seniorsooner
New member
- Joined
- Nov 10, 2008
- Messages
- 5,168
- Reaction score
- 0
http://www.tulsaworld.com/sportsext...ctid=92&articleid=20110118_92_B1_CUTLIN533104
OU men need win Tuesday against Tech
by: GUERIN EMIG World Sports Writer
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
1/18/2011 6:24:12 AM
NORMAN - The last time the Oklahoma basketball team struggled like this, Jeff Capel hadn't been born. His father hadn't been born. The NCAA Tournament hadn't been born.
Adolph Rupp was a rookie coach at Kentucky. John Wooden was an all-conference guard at Purdue. And Adrian Lindsey's Sooner football team was losing to Honolulu University.
It was 1930-31, and OU lost 15 consecutive games in the Big Six Conference.
Now, as Texas Tech comes to Norman for Tuesday's 7 p.m. tip, the Sooners have dropped 11 straight regular-season games in the Big 12. The streak is 12 if you include their Big 12 Tournament loss to Oklahoma State last March.
How badly does OU need a win?
"Real bad. I mean, real bad," guard Cade Davis said. "It's been however long since we've won a Big 12 game."
It's been 345 days. OU hasn't won a league game since Feb. 6, 2010, the afternoon Tommy Mason-Griffin put up 24 points, five rebounds and four assists in an 80-71 victory over Texas.
While the Sooners insist the slump doesn't keep them up at night, they do realize that winning again could benefit them.
"Winning makes you feel better. It makes you believe more," said Capel, whose 8-9 squad is 0-3 in the Big 12. "It just gives you confidence."
It could happen Tuesday. Maybe it should happen Tuesday.
A reporter on the Big 12 coaches teleconference Monday morning asked Texas Tech coach Pat Knight a simple question: How would you describe your team this year?
Knight's response: "Pretty bad. We've underachieved, and we're not playing well."
The follow-up: What's your style of play?
Knight: "Right now, it's bad. ... Right now, we don't really have a style. It's just bad basketball."
That pretty much says it all, though if you want some facts ...
The 8-10 Red Raiders are also 0-3 in league play, having lost to Baylor, Texas and Kansas State by a total of 77 points. A check of the conference stats shows Tech is last or next-to-last in 11 categories.
Before playing Texas and Kansas State, Knight's motivational ploy was to call out his four senior starters.
"Maybe it's my fault because I've been around such good seniors my whole life. I got spoiled being at Indiana," he said. "I didn't see these problems coming from the seniors. They've been so sporadic. It's been a good lesson for me, not to take seniors for granted."
Knight's seniors responded with as many turnovers as field goals (eight) in an 83-52 rubout against Texas. At K-State, their team was outrebounded 41-18 in a 94-60 embarrassment.
Coaches typically call rebounding an "effort" stat. What does that tell you about the Red Raiders' will to win?
The Sooners are struggling, but few have questioned their fortitude.
"The past few games, our coaches have noticed we're competing at a higher level," Davis said. "We're really putting out effort to do things the right way. There are still spots in games where we're lagging and making mistakes we can correct. If we correct those mistakes, we'll be OK."
Strange as this sounds, the key to getting a win Tuesday may be taking the opponent seriously.
"We need one. Obviously they do, too. They're going to be just as hungry as we are," OU freshman Tyler Neal said. "We've got to come out hungrier than them and want it more."
"Our strength coach made an analogy that it's two wounded animals. That's what this game is like," Capel said. "When you have an animal that is wounded, usually there is some fight. I think they're going to come out and fight. They're probably a little embarrassed by how they played the last two games."
OU has to be embarrassed about threatening a dubious 80-year-old program record.
"We need a win. We definitely do," Capel said. "But again, we have to earn the right to win. That's what I keep telling them.
"We have to come out and play like a team that's worthy of winning. If we do that, I think we'll put ourselves in good position to hopefully get our first win in conference."
Losing Streaks
Oklahoma's 11-game conference regular-season losing streak represents the second-longest in school history. Here are the five longest:
15: The Sooners went 0-10 in the Big Six in 1930, then lost their first five league games of the '31 season
Streak buster: def. Kansas 33-30 in Norman (date unknown)
11: Current
10: This carried over from the end of the 1954 season to the beginning of '55
Streak buster: def. Nebraska 78-76 in Norman, Feb. 21, 1955
10: OU dropped its last three Big Seven games of the '55 season and its first seven of '56
Streak buster: def. Kansas 69-68 in Norman, Feb. 17, 1956
9: The Sooners' longest conference losing streak of the Big 8 era occurred in '64
Streak buster: def. Missouri 86-84 in Norman, Feb. 21, 1964
Texas Tech (8-10, 0-3)
Ht. Pt. Rb.
F Reese 6-6 11.9 4.8
F Lewndowski 6-10 9.7 5.3
F Singletary 6-6 12.9 5.9
G Roberson 5-11 11.8 4.0*
G Tairu 6-3 10.2 2.3
Oklahoma (8-9, 0-3)
Ht. Pt. Rb.
F Fitzgerald 6-8 13.8 5.3
G Pledger 6-4 11.1 2.4*
G Blair 6-2 6.1 4.3*
G Clark 6-6 9.3 4.7
G Davis 6-5 12.5 4.9
OU men need win Tuesday against Tech
by: GUERIN EMIG World Sports Writer
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
1/18/2011 6:24:12 AM
NORMAN - The last time the Oklahoma basketball team struggled like this, Jeff Capel hadn't been born. His father hadn't been born. The NCAA Tournament hadn't been born.
Adolph Rupp was a rookie coach at Kentucky. John Wooden was an all-conference guard at Purdue. And Adrian Lindsey's Sooner football team was losing to Honolulu University.
It was 1930-31, and OU lost 15 consecutive games in the Big Six Conference.
Now, as Texas Tech comes to Norman for Tuesday's 7 p.m. tip, the Sooners have dropped 11 straight regular-season games in the Big 12. The streak is 12 if you include their Big 12 Tournament loss to Oklahoma State last March.
How badly does OU need a win?
"Real bad. I mean, real bad," guard Cade Davis said. "It's been however long since we've won a Big 12 game."
It's been 345 days. OU hasn't won a league game since Feb. 6, 2010, the afternoon Tommy Mason-Griffin put up 24 points, five rebounds and four assists in an 80-71 victory over Texas.
While the Sooners insist the slump doesn't keep them up at night, they do realize that winning again could benefit them.
"Winning makes you feel better. It makes you believe more," said Capel, whose 8-9 squad is 0-3 in the Big 12. "It just gives you confidence."
It could happen Tuesday. Maybe it should happen Tuesday.
A reporter on the Big 12 coaches teleconference Monday morning asked Texas Tech coach Pat Knight a simple question: How would you describe your team this year?
Knight's response: "Pretty bad. We've underachieved, and we're not playing well."
The follow-up: What's your style of play?
Knight: "Right now, it's bad. ... Right now, we don't really have a style. It's just bad basketball."
That pretty much says it all, though if you want some facts ...
The 8-10 Red Raiders are also 0-3 in league play, having lost to Baylor, Texas and Kansas State by a total of 77 points. A check of the conference stats shows Tech is last or next-to-last in 11 categories.
Before playing Texas and Kansas State, Knight's motivational ploy was to call out his four senior starters.
"Maybe it's my fault because I've been around such good seniors my whole life. I got spoiled being at Indiana," he said. "I didn't see these problems coming from the seniors. They've been so sporadic. It's been a good lesson for me, not to take seniors for granted."
Knight's seniors responded with as many turnovers as field goals (eight) in an 83-52 rubout against Texas. At K-State, their team was outrebounded 41-18 in a 94-60 embarrassment.
Coaches typically call rebounding an "effort" stat. What does that tell you about the Red Raiders' will to win?
The Sooners are struggling, but few have questioned their fortitude.
"The past few games, our coaches have noticed we're competing at a higher level," Davis said. "We're really putting out effort to do things the right way. There are still spots in games where we're lagging and making mistakes we can correct. If we correct those mistakes, we'll be OK."
Strange as this sounds, the key to getting a win Tuesday may be taking the opponent seriously.
"We need one. Obviously they do, too. They're going to be just as hungry as we are," OU freshman Tyler Neal said. "We've got to come out hungrier than them and want it more."
"Our strength coach made an analogy that it's two wounded animals. That's what this game is like," Capel said. "When you have an animal that is wounded, usually there is some fight. I think they're going to come out and fight. They're probably a little embarrassed by how they played the last two games."
OU has to be embarrassed about threatening a dubious 80-year-old program record.
"We need a win. We definitely do," Capel said. "But again, we have to earn the right to win. That's what I keep telling them.
"We have to come out and play like a team that's worthy of winning. If we do that, I think we'll put ourselves in good position to hopefully get our first win in conference."
Losing Streaks
Oklahoma's 11-game conference regular-season losing streak represents the second-longest in school history. Here are the five longest:
15: The Sooners went 0-10 in the Big Six in 1930, then lost their first five league games of the '31 season
Streak buster: def. Kansas 33-30 in Norman (date unknown)
11: Current
10: This carried over from the end of the 1954 season to the beginning of '55
Streak buster: def. Nebraska 78-76 in Norman, Feb. 21, 1955
10: OU dropped its last three Big Seven games of the '55 season and its first seven of '56
Streak buster: def. Kansas 69-68 in Norman, Feb. 17, 1956
9: The Sooners' longest conference losing streak of the Big 8 era occurred in '64
Streak buster: def. Missouri 86-84 in Norman, Feb. 21, 1964
Texas Tech (8-10, 0-3)
Ht. Pt. Rb.
F Reese 6-6 11.9 4.8
F Lewndowski 6-10 9.7 5.3
F Singletary 6-6 12.9 5.9
G Roberson 5-11 11.8 4.0*
G Tairu 6-3 10.2 2.3
Oklahoma (8-9, 0-3)
Ht. Pt. Rb.
F Fitzgerald 6-8 13.8 5.3
G Pledger 6-4 11.1 2.4*
G Blair 6-2 6.1 4.3*
G Clark 6-6 9.3 4.7
G Davis 6-5 12.5 4.9
