Dear GIA Stout

[oSuJeff97]

I went through all 37 pages (as of yesterday) of OP.com's game thread, and the first four pages of the "Fire Ford Now" thread and would like a Poke perspective:

1- Nash is frequently labeled as the lazy one on defense. Do you feel it is a Nash thing, or a team thing?

2- A new nickname has emerged for Travis Ford: "Pinto." What are OSU fans mostly calling him now, other than his real name?

3- Much is made of Ford's 10-year contract, as well as questions about his buyout. What are the exact numbers on his current contract?

4- Both OU and OSU fans alike hated the officiating at some point during Saturday's game. Do you think that the second half anti-OU leveled out the first half anti-OSU, or was the officiating a deciding factor in the game overall?

5- Do you feel that OSU will still make the NCAA tournament without a Big 12 tourney miracle run?

6- When OU and OSU meet again later this year in Stillwater, who wins and what is the margin of victory? If OU and OSU meet in the Big 12 tourney?

1. I think Nash in particular is lazy on defense when his head isn't in the game... which is frequent. It's hard to say the "team" is lazy on defense when we're sitting at 7th in the nation in adjusted defensive efficiency. Saturday's performance wasn't good, but a big part of that was OU shooting WAY above their season average on 3-pointers. OU shot 62% from 3-point range on Saturday, when you were averaging around 31% on the year coming in. Shooting like that from outside tends to make a defensive performance look bad even if it really wasn't.

2. I have no idea what other people are calling him. I call him a "mediocre coach."

3. I have no idea of the exact terms, other than it was as 10-year deal that started in 2009, so there is at least 6 years left on the deal. Regardless, I predict that if we don't make the tournament this year, there's about a 70% chance that he'll be fired.

4. I don't often comment on officials. This is the Big 12, so what we know is that the officiating will be wildly inconsistent from game-to-game and the home team will usually get the benefit of the doubt. Officiating didn't cost OSU the game on Saturday. A pitiful effort in the first 10 minutes of the game combined with OU shooting twice their season average in 3-pointers is what cost OSU the game.

5. You mean based on where we are today, or what I've seen? OSU is in an OK position right now. We're 1-2 with two conference road losses. We don't have any bad losses, and we have a very high-quality win in the non conference (NC State) and still tons of time to pick up wins in conference play. So -- no, there is no "miracle run" needed at this point. What is needed is more consistent effort in road games from the whole team, and specifically Nash needs to pull his head out of his rear and play like he did the first few weeks of the season. When he plays at that level, OSU is a legitimate top 15 team that can beat almost anyone. When he pouts and doesn't have his head in the game, OSU is a fringe top 25 team that will do what those teams tend to do... beat good teams at home and lose to everyone but really bad teams on the road.

 

[BanjoCharley]

I'm here as always.

I suspect GIA Stout probably won't be around for a while, though.

I don't count you as a member of that group, keep posting.