Kelvin, come home.

[DenverSooner]

Tubbs is hands down the best coach OU ever had.

From 1947 to when Tubbs was hired, OU made the NCAA tourney 1 time. Now, part of that was because of the way the NCAA tourney was structured, but the point still stands.

OU has been to two final fours before Tubbs. But you are correct that OU has little NCAA tournament experience

 

[DenverSooner]

My personal opinion is Tubbs was the better coach. It is also my understanding from these message boards that the university screwed the basketball program when the football team got in trouble. And that is what really set OU back in 90/91. I did not have that impression at the time and I was a student then that went to every game.

 

[Eielson]

Interesting that the people calling Kelvin an arrogant jerk are defending Tubbs.

(For the record, I love them both)

 

[DenverSooner]

I liked both of them. Both were very good. Both changed the way basketball was played in the conference

 

[152219]

OU has been to two final fours before Tubbs. But you are correct that OU has little NCAA tournament experience

Yes, pre-1947.

 

[coolm]

Yes, pre-1947.

yeah, thats a rather weak argument denver.

 

[152219]

yeah, thats a rather weak argument denver.

In a span of 35 years, OU made it to the NCAA tournament 1 time!

Bruce Drake had a very good run in his time at OU and to be honest, it could be argued that he was OU's best coach, but the game was also much different in the 30s and 40s.

 

[lexusooner]

Calvin’s teams were competitive but typically crumbled come tourney time ...

 

[sheepdogs1]

Calvin’s teams were competitive but typically crumbled come tourney time ...

That's Hedley!

 

[sybarite]

Kelvin's teams lacked the talent of other Final Four teams. At one point on some thread, I did mention that he had finally developed a strong enough reputation to be able to recruit and had a great class coming in when he came under fire. I think one was a kid named Scotty McReynolds who was a very good player for a good Villanova team. Another became a very effective starter for a good Texas team. I don't remember what happened to the others. He had to build a program, and he had achieved some respect for winning with minimal talent. We never saw what he did with talent.

I preferred Tubbs style, and I loved the program that he built. Would have loved to have it remain another ten years. Liked Kelvin's program because the players really played hard, above their talent. If the talent we have on this year's team were to leave that much on the floor, we would probably be about 27-3 now. We might actually get defensive rebounds and play defense.

 

[coolm]

I also think Bruce Drake is OU's greatest basketball coach. He had by far the biggest effect on the game overall. But I think it would also be fair to say that Kelvin had a huge effect upon the Big-12 ... and Billy combined with Tark and the Loyola Marymount guy all had a mark on the game.

But Bruce Drake gets the nod with his motion offense.

 

[Eielson]

Kelvin could have coached last year's team to the NCAA tournament. If he were coaching this year's team, he probably would have already ran Trae off, yet would still have finished top 3 in conference.

 

[coolm]

Kelvin could have coached last year's team to the NCAA tournament. If he were coaching this year's team, he probably would have already ran Trae off, yet would still have finished top 3 in conference.

and Kelvin's tears are suspected to be a cure for cancer!

 

[mict085]

Kelvin could have coached last year's team to the NCAA tournament. If he were coaching this year's team, he probably would have already ran Trae off, yet would still have finished top 3 in conference.

No he wouldn’t, but keep banging that drum of ignorance.

 

[sheepdogs1]

No he wouldn’t, but keep banging that drum of ignorance.

Is it just not possible for someone to share their opinion without being attacked as if they are inferior to others? Could you just not enjoy your visit to this world without leaning on the condescension button? Well?

 

[Oscar Uniform]

The Cleti have made their way over to OUHoops.com

 

[coolm]

The Cleti have made their way over to OUHoops.com

I had all but forgotten about the cletii

 

[sybarite]

Memories are fun. But, I have none of Bruce Drake, nor do I know a lot about those years. That was an era in which Henry Iba became known as a great coach because he had a seven-footer who blocked all shots by goal-tending, leading to the goal-tending rules. Somehow, that garnered him a reputation as a great coach, as well as two national titles.

I had high hopes for Lester Lane because I liked him personally, and he was a great student of the game. Unfortunately, we hired two coaches that had a difficult time about that time, McKenzie.

I did have a great respect for what Tubbs and Sampson did. If we really wanted to become a basketball power, we probably would have jumped in to support a program with one of these guys rather than being about half adversarial. You need someone with that type of dedication and sense of direction. A lot of schools build temporary success stories. But, Kansas, Kentucky, Duke, North Carolina---these are programs built by coaches, reputation, alumni, and fans who live and breathe basketball, as OU does for football. Even UCLA doesn't fare all that well without Wooden, and they had the greatest run of all. Indiana wants to be, but stops just short of perennial power.

We have a good coach. I think he fits what most fans in Oklahoma want. I don't know that I've seen much interest in taking a larger step. It would take more commitment, more risk than the administration or fans would probably give. I don't think we'll win a title with Lon. But, we haven't won a title with anyone else either.

He is old enough that he will probably retire soon. It will be interesting to see what type of step the administration takes at that time. I would bet that someone will want to hire the Texas coach, whoever he might be.

 

[SKSooner]

A friend of mine said that Kelvin is only nice to people that can do something for him.

I can say that Kelvin has been nothing but incredibly nice to me, and there's absolutely nothing - not one single thing - I could do for him.

 

[WTSooner]

OU's OOC schedules between '84-93 were excellent with games against teams like UNLV, Duke, Syracuse, Arizona, Illinois etc. Tubbs' teams didn't shy away from playing a hard OOC.

But Kelvin played some good teams OOC too.

Arkansas (#3 at the time) in 1995.
Arkansas again in 1999.
4th ranked Cincy team in 2000.
Arkansas again in 2001.
Michigan State and Maryland (NC's) in 2002.
In 2003 they played (ranked) - Bama (8), Mississippi St. (16), Michigan St. (14), and UCONN (3)
In 2004 they played (ranked) - Michigan St. (5), Purdue (16), UCONN (1)
In 2005 they played #7 Duke and #12 UCONN
They played #4 Nova in 2006

Those were just the teams ranked at the time we played them. I didn't have time to research the games against teams that would later be ranked. Both Tubbs and Sampson played good competition. Tubbs' gets remembered a bit more, I think, b/c of the style of play.