Key to beating UTEP

BigTime

BigTime

The Red Wig
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What is the top key for the Sooners to beat UTEP on Monday night in the Ford Center?

Mine: Getting Willie going early offensively. He has had a tough time this year of getting into the offensive flow to start games. I hope Coach Capel tries to set him up for success early so that he will play with the same swagger that he did during the second half and overtime periods of the Utah game.
 
These 2 teams are very similar. If OU has a one of their good defensive games then OU wins handily. If we struggle and allow UTEP to get to the rim like UNCO did then it will be a nail biter. If we don't shoot the 3 well and have a poor defensive showing we will lose.
 
Defense. Defense is always the key to every game. Contest shots, play hard the entire time clock and block out. If a team does that, the team generally wins. If the team does that and has the better athletes, the team will absolutely win.
 
Score at least one more point than them

for example: if the miners score 61 points then we should focus on scoring at least 62.
 
I'm sorry....but I'm just not that enamored with UTEP. I don't know why there seems to be a sense of pessimism about this game. It's practically a home game and they aren't more talented than we are. We played poorly in our last game, so I believe we probably come out with a sense of urgency this time around. To be candid, I'm really not that worried about this one at all. I think we win by 10.
 
soonerprices said:
These 2 teams are very similar. If OU has a one of their good defensive games then OU wins handily. If we struggle and allow UTEP to get to the rim like UNCO did then it will be a nail biter. If we don't shoot the 3 well and have a poor defensive showing we will lose.
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Defense is all about hustle, heart and desire. If the boys want to D up, they can D up and seal the deal. If we play D hard all night and don't take plays off, we'll win by 10 or more. If we stand around and watch, we could lose this game. UTEP is big, athletic and a nice team.
 
stormspencer said:
I'm sorry....but I'm just not that enamored with UTEP. I don't know why there seems to be a sense of pessimism about this game. It's practically a home game and they aren't more talented than we are. We played poorly in our last game, so I believe we probably come out with a sense of urgency this time around. To be candid, I'm really not that worried about this one at all. I think we win by 10.
Click to expand...

I think people are worried about this game because it's put-up-or-shut-up time. We had a really bad game on Saturday and if we don't turn it around against a decent (not great) opponent, then it's looking like a long season. I think people are hedging their bets a little bit.
 
DeaconBoomer said:
Defense is all about hustle, heart and desire. If the boys want to D up, they can D up and seal the deal. If we play D hard all night and don't take plays off, we'll win by 10 or more. If we stand around and watch, we could lose this game. UTEP is big, athletic and a nice team.
Click to expand...
I was at an OU practice one time and Capel said you had to have three things to play defense. Determination, heart, (Deacon please cover your ears) and a fing set of balls.
 
DeaconBoomer said:
lmao.....That's good stuff. Coach is 100% correct. :)
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I know this may surprise you guys but Capel uses the F word a lot. I have a call in and hope they have practice tomorrow (I bet they don't). I am going to go. If not hopefully I can attend next week before they head to Spokane.
 
soonerprices said:
I know this may surprise you guys but Capel uses the F word a lot. I have a call in and hope they have practice tomorrow (I bet they don't). I am going to go. If not hopefully I can attend next week before they head to Spokane.
Click to expand...

PM me and let me know what happened if they do practice. The F bomb is probably the most popular word at any basketball practice. One of our 5th grade coaches dropped the F bomb at practice the other night. It certainly got everyone's attention. It might have been the best practice I've seen after he went off.
 
DenverSooner said:
Defense. Defense is always the key to every game. Contest shots, play hard the entire time clock and block out.
Click to expand...

^
This!

We'll know ten minutes into the game if OU has come to play. They can't wait until the second half or when UTEP has a double digit lead either. It will be gut check time from the opening tap.
 
It amazes me that some of these guys for OU don't know this. I guess it is because I was not a very good athlete and the only way I won was to outwork other people.
 
DenverSooner said:
It amazes me that some of these guys for OU don't know this. I guess it is because I was not a very good athlete and the only way I won was to outwork other people.
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This very important, but you have to have guys that can shoot. Some of my hardest working teams were not very good because they couldn't shoot. As Billy said if you can't score you can't win. He also said no matter how hard you work on D nobody ever gives you points for it.
 
I think Willie needs to take over. We won't win if he keeps playing like he has some games this year. If he's not hitting his shot he needs to go inside and take over games like he did some last year. His confidence is shakey at best right now.
 
I also hope the guys don't play tight, after the debacle from Saturday. UTEP is beatable - and if they play anything like they did against New Mexico State at home, they can be had.

I remain shocked at that result, FWIW.
 
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