sorry it is so long but I have a lot to say today. All the complaining and moaning and groaning has really worn on me. My opinion won't mean much to most of you but I have as much right to voice it as you complainers who whine about Capel every single day non-stop!
I don't post on here a lot, but I read it daily. I lived through the glory days of Billy Tubbs and Sooner basketball. I followed the players like everyone else. I lived and breathed OU basketball.
I have a little different opinion about Capel, partly because I make a living as a coach. I have coached for 17 years. I coached at the college level (albeit the DIII level and not the DI level). I have lived through the positives and the negatives of good and bad seasons. I have read posts on message boards ripping me for some of the same things you guys rip him for. People can't stand our offense or can't stand our defense, who we play, whether we win or lose, who gets minutes on our team and who SHOULD get minutes....you name it I have either read it or been accused of it.
What I realize is this:
MOST of you that post on here about Capel, his job, what he should or shouldn't be doing, etc don't know ANYTHING about what you are talking about. You just want an outlet to complain and you use an anonymous message board to do it so you feel important because someone can see your opinion in print. I am not saying a lot of you never played or don't know anything about the sport....but most of you have no clue about the ins and outs of coaching on a day to day basis. Most of you are too short-sighted to realize that, in basketball particularly, one player can make a huge difference....Romero Osby may not be the best player in the country, but he could make this team a lot better....add Goff and hopefully Jurick and a good PG and this team could be a tournament team next year. They could all flop too but you cannot deny that this team played a LOT harder than last years group.....IMPROVED throughout the year and competed in most games they lost. THAT alone means Capel did a decent job this year....but you guys try to compare this team to the 30-6 group two years ago....the groups aren't even close.
Has Capel made mistakes? yes...he has....he is responsible for the team but there is no way he could have known that TMG would flake during the year and make the obvious poor decision to turn pro (and honestly, we are probably better in the long run and in the locker room), there is no way he could have predicted the Tiny and his mom would accept money from someone (had he not done that Tiny would have been back this year and this team probably would have won 3-4 more game on his talent alone....and 17 wins would have made most of you happy).
I DO blame Capel for the "put all your eggs in one basket" recruiting he was doing 2-3 years ago......he did that on a couple of guys and missed out big time on 2-3 players that would have really helped this team. I believe he learned from that and has improved in that aspect.
You know...I have lost 2 future DI players the last two years to transfers to private schools (a 6'6" 230 lb post and a 6'5" wing that hit 57 threes as a junior and transferred to a private school in October this year, right before the season started.) We started the year off 0-3 (1-2 in conference)....it took us a good 8-9 games to finally recover from losing the 6'5" wing and get our legs under us......we finished the year 18-10 (10-4 in conference and won the conference tournament championship).....I talk about this because I lived through a lot of the same crap you guys are putting Capel through on a message board this year.....and almost every one of those posts and complaints were from guys who had no clue....guys who weren't even smart enough to figure out that we IMPROVED this year even without 2 future DI kids......we were probably less talented but we improved and still competed well and won. Did we lose some games we probably should have? YES.....but we also WON some games we probably should NOT have won.
Some of you should feel lucky that you have a job in which you don't have someone who may be absolutely clueless about what you do daily who has the freedom to post all kinds of negative stuff about you (mostly unfounded) behind an anonymous board.
Try to be FANS and support your team.....not a lynch mob trying to tear it apart.
This team has improved all year. Was it completely successful from a won/loss stand point? no...but it showed some promise for the future with some young kids.
Add in 2-3 solid players and this is going to be a group you can all be proud of...one that will compete for the top half of the conference and a tourney spot. Be patient and give them another year to prove it.
