Cowboys Moving Up?
By John Helsley
Rejoice, Cowboys fans, over your Bedlam blowout to start the Big 12 Tournament.
Get giddy, too, over Nebraska’s stunning upset of Missouri.
That opening day combination at the Sprint Center may have created a subtle shift in the NCAA Tournament bracket that carries seismic implications.
Checking out Joe Lunardi’s updated (as of late Wednesday night) bracketology, OSU moved from a No. 8 to a No. 7 seed in his bracket projection, joining the Tigers as a 7.
It’s the same at Sporting News Today, where Mike DeCourcy also shifted the Cowboys up a notch.
The Cowboys have been fit as a notch below Mizzou based on a lower finish in the conference regular season and a head-to-head loss. But the Pokes and Tigers have altered their images of late, punctuated Wednesday.
Better yet for the Cowboys, they can solify themselves as a bracket riser tonight against Kansas State, a team they’ve already beaten. And it comes with little risk, as a loss in an upset role at a neutral site wouldn’t be all that harmful.
Why all the issue over one spot in the bracket?
Here’s why: The first round pits 8 vs. 9 seeds in tossup games, leading into a second-round matchup with a No. 1. A 7 not only gets a lower-seeded first round foe in a 10, the next round leads to a 2, which this season is drastically different.
Consider Lunardi’s bracket.
The 8-9 matchups: UNLV-Wake Forst, Louisville-UTEP, Cal-Clemson and Northern Iowa-Florida State.
The No. 10 seeds: St. Mary’s, Old Dominion, Cornell, Marquette.
Who would you rather play?
And the next step is the difference in the No. 1 quartet of Kansas, Kentucky, Syracuse and Duke, and, the No. 2s of West Virginia, Kansas State, Ohio State and Purdue.
Again, taking your pick, it’s easy.
OSU-Kansas State: Three Keys:
1. Keep stroking. When the Cowboys are popping from the perimeter, they’re capable of beating anybody in the Big 12. The three likely teams standing between them and the tournament title — K-State, Baylor and Kansas — will attest. After Wednesday night, Keiton Page’s confidence must be soaring. Obi Muonelo’s strut is always in force. And James Anderson, after a quiet night against OU, figures to go off.
2. Stand Tall. The Wildcats are long and active, ranking fourth in the Big 12 in rebounding and second in offensive boards. They can kill a team with second chances. It’s vital that the Cowboys body up. And they’ll need the guards to help. The emergence of Matt Pilgrim should help.
3. Let It Fly. As mentioned above, the Cowboys have little to lose from this point forward, while the Wildcats are trying to reverse a two-game losing streak and confirm their own status as a No. 2 national seed that could land them in Oklahoma City for a regional. The Pokes say they’re having fun. Let the fun continue.
Bedlam Breakdown
By John Helsley
This Big 12 Tournament may lack intriguing story lines, especially today in the first round, but at least for us, there’s Bedlam.
And for Cowboys fans, this is surely a Bedlam pairing to savor.
In boxing terms, the Sooners are out on their feet, losers of eight straight and headed toward their worst season in decades. Decades.
Things have deteriorated rapidly since Blake and Taylor Griffin left Norman. And coach Jeff Capel has been forced to push every button imaginable in an effort to goose a squad that has revealed chemistry issues, flat performances and an aversion to team defense.
Willie Warren is out with an injury. Tiny Gallon could be limited by injury.
And by all indications, the season can’t end soon enough.
The Cowboys are here to oblige.
With the Soones wobbling against the ropes, the Cowboys could create a KO with one decent blow, unless Bedlam stirs something extra — something seldom seen from the Sooners of late — in their arch-enemy.
“They’re here for a whole different purpose and we’re here for a purpose and both teams are going to get after it,” said Cowboys star James Anderson.
OSU’s purpose: Publicly, a Big 12 Tournament title, which won’t come easy with the grind of four wins in four days needed. But mainly, the Cowboys can improve their NCAA Tournament seed with two wins, rising off that dreaded 8-9 spot in the bracket that everyone seems to have them occupying. Oh, and the joy of a Bedlam beatdown for the like of Anderson and Oklahoma natives Obi Muonelo and Nick Sidorakis and Keiton Page.
OU’s purpose: Presumably the spoils — or spoiler — of Bedlam, although frankly, I’m not sure many in this Sooner roster appreciate the rivalry yet.
The Cowboys should have posted a regular season Bedlam sweep, if not for a head injury that took Anderson out of Round 1 in Norman. They blistered the Sooners in Stillwater in Round 2.
Now Round 3 brings Cowboys fans something to savor.
Keys to the game
1. Get off quick. The Cowboys go as their shooters go. If Anderson, Muonelo and Page show some stroke from the perimeter early, the rout could be on. If not, the Sooners could find some confidence and some reason for hanging around.
2. Slowing TMG. Sooners guard Tommy Mason-Griffin popped the Cowboys for 30 points in Gallagher-Iba Arena, more than any player scored on OSU this season. He’s capable of keeping OU in it.
3. Inside presence. One of the keys to OSU’s stretch run has been the emergence of Matt Pilgrim. He’s capable of neutralizing Gallon and doing his own damage in the paint.
Prediction: Cowboys 85-72
Here Comes No. 1
By John Helsley
jhelsley@opbuco.com
Bill Self readies for another return to Stillwater. Yet in a stark departure from the past, that’s not the prominent story line for Saturday’s KU-Cowboys clash.
You’ve got OSU in search of securing an NCAA Tournament bid, something a win over the Jayhawks would all but clinch.
“It’s a great opportunity,” Cowboys true combo guard Keiton Page said.
You’ve got the Jayhawks lugging the nation’s No. 1 ranking, making them the first top-ranked team to invade Gallagher-Iba since 1989. For perspective on that rarity, consider this:
“I was born in 1989,” OSU star James Anderson said.
And you’ve got Anderson and KU’s Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich all in the thick of the Big 12 Player of the Year race, with Saturday perhaps serving as a separator.
Then you’ve got self, who played at OSU and graduated at OSU and depending on who you believe, was all set to coach at OSU before working out a massive extension to remain in Lawrence, spurring Cowboys athletic director Mike Holder to openly admit being broken hearted nearly two years ago.
Of course, OSU ultimately went another direction, hiring Travis Ford, who’s job of reshaping and recasting the Cowboys is ongoing.
And now, as Self returns to his alma mater for the first time since that 2008 courting, the emotional connection seems to have subsided — for now — on both sides.
Both have more pressing matters; a Big 12 championship for Self; a big win for the Cowboys.
Time, we know, changes everything.
Self’s take:
“When I was head coach at Oral Roberts, we played there every year. It wasn’t as emotional when were down 41 (points), but it was still an emotional deal. And then when we come back here (to KU), people made a big deal about going back. And that was emotional to me.
“It’s not emotional any more. It’s a business trip. We will not mix personal on this business trip.”
That’s not to say Self doesn’t still harbor love for OSU. He does. As he said this week, “That’s my school. That’s my wife’s school.”
But KU is his profession.
“There will be some people that I will love to see, but that will be when we’re coming out of the locker room after the game. That’s not a negative toward OSU, but I can’t do both.
“I would think that anybody going back and playing their alma mater, it’s probably a little different the first few times you do it. But once you do it a while… I think when (Michael) Jordan was playing for the Wizards and every time he went back to Chicago to play, it probably lessened a little bit as far as being emotional. I could be wrong. Of course I’m not comparing that to Jordan, gaw, that’s a bad comparison.
“I don’t think it’s going to be that big a deal.”
OSU-Texas: Who’s Got Who?
By John Helsley
jhelsley@opubco.com
Made it safety to Austin, where just yesterday they were hurling snowballs and building snowmen and one young man even went skiing down the Capitol steps.
Today, however, there’s no evidence of the weather that was.
Thank, gawd, this annual trip is always about escaping the cold, not dragging it along across the border. And after being in Ames a week ago, the promise of warmth keeps you going.
Now, it’s up to the Cowboys to heat things up inside the Erwin Center tonight, where the Longhorns still haven’t revealed a definite starting five.
After losing point guard Dogus Balbay — one of the defensive stars of Texas’ win in Stillwater — to a blown knee, the Horns are likely to go big, with 6-6 forward Gary Johnson joining a front line of 6-7 Damion James and 6-10 Dexter Pittman.
That would make for matchup problems, not that it’s anything new for these vertically challenged Cowboys. But it could also create advantages for OSU on the offensive end, where the Horns would have to scramble to keep up with James Anderson and Co. on the perimeter.
As for the defensive dilemma should Texas look large, the Cowboys could sure use a re-appearance of Marshall Moses.
This has not been a welcoming town for OSU over the years. Since the formation of the Big 12, the Cowboys have won just twice in Austin. So the Pokes will be leaning heavily on the improved leadership that has been evident through a three-game winning streak.
“It’s been fun watching Obi (Muonelo) and James kind of taking this team under their wing a little bit and understanding what this time of year is all about,” said Cowboys coach Travis Ford. “You can see they’ve raised their leadership ability this time of year. You can see the intensity they have and the sense of urgency they have.
“That’s been fun. They’re using their experience to help these younger kids, in practice, the day of games and things like that. We just hope it continues. It’s something these guys have worked on over an extended period of time this year. They haven’t always been comfortable doing that. But now’s a good time to have it, that’s for sure.”
Keiton Page, while just a sophomore, is contributing, too.
“I think Keiton provides it in that guys know that he was starting this time last year and playing a lot of minutes into the NCAA Tournament. He’s starting to speak up more.
“It’s pretty much those three and Nick (Sidorakis) can jump in there, the players respect him.”
And Ford emphasizes how important that kind of leadership can be during a season’s stretch run.
“It’s important this time of year,” Ford said, “as important as anything we do, making sure players hold themselves accountable. And holding players accountable is the leadership within the team. We’ve been doing it for a long time, but when you can get players doing it, that helps a lot.”
OSU-Iowa State Afterthoughts
By John Helsley
jhelsley@opubco.com
Sitting in the Kansas City airport, waiting on a flight home from the frozen cornfield that is Iowa and thinking how hard it must be to be a Royals fan. Pitchers and catchers are reporting, hope springs eternal, and yet, the sports talk radio guys here are killing the Royals already.
(Sorry, compadre Mike Baldwin!)
But that’s not why you’re here.
Cowboys won a crucial game Wednesday night in Ames. A game with many twists, from a big blown lead (20 points in the first half); to a nearly 22-minute scoring drought by James Anderson; to Obi Muonelo’s greatest game as a Cowboy (seriously); to an underrated defensive job on ISU’s big two of Craig Brackins and Marquis Gilstrap; to a hang-on-at-the-end finish that saw the Cyclones give away some chances at the end.
Quick thoughts, before boarding:
* Muonelo’s growth as a player was evident against ISU. Clearly, he sensed that his team needed somebody to step up with the offense struggling. And he did, scoring 21 straight points during a stretch that turned away the Cyclones’ comeback. Considering OSU’s still-difficult quest for an NCAA Tournament bid, Muonelo’s pack mule effort and 31 points resulted in his best game in orange.
* Didn’t get this in the print edition, but Keiton Page suffered a minor thigh pull that shouldn’t be an issue. Page left the game late, yet was back on the floor at the end. And he was walking fine on the way to the bus after the game.
* The Cowboys face a stretch of four straight games against ranked teams, beginning Saturday with Baylor. We’ve been saying this a lot lately, but consider it a must win. At 6-5, the Cowboys need at least two more wins and maybe three to go dancing. With three home games left, and Nebraska the only one that looks like a lock, beating Baylor could be a necessity.
* As Matt Pilgrim emerges, Marshall Moses’ game has suffered. Moses’ work on the defensive end shouldn’t be dismissed Wednesday night, but it was a miserable night for him on offense. Missed a dunk and a couple of point-blank shots. Turned the ball over. Seems Marshall is having a difficult time adjusting to his new reserve role.
The Post-Penn Plan
Keiton Page may be transitioning to the point.
By John Helsley
jhelsley@opubco.com
Ray Penn’s worst fear went official last week, with his season ruled over due to the ongoing issue with his right knee, where a “stress reaction” isn’t getting better and threatens to get worse.
The loss of Penn may not rank as OSU’s worst fear, yet it dramatically changes the team’s dynamic and shrinks an already small margin for error.
The Cowboys’ plan at point guard going forward: More Fred Gulley and Keiton Page, with an apparent emphasis on the latter.
Ideal? No. Penn’s quickness and ability to penetrate will be missed.
Survivable? Absolutely. The Cowboys won at Kansas State and are 3-2 overall with Penn on the sideline.
When Page missed five of six games recently, Page handled the majority of the duty at the point. Expect that to continue, with Gulley still prone to too many freshman mistakes.
A push toward more Page seemed to be the tone when Cowboys coach Travis Ford was asked if Penn’s injury presented an opportunity for Gulley.
“Absolutely,” Ford said, before continuing on. “It’s an opportunity for Keiton. Keiton Page hasn’t played much point. He should have wanted to have played some point this year. Being his size and everything, I wish he would have worked all summer long (and said), ‘Coach I want to be the point guard.’
“He might have wanted that. We never really gave him a shot. So now it is his chance, if that’s something he wanted. He’s never really said it, but it should be. It should be something that he should want to be able to do.”
Reading between the lines, it may present Page’s best opportunity going forward, as in next year and beyond, when he could be a top backup option at the point and shooting guard spots. The prize of the Cowboys’ recruiting class is 6-3 guard Markel Brown out of Louisiana, who figures to jump into the shooting guard spot previously manned by Page.
Currently redshirting JP Olukemi should get a serious look at the 3 position, as Ford looks to get bigger.
So the more versatile Page can be, the better.
In that regard, it’s an important stretch for Gulley, too, since Page could be infringing on his future playing time at the point.
Ford said he’s not looking for any specific stat numbers from Gulley.
“No, we haven’t talked about that,” Ford said. “I don’t want to put that pressure on him. I did that with Byron (Eaton) last year, midway through the season. I do it with certain guys with different stats. But, with him, more positives than negatives. And understand your job on defense. First and foremost, understand your job and don’t turn it over.”
No pressure? The pressure is on.
OSU-A&M: Afterthoughts
By John Helsley
jhelsley@opubco.com
The Cowboys answered a major question Wednesday night: How would they handle the aftermath of their big win at K-State.
Asked and answered. In fine fashion.
OSU’s 73-69 win was solid, especially considering the Cowboys were without starting point guard Ray Penn again.
A&M actually played one of its best offensive games of the season, uncharacteristically firing in 3-pointers. And OSU weathered the blows and came out with a home win — a mandatory home win — that revealed another positive development.
Backup point guard Fred Gulley, splitting time with Keiton Page in replacing Penn, played his best game yet. It was reminiscent of Saturday, when Nick Sidorakis emerged with a breakout game.
“(Gulley) made plays tonight,” said Cowboys coach Travis Ford. “His offense came by making plays, not by him trying to create something himself. That’s not his game. He got it by a back-door layup. He got it off a tip-in. he made free throws. That’s what he needs to do. And he can do that, because he’s athletic and he’s long. We need some of that out of him. That’s a huge bonus when we can get a few points out of him, because our team struggles at times to score.
“Just as Nick did last game, I thought Fred did this game. When you’re trying to just survive and piece minute-by-minute together, the way we’re doing, you’ve to have guys step up that may not normally be scoring a lot of points or playing a lot of minutes. You’ve got to have that.”
For Gulley, who scored a career-high eight points, it was an opportunity to shake some recent struggles and show some of the stuff that made him a two-time Arkansas Gatorade Player of the Year.
“I really feel like this is something I can build upon,” Gulley said. “I feel like myself out there and how I’m used to playing. It just felt good and hopefully I can build on it.”
So does Ford.
The Cowboys’ next test takes them to Mizzou, where the Tigers bring the pressure for 40 minutes. Penn’s status remains iffy. And even if he is able to play, Gulley will be needed.
“The more I play, the more confidence I’ll get,” Gulley said. “I know Missouri likes to do a lot of pressure, but if we handle it right we can use the pressure against them and turn that into a lot of easy offense.
“(Wednesday) was just a good startup. We’re going to keep working to where we feel good against Missouri and can handle their pressure.”
Poke-ing Around: Penn and other items
Penn's injury could linger.
By John Helsley
jhelsley@opubco.com
Ray Penn remains questionable — “day-to-day” according to Travis Ford — as Oklahoma State approaches Wednesday night’ s home game against Texas A&M.
Get used to it, Cowboys fans, as the freshman point guard’s status may not differ much the rest of the season, as Ford and the OSU trainers don’t want a sore knee to transition into something much worse.
Penn was on crutches again Monday (as a precaution and to relieve weight on the knee), when he did not practice.
Ford said the decision to play or rest Penn will be multi-layered.
“It’s up to (Penn),” Ford said. “Up to the trainers. Speaking with the trainers and everybody, this is a situation we’re going to have to monitor. It’s unfortunate he’s not going to get to practice as much as we’d like. We’ll try to save him for games as much as possible. And that’s never a good scenario, especially for a freshman. If he was an older player, you’d feel a little better about it. But freshmen need as much practice time as possible.
“Hopefully, he can continue to heal and still be able to play a little bit and practice a little bit.
“It’s kind of been a strange deal, the whole thing, where it’s at. It’s not real, real bad, but it’s a thing that can get worse. So it’s a very fine line you have to walk. A very fine line.”
Playing the bulk of the minutes at the point in place of Penn, Keiton Page didn’t produce a great stat line, yet managed the offense, which was pleasing to Ford.
“He did good. What I liked about Keiton, I thought he did a great job of getting leadership out of the point guard spot. We saw many clips where he’s pointing and directing and he’s trying to get guys in the right direction, while they double-teamed him a lot and beat him up pretty good. He got hit in the eye with the ball one time. He got slapped in the eye one time. All accidental.
“He did a great job of being put in a position he hasn’t been put in, in a long time. He played point guard a lot last year. He backed up Byron, so it was totally foreign to him. But he hadn’t played any this year.
“So for being thrown in that situation, I thought he did an excellent job of leading our basketball team and getting in offense, in a very difficult situation.”
In that situation, Ford was able to overlook the stats — 1-of-8 shooting, four turnovers to three assists — for the intangibles Page provided in an emergency role.
“I’m a big stat guy,” Ford said. “I study stats every which way you can study them – us, our opponents, everybody. But they don’t always tell the whole story.
“They don’t tell the way he kept our team organized all the time. We’re going to have to continue to get that, because we don’t know what we’re going to get with Ray.”
Nick Sidorakis was more than good in a pinch, too, at Kansas State, providing points, hustle plays and more off the bench, in his first extended duty since returning from a preseason knee injury.
“I felt good,” Sidorakis said. “I think I made more positive plays than negative plays, which the coaches thrive on. They are always talking about making more positives than negatives. I feel like I did all right. I felt good. I felt comfortable out there.”
Sidorakis talked about a touching phone conversation he had with his father, who couldn’t be at the game, but congratulated Nick and told him how proud he was of his son, and for battling through the adversity of the injury and the bench time.
“That was pretty special,” Sidorakis said of the call.
Ford Considering Lineup Changes
Matt Pilgrim Due More Minutes
By John Helsley
jhelsley@opubco.com
Travis Ford may be tinkering with his lineup. If not Wednesday night, soon.
Coming off consecutive road losses at Oklahoma and Baylor that saw OSU’s shooting slump again doom the day, the Cowboys coach said he’s been pondering some changes.
Ford may take one more look at his standard lineup against Colorado, since the Buffs send out a starting five featuring four guards. Still, expect some changes in playing time, with Matt Pilgrim’s on the upswing, possibly taking away from the scuffling Keiton Page, who has made just 3-of-16 shots in conference play.
I asked Ford about the possibility he’d make some lineup changes, or if he was committed to sticking with status quo.
Ford’s response:
I don’t like what I’ve got going. You’re question has been thought about a lot in the last 48 hours, believe me. A lot of scenarios have gone through my head on which direction to go and change and trying to mix things up a bit, for a lot of reasons — whether to get a guy’s attention or this might just be better, the different lineups I’ve looked at.
There’s no question, Matt Pilgrim needs to be playing starter-type minutes. And you hear all the time, it doesn’t matter who starts. And as a coach, you really know that and you understand that and that is an absolute 100 percent truth. But you know starting lineups can motivate people and can do different things.
With that said, I don’t know yet, for the fact that I don’t know who I would take out right now. I know who I would like to take out and motivate and do some things, but I don’t know if it’s the right time, right place to do it.
You could start Matt Pilgrim and Marshall Moses and move Obi to the 3, but I don’t know if that’s the answer for Obi at the 3. I don’t think that helps our team particularly just to try to get bigger. I don’t know if that’s the answer right now. But it’s no question, things have been going through our head after losing two in a row. We don’t want to make too many changes right now, but it’s been a thought. (Pilgrim) will play starter minutes.
Some decent insight from Ford on what he’s thinking, as well as what goes into making moves and how guys fit — or don’t fit — into certain slots.
OSU-Baylor: Afterthoughts
By John Helsley
jhelsley@opubco.com
Going into Saturday’s game at Baylor, I wasn’t as alarmist as some in the media about OSU’s chances for the NCAA Tournament.
After Saturday, I may be changing my take.
Now, I’m not at all ready to bury the Cowboys. Things change. Things changed last year, drastically, as OSU rallied late to The Dance. And this is still a team somewhat in transition, with a freshmen point guard and several other inexperienced parts.
But this leopard must change its spots — and fast.
OSU is a bad shooting team, the Big 12’s worst. Worst in overall percentage. Worst in 3-point percentage.
Just worst.
If there’s a bright side, the Cowboys should be better, which means they can get better.
With James Anderson, Obi Muonelo, Marshall Moses and Keiton Page in play, it’s hard to imagine these Cowboys being this bad: 43.4 percent; 36.8 percent in conference games.
That won’t get it. Not in the Big 12.
There are too many good squads in this conference this year. For the Cowboys to be one of them, NCAA Tournament good, they have to find their shooting stroke.
