Hey Soonerfan and other random thoughts

[War Wagon]

I know you have to be feeling froggy. 23-1, #2 ranking, undefeated in the conference, most likely a National Player of the Year candidate in Griffin (and he is all that).

But wtf? You could only manage to get past CU at home by five points? That's a team Mizzou beat by 45. What's up with that... are you just playing down to the competition?

I know there's lotsa' ball to be played yet, but after Big Monday tomorrow against the despised beakers, I'm really looking forward to March 4th when OU travels to Columbia. Should be epic. I think Coach Anderson has something waiting that you won't like some, much.

On the subject of Mike Anderson: Ya' know, I was never really all that impressed to begin with, but I am now. He's instilled a discipline in that team I haven't seen since Norm's hey-day. They play hard but they also play smart and under control at pretty much all times. If any player gets out of line, he's yanking him from the game and getting in his face. Rarely is the behavior repeated. They all know that bench goes 10-11 deep, and they can be replaced.

Those road losses to Nebraska and K-State aren't looking near so bad now, and we get both of them back home for what I'm sure will be more than a large dose of payback.

[SunCoastSooner]

I know you have to be feeling froggy. 23-1, #2 ranking, undefeated in the conference, most likely a National Player of the Year candidate in Griffin (and he is all that).

But wtf? You could only manage to get past CU at home by five points? That's a team Mizzou beat by 45. What's up with that... are you just playing down to the competition?

I know there's lotsa' ball to be played yet, but after Big Monday tomorrow against the despised beakers, I'm really looking forward to March 4th when OU travels to Columbia. Should be epic. I think Coach Anderson has something waiting that you won't like some, much.

On the subject of Mike Anderson: Ya' know, I was never really all that impressed to begin with, but I am now. He's instilled a discipline in that team I haven't seen since Norm's hey-day. They play hard but they also play smart and under control at pretty much all times. If any player gets out of line, he's yanking him from the game and getting in his face. Rarely is the behavior repeated. They all know that bench goes 10-11 deep, and they can be replaced.

Those road losses to Nebraska and K-State aren't looking near so bad now, and we get both of them back home for what I'm sure will be more than a large dose of payback.

Oklahoma was up double digits with less than 150 seconds left to play and got a little complacent while allowing CU to pull within single digits. Also didn't get to the line as much as usual.

[King Crimson]

wasn't a great effort by OU. I've seen CU play 4-5 times this year and Saturday was *by far* the closest they've come to playing 40 minutes of solid basketball in the way Bzdelik wants them too. OU was pretty lazy on D in stretches.

OU's ballhandling has been suspect towards the end of games and MU's pressure should be a tough match-up in that regard. Though, MU may be the only team in the league who's worse from the foul line than OU.

OU's four game stretch @MU, KU, @Tech, @UT...Sooners control their own fate to determine the league championship.

[the_ouskull]

OU's ball handling IS suspect, period.

We've been playing down to the level of our competition lately, and believe me, there's a mess of talk over on Soonerfans about it. I started a lot of it.

It's driving me freaking crazy that a team with two killers like Blake and Willie can't put their neck on a team's throat for 40! I honestly think that, when we bow out, it will be to a team that catches us from behind late, and we try to turn it on, only to find out that trick only works against sh*tty teams...

the_ouskull

[PrimeX]

undefeated in the conference

No mas. Lovely.

[War Wagon]

Sooners control their own fate to determine the league championship.

Not so much.

Mizzou controls their destiny.

Some big games left to be played.

[King Crimson]

good to see front-running Mizzou fan back on the beat. bitch and moan about ____________ for a couple years, and then run smack at the first sign of success. It's the Big XII football conference championship all over again.

a. Gary Pinkel
b. Mike Anderson
c. Both A and B.

[War Wagon]

Is Griffin a candy ass or what? That slight contact made him look like he had just gone 10 rounds with a young Tyson.

Anyways, still a helluva' game. Thanks Tejas and Abrams for making the last two weeks of the conference season compelling... I didn't think they had a chance, but I also didn't think Griffin had a glass jaw. If he's not 100% Monday, Kansas is going to roll. Hell, even if he is 100%, KU may still win. If I'm Bill Self, I'm telling Aldridge to "accidentally" smack him on the snout and see if he folds like a lawn chair.

Right now I see the XII getting 4, maybe 5 teams in the Dance with K-State being on the bubble. They travel to Columbia Wednesday night and payback is going to be a bitch.

[War Wagon]

good to see front-running Mizzou fan back on the beat.

It's good to be back.

[MgoBlue-LightSpecial]

Candy ass? A concussion is a concussion. He wanted back in the game, but the team doc said no way.

I was rooting for OU. I just fuggin' hate Texas hoops for some reason. OU's PG, Johnson, is fun to watch.

[War Wagon]

I didn't see the elbow to the temple. That would be more understandable. Was it inadvertant?

All the news reports just showed a glancing, open handed swipe at his nose, which apparently caused it to bleed, and that's supposedly what caused the concussion.

[Degenerate]

If he's not 100% Monday, Kansas is going to roll. Hell, even if he is 100%, KU may still win. If I'm Bill Self, I'm telling Aldridge to "accidentally" smack him on the snout and see if he folds like a lawn chair.

KU barely won in Norman two years ago - ruined OU's senior night IIRC. They lost their last two trips before that, including the '02-'03 team that played Syracuse for the title. And all those teams were better than the squad KU is running out there now, even though the conference record is mighty nice considering the inexperience. A win would be gravy, but I'm not seeing it.

Griffin being out for this one blows, not to mention that this is yet another shitty byproduct of the Big XII. One game a year vs. OU, one game every two years at Noble. I hate that shit. In "the good old days" we'd have seen how KU was able to stack up against OU with their big gun, maybe even develop a little bad blood for the rematch.

[King Crimson]

agree about the home-homes in the Big XII, the other thing is how many minutes did B. Griffin play against KU last year? wasn't many....not that it would have mattered KU was by far the superior team and at AFH...kind of a drag the kid will likely never play against KU in his 2 year career at OU minus a rematch in the conference tournament this year.

[Degenerate]

He was done right away. I think he left the game before the first TV timeout, even.

[SunCoastSooner]

He was done right away. I think he left the game before the first TV timeout, even.

He tried to come back in for less than a minute at about the 8 minute mark of the first half but he couldn't get up and down the court.

[War Wagon]

If he's not 100% Monday, Kansas is going to roll. Hell, even if he is 100%, KU may still win. If I'm Bill Self, I'm telling Aldridge to "accidentally" smack him on the snout and see if he folds like a lawn chair.

KU barely won in Norman two years ago - ruined OU's senior night IIRC. They lost their last two trips before that, including the '02-'03 team that played Syracuse for the title. And all those teams were better than the squad KU is running out there now, even though the conference record is mighty nice considering the inexperience. A win would be gravy, but I'm not seeing it.

Wtf are you rolling your eyes about? A Mizzoufan gives the beakers some props, but you won't have any of it, eh?

You're selling your team short. They've got some very athletic and savvy players. Screw the inexperience. At this point of the season, they've got plenty of it. Mizzou was damn lucky to beat them in Columbia, and w/o Griffin, OU will also be very lucky to get over.

I'm very impressed with Morningstar and Reed. White boys can flat out play.

[the_ouskull]

OU's PG, Johnson, is fun to watch.

Spoken like a true not-a-fan. He gives me Mort Goldman-sized boils on my ass.

the_ouskull

[MgoBlue-LightSpecial]

Ha. The same can be said about half of my team's players. When you're a fan, you scrutinize much more.

[War Wagon]

One of the most enjoyable CBB games I've ever had the pleasure of watching.

Big Monday in the Big XII certainly didn't disappoint this Feb. 23rd, 2009.

That said and as always, fuck Kansas.

[King Crimson]

One of the most enjoyable CBB games I've ever had the pleasure of watching.

the first 10 minutes and the last 10 minutes were pretty entertaining....the middle 20 made we want to swallow broken glass.

not sure whether it's encouraging or not that OU's best guard play (minus Warren) was from two guys who were probably averaging about 6 minutes between the two of them since Christmas. as with UT, I look forward to a possible rematch and OU being healthy.

hat's off to Collins and Self, they hung on when it looked bad early and got the W on the road.

[King Crimson]

apparently, Jon Sunvold has been lobbying on air for the Big XII to go to a 22 game conference schedule--home and homes across the board.

some people seem to like Fraschilla but i don't think he could hold Sunvold's jock as an analyst--and I think Jon is right. 22 is a lot, but look at Colorado's OOC and tell me anything good or interesting is going on there. their marquee OOC game was a trip to Stanford and 2nd to that...maybe CSU. they only played to road games in a 14 game OOC (the other a roadie at SMU, and backed out of a return trip they owed Tulsa from last year). 12 cupcakes. i'd say 22 conference games if you gives you home-homes and a "true" champion by dumping the unbalanced divisional play is a better deal than that.

too bad we're stuck with Fran....but, that's ESPN fer ya. and to free associate for a moment, one thing that bugs me about Fran is he's ALWAYS on the sides of the officials. there are very few bad calls in Fran-land. the refs always have a master plan. that's OK, but the officials will make a few questionable calls out of the half and then some cheesebag nickle-dime make-up calls and Fran will *inevitably* say: "I really like what the officials are doing here, not letting play get out of hand and telling the players how the rest of the game will be called". all those words are pretty to say and hear, but what usually happens is the last 5 minutes of that self-same game will be officiated entirely differently than the rest of the game. everybody gets to bang inside until there's no such thing as a foul (OU-Texas) or both teams spend the last 7 minutes in the double-bonus (OU-KU) and completely stop running their O since it's all about getting to the line or the other team backing off in the paint. or: for OU-KU, shooting the NBA 3 or dribble penetration to get to the line....and nothing in-between

[War Wagon]

I dunno' KC, 22 conference games is a lot. I think I'd rather see them go with the football format with North and South divisions, then the respective winners of each division square off for the CCG.

Of course, that'll never happen, as the Conference tourney is too big of a cash cow to abandon.

Definitely agree on Franschilla not being able to carry Sundvold's jock as an analyst. Hell, he couldn't carry Paul Splittorfs jock. Have you ever heard him? Split does Royals games and used to do Tiger games. Fucking nails. Both suffer no fools.

[King Crimson]

22 is a lot, sure. i'm mos def not for strictly divisional play and neither would you be if that meant your team was in the Texas schools division. if we have to completely chuck Big 8 history, let's do something more inventive than the SWC+OU and OSU. playing 80% of your road games against Texas teams in Texas is not exactly a recipe for happiness for an OU (or OSU) fan. let's say there was a legit major conference team called Kansas Tech and Wichita State was legit and in the imaginary northern division (with K State, too) that also included a legit in-state rival. would Missouri fan enjoy playing 80% of conference road games in the state of Kansas (where you are loved and respected as much as Oklahoma in Texas)?

we get Spilt on the Big XII games. he pretty good. nice career moves for him.....MLB pitcher to college basketball analyst. tough life.

[War Wagon]

we get Spilt on the Big XII games. he pretty good. nice career moves for him.....MLB pitcher to college basketball analyst. tough life.

Splitts wife works for my company as the human resources/payroll administrator. Don't know about him, but she's a big KU fan. Their daughter went to KU. I met him once 7-8 years ago at the Christmas party... back when we still had Xmas parties. Very cool dude.

[War Wagon]

Thanks for stealing my thunder Froz.

After that beatdown in Lawrence, my heart wasn't really in it.

Yippee... barring an upset, we'll play OU again in OKC for a tuneup.

Still, 2nd place in the conference does not suck when it comes to seeding, regardless of what happens in the tourney.

[King Crimson]

good night for Tiger fan. big win at home, and looks like Tech is going to close out KU.

[indyfrisco]

Heh. You know what it looks like we may wind up with here?

A three-way tie atop the Big 12.

Well hell then. Sounds like we should give OU the tiebreaker for the conference championship since they lost to both KU and Mizzou.

Sin,
Harv Corleone

[indyfrisco]

Oh...and chalk up one more loss for Misery. A&M will take them down Saturday in College Station.

[King Crimson]

Heh. You know what it looks like we may wind up with here?

A three-way tie atop the Big 12.

Well hell then. Sounds like we should give OU the tiebreaker for the conference championship since they lost to both KU and Mizzou.

Sin,
Harv Corleone

haha.

ATM-Mizzou will be an interesting clash of styles.

[indyfrisco]

Oh...and chalk up one more loss for Misery. A&M will take them down Saturday in College Station.

[War Wagon]

Mizzou barely even showed up in the 1st half and everything ATM threw up went in. At least they put up a fight in the 2nd half and made a respectable game of it. They were down by 26 at one point and clawed back with-in 6 before running out of gas and time.

Nice win for the Aggies and probably just punched their ticket.

[indyfrisco]

BtH,

Funny how many "bracketologists" have t.u. as a shoe-in no matter what. They will be tied for 4th with A&M, KSt, and OSU. Wonder what the tiebreaker is for the conference tourney first round bye?

[indyfrisco]

Mizzou barely even showed up in the 1st half and everything ATM threw up went in. At least they put up a fight in the 2nd half and made a respectable game of it. They were down by 26 at one point and clawed back with-in 6 before running out of gas and time.

Nice win for the Aggies and probably just punched their ticket.

Nice take and I agree with it. Surprised. Figured you be bitching about the refs or something.

What hurt A&M was they tried to kill clock in the 2nd half as opposed to keeping up the tempo. A&M was killing that press to the point you quit pressing. Then we went "prevent" and it allowed you to get back in the game. Glad we hit our free throws down the stretch to clinch it.

Ag fans have known all season long we had a rough schedule to begin the XII play. Unfortunately, we lost a couple we should have won. Hell we had been dominating OU in our last game against them. We just fell apart. A&M can make a run, but the stars have to align.

I bought a Vegas ticket before the season. $20 for A&M to win the tourney. 125-1 odds. Yeah, unlikely but one can dream.

[War Wagon]

Texas lost to K-State.

[King Crimson]

Texas lost to K-State.

yup, the Big XII site has KSU in the 4 hole.

[indyfrisco]

Looks like A&M and Mizzou may get a rematch should A&M beat taco tceh in the first round of the XII tourney.