Random game thoughts

BigTime

The Red Wig
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First off, I can't tell you how excited I am about the future of OU basketball. These four freshmen have a great chance to be a solid foundation over the next several years that will give us a chance to win that elusive first national championship. I have no doubts that Coach Capel will continue to bring in studs to help supplement these four guys.

- Really thought that Tiny did a much better job timing his jumps on rebounds yesterday. We really don't need him to be a high scorer, but we most certainly need him to rebound at a high level, and to set solid screens.

- Steven Pledger has the quickest release of anyone on the team. Need proof? Check out the highlight vid on the home page, and watch the play in the second half where he feeds RW and then gets the ball back and hits from deep. Unreal.

- TMG showed us his extra gear on the coast to coast play. I thought he made some really nices passes that didn't get finished. He is still learning what works and what doesn't at this level.

- Cade really provided the spark that got us going yesterday. We are very fortunate to have him here for another year after this one. That attempted ball save and the big charge that he took helped provide the energy that the team needed to get the upperhand in the game.

- I am really pleased with marketing for providing the student section with the capel heads and the other signs to distract the FT shooters. By the Arkansas game (with your help) we will have even more signs, and I think the student section will be all set.

- I hate to even bring this up, but I thought the crowd was really poor yesterday. The students did a nice job showing up, but really didn't give the team enough energy to start the game. I thought the non-student crowd was worse than any game last season. Would it hurt to get up off your feet a half a dozen times during the course of the game and make some noise on defense when the team is struggling for energy? That is how the crowd impacts the game.
PLEASE, please, please spread the word about the Arkansas and Arizona games coming up in a couple of weeks. If you can't attend then please give your tickets away ( I would be happy to do so...pm me).

- I was very proud of the Capelables, and I hope that the group gave the team some form of energy. Big props to those folks that worked hard to make noise.

- The UML coach (Orlando Early) and several of his players were very interactive with the crowd which I really enjoy. Their freshmen 7 footer was loving the fact that the students were lobbying for him to get more playing time.

- It is great to see Willie Warren taking his leadership role seriously both on and off the court. He took responsibility after the game in the presser. He has done a fine job of picking his spots as to when to take over and when to try and get his mates involved. I am so glad that he doesn't play like Lace Dunn.

- This team has really impressed me with their FT shooting. I think Willie's stroke looks more fluid this year. I hope we can keep it up because it will win us games this year.

- I really liked watching Hooper play for UML. Its easy to see why they struggled so much last year without him (he only played 4 games) because he is the heart and soul of that squad. He is not afraid to take the big shot, and mixes it up with bigger guys on the defensive glass.

- Our transition D has got to get better. There is no excuse for letting guys get past you on the break for easy lay-ups. Drives me nuts.

- I thought Tiny's post D was much better yesterday (especially in the first half). He was a little tentative after picking up his third foul, but you see the light starting to come on for him.

- Ryan Wright played one of his best games as a Sooner. One of my favorite moments was watching him teach Tiny after Tiny had made a poor pass. His strong finish to end the half will hopefully be a sign of good things to come.

- I thought Coach Capel did a nice job with adjustments at halftime. I also really liked the play he drew up for Crock in the second half out of a timeout. Worked beautifully and Crock buried a three.

We are going to have to play much better, and not get off to the same start on Saturday or this team will lose to VCU. If we play like we did for most of the second half, then I think we come away with a nice win.

-BT
 
Great post and thank you for your hard work with the LNC(LINK) experience. This team has a lot of talent and potential, but talent and potential have to be developed. Like Coach Capel was saying these young guys have never had to work this hard. Coach said the practice was horrible the day before the game. Our young guys will have to buy into the fact of working hard consistently. I think they will do this. What a fun season this will be. BOOMER SOONER BABY!!!:clap
 
- Cade really provided the spark that got us going yesterday. We are very fortunate to have him here for another year after this one. That attempted ball save and the big charge that he took helped provide the energy that the team needed to get the upperhand in the game.

- I hate to even bring this up, but I thought the crowd was really poor yesterday. The students did a nice job showing up, but really didn't give the team enough energy to start the game. I thought the non-student crowd was worse than any game last season. Would it hurt to get up off your feet a half a dozen times during the course of the game and make some noise on defense when the team is struggling for energy? That is how the crowd impacts the game.

- The UML coach (Orlando Early) and several of his players were very interactive with the crowd which I really enjoy. Their freshmen 7 footer was loving the fact that the students were lobbying for him to get more playing time.

loved cade going blake trying to save the ball with no regard for the media table. that kind of effort sets the example to others that it takes everything you got.

crowd was bad. i am not one to get on my feet unless the rest of the people are doing the same because i'm 6'3 and the people behind me are really old. but i don't need to stand to make noise, i yell as much as my voice will allow. and when that shot clock hits 15 for the opposing team, you will always hear me start clapping cuz it's loud.

bigtime, what did coach early say to you all i believe in the first half? i noticed he made all the capelables laugh, which i thought was incredibly cool that we was comfortable enough to exchange words with a group of boisterous students making fun of them.
 
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loved cade going blake trying to save the ball with no regard for the media table. that kind of effort sets the example to others that it takes everything you got.

crowd was bad. i am not one to get on my feet unless the rest of the people are doing the same because i'm 6'3 and the people behind me are really old. but i don't need to stand to make noise, i yell as much as my voice will allow. and when that shot clock hits 15 for the opposing team, you will always hear me start clapping cuz it's loud.

bigtime, what did coach early say to you all i believe in the first half? i noticed he made all the capelables laugh, which i thought was incredibly cool that we was comfortable enough to exchange words with a group of boisterous students making fun of them.

red,

I don't remember what I said to before the game. It was something like "Lando, get rowdy" or something. Anyways, he turned to me and smiled, so then I knew that we had ourselves an interactive coach. After that, it was on.

The part that made us laugh was when he was talking while Willie was shooting a FT, and I told him to hush. He said "That's not very nice". haha
 
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