TMG Interview: SoonerSports.com

Hadn't seen it posted so I thought I would share.

Link
NORMAN, Okla. - In his three years at OU, Jeff Capel's men's basketball teams have yet to feature a starting point guard who has played the position exclusively his whole life.

There's a decent chance that's about to change.

Tommy Mason-Griffin is a stocky-yet-quick 5-foot-11 floor general out of Houston, Texas, who Capel signed to a letter of intent last November. The freshman-to-be is not just a point guard, he's a McDonald's All-America point guard (in fact, he and fellow freshman Tiny Gallon are among four McDonald's All-Americans recruited by Capel in the last three years) and is expected to see major minutes from the get go this season.

As a senior at James Madison High School last year, Mason-Griffin averaged 22.8 points, 5.3 assists, 4.4 rebounds and 3.7 steals per game en route to being named the Gatorade Texas Player of the Year. He's explosive off the dribble, can set up his teammates and can knock down the outside jumper. Said Capel, "He's THE guy we wanted (for the position). I can't wait to coach him."

SoonerSports.com caught up with Mason-Griffin on July 28 for the following Q&A.
Q: How do you like Norman and OU so far?
A: "I like the school, I like the people. Everyone's outgoing and makes you feel at home. But I'm a city kid so the adjustment has been pretty tough. I'm getting used to it."

Q: What's been the biggest adjustment?
A: "Being away from home, getting up early just about every day, coming into the gym and getting work in. And not getting to see the people you're used to seeing every day."

Q: Is summer school going well?
A: "It's going well. It ends this Friday. I took a history of jazz class and now I'm taking a leadership class."

Q: What's your typical summer day like?
A: "Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays I get up at like 5 or 5:30, hit the weight room for like two hours and then go to class from 9 to 11. I might come to the gym early and get some shots up before we play pick-up. After pick-up I might go back to the dorm for about an hour and get something to eat. Then I'll go to study hall for an hour until about 8. That's the end of the day.

"Tuesdays and Thursdays are kind of light days. I get up at like 8:30 and eat before I go to class, then get to the gym maybe by like 3. Some Tuesdays we'll do swimming (workouts) in the morning and on Thursdays we've been doing Pilates."

Q: What time do you go to bed?
A: "Probably like 12 or 12:30. I'm tired when I wake up."

Q: Why don't you go to bed earlier?
A: "Actually, midnight is really early for me (to go to bed). I've got bad sleeping habits. Really, I'm just glad that I'm getting up early and able to do something productive every morning."

Q: Who's your roommate?
A: "Tiny Gallon."

Q: How's he as a roommate?
A: "We've got our room separated and pretty much have our own space. So it's cool. He and I have known each other for a little while. He's funny. He'll make you laugh 24/7. Sometimes I'll tell him he's a little junky. He tells me, 'You stay on your side and I'll stay on my side.'"

Q: Can you talk a little more about your relationship?
A: "We've known each other since the summer of seventh grade when he moved from California. We both played on the same Houston Hoops AAU team for like four years. We'd be roommates at the tournaments out of town, so we're pretty close."



Q: For those who have never seen you play basketball, how would you describe yourself as a player?
A: "I'm a strong guard who can get in the paint, make my teammates better and defend. I'll get steals because I've got good anticipation skills. And if you sag off of me I can make jump shots. I'm coming off a back injury that kept me out for about two months, so right now I'm just trying to get back into shape."

Q: What's your favorite thing to do on the court?
A: "I just like to get out and run, get fast-break buckets."

Q: What aspect of your game would you like to see improve?
A: "Making floaters in the paint; just making shots over big guys."

Q: You measured in at 5-foot-11 earlier this summer. How much do you weigh?
A: "Right now I'm at like 203. I want to get down to about 190. Actually, I was up to about 214 because for those two months (with the back injury) I wasn't doing much; just eating and sitting around. But I'm getting my weight down slowly."

Q: Can you dunk?
A: "Yes, sir."

Q: What's your most memorable dunk?
A: "I caught one off the rim my 10th grade summer. And then in my junior year summer I got a steal and did a windmill in Vegas."

Q: What was your career high in points in high school?
A: "In high school I had 49 points and made 11 3's when Coach Capel was there. Something was wrong with the air conditioning system and it made the court slippery. I couldn't cut to get by my man, so I started shooting jumpers. Then after the half I got hot and just started making them from everywhere."

Q: What went through your mind when you found out you were a McDonald's All-American?
A: "I just felt like all the hard work that I put in over the past few summers -- getting up early when everybody else was sleeping -- had finally paid off. Ever since I was young I was (rated) one of the top point guards in the country, but then in my 10th grade year I hurt my knee and I fell out of everyone's ratings. I just had a strong summer last year and that's what helped put me in the McDonald's game."

Q: Was that a fun experience?
A: "It was something you dream about because you watch it every year on TV. The game itself was OK, but the other stuff we did -- like the closed scrimmages and practices -- were better because everyone was going harder. During the game, everyone was leaking out for dunks and stuff."

Q: What do you like to do when you have free time?
A: "I play video games a little bit, I listen to music, I like to hang out and I like to shop."

Q: What attracted you to OU?
A: "The conference, the coaches, the players I would have around me for the next few years, being able to come in and play early. And with Coach Capel being a point guard (in college) I felt like he can help me with things."

Q: What are your impressions of some of the other players from workouts and playing pickup games?
A: "I feel like we can have a good year. We just have to work, put in effort every day and go from there."

Q: Are you leaning toward a particular major?
A: "Not really; I'm still looking into things. I'll probably have one by the end of the fall semester, though."
Click to expand...
 
Re: TMG Interview

Darn it, you beat me to it.
 
I wonder how long it takes to get in D-1 basketball shape?
 
McG78 said:
7 days, 4 hours, 31 minutes, and, depending on your ultimate goal, between 15 and 45 seconds. HTH.
Click to expand...

And then there is the condensed version, which takes maybe... 2days, 23 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds
 
Great interview! TMG does well in interviews, it seems. I can't wait to see him with WW and Tiny on the court!
 
As a senior at James Madison High School last year, Mason-Griffin averaged 22.8 points, 5.3 assists, 4.4 rebounds and 3.7 steals per game en route to being named the Gatorade Texas Player of the Year. He's explosive off the dribble, can set up his teammates and can knock down the outside jumper. Said Capel, "He's THE guy we wanted (for the position). I can't wait to coach him."
Click to expand...

Booyaka.:D

When was the last time we had a pg like TMG? Quannas? I would say Drew, but he wasn't a bulldog defender like TMG. Is this OU being blessed with a Drew/Quannas combo?:OUbball-logo:
 
CrimsonOberon said:
Booyaka.:D

When was the last time we had a pg like TMG? Quannas? I would say Drew, but he wasn't a bulldog defender like TMG. Is this OU being blessed with a Drew/Quannas combo?:OUbball-logo:
Click to expand...

Drew was a great offensive player and in the right offense (running and gunning) he was a star. Defensively though he was a huge liability. Do you remember when Tech one year at LNC just posted him up and stood everyone else out at the 3-point line.

Quannas was very underrated on the defensive and offensive end by the casual fan. I think this is because he lacked speed (i.e., the ability to jump in the passing lane and steal a pass on defense and the ability to break his man down and drive past him). A lot of Quannas's defense was containing, and a lot of his offense was shooting threes or dribbling to the lane and shooting a floater over his man.

I think TMG will be a faster Quannas. I think this is exactly what Eaton was. If we had Eaton last year we would have given UNC a scare.

In short, TMG will be more flashy than Quannas and to the casual fan he will seem better, but when you look at the execution and what he can do both are damn close. Nevertheless, TMG, like Quannas, will be a damn good college point guard.
 
TMG is nothing like your boy sherron(tom)collins. In my opinion TMG just needs to watch how much weight lifting he does. TMG is alot like Blake in this regard. They will eventually have to tell him to tone it down a bit. The only reason he gained bad weight was because they wouldn't let him do much at all when he was having back problems. BOOMER SOONER BABY!!!:tmg
 
Q: What was your career high in points in high school?
A: "In high school I had 49 points and made 11 3's when Coach Capel and KCOUKID were there. Something was wrong with the air conditioning system and it made the court slippery. I couldn't cut to get by my man, so I started shooting jumpers. Then after the half I got hot and just started making them from everywhere."

Fixed it....I'm sure he just forgot to mention me. :)
 
How come TMG can't set his own standard and be better than Drew or Quannas? This is the outcome I would prefer. LET'S GO TMG. Leave your own legacy. BOOMER SOONER BABY!!!:tmg
 
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