Welcome To Lob Stilly
At 6-foot-4, Markel Brown has learned to fly.
By John Helsley
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The Cowboys aren’t winning big, but they’re winning some, with Tuesday night’s 69-67 win over Iowa State pulling OSU even overall at 12-12 and 5-6 in the Big 12.
And lately, they’re winning – and even losing – with flair.
Markel Brown’s high-rising antics are making him a highlight-reel regular, with his dazzling dunks showing up on Play of the Day lists everywhere.
Against the Cyclones, there was a drive-the-lane elevation jam over ISU’s Royce White, who was rendered helpless by Brown’s sudden explosiveness. And there was an in-flight finish of a fastbreak alley-oop set up nicely by Brian Williams, who added a statement slam himself.
Don’t look now, but these Cowboys are becoming fun to watch.
Not only are the youngsters growing and going together, they’re entertaining, too.
With a nod to the L.A. Clippers’ cool “Lob City” take, the Cowboys have started referencing “Lob Stilly.”
Their coach, Travis Ford, isn’t in on the tag, but he says the dunks are big at home – his home.
“My children are very excited about it,” Ford said. “And they’re keeping track, that’s all they want to talk about.
“But it’s great. It’s fun to see. We know (Brown) has the capability, a lot of our guys do.”
Brown, who went national with two big dunks in OSU’s upset of Missouri, said he’s just trying to deliver some juice.
“I think it gets the team going,” he said. “It obviously gets the crowd pumped and I
think the team feeds off the crowd.”
Said Ford: “He can make some spectacular plays. And our guys are giving him good passes and stuff like that. And they came at crucial times. That’s what I’m more concerned about, make sure we finish the play.”
For Tuesday’s game, the king of OSU dunkdom, Desmond Mason, was seated courtside with his son. Twice Brown dunks prompted the former Cowboys star to rise out of his seat in appreciation.
In an impromptu interview with The Daily O’Collegian, the school’s newspaper, Mason shared some thoughts on Brown and the Cowboys.
“Markel is one of the most athletic guys in the Big 12,” Mason said, “probably one of the most athletic in the country.”
Mason told O’Colly writer Anthony Slater that he’s talked to Brown a few times, attending some Cowboys practices.
“He’s having a great season,” Mason said. “He’s still young and he’s still learning his game, so his talent will continue to open up even more. His athleticism speaks for itself.”
Freshman Le’Bryan Nash won a national high school dunk contest last year, but gladly takes a back seat to Brown and his theatrics.
“I call it ‘Lob Stilly.’ Every time you see me tweet, I am like #lobstilly, because he is going to get a dunk.
“That gets me excited. That gets me motivated to play defense more. It’s good to see guys like that jumping out the gym and it’s good to see highlights besides me. It’s great to see action like that. I love it.”
Bedlam Breakdown
The Cowboy kids -- Markel Brown, Mike Cobbins and Le'Bryan Nash -- celebrate a Bedlam win.
By John Helsley
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Several times this season, Cowboys have chatted on about their tough half-court defense, drawing nods and thoughts of “yeah, yeah, yeah.”
Well, maybe it’s time to buy in.
The Cowboys put the clamps on OU Monday night, forcing the Sooners into a 32.4 percent shooting night in a 72-65 Bedlam win.
OU made just 24-of-74 shots from the floor.
In three Big 12 games now, the Cowboys have held Texas Tech to 39.6 percent shooting, Texas 30 percent and OU 32.4 percent.
“We know our half-court defense is going to be our identity,” said Cowboys captain Keiton Page.
As for the rest of us, we’re slowing catching on. And to think, we’ve always expected offense from Travis Ford’s teams.
“(Defense) is something we take a lot of pride in, Ford said. “In the past it has gotten overlooked. It’s not now because we can’t score.
“Everybody used to think all I did was offense and my teams have always scored a whole lot of points. But the people who know us, we probably spend 70 or 80 percent of our time on defense every day. Our offense shows that at this point.”
Monday night, OSU’s offense looked better, too, although it’s not necessarily reflected in their final 38.6 percent shooting number. But that number was skewed late, when the Cowboys tried to run clock and wasted several offensive possessions. And overall, they moved the ball with better spacing and flow, resulting in several dunks and back-door layups, the result of a new emphasis to get players moving more fluidly on the floor.
OSU’s 13 assists were the team’s third-highest total of the season.
A few more day-after Bedlam thoughts:
* Le’Bryan Nash is finding his second gear. Recent games have seen him play with more energy and passion, resulting in more production, which the Cowboys desperately need to free Page and the rest of the Cowboys. Now, imagine what Nash can be when he finds third and fourth gear.
* While depth is a concern, the reduced roster may turn out to be a good thing for the Cowboys, both now and long-term. Ford admitted Monday night that he was previously struggling with sorting through all his available players to see who could play and who couldn’t. The defections of Fred Gulley and Reger Dowell and the unfortunate injury to Jéan-Paul Olukemi have forced Ford’s hand. And the resulting increased playing time for freshmen Brian Williams, Michael Cobbins and Marek Soucek has been beneficial, with all three looking like winning players for the future.
* The crowd wasn’t classic Bedlam, but it grew to be pretty good… considering. The teams were going up against the BCS title game, which has since been revealed as the No. 2 watched cable TV program – ever. Another factor playing against the basketball game was a 6 p.m. tip that made it difficult for fans coming from Tulsa or Oklahoma City. So a gathering of 9,000 or so isn’t at all bad.
Point Of Emphasis: What Do The Cowboys Do Now?
Cezar Guerrero is the point guard of the future. Is that future now?
By John Helsley
jhelsley@opubco.com
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Just last week, Reger Dowell talked excitedly about OSU’s game against SMU (coming up Wednesday night atAmericanAirlinesCenter), which offered a return home for theDallasarea product. Dowell was a high school standout at nearbyDuncanvilleand relished the chance to play before family and friends.
Presumably, Dowell is already home, having left the Cowboys program as the latest defector from the recruiting class of 2009.
Dowell’s departure appears curious on the surface, as his profile as the point guard on the team had seemingly been enhanced with Fred Gulley’s exit a week earlier.
Except Dowell’s rise in status was apparently brief.
The Cowboys, struggling to find an offensive identity – with point guard play a considerable factor in the ongoing struggles – seem ready to turn back to Keiton Page at the point.
Page, who played there some a year ago, offers the most stability and leadership, although his perimeter offense has typically suffered when he’s running the point. But then, Page’s offense was already suffering in a stagnant system that made it a challenge for him to even shake free for shots.
And with the season a teetering disappointment at 6-5, Cowboys coach Travis Ford seemingly has seen enough, and will place the offense in the hands of the one player he trusts the most: Page.
Freshman Cezar Guerrero, the point guard of the future, remains in place. His role should increase, either in sharing the position – allowing Page to still play predominantly at the 2 – or as a backup receiving significant minutes.
So, what to make of Gulley and Dowell leaving two weeks apart?
The answer is probably complex.
This we know: Ford is hard on point guards, as a former point guard with high standards himself. Gulley’s former Twitter photo was a shot of him standing there, taking a serious tail-chewing from Ford on the sideline.
This we also know: since Byron Eaton’s senior season, the Cowboys have gotten little from the point, rolling through several players at the position. Few assists. Few points. Fewer and fewer wins.
This season was no different, with Gulley, Dowell and Guerrero all failing to seize opportunity. It all comes down to playing the way Ford wants them to play, which is unselfishly. It’s his way or…
And that brings us back to the 2009 recruiting class, Ford’s first at OSU. From that group, all three point guards – Gulley, Dowell and Ray Penn – have all bolted from an overall group of defectors that stands at a staggering six players, seven if you count Karron Johnson, who signed but never made it toStillwater.
Jarred Shaw, Roger Franklin and Torin Walker have also moved on, making for the washout of an entire recruiting class.
What to make of that?
Well, in hindsight, a class that was originally highly ranked has been revealed as something far less. As players, no one from that list will be missed with great regret.
Still, that many players bailing out doesn’t look good. And some of them could have been solid role players, although they’d first have to accept such a role. Guys today are less inclined to think of themselves as anything less than stars.
Going forward, Ford would be wise to get Guerrero as much time at the point as possible, as he’s clearly the guy going forward.
Phil Forte, signed in November, is more of a shooter, although he could help at the point. And there’s no one else coming who projects as a point guard, although the Cowboys will surely be on the search again with scholarships opened up.
In the meantime, the Cowboys will have a different look going forward this season. And, considering what we’ve seen, that may not be all bad.
Pokes Named National Champs!
Celebration time! Cowboys No. 1.
By John Helsley
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Finally, some all-out love for the Oklahoma State Cowboys.
And if cyber-love is your thing, or you’ll welcome any love from any corner when it comes to the Cowboys and their place outside of the BCS title talk, here’s a hug: OSU has been declared National Champion!
And it gets better – a second helping of Bedlam beatdown better.
The folks at nbcsports.com, namely columnist Michael Ventre, put together a 16-team “make believe” playoff.
OSU emerged No. 1.
The Cowboys clobbered OU – again – in a first-round re-matchup, routed Arkansas in the quarterfinals, outlasted Alabama and outscored Oregon (yeah, the Ducks upset LSU in the other semi) to claim this most mythical of national titles.
What does it all mean? Nothing, of course, except that none of us are satisfied with this year’s road to the BCS coronation. So we keep grousing and complaining and wishing for something better to determine our national champ.
In an absence of that, we’re left with a pretend world that isn’t at all satisfying.
As Ventre concludes:
How are you feeling about that? Overjoyed? Outraged? Satisfied? Irritated?
Whatever your emotions, you’ll agree that letting it play out on the field is more in keeping with the spirit of competition than letting computer geeks match wits. LSU and Alabama certainly are deserving, but I’d rather seem them get there with brawn than with math.
In football, goons are better than geeks any old day.
***
The Cowboys basketball team returns to the floor Saturday in the All-College Classic, taking on New Mexico in a tipoff scheduled for 9:30 p.m. inside Chesapeake Energy Arena.
OSU is 6-3 and still in search of a true identity in this season.
But Le’Bryan Nash is starting to play better and coach Travis Ford has begun to tighten his rotation and experimentation, just as the Cowboys prepare for a rugged three-week run into Big 12 play.
Here’s an e-mail discussion I did with Anthony Slater at The Daily O’Collegian, OSU’s student newspaper.
We talk about some of the issues facing the Cowboys, as well as a guess at their outlook.
OSU Hoops: Taking Manhattan?
Markel Brown could get the call for slowing Pitt's Ashton Gibbs.
By John Helsley
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Sitting there in JQH Arena Wednesday night, watching the Cowboys fall behind by 12 early in the second half – following a fading performance to the first half – I couldn’t help but think, ‘Here they go again.”
With a road losing streak dating back to February of 2010, it looked like just another disappointing excursion away from home.
Then something happened, giving the Cowboys and their fans reason for hope.
A team struggling to reveal an identity, revealed some fight and toughness in an enemy arena that while hardly hostile, was still energized and fully against them.
The Pokes made plays.
They made shots.
They got stops.
They made free throws!
And, again on the optimistic side, a squad heavy on freshmen and sophomores took a step toward growing up.
“It’s a huge step for us,” said senior guard and captain Keiton Page. “We know how tough it is (on the road). When you go out there and play like a team, like that, we can be really good.”
Now comes a very different challenge: No. 15 Pitt, today at 1:30 p.m., inside Madison Square Garden.
This is a game Cowboys players have anticipated in scanning a difficult nonconference schedule. Their last trip to the Big Apple didn’t go so well. They hope they’ve indeed grown in this return for an ESPN2 event.
They better have, as this figures to be their toughest test – to date, and perhaps for this entire season.
This collection of Cowboys has upside – a dangerous word.
Five thoughts on the Pokes entering into the Pitt game:
1. The roster is deep with talented pieces. And a lot of different guys contributed in the 72-67 win over Missouri State, a team picked to win the Missouri Valley Conference.
But the task for OSU coach Travis Ford remains putting those pieces together in the right combinations and finding an offensive flow that fits their skills, of which shooting and post offense are not a part of.
Ford has begun tightening his use of the roster – more on that to come in Monday’s Insider edition in The Oklahoman – and more is in order, particularly today.
2. Le’Bryan Nash, the famed freshman, may be figuring things out somewhat, although the process will take time. The Cowboys need Nash to man up, which he did at Missouri State, playing aggressively and with a toughness, giving his team scoring and rebounding down the stretch.
Finally, we’re seeing that he can be a go-to type of scorer on the offensive end. The Cowboys went to him Wednesday and he responded.
3. Philip Jurick is turning out to be a great find and addition. But he must avoid foul trouble. He’s OSU’s only real power presence in the post, able to offer some physicality. And while he should be aggressive in going for blocked shots, a great deterrent for opposing teams, he can’t help if he’s on the bench with fouls.
4. Pitt is good, really good, maybe even Final Four good. The Panthers took a tumble in the rankings when they lost at home 86-76 to Long Beach State in mid-November. Pitt has won six straight since. And the Panthers are led by a tough senior tandem of Ashton Gibbs and Nasir Robinson. Gibbs is big-time good and he could prove troublesome for the Cowboys today. Pitt, like OSU, also has a dynamic freshman in 6-9 forward Khem Birch.
5. Winning today will be tough, extremely tough. But the Cowboys need to at least play well. The Missouri State win was a solid win on the road and it couldn’t have come at a better time, with confidence in danger of slipping and the Panthers next. That win bought the Pokes some time, win or lose in Manhattan. Still, a poor effort could surrender some of those positives.
Weeden For Heisman? Maybe
Brandon Weeden is climbing the Heisman watch lists.
By John Helsley
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The Heisman spotlight is finally finding Brandon Weeden.
For now, it’s not the glowing center of the spotlight, but clearly Weeden has moved from the shadowy outer edges into the circle of light.
In the latest Scripps Heisman Poll, which involves a sampling of votes from the different geographical areas of the country, Weeden ranks No. 4, his highest position yet. In ESPN’s Expert’s Poll, Weeden is No. 5, also a high-water mark for the senior from Edmond.
The surge comes on the heels of his school-record, 502-yard, four touchdown performance in OSU’s wild 52-45 win over Kansas State. He completed 78 percent of his throws against the Wildcats and is at 72.1 percent for the season.
ESPN’s take:
“These are heady times in Stillwater, and Weeden is the main reason. He’s completing 72 percent of his passes and is averaging 31 completions per game for the nation’s second-highest-scoring offense. Better yet, he has the Cowboys at No. 2 in the BCS standings and in control of their own destiny in the national championship race.”
Quarterbacks dominate the Heisman projections, with Boise State’s Kellen Moore and Houston’s Case Keenum also among the top five, with Oklahoma’s Landry Jones, USC’s Matt Barkley and Wisconsin’s Russell Wilson also drawing attention.
The lone non-QB heavily involved in the race is Alabama running back Trent Richardson, who lost some appeal after the Tide’s loss to LSU.
By all accounts, the Heisman is Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck’s to lose. Luck has essentially been the frontrunner since preseason and has done nothing to change perceptions. The lone hurdle in Luck’s path: a Saturday visit from Oregon.
Weeden, meanwhile, may have the best opportunity to keep impressing and keep moving up, with three more TV games, including a Friday night special at Iowa State offering a singular stage, and of course, Bedlam, as long as too many voters haven’t already mailed in their picks.
Cowboys Through 4 Games: What We’ve Learned
Justin Blackmon and the Cowboys are charging ahead.
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We’re already 1/3 of the way through the football season.
Doesn’t seem possible, probably because so much of the meat in the schedule remains ahead for the Cowboys, Saturday’s game against Kansas not included.
Still, fresh from an off week (and entering another?), four games provide a good checkpoint to consider the things we’ve learned so far in 2011.
A list of five:
1. Mental Toughness. This team has already endured a weather-delayed game played in the wee-morning hours – the bars beat the coaches at last call! – and a 20-3 deficit at one of the nation’s toughest venues to start 4-0. We saw the makings of a mentally tough team a year ago, when the Cowboys rolled unbeaten on the road. We’ve now seen more, which should suggest that this team can handle anything that stands in their way from this point on, including more rugged road tests.
Receiver Tracy Moore is just one of OSU's many weapons.
2. Loaded Gun.
The Cowboys roll with the best in the weapons race, with an offense expanding well beyond Weeden2Blackmon. Sure, Brandon Weeden-to-Justin Blackmon remains a premium production, but these Pokes can pick teams apart in a variety of ways, whether charging with running backs Joseph Randle and Jeremy Smith, or spreading the wealth through the air with a deep wideout rotation that includes Josh Cooper, Tracy Moore, Hubert Anyiam, Michael Harrison and more.
3. Inconsistent Defense. Looking ahead, the major issue is a familiar issue: is the defense good enough? And by good enough, we mean championship good enough. The Cowboys define the glass half-full/half-empty proposition, looking stout on defense at times, even extended periods of time, and appearing porous at others. There are reasons to believe, if the defensive tackles and the young linebackers continue to grow. The secondary remains the strength of the team, which is vital in a league where the elite teams all fling the ball with frequency.
4. Still The One. Panic nearly set in when Dana Holgorsen left for West Virginia, with worriers fretting about a potential shift in offensive philosophy. But new coordinator Todd Monken has kept the offense rolling, ranking No. 2 nationally in passing offense and No. 3 in total offense. Yes, Monken has tweaked the attack to include more power run formations, but with this stout offensive line and these running backs, it’s a fit, and only in bits.
5. More To Come? The Cowboys haven’t put together a complete performance yet, where you felt like they were fully focused and on task for four quarters. Some of that can be attributed to blowouts. Not A&M, where OSU went Jekyll-and-Hyde in the two halves. On the bright side, there’s a sense that we still haven’t seen how good this Cowboys team can be, that they still haven’t peaked, which you don’t want in September. But against the competition coming – at Texas, at Missouri, at Texas Tech, home against OU – anything less than a full effort can get you beat.
Quinn Sharp: Kicker and More
OSU punter Quinn Sharp runs for a first down on a fake punt. AP PHOTO
By John Helsley
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Like most punters and kickers, Quinn Sharp considers himself an athlete.
And in truth, in Sharp’s case, it’s probably true.
Sharp showed some speed and sure looked like he knew what he was doing Saturday night, while romping 23 yards with a fake punt that flipped the field and goosed the offense and the Boone Pickens Stadium crowd.
Knew what he was doing, for the most part.
It looked good until the end of the run that is, when Sharp awkwardly lowered his shoulder on defender Richard Morrison.
After the game, Cowboys coach Mike Gundy said he’d rather Sharp avoid the hit and get out of bounds.
Then Sharp revealed a thought that suggests he does indeed know what he’s doing.
“I felt like the guy was going for my knees at the time, so I didn’t really want to take a helmet to the kneecaps,” Sharp said. “So at that moment, that’s why I lowered my shoulder and tried to nudge him off.”
No harm to Sharp, who took the blow and bounced up with no damage done.
Plenty of harm to the Wildcats, who had just scored to cut the lead to 21-7 and was preparing to get the ball back and get back to work on offense.
The play had been designed during the week to take advantage of Arizona’s aggressive approach, sending rushers hard at the shield blockers. One of OSU’s blockers, Cooper Bassett, blew up t he edge rusher off the right side, allowing Sharp to scoot free.
“Cooper got a nice block on the edge and it was wide open from there,” Sharp said.
Teams are always working on fakes. But seldom do they actually get called.
“I was actually surprised, because we haven’t run a fake in a while here,” Sharp said. “It was one of those things we had practiced for a while and I was anxious to do it, but at the same time, you’re nervous, just because you want to get it done and you want to get to the sticks and get the first down and get the offense back on the field.
“It’s always fun to do something like that, because we don’t get many opportunities. It gets the crowd excited and gets everybody into the game. And it gets our offense out there and gives them another opportunity to make a play.”
After Moore’s Big Night, Who’s Next?
Tracy Moore enjoyed a breakout against ULL. Now it may be somebody else's turn.
By John Helsley
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Tracy Moore’s big breakout against Louisiana-Lafayette (seven catches, 112 yards, one touchdown) offered no surprise to those who have witnessed the junior receiver’s recent maturation.
“Nothing we didn’t know he could do,” said fellow wideout Justin Blackmon. “He’s done it in practice. He made plays his freshman year. It’s not a surprise to me. That’s just Tracy showing that he can play ball.”
And don’t be surprised if next time, it’s Josh Cooper or Mike Harrison or Hubert Anyiam or somebody else cashing in on the opportunities opposite Blackmon, who demands extra attention from defenses.
“(Moore) just had the opportunities,” said OSU offensive coordinator Todd Monken. “It’s a stat position, to where unless you get a bunch of stats, everybody thinks you didn’t play well.
“Coop played really well. Hubert Anyiam played well. All our guys on the perimeter played well, they just didn’t get the same opportunities.”
And that, Monken said, is fluid.
“So last week, it happened to be Tracy. This week it could be Coop, Hubert, somebody else,” Monken said. “You never know. The defense dictates where the ball goes, to a certain extent.
“He made the most of his opportunities. We didn’t have a drop all night, so everybody made the most of his opportunities. They just didn’t get as many. That’s the main thing.”
With so many capable options, it’s up to Monken and Brandon Weeden to keep everybody involved.
And happy.
“It’s a good problem to have, but it takes some managing,” Monken said. “A lot of guys would like to have the ball, would like to be involved in the offense. The defense dictates where you go with the ball.
“We want them to be selfish. They should be selfish. They should want the ball. But if they base their whole self worth and well being on how many balls they catch, we’re going to lot of son-of-a-guns disappointed, because we don’t have enough to go around.”
Not that Monken is hinting at any dissension issues, far from it.
OSU’s football food chain, at least in the passing game, requires Blackmon – the reigning Biletnikoff winner and Big 12 Offensive Player of the year – to be fed and fed often.
Still, Monken acknowledges the depth of talent he enjoys at the position.
“When I first got to LSU, we had two first round picks, two guys who were in the Olympics, a third, a third and a fourth-round pick. So we had some pretty good players there,” Monken said.
“But this group is as good as that group, when it comes to actual play on the field. Maybe not in terms of what their potential was, but in terms of playing on the field, wanting to get better, being coached, those things, it’s a great group.”
OSU-A&M Already On The Radar
Brandon Weeden says last year's A&M win "catapulted" the Cowboys.
By John Helsley
jhelsley@opubco.com
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OSU’s time in Dallas at the Big 12 Media Days went well, with all three representatives – Brandon Weeden, Justin Blackmon and Markelle Martin – presenting themselves well, to no surprise.
They are solid ambassadors for the program and each delivered in every way as an interested media gathered to gauge the Cowboys for the season ahead.
And it’s a season that brings an early major matchup: OSU’s trip to Texas A&M for the Big 12 opener in the opening month on Sept. 24.
The Cowboys will be coming off a beginning stretch of games that includes home dates with Louisiana-Lafayette and Arizona, followed by a road test at Tulsa.
The Aggies start against SMU, Idaho, with an open week between those two.
Then, for two teams hoping to breakthrough for a Big 12 title, it’s on.
And despite the early date, it smells of an elimination game.
“Truthfully,” said Aggies coach Mike Sherman, “I prefer playing them a little later. We have Arkansas in there as well (the week after OSU), which is another big game for us.
“Certainly, Oklahoma State, a team that we have not found a way to win against since I’ve been at A&M. We’ve lost to them three games in a row.
“That’s going to be a key game on our schedule. Put a lot of effort into that in the offseason to see exactly what they’re doing, how we can play better and coach better.”
The Cowboys would surely like to ease into Big 12 play as well, if that’s possible.
But a win in College Station could also propel them, much the way beating the Aggies in Stillwater a year ago did.
“A&M catapulted us through the middle part of the season,” Weeden said.
The Cowboys can’t get ahead of themselves, not with Arizona seeking revenge for an Alamo Bowl beating and dangerous Tulsa circling OSU’s visit on its schedule.
But it is a fun game to look forward to – perhaps the key game in either team’s schedule.
