Is this hopeless?

[jaymOU]

I believe this is a watershed moment in a young coach's career. Who is running the facility, Capel or the inmates?

We've had first half "benchings". We've seen zones, man-to-man defenese changes, lineup changes - all with no appreciable difference in performance. Now Capel is locking the team out of the practice facility! Wow.

A loss tonight virtually ends any chance a post-season play and really could be a sign of a significant downturn in Oklahoma basketball.

To be perfectly frank, I believe Capel could be - or maybe should be - in trouble. I can take losing (somewhat), if I see effort from players, but this is the most dysfunctional team I can recall.

Maybe more memory is fuzzy, but I really don't recall having so little hope for a season as I do right now.

Jeff and the boys, please give us something to be hopeful for, some spark, something we can hang our fan hat on!

 

[seniorsooner]

Guys we need to just hope for improvement. Forget any postseason play including the NIT. Just hope for and expect this team to play hard and improve.

 

[ousooner_4]

Guys we need to just hope for improvement. Forget any postseason play including the NIT. Just hope for and expect this team to play hard and improve.

exactly. I would settle for the team to look like they actually care about playing

 

[cowboysooner]

Capel in trouble? Surely you jest. He was given a program in absolute shambles and hasn't had a losing team yet. He just went to the elite 8, graduated and coached the player of the year in college basketball and first pick in the NBA draft and has recruited at a level never seen before. Unfortunately, he lost a few kids to grades, had blake go early and now is having to play a bunch of kids that aren't ready to play yet.

I don't think we will have a good year this year, but we might. I believe we have every reason to believe that this year is a tempoary blip on the radar and we will be back stronger than ever next year.

I think Capel is as good as any coach we have ever had, and he certainly shouldn't feel his job is in jeopardy.

 

[SoonerfanTU]

Capel in trouble? Surely you jest. He was given a program in absolute shambles and hasn't had a losing team yet. He just went to the elite 8, graduated and coached the player of the year in college basketball and first pick in the NBA draft and has recruited at a level never seen before. Unfortunately, he lost a few kids to grades, had blake go early and now is having to play a bunch of kids that aren't ready to play yet.

I don't think we will have a good year this year, but we might. I believe we have every reason to believe that this year is a tempoary blip on the radar and we will be back stronger than ever next year.

I think Capel is as good as any coach we have ever had, and he certainly shouldn't feel his job is in jeopardy.

Blake graduated in two years?!?

 

[SoonerfanTU]

I don't think we will have a good year this year, but we might. I believe we have every reason to believe that this year is a tempoary blip on the radar and we will be back stronger than ever next year.

Why?

We may be younger and more inexperienced next year. Plus, we lose a preseason POY by some mags, a 4 year senior starter, and still don't have any bigs coming in. Why will we be so much better next year?

 

[thebigabd]

Signing instant impact guys in the recuiting class will determine how OU does next year for the most part.. The guys coming back minus the guys leaving will result in a very young team, and little improvement.

I am really starting to pull for 3 high level juco guys.

 

[MNsooner]

I am really starting to pull for 3 high level juco guys.

I am a fan getting a at least 3 players you legitimately think will contribute immediately other than Cam. I hope one is Jones, but a couple JUCOs would be a smart way to add experience. The question is whether we think Capel is a good Juco talent scout.

 

[SoonerfanTU]

The question is whether we think Capel is a good Juco talent scout.

That is a fair question. Surely, even if he realizes he isn't, he can find somebody, either within, or outside the organization, to help him out? I don't expect Capel to be a really good JUCO guy, b/c he probably hasn't been exposed to it much before arriving at OU.

 

[seniorsooner]

Capel has brought in some JUCO guys that have helped us (Pattillo, Leary) but he has also brought in some that haven't. He hasn't mastered the JUCO game yet.

 

[thebigabd]

I hope one is Jones, but a couple JUCOs would be a smart way to add experience. The question is whether we think Capel is a good Juco talent scout.

He doesn't have to scout... he just needs to listen to me. Center, power forward, scoring guard. These are the guys... Two of the better rebounders and probably the best shooting guard in junior college college. Plus a good shot blocker. Sign these 3 guys and get them mixed in with TMG, Pledger, Clark, Fitz, and Gallon. OU would be ready to roll.

Aziz Ndiaye (College of Southern Idaho)- 7'0'' 245 center. A second-team Region 18 selection, Aziz dominated in the paint for the Eagles last season. Aziz ranked No. 1 in the league in offensive rebounds, No. 2 in blocked shots and 18th in points per game.

Khalil Mcdonald (Blinn Junior College)- 6'4'' 195 juco all-american. The 6’4” freshman from Brooklyn, NY, also made the All-Region XIV First Team. McDonald led the region in scoring with 21.4 points per game during the regular season.

-Antione Lundy (Neosho County CC) - 6'8'' 230 power forward. Averages 15 points and 13 rebounds in the Jayhawk Community College league. Second in offensive rebounds, first in defensive rebounds. Also shoots 37% from 3pt line.

 

[NickZepp]

I don't care if we get JUCOs or freshmen but we need guys that fit whatever Capel wants to do and get his message and people he can control because the group we have right now aren't getting the message and just seem to see Capel as a friend instead of a coach.

 

[cowboysooner]

Jury is still out on Allen, Leary was so so, but Pattilo and Cannon were really good players that just couldn't stay eligible. It appears to me that Capel knows talent when he sees it. It also appears to me that he has tried to build the program with high school players and he is finding out that except for a few exceptional players, high school kids take a year or two to develop.

Capel's biggest positive may also be his biggest negative, e.g. he thinks he can recruit and coach anyone and anybody. This has gotten us a few players we aren't used to getting and cost us a bunch of players that we could have had but didn't recruit hard enough. He is obviously very bright and I think he will figure it out.

He gambled on a couple "head cases (Early and Maze)" and a few kids with marginal academics (clark, Patillo and Cannon), thought he could "raise" them and turn them into players and students. He has found out the hard way that most kids are what they are. I was OK with these decisions at the time because he might have made them work and all seemed to be the kind of kids we didn't normally land. Well, I am willing to pay for these mistakes, just like Capel is.

Capel is a just a kid, as the coaching profession goes. He had never coached or recruited to a major program, and whether he or we like it or not, there is a learning curve. Disagree if you want, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, mine is that if we stick with Jeff and he sticks with us, he will become a great coach.

He will learn to recruit like they do at the big schools, that is focus on one or two great kids you can get, and then fill in with some others that play winning basketball. Every kid that signs with kansas isn't a superstar, and you don't need that to win.

 

[sooner333]

One problem with JUCO ranks, compared to maybe even five years ago, is that Prep School seems to be the new JUCO as far as talent goes. It seems like nobody gets their grades up through JUCO anymore--at least if they were a talented player. For example, i bet Ebi Ere would have gone to a prep school instead of Barton County CC if he was a member of the class of 2010.

 

[SoonerfanTU]

He doesn't have to scout... he just needs to listen to me. Center, power forward, scoring guard. These are the guys... Two of the better rebounders and probably the best shooting guard in junior college college. Plus a good shot blocker. Sign these 3 guys and get them mixed in with TMG, Pledger, Clark, Fitz, and Gallon. OU would be ready to roll.

Aziz Ndiaye (College of Southern Idaho)- 7'0'' 245 center. A second-team Region 18 selection, Aziz dominated in the paint for the Eagles last season. Aziz ranked No. 1 in the league in offensive rebounds, No. 2 in blocked shots and 18th in points per game.

Khalil Mcdonald (Blinn Junior College)- 6'4'' 195 juco all-american. The 6’4” freshman from Brooklyn, NY, also made the All-Region XIV First Team. McDonald led the region in scoring with 21.4 points per game during the regular season.

-Antione Lundy (Neosho County CC) - 6'8'' 230 power forward. Averages 15 points and 13 rebounds in the Jayhawk Community College league. Second in offensive rebounds, first in defensive rebounds. Also shoots 37% from 3pt line.

If I ever get a head coaching job, you'll certainly have a recruiting position on my staff.

 

[outest]

I think Capel thought that Ryan Wright a fifth year senior will pan out for post play, but he thought wrong. Now we don't have any experience post worth a dang.