Warren new OU leader
By Kevin Haskin
November 4, 2009 - 5:49pm
As much as any college basketball team in the land last season, Oklahoma was commanded by one player.
Now that Blake Griffin is gone, however, the Sooners called for a clear-out and quickly appointed a new leader who is just as easy to identify -- sophomore guard Willie Warren.
"You can tell when somebody is ready to take up that role," Warren said. "I patiently waited all year, because everybody knew it was Blake's team last year. I knew that. But I knew coming into this year, I'd be living in the spotlight."
He doesn't mind. Warren could be as good as any player in the Big 12 getting his shot. He averaged 14.6 points, even with Griffin contributing 22.7 as the national player of the year on a 30-6 team that reached the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament.
At times, however, Warren needed encouragement to exploit his immense talents as both a shooter and driver.
"There would be times in practice where I would literally be screaming at Willie in practice," OU coach Jeff Capel said. "You know: 'I didn't bring you here to defer. I brought you here to be a difference maker.' And I thought he was that last year."
When OU lost Griffin with a concussion early in a key February game at Texas, Warren took over and kept the Sooners in that matchup, as well as a Big Monday showdown two nights later against Kansas.
"How we played at Texas without him, how we played at home against Kansas without him, that was actually a good experience for us," Warren said. "I'm glad we had those two games, our two biggest games on the schedule, outside of the (preseason) NIT in New York. Those games helped us, and I think that's what has our heads so big this year."
What Capel must drill into those heads is the need to collectively account for Griffin's production.
The fact remains that OU did fall out of the Big 12 lead by losing to Texas and Kansas without its go-to star. And as much as Griffin will be missed as a scorer, the 14.4 rebounds he averaged were just as significant. Tiny Gallon, a bulky 6-foot-9 freshman, should offer some immediate help along with guard Tommy Mason-Griffin. Both were McDonald's All-Americans. Another freshman, Steven Pledger, scored 14 points Tuesday in Oklahoma's first exhibition game, a 93-53 romp against British Columbia.
As terrific as Warren is beating defenders one-on-one, as well as canning 3-pointers -- his 525 points last season was the fourth most by a freshman in Big 12 history -- the Sooners need others to contribute consistently.
"We don't have a huge margin for error," Capel said. "Last year we could maybe get away with some things because, as I call it, we had a big brother (Griffin) there to bail them out. He's gone now. But we do have other really good players."
