rather talk about the players who wanted to be there. Of course, that includes Teeng Akol, and I think everyone is uber-curious to see how much he plays tonight.
by andrea cohen
Why Ibrahima Thomas’ departure would be a stunner
I got a phone call early Tuesday evening, someone asking me what I knew about a player leaving the basketball team. I didn’t know much, so I started making phone calls. My assumption was that one of the guys who wasn’t getting much/any playing time had hit the road, and that wouldn’t have been a huge shock. Travis Ford is sticking pretty seriously to a 6-7 guy rotation, which is leaving Marshall Moses, Malcoln Kirkland and Nick Sidorakis with very, very minimal playing time.
About three calls in, I heard something that made my jaw drop: It was Ibrahima Thomas.
Here’s why it was stunning:
-The center has started every game for OSU. He’s playing 20.5 minutes, and a lot of the bench time is self-imposed because of foul trouble.
-He’s 6-foot-11 on a team that lacks size. One would think the coaching staff would do everything in its power to keep him.
-He’s told people that he doesn’t like playing the 5, and that he wants to play the 3 or 4. On Monday OSU got 5 Teeng Akol eligible, and Ford said he was looking at moving Thomas out of the post.
-He’s one of the most likable kids on the planet. Big smile, sweet nature, friendly, stays out of trouble.
Last week I was writing a story about how the players are adjusting to Ford’s in-your-face style, and how he was adjusting to them. I happened to talk to Thomas for the story, because I’ve noticed that Ford is really hard on Thomas. Keep in mind that Thomas has only been playing basketball for five years, and it shows in some of the basics.
Of Thomas, Ford said: “You’ve gotta make sure he understands exactly what you want and you’ve gotta put it in very tough words at times for him. You’ve gotta make him mad at times.”
Thomas was complimentary of the coach, saying Ford is just trying to get the most out of the players.
“If you don’t know him and you see him yell at us you probably think he don’t like us,” Thomas said. “But he’s really really a cool guy. Like he says, when we get on court we gotta take care of business.”
Thomas struggled at The Old Spice Classic last week, fouling incessantly and grabbing just eight rebounds in the three games combined. I would imagine that the “tough words” Ford mentioned got tougher.
I don’t know how exactly how Akol’s eligibility affected the situation, but the two were friendly.
And finally, I don’t know just how permanent this decision is. Guys quit teams and come back two days later all the time. An assistant told me last night that it isn’t yet official, and that Thomas is dealing with some family issues in
by andrea cohen
