Sam Bradford pays the Gatorade Lab a visit
Former Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford paid the Gatorade Performance Lab at the Super Bowl a visit earlier this week and got to test out all kinds of futuristic-looking fitness equipment.
All photos courtesy of Gatorade. Click any photo for a higher resolution version.
What Sam is not doing: Waking from a four-month cryo-sleep after midseason shoulder surgery.
What Sam is doing: Taking a turn in the Bod Pod, which analyzes body composition.
What Sam is not doing: Being measured for the helmet on his space suit.
What Sam is doing: Getting fitted with the equipment for a caloric expenditure test, which does exactly what you think. It measures how many calories the body loses during exercise.
What Sam is not doing: Being force fed Gatorade’s new G Series, which is three different drinks for before, during and after competition.
What Sam is doing: Taking part in a caloric expenditure test.
For more photos and a brief video, head to Sam Bradford’s page on Gatorade’s Web site.
Sam Bradford ‘focused on shoulder’ not NFL destination
He’s focused on his healing shoulder not his future NFL home. And he’s “move past” being the quarterback at Oklahoma.
That’s what former OU’s Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford said during his Super Bowl interview rounds in South Florida. Bradford appeared Tuesday on the Dan Patrick Show and the Jim Rome Show. Here’s an excerpt of his conversation with Dan Patrick. You can listen to the entire interview at danpatrick.com:
Dan Patrick: How are you health wise?
Sam Bradford: Pretty good, the shoulder feels great. I throw three days a week and doctor says it looks great. I am ahead of schedule.
Patrick: Is the shoulder injury re-occurring?
Bradford: No, it should not be. They went in and reconstructed the AC joint and after the rehab is finished my shoulder should be stronger than it was before.
Patrick: If there was a national title game for Oklahoma would you have played?
Bradford: Probably not. I had surgery halfway through the season. There is no way I could have made that game.
Patrick: If you could throw it right now how far could you throw?
Bradford: I don’t know. Right now I am on a throwing program. My last throwing session was throwing 30 balls for 50 yards.
Patrick: What’s it like when you watch those mock drafts and you see your name. It doesn’t take long when it gets to your name. Are you checking out real estate is any areas?
Bradford: No, I am not checking out real estate. I try to not pay to much attention to it. I am just focused on my shoulder.
Patrick: When you go into those interviews what do you think is the first thing they are going to ask you?
Bradford: I don’t know. I got a question this morning someone told that I would probably be asked and it was if I could be a tree what kind of tree would I be.
Patrick: Are you competitive?
Bradford: Extremely. I probably could have beaten you in H-O-R-S-E. The challenge hasn’t been issued so now isn’t the time.
Patrick: You played high school basketball. Were you good?
Bradford: I did. I was pretty good.
Patrick: Could of you have played college?
Bradford: I think so, maybe not at Oklahoma,
Patrick: And you played with Blake Griffin?
Bradford: I did, that was not high school but AAU ball.
Patrick: Do you still feel like you are still the Oklahoma quarterback?
Bradford: No, I have kind of moved past that.
Patrick: If you look at the other quarterbacks if it was Tebow or Colt McCoy, how can you not nit-pick what they do when it comes to comparing you to other quarterbacks around the country?
Bradford: I think we all have our own playing styles and everyone is different. My dad taught me that you never compete with anyone else you always compete with yourself. I have always tried to do just that and focus on bettering myself.
Patrick: Why do you think you should be the No. 1 quarterback taken?
Bradford: I think I am extremely accurate and extremely competitive. I don’t think you are going to meet anyone who works harder than me.
Patrick: I hear you are working for Gatorade. What exactly are you doing?
Bradford: Today we were down to the Gatorade testing facility. They put us through some tests to monitor our breathing on a stationary bike for a new Gatorade drink called the G-Series. There is three new drinks being tested; one for before, one for during, and one for after the workouts.
Patrick: Could you beat up Jimmy Clausen?
Bradford: Ha-ha. No comment.
Patrick: I heard great things while at a Oklahoma State football game. People telling me how great your father and grandfather are. You should feel proud that people even at Oklahoma State say good things about you.
Bradford: (No response).
Patrick: Welcome to Buffalo…. No you are going to the Redskins, you’re you okay with that?
Bradford: We’ll see.
Bradford says he’ll be 100 percent for Pro Day
Sam Bradford stopped by the Dan Patrick Show this morning and gave a brief update on his recovery from shoulder surgery last fall.
He said the shoulder is still healing, but he should be 100 percent by OU’s Pro Day and that the injured portion of his shoulder could be stronger than before when everything is fully healed.
“We’re on a throwing program and my last throwing session consisted of 50 balls at 30 yards,” Bradford said. “And those were ropes; those felt good.”
Capel’s Shot: 15 Years Later
Nice story in the Charlotte Observer today about Jeff Capel’s halfcourt shot against UNC in 1995.
Today marks the 15th anniversary of one of the most memorable games in college basketball’s signature rivalry.
Though the Tarheels went on to win, Capel’s shot sent the game into double overtime. The shot made that Feb. 2, 1995 game on of just three in 227 meetings to go past a single overtime.
“Some people think that may be the biggest rivalry or one of the best games in sports, period,” Capel said. “And for a guy that grew up in that state and when I was younger dreamed of going to North Carolina — and then when I was older chose to go to Duke over North Carolina — to have a moment in that game that people remember is pretty neat.”
Sooners lead Big 12 in Combine invites
Nine Sooners, the most of any team in the Big 12, were invited to the NFL Scouting Combine from Feb. 24-Mar. 2 in Indianapolis.
Oklahoma was followed by Texas (7) and Oklahoma State (6).
The Sooner invitees:
- junior QB Sam Bradford
- senior RB Chris Brown
- senior LB Keenan Clayton
- senior FB/C/RG/TE (no, seriously) Brody Eldridge
- junior CB Dominique Franks
- senior TE Jermaine Gresham
- senior CB Brian Jackson
- junior DT Gerald McCoy
- senior LT Trent Williams
OU 89, Iowa State 84: TMG, Shooting the 3 and Craig Brackins
When Tommy-Mason Griffin is hitting his shot with consistency, he’s close to unguardable. When its falling almost every time it goes up, like last night, defenses just don’t have a chance. Before the game against Texas Tech, Mason-Griffin told Willie Warren he was going for 30. He just missed, with a then-career-high 26 points. With Crocker out, 30 points was a modest estimate when he shoots it like he did last night.
He can create space, most often with his jab step and pull up, and the elevation on his jumper makes his lack of height a non-factor on offense. So far this season, I don’t think he’s even come close to getting a jumper blocked. Defensively, he’s still not fantastic, but he’s probably shown as much improvement as any one else on the team.
On Tuesday, Warren compared him to Jameer Nelson. Definitely apt.
Who knows what’s in the 5-11 Mason-Griffin’s future? But 10 or so NBA scouts watched last night’s game, and I’m sure Warren isn’t the only one who saw the similarities. Nelson, at 6-0, developed into an All-Star in just five seasons.
As a senior at St. Joseph’s, Nelson won the Wooden and Naismith Awards scoring 20.6 points, 4.7 rebounds, 5.3 assists, three steals and shot just under 40 percent from 3-point range.
I’m not going to get carried away with what’s basically just three games where he’s looked like the best player on the floor. But in the seasons that follow, does anyone think it’s THAT outlandish that Mason-Griffin could average near the same?
- Oklahoma finally got some threes to drop in the first half, but they cooled off considerably toward the end of the game. Hitting eight of their first 11 gave them confidence everywhere else on the floor, but when they stopped dropping, Iowa State started chipping away at the lead. The Sooners finished 3-of-15 to shoot 11-of-26 from three for the game. It’ll be interesting to see how they shoot it on Saturday at Nebraska.
- Iowa State’s Craig Brackins probably lost some money by coming back. He passes the eye test better than almost any other player in college basketball, but his production has dropped almost five points and two rebounds. Marquis Gilstrap’s arrival is part of that, and Brackins’ assists are up, but games like last night show why he’ll have some growing up/toughening up to do once he gets in The League.
Ryan Wright defended him pretty well, but NBA defenders are going to be a liiiiiittle better. Even when Andrew Fitzgerald was on him, he never tried to dominate. He settled for jumpers instead of banging down low and getting himself a short jump hook and taking advantage of his touch around the goal, which might be better than any big man in college basketball.
Brackins might have been a lottery pick last season. With guys like Kentucky’s DeMarcus Cousins, Kansas’ Cole Aldrich and Georgetown’s Greg Monroe possibly in this year’s class, its going to take a lot for him to do that now.
- Mason-Griffin is playing a lot of minutes, and if he can keep this up with any consistency, it’s only going to make it more impressive. He sat one minute against Texas A&M, and played 43 minutes in an overtime win over Oklahoma State. He sat the first half against Baylor, but in the five games since, he’s played 202 minutes. That’s a lot. But the way he’s playing, the Sooners need it.
He expels a lot of energy with his jumpshot, and on nights like last night, cramps (both calves and his right hamstring) aren’t very surprising. I’m just surprised he never looks like he’s losing his legs on his shot.
Warren’s NBA stock? Polarizing.
Warren's become one of the most polarizing prospects in the upcoming NBA Draft.
Wall is a Blake Griffin-esque lock to be the No. 1 pick, but here’s what one NBA exec told Thomsen about Warren:
“If a team needs a big, they’ll take Aldrich; if they need a point guard, they’ll take Willie Warren,” an executive said. Though Warren is listed as a shooting guard for Oklahoma, he has the potential to shift to the point in the NBA. “He is talented, he’s quick, he can shoot it, and I think he can be a ’1.’ If he was in last year’s draft with all of those point guards, I don’t think he would be rated this high. But this year, after John Wall [and potentially Evan Turner], there is no other point guard. So he is going to benefit from the timing of the draft.
“But I will say,” continued this exec, “a lot of [NBA] guys are down on Warren because of questions about character. [Oklahoma coach Jeff] Capel benched him one game this year and, instead of saying he had a headache or he’d banged his knee in practice, he chose not to explain it. Obviously there’s some friction there, and the team is not as good without Blake Griffin. But Warren is a talented guy and, at the very least, he’s going to be a top-10 pick.”
For the record, Warren said he was held out because he didn’t practice on the Sooners’ off day before beating winless Nicholls State in the fifth-place game of the Great Alaska Shootout.
NBADraft.net projects Warren as the No. 20 pick to the (ha!) Oklahoma City Thunder, where he’d join former VCU guard Eric Maynor, who has Capel’s fingerprints all over his game as well.
The Thunder won’t be drafting another athletic 1 or 2, but plenty of NBA teams will, and Warren is becoming one of the more polarizing prospects in the upcoming draft. (All this, of course, assuming he leaves.)
The dividing line among his national perception appears to be clear. NBA writers and execs are singing the sophomore’s praises. Those who get paid to watch college basketball say they don’t see it.
Today, rather harshly, I might add, Seth Davis shot back at Thomsen:
• I saw my colleague Ian Thomsen quoted some NBA scouts pegging Oklahoma guard Willie Warren as high as No. 4 in this year’s draft. That truly boggles the mind. Warren is barely looking like a pro right now, much less a top-five pick. I suggest those scouts DVR a couple of Sooners games before recommending to their bosses that they make that investment.
Personally, I don’t think anything he does at OU short of an off-court incident will make his stock drop past the first round. A dynamite second half of the season might make it skyrocket.
There’s no way to know what kind of NBA player Warren will be, but that won’t stop people from debating it from now until June.
(Or maybe next June?)
Follow me on Twitter: @DavidUbben
Texas Tech 75, OU 65: On close losses, TMG, and a Pledger apology
Oklahoma already dug itself a hole with five non-conference losses.
Losing close games like this, especially in winnable road games, only digs that hole deeper.
Two games ago, an NCAA Tournament berth looked like somewhat of a possibility. After an 0-2 road trip, that window is slowly closing. I can’t imagine there’s going to be a lot of conversation on the flight back to Oklahoma City.
Why Oklahoma has executed so poorly late in close games is a mystery. They didn’t have a field goal in the last 3:49 of tonight’s game, and didn’t have one in the last 3:45 of Tuesday’s loss. Good luck winning many games in conference doing that. That’d be tough for any team.
- Oklahoma’s best offense for most of the game was Tony Crocker and Tommy Mason-Griffin taking their man 1-on-1, and either trying to score or dishing. Down the stretch, that meant forcing a few shots because the Sooners’ big men weren’t able to handle passes down low. When easy dunks and/or layups become turnovers, that’s frustrating for guards, and they’ll start to stop dishing it, if only for the rest of the game. It looked like that definitely happened after Tiny Gallon and Ryan Wright couldn’t convert from close to the basket, fumbling at least a few passes.
With Willie Warren on the bench, and no post presence to speak of, 36 shots combined for Mason-Griffin and Crocker is just fine.
- We ran this story on Dec. 17 about Steven Pledger and his penchant for the trey ball.
Since it ran, he’s 7-for-40 (17 percent) from 3-point range. Whoops. Sorry about that.
He at least looked somewhat comfortable on Saturday, more so than he did against Texas A&M. Still didn’t knock down a shot. Not much else to do but keep shooting when he gets a good look.
- There’s no such thing as an easy road win in the Big 12, but some are certainly easier than others. Texas Tech would be one of those. Oklahoma needed this win badly, and didn’t get it. They have two more games (Nebraska and Colorado) where they’ll have another good shot at getting a win. Can’t repeat this performance and think they’ll leave Lincoln or Boulder with a win.
Texas A&M 65, OU 62: Thoughts and observations
Tuesday night had to frustrate Oklahoma for plenty of reasons. The most frustrating aspect might have been playing by far their best game on the road and not being able to produce a win with that performance.
That said, the players didn’t look to be completely crushed after the game or angry at the loss. Not saying that’s a bad thing.
It’ll be interesting to see what they look like physically and emotionally against Texas Tech in Lubbock on Saturday.
A couple notes from the box score:
- Oklahoma was outshot 62.5 percent to 35 percent in the first half and only trailed by 10. Earlier in the season, if that had been the case, they might have been down 15-20.
- The game finished with 40 fouls, but 13 of those came in (I believe, but my notes are trapped elsewhere) the first seven minutes of the first half. Generally, I hate it when anyone complains about officiating, but I thought Tuesday’s game was somewhat inconsistent. Touch fouls on the perimeter and on entry passes were being whistled on one possession, and a player would get mauled by a defender on the way to the hoop and get no whistle on the next.
(Full disclosure: I got my officiating degree from the Let ‘Em Play School of Refereeing, so maybe I’m biased.) I didn’t think it necessarily swung the game either way, just thought it was inconsistent.
But, it’s never a good sign when, in a game that wasn’t that physical, two guys foul out and four others have four fouls.
Other thoughts:
- Not sure what was wrong with Steven Pledger. He had a really bad miss from the top of the key in the first half, airballed another 3 and missed a wide-open look from the right corner on a nice dish from Tommy Mason-Griffin late in the game. Finished 0-for-5, and didn’t score in 21 minutes. Surprising after a really solid game against Missouri after Tony Crocker’s injury forced him to play 38 minutes. He really just looked uncomfortable for most of the night. Maybe just a freshman pure shooter in the most intimidating atmosphere OU has played in this season on a goal he was unfamiliar with. Who knows.
- I don’t recall if the Sooners had a timeout left, but without NBA rules, I’m not sure why more college teams in Oklahoma’s situation on the final possession don’t set up a pass to halfcourt and then call timeout, rather than try to throw up a rushed 3-pointer from a full-court offense. It was a nice play set-up to get Tiny Gallon the ball in the middle of the floor, but I can’t help but think the result might have been better had he called timeout as soon as he got the ball.
(If they didn’t have one, disregard this in relation to the Sooners, and view it as a statement in relation to college basketball as a whole. That makes me feel better than admitting I wasted time writing this and you wasted time reading it.)
- Not sure why Andrew Fitzgerald didn’t get in the game with Ryan Wright and Gallon in foul trouble. There was a point in the second half where Gallon was exhausted, and Wright came in and picked up two fouls in like 30 seconds. Gallon came right back in. My guess is Fitzgerald just hasn’t impressed in practice lately.
- Tommy Mason-Griffin impressed pretty much everyone with his performance. Capel called him the best player on the floor, and I think it’d be difficult to find someone in attendance who wouldn’t agree. Can’t say enough about a freshman playing like he did in a tough atmosphere. He’s the reason the Sooners hung around in the first half.
Jim Jeffcoat says he’s staying at Houston
Jim Jeffcoat told Fox 26 News in Houston that he would remain the defensive line coach under former OU assistant Kevin Sumlin at Houston in 2010 for his third season.
Jackson Jeffcoat is billed as the No. 1 defensive end prospect by Rivals.com, and the No. 2 prospect overall by ESPNU. Jim Jeffcoat, a former NFL player for the Dallas Cowboys and Buffalo Bills, was reportedly in the mix to take over for Chris Wilson as Oklahoma’s defensive ends coach, and reportedly interviewed for the job in 2005, when Wilson was hired.
Wilson left Oklahoma last week to become Mississippi State’s co-defensive coordinator.
His father isn’t his only link to Oklahoma, either. His sister, Jacqueline, will be a freshman on the OU women’s basketball team next season.
Jackson Jeffcoat, of Plano West in Plano, Texas, is scheduled to visit Norman this week, and is also considering Texas, Arizona State (his father’s alma mater) and Houston. He says he’ll cut down the list and possibly commit after his visit. National Signing Day is February 3.
“He is going to be there four or five years. He has to be happy. I want him to make a decision that best suits him, not me, his mother or anyone else,” Jim Jeffcoat told Fox 26.
