Saturday is a big game, to me

[jaymOU]

First, I jumped out of chair about four times last night - but only when I was not pacing the floor. :ez-laugh: Cousins and Spangler with dagger treys at the end of the shot clock, Buddy with his barrage early and even got pretty excited about Lattin's three offensive rebounds on one trip. My youngest son and I were pretty fired up as the second half wound down.

But, Nova shot the ball terribly from deep and not much better from 2pt range. Did OU have something to do with this, yes, for sure, but some of it was bad shooting. I would chalk some of it up to trying to keep pace with OU's three parade early.

My guess is Nova is not as bad as they played and OU may not be quite as good as a 23-point winner over a top 10 team.

Saturday will be interesting and may help us determine what kind of mindset this team has early.

ORU is scrappy - having already beat Tulsa - and they shoot the 3 pretty well. Normally, I would think too much about this game, but.....

OU will have to overcome jet-lag, possibly some big headedness, an afternoon start and a small crowd to beat a solid in-state team.

If OU blows the doors off the Eagles, then we may very well be looking at a real Final 4-type contender.

 

[Larry72]

I agree with you. The Sooners are now going to get every team's best game. We were more motivated than Nova, partially because they were favored.

Hopefully the LNC crowd delivers some energy on Sat.

 

[kbsooner]

I had the same mindset... I actually came away from last night's game thinking we could have played even better than we did. Had some sloppy offensive possessions and passing. Our D was good but their cold shooting helped tremendously.

 

[sheepdogs1]

Emegano is their team, basically, and if we shut him down, like last year, we will prevail fairly easily.

 

[DenverSooner]

I don't know much about ORU but I think OU will beat them soundly. ORU doesn't have much size. Starters are 6'9", 6'7", 6'3", 6'3" and 6'1". The bench is 5'11", 6'5" and 6'5". They have one other 6'9" guy but he plays less than 5 minutes a game. They have not really out rebounded many of their opponents and got hurt on the boards in a couple of games.

I think they are going to get crushed on the boards. I think OU will be the best defensive team they have plead so I think their shooting will go down. I think OU's depth, especially in the paint, is really going to hurt them. Lattin, McNeace and Manyang are a lot for one 6'9" player to handle.

I will certainly be watching and hope I am correct.

 

[jaymOU]

OU should dominate the entire game, not just the glass, but this to me is a mindset game. Does OU have a killer instinct. Do they want crush wills and kill sprits? This might provide us a glimpse into the character of this team.

Tubbs had some break your spirit kind of teams with offense and pace and Kelvin had some who would, essentially, wear you out - physically and mentally.

What will this team do?

 

[pnkranger]

OU should dominate the entire game, not just the glass, but this to me is a mindset game. Does OU have a killer instinct. Do they want crush wills and kill sprits? This might provide us a glimpse into the character of this team.

Tubbs had some break your spirit kind of teams with offense and pace and Kelvin had some who would, essentially, wear you out - physically and mentally.

What will this team do?

This has been the problem for this set of guards all along. If we show a killer instinct and obliterate ORU and Creighton after an emotional and exhausting game against Nova, you'll know we've turned the corner from good to elite.

 

[NickZepp]

Could be a trap game. Big win and an emotional trip to Hawaii. Now we play a ORU team that will be far more motivated to play us than the other way around. And it's an ORU team that shouldn't be overlooked. pnk is right. If we continue the solid play we could be looking at a real special team.

 

[Oklahoma Crew]

I think some of you are forgetting that this team is led by 3 seniors and a junior. Surely their experience won't allow them to let the team lose their focus. I guess it could happen, but I think I am right. These guys are seasoned veterans who just keep getting better.

 

[CoachTalk]

I think we couldve played better as well. Which is a scary thought. My impression from the team was, they thought they couldve played better as well.

There was a 6+ minute spurt without scoring... If we score even a couple buckets, its a 30+ point win.

This team is built, lets just go do it.

 

[AdaSooner]

OU should dominate the entire game, not just the glass, but this to me is a mindset game. Does OU have a killer instinct. Do they want crush wills and kill sprits? This might provide us a glimpse into the character of this team.

Tubbs had some break your spirit kind of teams with offense and pace and Kelvin had some who would, essentially, wear you out - physically and mentally.

What will this team do?

I get what you are saying and don't rule out the possibility that OU will not come ready to play in every game.

But, to this point of the season, I haven't seen anything to suggest that this team's mindset has been anything but totally focused on their opponent. They may go through a brief period when the shots aren't falling, but in every case they simply ratchet up the defense or take the ball inside more with the penetration dribble. The last few minutes of the Memphis game is a good example of what I'm talking about. None of the other games have been even close.

To me, that proves this team does indeed have a killer instinct. When Nova came back to tie the score late in the first half, our players stepped up their intensity and started to pull away again to end the half. They came out of the locker room with a renewed determination, and the rest is history. Blow out city for a top ten team on a neutral floor!

I hope I don't jinx us by bragging too much on our players. There is no question that we have seen OU teams of the past play down to an opponent and lose a game they should have won. K-State in Norman last year and La Tech two years ago are good examples of that. The loss to Stephen F. Austin on our own floor three years ago is another example some of us will never forget. But I'm being honest when I say that I have not seen any sign of a loss of concentration and the goals ahead, or a lack of a killer instinct from this team. Not saying it won't happen, just that there is nothing to suggest we'll see it anytime soon.

 

[scrybe]

I get what you are saying and don't rule out the possibility that OU will not come ready to play in every game.

But, to this point of the season, I haven't seen anything to suggest that this team's mindset has been anything but totally focused on their opponent. They may go through a brief period when the shots aren't falling, but in every case they simply ratchet up the defense or take the ball inside more with the penetration dribble. The last few minutes of the Memphis game is a good example of what I'm talking about. None of the other games have been even close.

To me, that proves this team does indeed have a killer instinct. When Nova came back to tie the score late in the first half, our players stepped up their intensity and started to pull away again to end the half. They came out of the locker room with a renewed determination, and the rest is history. Blow out city for a top ten team on a neutral floor!

I hope I don't jinx us by bragging too much on our players. There is no question that we have seen OU teams of the past play down to an opponent and lose a game they should have won. K-State in Norman last year and La Tech two years ago are good examples of that. The loss to Stephen F. Austin on our own floor three years ago is another example some of us will never forget. But I'm being honest when I say that I have not seen any sign of a loss of concentration and the goals ahead, or a lack of a killer instinct from this team. Not saying it won't happen, just that there is nothing to suggest we'll see it anytime soon.

Agree with your assessment, Ada. These Sooners, with Buddy, Spangler, Cousins and Woodard as leaders, are not likely to lose focus and start losing games to vastly inferior teams.

I don't believe any of us believe we'll go undefeated in the regular season. We'll likely lose at least a few games. But if (when) we do, it more than likely will be against teams like KU or ISU, or possibly some other Big 12 team that gets very hot against us from beyond the arc.

 

[NMSooner'80]

I hope the guys realize that they came back from 27 down in Albuquerque to UNM a week or so ago to make it a single-digit game. But the Lobos still won fairly easily in the end.

Not sure, but I think it was my freshman year ('77) when OU last fell to ORU. I hope the guys keep it that way for a long time.