Post game quotes

[Sam]

Capel

“I thought we played hard. I don’t think we have not played hard in any of our games this year. You can’t say that about us. Now we haven’t always played smart, but I think these guys have given pretty good effort. I thought we did that in the first half. I thought it was a determined effort. Guys were really trying to defend, which is something we’ve really emphasized. We have had hard practices all week just because I felt like we have to get better defensively. I thought we took some steps in doing that tonight.”

Rest of the quotes including Fitz, Blair and Pledger.

 

[AdaSooner]

Maybe I'm being too nit-picky in finding fault with what Capel said in this interview. If so, I'll apologize in advance. Still, I can't help but wonder why it took him so long to figure out that this team had to get better defensively? Playing good defense in every game this season is the only chance OU has to beat nearly every team on our schedule. And to be honest, it has been that way since the season started. It's not like that is a revelation to anyone who knows anything about basketball, and it can't possibly have come as a surprise to Coach Capel. I'm guessing this was an observation he made in an interview with little or no time to think about how it would be interpreted.

Having said all of that, I think we all know that Fitz can't carry the team on his shoulders offensively against bigger opponents. If our perimeter shots aren't falling, which is often the case, this team is in trouble. So what else is there if we don't play good defense? Sampson reportedly worked on defense for all except a short period at the end of every practice. That's exactly what Capel needs to do to have any chance of salvaging what's left of this season.

On the positive side, I was impressed with our defense in the first half. Our help defense was much improved, plus OU kept G-W's shooters bottled up and cut off every attempt to drive the lane or baseline by working hard to be in a good position defensively. The defensive breakdowns to start the second half were troubling. But it was good to see that change after a timeout was called to stop the bleeding. If OU can play equally as well on defense (except for the aforementioned lapse in the second half) against good teams, I can see us winning a couple of games we are not picked to win. If not, this season will be longer than any of us thought possible before it began.

 

[j2d2]

My guess is that it has been more a matter of Capel preaching and teaching defense but the team (not being great athletes) responding slowly. This past week he concentrated continuously on defense and he worked them really hard from all indications. It worked. Now they need to play that way for the full 40.

 

[AdaSooner]

My guess is that it has been more a matter of Capel preaching and teaching defense but the team (not being great athletes) responding slowly. This past week he concentrated continuously on defense and he worked them really hard from all indications. It worked. Now they need to play that way for the full 40.

Very true, j2d2. Capel repeated that theme in his post game comments last night.

You're right, the hard work did pay off. My reason for calling attention to his quote is that I couldn't help but wonder why he hasn't been doing that all season? For that matter, why didn't he start before the season began?

As we have seen numerous times over the years, teams can't always rely on making shots from the perimeter. Good defense, on the other hand, is something you can depend on in every game. All it takes is proper execution, teamwork and a consistent effort. When players can't match up in a man to man, which is definitely a problem this year, you can hide those weaknesses by playing a lot of zone.

 

[scrybe]

"Guys were really trying to defend, which is something we’ve really emphasized. We have had hard practices all week just because I felt like we have to get better defensively. I thought we took some steps in doing that tonight."

Apology accepted, Ada

Seriously though, I do believe you were being nit-picky. Nowhere in that quote does Capel say anything that would indicate he's just recently realized this team needs to play better defense. If it's obvious to a layman like myself, I'm sure Capel has known it from the start. I'm sure the disastrous trip to Maui and the losses to Arky and Arizona helped make it more abundantly clear.

 

[AdaSooner]

Excellent points, scrybe. Clearly I breezed through Capel's quote and overreacted to what he said. Thanks for accepting my apology.

Don't get me wrong, I'm encouraged by the improvements I saw in last night's game. Still, I will continue to believe that OU will struggle to beat every team we play in conference if Jeff stays with a man to man for longer than short intervals. This is the most physically challenged team we have had in years. It's not that they're not trying. It's that too many of our players don't have the foot speed and quickness to guard anyone. If I'm wrong and the three or four players I have in mind suddenly start to stick to their man like glue, I'll gladly apologize for that, too.

 

[scrybe]

Ada, I hope you realize I was kidding with the "apology" comment. But I humbly accept anyway. :ez-laugh: