Every game OU plays shows Capel is a great team builder.

[waynepayne]

This board would be so much better if this stupidity would stop...

 

[jerry]

Geez, ridiculous thread.

Agree but typical for this poster.

 

[outest]

I have expressed my displeasure with Capel for a while before he was fired. I am glad that we now have Kruger. If Kruger can take this team to post season play, it is a big accomplishment. In a few year, we will be a top tier basketball program when Kruger gets the players he wants. OU basketball is in very good hand ( a top tier coach). I hope we get to keep Kruger for a long time. He will win a NC at OU.

 

[BoulderSooner]

You cannot be serious. With basically the same team last season, OU had one of its worst seasons ever.

Look at the difference in rebounding/defense from this season to last and remember this is basically the same players.

Capel was a good recruiter, he was not a great coach.

you saying this is "basically the same team" is a 10 times worse comment than the OP's

basicly the same team .. but with a now upperclassmen in Pledger and Fitz and non freshman in clark and neal ...

o AND THE GUY THAT PLAYED 38 of the 40 min a point guard sat ..

and OUR LEADING REBOUNDER and BEST POST DEFENDER

yeah 40% of our starters are new ... pretty much the same team

 

[WTSooner]

you saying this is "basically the same team" is a 10 times worse comment than the OP's

basicly the same team .. but with a now upperclassmen in Pledger and Fitz and non freshman in clark and neal ...

o AND THE GUY THAT PLAYED 38 of the 40 min a point guard sat ..

and OUR LEADING REBOUNDER and BEST POST DEFENDER

yeah 40% of our starters are new ... pretty much the same team

And he had Cade last year. I agree that Grooms and Osby help this year's team, but Cade makes up a lot of that difference.

 

[badger]

This was his 3rd rebuilding job. VCU, then the disaster he inherited from Sampson and then his own unfortunate disaster by getting 3 rotten MCD AA apples.

This is the exact team he built on the fly except we would have Goff over Arent and I don't think anybody would argue Arent is better.

When Capel had talent he overachieved with his coaching. Based on what he did in his 2nd and 3rd years it's pretty much a lock we would have the same record we do under Kruger this season.

Lon Kruger would tell you the same thing.

Is it really a rebuilding job when your team is in the postseason every year and you have just gotten the top recruiting class? Capel turned it into one, didn't he?

Rather than trash Felton J the Third more than I have already, here are my lingering disappointments with how his reign of coaching OU turned out:

1- Phone calling the top recruits instead of visiting them in person. Dameon James the Jerk would have not been able to have his cousin pose as him then. It was a sign of things to come of his hands-off nature.

2- Emailing assistants instructions. The media open records requested this after his firing, revealing that Joe C. was very worried about the direction of the program, even during the Elite Eight season.

3- Not talking to the public via fan appearances, the media, etc. When Sooner Caravan came to town, guess which coach wasn't in Tulsa. When it was college basketball season, guess which team out of every mens and womens college basketball program in the state wasn't having stories written about them.

The list goes on, but those are my lingering disappointments. I'm glad that Lon appears to be none of the above thus far.

 

[Max Power]

Every Post Boca Makes proves he knows absolutely nothing about the game of basketball.

 

[OUhoops11]

Geez, ridiculous thread.

The irony here is hilarious.

 

[SoonerBounce13]

it's obvious boca is trolling, and I'm a capel "fan".

Capel was in over his head. I feel he will be a very good head coach in the future though. Just has some things to learn

 

[WTSooner]

it's obvious boca is trolling, and I'm a capel "fan".

Capel was in over his head. I feel he will be a very good head coach in the future though. Just has some things to learn

Serious question.....how long should it take a coach to learn "some things"? OU wasn't Capel's first rodeo. And he was still making those same "mistakes" at the end of his tenure at OU.

My opinion? They weren't mistakes. Capel did exactly what he wanted to do at OU, except win basketball games. He knew what types of guys he was recruiting. He coached them up the way he wanted to coach them up. That isn't a mistake. That isn't an accident. That is simply who Capel is as a coach.

 

[OUhoops11]

Serious question.....how long should it take a coach to learn "some things"? OU wasn't Capel's first rodeo. And he was still making those same "mistakes" at the end of his tenure at OU.

My opinion? They weren't mistakes. Capel did exactly what he wanted to do at OU, except win basketball games. He knew what types of guys he was recruiting. He coached them up the way he wanted to coach them up. That isn't a mistake. That isn't an accident. That is simply who Capel is as a coach.

Coaching at OU is a whole lot different than coaching at VCU. Capel wasn't able to have any serious conversations with guys like Willie Warren, TMG and Tiny at VCU, so in dealing with talented primadonnas, it really was his first rodeo.


Not trying to make excuses for the guy, because he should have known better. But I think a lot of coaches get sucked into the mentality of "recruit the most talented guy regardless of attitude because I will be able to control him when he gets on campus". And those coaches rarely succeed.

 

[MsProudSooner]

Coaching at OU is a whole lot different than coaching at VCU. Capel wasn't able to have any serious conversations with guys like Willie Warren, TMG and Tiny at VCU, so in dealing with talented primadonnas, it really was his first rodeo.


Not trying to make excuses for the guy, because he should have known better. But I think a lot of coaches get sucked into the mentality of "recruit the most talented guy regardless of attitude because I will be able to control him when he gets on campus". And those coaches rarely succeed.

I completely agree with the sentence I bolded.

 

[WTSooner]

Coaching at OU is a whole lot different than coaching at VCU. Capel wasn't able to have any serious conversations with guys like Willie Warren, TMG and Tiny at VCU, so in dealing with talented primadonnas, it really was his first rodeo.


Not trying to make excuses for the guy, because he should have known better. But I think a lot of coaches get sucked into the mentality of "recruit the most talented guy regardless of attitude because I will be able to control him when he gets on campus". And those coaches rarely succeed.

It wasn't just the big time recruits that had issues. Newell just quit b/c he wasn't starting. Early left, and is having issues with his coach at his new school. Willis was nothing but trouble from day one. The list goes on and on.

The problem with Capel is that he had to have top notch talent to win (b/c he is TERRIBLE at actual coaching), and it's nearly impossible to consistently recruit that kind of talent to OU. So Capel took short cuts, and recruited some guys that may have had top notch talent, but who's attitude problems were keeping them from being recruited like they would without those attitudes. Because the guys with the same talents as WW/TMG/Tiny, that didn't have the attitudes, weren't coming to OU. Except Blake, and I don't have to explain that one.

 

[seniorsooner]

Now that Capel is at Duke, do you think he's still best friends with Harrison Barnes?

 

[OUhoops11]

It wasn't just the big time recruits that had issues. Newell just quit b/c he wasn't starting. Early left, and is having issues with his coach at his new school. Willis was nothing but trouble from day one. The list goes on and on.

The problem with Capel is that he had to have top notch talent to win (b/c he is TERRIBLE at actual coaching), and it's nearly impossible to consistently recruit that kind of talent to OU. So Capel took short cuts, and recruited some guys that may have had top notch talent, but who's attitude problems were keeping them from being recruited like they would without those attitudes. Because the guys with the same talents as WW/TMG/Tiny, that didn't have the attitudes, weren't coming to OU. Except Blake, and I don't have to explain that one.

Almost every coach is going to recruit a few bad apples. That's an inherent and basically unavoidable danger in the current NCAA recruiting system. Still though, you are correct in that Capel had several of them. So did Kelvin in his last few years at OU.


I think there probably was a huge mindset difference between the kids Capel recruited at VCU and the kids Capel recruited at OU. I would suspect that even Ray Willis and Chris Early thought they were destined for the NBA, regardless of how laughable that thought is to everyone else. So instead of listening to their coaches and going to class, they were just biding their time until getting drafted. I doubt Capel had to deal with that same mindset at VCU.


Btw, I don't understand how you can blame Capel or suggest that Newell is/was a problem because he transferred. Kids want to play, hard to blame him for that. He probably didn't go about it the right way, but how many 19 year olds do?

 

[MsProudSooner]

Btw, I don't understand how you can blame Capel or suggest that Newell is/was a problem because he transferred. Kids want to play, hard to blame him for that. He probably didn't go about it the right way, but how many 19 year olds do?

There is nothing wrong with a kid transferring because he wants more playing time. There is a lot wrong with doing it in the middle of basketball season - especially if you are getting plenty of minutes - you just aren't starting.

 

[OUhoops11]

There is nothing wrong with a kid transferring because he wants more playing time. There is a lot wrong with doing it in the middle of basketball season - especially if you are getting plenty of minutes - you just aren't starting.

I don't disagree with you, but I don't think that it's a strong indication that Capel recruited another bad character/attitude guy in Newell.

 

[Section31]

2. While I agree that Capel didn't leave an empty roster, it's certainly nothing better than what Sampson left Capel. I could run down the details to support this, but I'd be wasting my time trying to get you to admit that. So I won't.

The whole thread is ridiculous and most of what you posted was pretty spot on, WT, but the quote above is not even close.

That team KS left JC had no one in the vicinity of Pledger. ESPECIALLY, the way he's playing. Anyone can see that.

LL was about like many of the big men on the OU roster now. Fitz is twice the player as LL right now.

Not sure that team had a kid like Cam on it...I think CC may turn into a superstar, but the jury is still out.

It could be argued that TG, is/was a better hold-over than Ro, but it'd be a tough argument. I think Ro is a better all-around basketball player, but if you said different, I wouldn't call you crazy.

Grooms is LIGHT YEARS better than AJ was at that point of his career. I realize Grooms signed with LK, but it's safe to say JC opened the door for him.

Anyway, I was/am a JC defender somewhat, but ANYONE who wants to compare him to LK as a coach is just not very knowledgeable of basketball. LK could be a HOF coach when he's done. He's that good.

 

[sdcloud9]

LK's teams may lose but it won't be because they aren't prepared.

After game ONE it was clear who the better coach is between LK and JC? That's not fair to JC, LK is a potential HOF coach. JC knows basketball but doesn't know how to run a program.

JC couldn't handle the egos of his players, maybe later in his career he will get another shot and be better prepared, I hope he does.

 

[DenverSooner]

I disagree. He left Longar Longar, AJ, Taylor Griffin, Michael Neal, Nate Carter, David Godbold and sort of left Tony Crocker and Keith Clark.

Nate Carter put up big numbers in conference play and averaged over 11 a game on the season. Longar Longar averaged over 10 a game and nice rebounding. Neal averaged 12.4 the prior season. Pledger averaged 10.9 the prior season. Neither Capel or Kruger were left with a great team but Capel was left with more in my opinion.

What hurt Capel that season was losing Reynolds and James. Honestly, that could and probably should be blamed on Joe C. OU should not have released those guys until they met with Jeff Capel in person and no posssible way they should have been released to play in the Big XII. Capel should have added a player or two to help that roster and failed to do it, but in fairness to Capel he had very little time to do it. Kruger was in the same position and was able to add Grooms and Arent.

Realistically, Kruger was left Tyler Neal, Fitzgerald, Pledger, Osby, Blair and 1/2 of Newell. Washington and Honore were also on the team but Honore is essentially a walk on and Washington is not much different that Chris Walker. I think he was left with less. I just think he got more out of them while Capel was not able to get his guys to perform. In fairness to Capel the injury to Keith Clark was a big loss to that first team.