Does Capel have what it takes to coach this team?

[TrueSooner]

Other teams don't seem to be dependent on seniors

I would have to agree.. I also hope that Tiny Gallon wakes up and starts to play like he should. IMO I think he is still trying to learn how to use his body with all the weight loss. But that's what I think!

 

[skyvue]

Anyone who thinks this team wouldn't be better with Dameon James & Scottie Reynolds is just nuts.... I'm simply stating that his predecessor didn't exactly leave the cupboard in good shape

Who's saying that we wouldn't be better with James and Reynolds? But you're contradicting yourself. Sampson left the cupboard plenty full, but Coach Capel wasn't able to retain key recruits.

I'm not saying I blame Capel for that, by the way, but you can't blame Sampson, either. He had those players' names on the dotted line, and the ink was long dry.

And you and others are overestimating the impact of the scholarship losses. It was two scholarships one season and just one the next, and in neither of those two seasons did we use our full (if reduced) allotment of scholarships.

It was never a numbers game -- if it had been, we'd have used up every scholarship we had available to us, and we didn't.

There's much for which Sampson can fairly be criticized, but our lack of depth this season is not his fault.

 

[SoonerfanTU]

Anyone who thinks this team wouldn't be better with Dameon James & Scottie Reynolds is just nuts.

Do you really think we'd have gotten all the same recruits if we had those two? I don't.

 

[Cheno]

I was extremely critical of Sampson, I am sure most of you remember that. This is in no way Sampsons fault. Anyone that says this is KS fault is wrong.

Ditto for me as well. Sampson is history. Nothing going on now has anything to do with him.
Back to the original question of the thread...I'm beginning to wonder. For the first time under Capel I'm beginning to have my doubts. Something needs to change now or during the offseason in regards to players, expectations, discipline, etc. If next season is like this I'm not so sure Capel can survive.

 

[Cheno]

Do you really think we'd have gotten all the same recruits if we had those two? I don't.

I think Blake still comes. And if Blake still comes that team probably wins a national champ last year even assuming WW didn't come. And I think it's reasonable to assume TMG and Tiny would have come. Both still would be freshmen starters like they are now.

 

[SoonerfanTU]

I think Blake still comes. And if Blake still comes that team probably wins a national champ last year even assuming WW didn't come. And I think it's reasonable to assume TMG and Tiny would have come. Both still would be freshmen starters like they are now.

Maybe we get Blake, maybe we don't. Remember, somebody said that Taylor was looking to transfer if James came here. I think that would have been stupid, but some have said it.

The truth is, we just don't know. And we don't know how those players would have played together. And we still would have likely have had holes in our lineup, even with those guys.

 

[DenverSooner]

I said ROOTED in the mess he left behind. There is no way you lose scholarships and don't have issues down the line. This team lacks serious depth that is partially due to the defection of recruits AFTER signing day the year Sampson left and partially due to the current staff not hitting on all their recruits. Anyone who thinks this team wouldn't be better with Dameon James & Scottie Reynolds is just nuts. The leadership and toughness those two guys would bring to this team would be worth at least 5-6 more wins IMO.

A college basketball team can change with the addition or subtraction of one player. IMO, the greatness of Blake Griffin allowed us as fans to gloss over weaknesses that were there last year, but didn't manifest until this year. Warren disappeared at times last year, but Griffin made up for it. How good would this team be if Blake Griffin were suiting up? Can you imagine what it would be like to have him & TMG on the court together?

I think Capel is a good coach and I'm not advocating he move on any time soon. I'm simply stating that his predecessor didn't exactly leave the cupboard in good shape and tied his hand behind his back from a recruiting/scholarship standpoint.

Bob Stoops had neither of those hindrances when he took over from John Blake. There were lots of athletes on campus ready to play. I'd have to see Capel switch to the Princeton motion offense and Syracuse 2-3 zone defense in the middle of a game then switch back at half then switch back at second media timeout before I'd say this reminded me a John Blake team.

It is nonsense to talk about lost scholarships. OU self imposed sanctions for two years. The first year was Sampson's last season in Norman. Capel's first season OU had a 1 scholarship reduction. After that Capel did not have any scholarship reductions. Capel did not have 12 guys on the team his first season so it is not like he lost a player he wanted.

 

[DenverSooner]

Here are Capel's recruiting classes:

2009

Gallon
TMG
Fitzgerald
Pledger
Hardrick

2008

Cannon- gone
Patillo- gone
Allen- bust
Willis-
Warren

2007

Blake Griffin
Cade Davis
Tony Neysmith- gone
Chris Early- gone

2006

Tony Crocker
Keith Clark- gone


So, Capel has lost 5 of his own recruits. I consider Clark a Capel recruit because he CHOSE to re-sign with Capel. It's not Sampson's fault that Capel has lost 5 guys in 3 recruiting classes.

What I have as much of a concern as anything is in Capel's evaluation skills. Neysmith, Early, Cannon, Allen, Willis, and Hardrick all appear to be major whiffs on the recruiting trail. You can't have that type of % of busts and be consistent year in and year out. Capel has done a great job of getting major guys in but the role players he's recruited have been pretty bad.

It seems to have changed in 2009 as both Pledger and Fitzgerald look really solid but that means he needs a couple more years of filling in classes to really get over the hump. Clark and Taylor will definitely help next year but you're losing Crocker and Wright.

You left off Bobby Maze. That makes it six. Additionally, Blake went to the pros early so it is 7 guys gone. (I don't fault Capel for Blake going to the pros early but he has lost 7 players early). You also failed to include Omar Leary.

 

[SoonerDAZE]

Look at those classes. They are high quality, low quantity in the end.

One thing you can say about Capel is he can go get the Elite to consider Norman, and even sign occasionally. However, like I eluded to on another post, he has to find a way to manage better the personnel carousel that this day and age in college basketball presents.

There WILL be defections and early departures. Tis the nature of the young men playing this game at a high level these days. Wasn't like that when I was playing, but it is now. As a young coach, he will have to find a way to cultivate the skill to manage and predict the ups and downs that will come as a result of the uncertainties presented by flighty players.

 

[Chiefdaddy]

The jury is still out on Capel. I like Capel but red flags are showing up everywhere this season. I gave him a pass the first year with what Sampson left behind. The next two years he had the #1 pick of the NBA on his team. Even I couldn't mess that up. What is troubling to me is the discipline and lack of defense played. One thing about Kelvin, we were going to play defense and be in games when we struggled on offense. I can't say the same thing about Capel's team. It is also alarming at how many of his recruits have left and the lack of chemistry period. Ask anyone that has ever played basketball, chemistry is key. I think the one thing that is different from Kelvin and Capel is the fear that Kelvin put in the players. Sampson wasn't listening to Jay Z and trying to be the players friend all the time. Kelvin's teams were close because they had been through the rugged practices of Kelvin and each one had felt the wrath of Sampson. I want Capel to recruit some hard working kids like Cade, Tony, etc. Kelvin's teams weren't always the most talented but they still won with toughness and hustle.

 

[soonerroby]

I'm not saying it is all Sampson's fault. But, you can't put a program on probation and not feel some ramifications for a few years. Sometimes the perception is greater than the penalty.

On the other hand, in 2003 Baylor basketball was near the brink of extinction and they have that thing turned around and heading in a nice direction.

So really who knows what the issue is.

What I do know is that I don't like to see any Oklahoma team play with the lack of heart and discipline this team is playing with. That needs to be changed ASAP.

 

[Sid]

Duke's recent teams prior to Coach K were VERY SUCCESSFUL. They played Kentucky for the National Championship just two years before Coach K arrived.

I remember watching Mike G and Spanarkel play. If my memory serves me correctly, I think Al and Billy did the championship game. FWIW, I found this on wiki.

The basketball program got victory number 1000 in 1974, making Duke only the eighth school in NCAA history to reach that figure. In a turnaround, Coach Bill Foster's 1978 Blue Devils, who had gone 2–10 in the ACC the previous year, won the conference tournament and went on to the NCAA championship game, where they fell to Kentucky. Mike Gminski ('80) and Jim Spanarkel ('79) ran the floor.

 

[Seymore Cox]

These guys don't respect coach Capel. The ones that do, are the ones who are having a good season. He has to earn respect. If you can get respect through putting a guy on the bench or through other disciplinary measures, that is a red flag for lack of control. This team lacks effort and awareness, the most important part of the game. That falls on the coach unfortunately. He's got to go to the drawing board and get it together. Being Coach Cool is good, but sometimes you need to be coach arrogant a-hole. Their is a reason we see so many good coaches who are arrogant a-holes.

 

[kbsooner]

Taylor and AJ were above avg college defenders by their senior season. Then just having Blake's presence in the middle was enough to alter opposing team's offenses. I think everyone forgets that Juan P could have been a game changer this season.

Typically you would have upperclassmen waiting in the wings to fill the void, defections have left OU severely short especially on the front line. Blake leaves early, Pattillo was a fool, Clark out, Allen a bust as a project, Gallon vastly overrated with he and Fitz being a few seasons away from Big 12 level of play. I think Capel was a little snake bit here and really should have had a little more urgency in trying to recruit front line depth the last few seasons, maybe with the mindset of a few athletic defensive stoppers.

Trying to replace those guys with with true freshman Tiny and TMG from the Athletes Always Unguarded ranks, Willie who is always underachieving as a defender, and flat foot Fitz and robot Wright was a recipe for a defensive disaster from day 1. I think this guy had it right before the season even started.

We missed the writing on the wall

With that said, I think its incumbent on Capel to instill a defensive mindset on a team. Solid defense can always keep you in a basketball game. However, I don't care that these guys were MCDAAs, they are FLAT OUT TERRIBLE defenders. TMG is starting to get it, but I doubt Tiny ever will and doesn't have the athleticism. Willie had already punched his ticket to the league, the effort and desire required to be a great defender never was there. I think Capel will learn from this this season, that recruiting a player on offensive accolades alone can quickly kill a team. If you think of next years squad and defensive abilities, its downright scary. If we don't land more recruits to fill our voids on the defensive end for next season, we could be seeing much of the same next year.

 

[SoonerfanTU]

Blake was a terrible defender last year. In part b/c we couldn't have him getting in foul trouble. But still. We won games last year b/c we had the 6th best offensive effeciency rating in college basketball, LARGELY due to Blake. Not b/c of defense. We've been regressing on D since Jeff came to Norman.

 

[SoonerfanTU]

The other thing I'm not liking about Capel is him just "letting the team go" late in the games during these blowouts. We get down big, and we have players firing up 25 footers 7 seconds into the shot clock. Even Cade wasn't immune to this yesterday. Instead of using that time to practice what he is trying to teach, he just sits there with his fingers folded. Coach 'em up Jeff, that is your job. To me, this is just very telling as to how much respect the team has for our coach. Can't imagine the boys not pressing or playing hard for Tubbs. Can't imagine Kelvin just letting the guys run around and do whatever.

 

[kbsooner]

Blake was a terrible defender last year. In part b/c we couldn't have him getting in foul trouble. But still. We won games last year b/c we had the 6th best offensive effeciency rating in college basketball, LARGELY due to Blake. Not b/c of defense. We've been regressing on D since Jeff came to Norman.

I disagree, coaching staff told him to stay out of foul trouble bc of our lack of front court depth and he was much more valuable on the court than on the bench. I think he was handcuffed a lot of the time. Saying that he was a terrible defender due to that is ignorant.

 

[NickZepp]

Blake was a terrible defender last year. In part b/c we couldn't have him getting in foul trouble. But still. We won games last year b/c we had the 6th best offensive effeciency rating in college basketball, LARGELY due to Blake. Not b/c of defense. We've been regressing on D since Jeff came to Norman.

The thing we had last year on defense we miss this year is length. AJ had these long arms. Blake is a long player. Taylor plays longer than he really is. Crocker is 6-5 and plays pretty long. This year we have Tiny who plays like his name. TMG is small and has short arms. We don't have any big men that play long. You go against OU last year you had someone in your face all the time. And you can't just shoot over Blake Griffin. And our overall defense was good enough to make up for anyone getting beat because of the length we had on defense.

 

[DenverSooner]

I completely agree. The defense has gone down hill every year. When Capel came to the Big XII he thought we were a bit too physical. I think his comment was teams fouled ever possession. Well I would rather see a foul every possession then double digit losses to teams that are somewhere between average and poor.

These problems were unbelievably obvious earlier in the season. OU has lost (VCU, Houston, San Diego, Utep, Baylor, Nebraska and OSU) 7 times where the team failed to compete and just got run off the floor by average teams. When OU gets run off the court by UTEP in OKC there are major problems (not minor problems). I hate to break it to OU fans but there is not an outstanding basketball team on that list. The best traditional team is OSU. The higherst RPI team on that list is Baylor at 25 Houston has a 143 RPI. (OU also got run off the Court by Gonzaga but Gonzaga is at least a good team). There are some descent teams on that list but I doubt any of them are in the Sweet 16.

I think KU could spot OU 40 and still win. I literally mean put 40 on the board and win. Winning by 40 is actually easier than spotting a team 40 when the team actually has a coach. A team that is up by 40 can protect the lead by playing smart. Unfortunately, OU seems to never play smart. Basically, OU gets hot from 3 point range and looks good or OU shoots average from 3 point range and sucks. Once in a while OU shoots well from 3 point range but decides that it is best to not defend the perimeter shot (or the interior) and sill sucks.

 

[Gutter]

The other thing I'm not liking about Capel is him just "letting the team go" late in the games during these blowouts. We get down big, and we have players firing up 25 footers 7 seconds into the shot clock. Even Cade wasn't immune to this yesterday. Instead of using that time to practice what he is trying to teach, he just sits there with his fingers folded. Coach 'em up Jeff, that is your job. To me, this is just very telling as to how much respect the team has for our coach. Can't imagine the boys not pressing or playing hard for Tubbs. Can't imagine Kelvin just letting the guys run around and do whatever.

This is something I don't like either. We play the last 10 minutes of games where we're getting pounded like we're up 25, it's the last 90 seconds and the bench scrubs are in - our starters are dribbling around, taking wild shots and not guarding anyone. Jeff should demand they run specific offensive sets to perfection so maybe they'll start working during games we're still in.