Who is your favorite OU bball team of all time?

[BigTime]

Any particular favorites and why?

Mine was the 2000-01 squad with Hollis Price and Nolan Johnson. I loved watching those guys win the final game at the "old GIA". Gritty bunch that believed in each other and would flat out dominate people on both ends.

Miss those days...

 

[PledgerFan]

I would have to say the 2008-09 team. Made it to the elite 8 and had some of my most favorite players: Blake Griffin, Taylor Griffin Austin Johnson, Willie Warren, Tony Crocker, and Cade Davis. Good times...good times.

 

[Sam]

I loved watching those guys win the final game at the "old GIA".

It was the 1999-2000 squad that won the last game in GIA, it was Najera's senior season.

2000-01 is the one that won the Big 12 tournament, I believe they beat Mizzou, KU and Texas, after J.R. Raymond was thrown off the team.

 

[Salt City Sooner]

It was the 1999-2000 squad that won the last game in GIA, it was Najera's senior season.

2000-01 is the one that won the Big 12 tournament, I believe they beat Mizzou, KU and Texas, after J.R. Raymond was thrown off the team.

& they came from some obscene deficit (16-18 pts., IIRC) to beat UT for the third time that year. Kind of like dangling the carrot in front of the rabbit...

As for the OP's question, I'll go with 2002. That team deserved a better fate, but injuries unfortunately intervened. When they were healthy though, I'd have taken my chances against anybody that year.

 

[BoulderSooner]

I will go with 2002 as well ... if Q doesn't roll his ankle in the last 2 min against Mizzou in the elite 8 we smoke IU and get the rematch with maryland in the final

 

[WTSooner]

2002. I know that is the easy answer, but that team was built exactly how I'd build a team. So much fun watching those guys.

 

[skyvue]

I'm surprised the 1988 team has gotten no love. They went to the national title game, folks, and darned near won it! I know the question asked for our favorite team as opposed to the best team, but is 1988 so long ago that we've forgotten that amazing squad?

Or are you guys just that much younger than doddering ol' me?

 

[tycat947]

I'm surprised the 1988 team has gotten no love. They went to the national title game, folks, and darned near won it! I know the question asked for our favorite team as opposed to the best team, but is 1988 so long ago that we've forgotten that amazing squad?

Or are you guys just that much younger than doddering ol' me?

I agree! We should have won! Makes me nauseated every time I think of that game!

Still they were a great team and extremely fun to watch!

 

[WaymanFan]

I'm surprised the 1988 team has gotten no love. They went to the national title game, folks, and darned near won it! I know the question asked for our favorite team as opposed to the best team, but is 1988 so long ago that we've forgotten that amazing squad?

Or are you guys just that much younger than doddering ol' me?

I just think they're that much younger than we are. It would be next to impossible to not include 1988 and 2002 on any "favorite team" lists. Anytime your favorite team goes into the final weekend with a legit chance to win a National Championship, it's definitely special.

With those two aside, I really have a tough time narrowing down my favorite OU team from these four - 1984, 1990, 1995 and 2000. Although all four of these teams struggled in the Dance, there is one other thing they had in common - they all more than achieved expectations.

1984 - Yes, there was that sophomore from Tulsa who was "okay", but no one thought this team would go 13-1 in conference play with a lightly recruited PG and a bunch of freshmen...and end up with a #2 seed in the Dance. The highlights? Beating Syracuse in the Carrier Dome which put us in the top 20 to stay, and cutting down the nets in allen Fieldhouse after beating KU in OT to clinch the Big 8.

1990 - I'm guessing this is the last college basketball team to finish #1 in the regular season who did not have a single player drafted or who played in the NBA. That says it all about Billy getting the most out of his team. The highlights? It turned out to be EASILY the deepest OU team ever. Terrance Mullins, the 6th man on the 1988 team, was the 10th / 11th man on the 1990 team. Also, beating Larry Johnson and eventual champion UNLV as well as the only OU team to finish the regular season #1 were memorable as well.

1995 - Well, we figured out pretty quickly that Billy Tubbs was replaced by another great coach. Picked as high as 6th and as low as 8th in the Big 8, this team wound up with a #4 seed in the Dance. It was especially gratifying since Billy's last two teams were disappointing to say the least. The highlights? Beating Kansas (Abercrombie for three...YES!) and the emergence of Ryan Minor...and Kelvin Sampson winning National Coach of the Year.

2000 - Even though the 1999 squad got to the Sweet 16 as a #13 seed, it was hard to get excited after losing 4 starters from a #13 seed team. It was another great coaching job by Kelvin to wind up with a #3 seed. The highlights? Beating OSU on their Senior Day is on every OU fan's list of favorite victories...and Eduardo Najera is on every OU fan's list of favorite players. Also, winning that early season tournament set the table for a surprisingly great season.

 

[Sooner04]

 

[cvangild]

1) 1990 team - they finished the regular season ranked #1 and were a blast to watch. Very very athletic team with Jackie Jones, Skeeter Henry, Cheese Davis, Damon Patterson, Kermit Holmes, Terry Evans and Tony (Hawk) Martin playing significant minutes. Jeff Webster was also on that team as a Fr, but ended up missing that year with injuries.

I have the OU/Mizzou game on tape where Billy Tubbs adressed the crowd (I thin kit was that same year) and within the last year saw the playback of the OU/Loyola MM game from that year on ESPN classic. Talk about running and gunning...it was amazing.

2) 1988 team - Most talented starting 5, EVER. No question.


3) 2002 - Fun team to watch with Price and Ace McGhee. Ebi Ere was fun to watch too.

 

[NMSooner'80]

In order:

- 1988 - don't really need to elaborate, plus the guys I knew on that team were really good kids (unlike the national media's portrayal of them as a bunch of evil, run-up-the-score bullies).
- 2002 - major overacheiving team in my book, but was still a bunch of fun to watch.
- 1979 - I'm throwing in one from my student days. They weren't as accomplished as the Final Four teams, but I still believe they created a ton of interest in basketball that hadn't existed at OU since the late 1940's. I knew most of the main players on that team as well, and they were good guys, too.
- 1985 - saw most of their home games and enjoyed the last "Year of Wayman." That team was also unjustly villified by the non-Oklahoma media, but not as bad as '88 was.

 

[Darwin]

I honestly can't pick one, so I'll mention some not yet mentioned.
82 WT with BT Jones, David Little, Chucky Barnett.
83 Big 8 Champs and that was a big deal, WT and a bunch of freshmen.
89 #1 at the end of the regular season.

If the criteria is the most what did I just see, jaw dropping dunks then 08/09, no contest on that.

 

[RyanMinorFanClub]

My favorite for me is the 95-96 team. They didnt do anything spectacular, but they had a lot of my favorite players like Minor, Erdmann, Hootie Wiley, Abercrombie, Dion Barnes, and Bobby Joe Evans. I can still remember getting my portable radio taken from me in my sophomore English class in high school trying to listen to the NCAA game against Temple.

 

[jmizzy4ou]

:clap:clap

Any team with Wayman and Hollis.

The 88 team was special. I was a young soldier stationed at Ft. Belvoir, Va. When we made our tourney run, I was in training mode. One of my drill instructors was from Oklahoma, so he would come and get me for " special duty", and we watched the Sooner games.:ez-laugh::ez-laugh:

I agree with Darwin as well. Chucky Barnett and David Little were also 2 of my favorites to watch. I loved watching Juice Whitley, John Mc Collough, and Al Beal as well.......

 

[AdaSooner]

My favorite has to be the '88 team. OU was the best team in the country that year, and it wasn't even close. Forget the fact that KU won the title. That did not mean they were the best team. OU won two out of three meetings during the regular season and conference tourney, just not the one that counted the most.

Anyone who is too young to remember the 1988 squad, can't possibly appreciate what an unbelievably talented and well-balanced team OU put on the floor that year. Five players averaged in double figures for the season, with (King and Grant) averaging 20 plus. That team had everything a fan could hope for, except a break or two in the NC game that would have sent the trophy to it's rightful place.

 

[NMSooner'80]

My favorite has to be the '88 team. OU was the best team in the country that year, and it wasn't even close. Forget the fact that KU won the title. That did not mean they were the best team. OU won two out of three meetings during the regular season and conference tourney, just not the one that counted the most.

Anyone who is too young to remember the 1988 squad, can't possibly appreciate what an unbelievably talented and well-balanced team OU put on the floor that year. Five players averaged in double figures for the season, with (King and Grant) averaging 20 plus. That team had everything a fan could hope for, except a break or two in the NC game that would have sent the trophy to it's rightful place.

People also forget that they weren't even picked to finish higher than third in the Big 8 that season. It was all KU or Mizzou in every magazine that I saw going into that season. And, people of the KU bent also manage to ignore the fact that KU underachieved for most of the regular season that year, then caught fire late.