Is Kelvin a realistic option?

scrybe said:
BOB's post is right on. The second post is not.

I was a huge Kelvin Sampson fan, but the vast majority of OU fans complained endlessly about Kelvin. Lon Kruger is like an avatar to OU fans compared to the way Kelvin was treated. After the way Sampson was ushered out of Norman, it's my opinion that he would never give OU a second look (not that Joe C. would ever seek out his services).
Click to expand...

My joke is statistically inaccurate?
 
Guess that I am surprised by this thread. Is this the case of post break up bliss?

I get he won a lot, but I remember lots of complaints about ugly games, low scoring games, and lot of scoring droughts for his teams.

His teams always played hard, but were not always fun to watch. Are we back to that now as our goal?

Some Indiana fan columnist is. Indiana Fan Nation article - second chance

Is it just me? I would like to do better than 20 win seasons and checking out somewhere between the round of 64 and the sweet 16.

Is that our expectations?
 
slides said:
I get he won a lot, but I remember lots of complaints about ugly games, low scoring games, and lot of scoring droughts for his teams.

His teams always played hard, but were not always fun to watch. Are we back to that now as our goal?
Click to expand...

We're playing ugly now and LOSING. So yes, in theory, I'd take ugly wins.

slides said:
Is it just me? I would like to do better than 20 win seasons and checking out somewhere between the round of 64 and the sweet 16.

Is that our expectations?
Click to expand...

OU's basketball program is how many years old? And how many times have we had prolonged success better than you noted here? I think that absolutely should be the expectation. And if you get lucky and catch lightening in a bottle, maybe we have a run of better years. But an OU program that wins 20+ games a year, makes the Dance every year, and wins a couple of games in the Dance here and there is probably a top 2-3 team in the Big 12.
 
I like to enjoy basketball. Actually I like the womans game more than the men. Appears that some like to complain more than they like basketball. So be it. Age of the internet.

I remember all of the complaints about Kelvin's style of play. Now the complainers are complaining about the lack of defense. The thing I remember best about kelvin's teams is the terror they created with Miller's soft Kansas thorobreads.

Kelvin won for years at OU with average players and had just begun to get better players when he left for Indiana. With the Indiana quality players he was very successful. I felt the NCAA was extremely harsh with him and that Indiana threw him under the bus. Compare his treatment with Calipari who left UMass with punishment for paying a player and Memphis with grade tampering. And old Teflon Cal received nary a slap on the wrist.

I never quite got what Kelvin did wrong at Indiana but I think it was when an assistant finished talking with a recruit the question raised was whether he wanted to talk to Kelvin. Bruce Weber was also a major factor in the NCAA coming down on Kelvin. But 5 years for illegal contact with recruits? I understand it was a repeat violation but who else has received a 5 year show cause punishment.

I think Joe C would have Kelvin back in a heartbeat but at 63 Kelvin is likely to stay at Houston unless he got an offer to go to a blueblood program. I don't believe that Joe C ran him off. Kelvin just got an offer for a much better job and somehow many of our fans held that against him.

I wonder if he still uses the bubble rebounding drill.
 
I don't think Kelvin would consider OU. I think he feels that he was betrayed by his colleagues in Norman. The word got out, right or wrong, that OU had known about the investigation, but didn't tell Kelvin until too late. I got the impression that he would have been at OU for life. Then, after feeling a bit betrayed by his perceived lack of support, he took an offer at Indiana, an escape route. I think there are some injured feelings.
 
SoonerinNC said:
I never quite got what Kelvin did wrong at Indiana but I think it was when an assistant finished talking with a recruit the question raised was whether he wanted to talk to Kelvin. Bruce Weber was also a major factor in the NCAA coming down on Kelvin. But 5 years for illegal contact with recruits? I understand it was a repeat violation but who else has received a 5 year show cause punishment.

Weber thought he had Eric Gordon wrapped up when he was the Illini coach, but Kelvin convinced Gordon to go to IU. Weber hated Sampson after that.

I wonder if he still uses the bubble rebounding drill.
Click to expand...

The “bubble” Kelvin used for that drill was the source of a few jokes over the years. It was also an effective tool for teaching players to battle on the boards by going up again and again until the drill was over. Taught them to jump quick, too, plus it was great for strengthening legs.

Good question, though. I wonder if that bubble belonged to Kelvin or if it was the property of OU?
 
I was firmly on Team Kelvin up until he cut and ran after getting us in trouble with the NCAA. I've been happy to see him succeed in the ensuing yeras, but regarding the notion of him returning to Norman, should our head coaching job become vacant, I think Thomas Wolfe probably had the right idea.
 
Last edited:
sybarite said:
I don't think Kelvin would consider OU. I think he feels that he was betrayed by his colleagues in Norman. The word got out, right or wrong, that OU had known about the investigation, but didn't tell Kelvin until too late. I got the impression that he would have been at OU for life. Then, after feeling a bit betrayed by his perceived lack of support, he took an offer at Indiana, an escape route. I think there are some injured feelings.
Click to expand...

He was responsible for putting OU on probation and the downfall that followed. Then he acted like a ***** about it before he cut and run. Screw him.
 
mict085 said:
He was responsible for putting OU on probation and the downfall that followed. Then he acted like a ***** about it before he cut and run. Screw him.
Click to expand...

You know our "probation" was pretty minor, right? A scholarship or two. Maybe a few less recruiting visits. Hardly the type of stuff that would result, or should result, in our program tanking.

It tanked b/c Jeff Capel was a crappy head coach.

Also, our "probation" would have been way worse, most likely, if Kelvin had stayed. Him leaving actually helped in that regards.
 
The Kelvin love is, if not ridiculous, quite ironic, considering how much grief he was given when he was our coach. His reputation among some Sooner fans has soared in the years since he left. I guess it's true what they say: absence makes the heart grow fonder.
 
skyvue said:
The Kelvin love is, if not ridiculous, quite ironic, considering how much grief he was given when he was our coach. His reputation among some Sooner fans has soared in the years since he left. I guess it's true what they say: absence makes the heart grow fonder.
Click to expand...


No doubt. It was actually the first time I took a break from the board, because I was so tired of the daily KS bashing threads....
 
jmizzy4ou said:
No doubt. It was actually the first time I took a break from the board, because I was so tired of the daily KS bashing threads....
Click to expand...

Let's see. Which do I think is more ethical: Kelvin or the NCAA?

The NCAA was formed to keep ringers from playing for one school this week and another the following week. They had no interest in making sure anyone could read until about twenty years ago. They are and always have been about money and the regulation of sports for control and profit.
 
jmizzy4ou said:
No doubt. It was actually the first time I took a break from the board, because I was so tired of the daily KS bashing threads....
Click to expand...

Well, it’s good to see you back, you scoundrel! :chestram2:

How have you been, jmizzy?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

O
A Stillwater Epiphany
2
Replies
29
Views
5K
Eielson
E
Sooner04
What's Your Standard?
2 3
Replies
43
Views
9K
SoonerBounce13
SoonerBounce13
M
Oklahoma Daily Article on Coach Jennie
Replies
5
Views
2K
Soonerguy06
S
Big Old Booger
Maybe this is what we are as a program?
2 3
Replies
58
Views
5K
inoref
I
O
It's Really Over (Looking Back, Moving On)
Replies
2
Views
2K
tmeyer3307
T
Back
Top