I wonder if the Horns will be ranked ahead of the Sooners now? Or if they will howl when they continue to be ranked below the Sooners?
Don't know why the Sooners keep having major injuries to key players while playing UT.
Blake Griffin's status is considered "uncertain". If you sustain a concussion on Saturday night, you have no business playing hoops on Monday night.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
Is Obama the New Blake?
Upon his hire at the University of Oklahoma, John Blake was a youthful, energetic African-American pioneer, the first African American head coach at Oklahoma. Many hailed his hiring as the right man for the job to turn around a great organization that had recently fallen upon hard times. A quote in this 1996 article says, “We can’t go down any further” If only he had been correct.
Hindsight tells us that while Blake was a masterful recruiter and that players liked him, he was ill suited for the job as a head coach and the end result was not desirable. After the 0-4 start of 1996, the fans turned on him. Sound familiar?
Sure, Obama’s skinnier, and the MSM are behind him 100%, and he has better command of the English language, but it remains to be seen if Obama is any good at being a President.
I know my 401(k) is now a 0.401(k), and I know the “change” that has come so far is that government just got a whole lot bigger. Will Obama turn things around? I dunno. I know that if you’re going to turn it around, you have to make sure you stop at 180 degrees and not do a 360.
For the sake of our country, I'm rooting for Obama to be a better President than Blake was a head coach. But me cheering on Blake didn't help any in 1996-98.
Hindsight tells us that while Blake was a masterful recruiter and that players liked him, he was ill suited for the job as a head coach and the end result was not desirable. After the 0-4 start of 1996, the fans turned on him. Sound familiar?
Sure, Obama’s skinnier, and the MSM are behind him 100%, and he has better command of the English language, but it remains to be seen if Obama is any good at being a President.
I know my 401(k) is now a 0.401(k), and I know the “change” that has come so far is that government just got a whole lot bigger. Will Obama turn things around? I dunno. I know that if you’re going to turn it around, you have to make sure you stop at 180 degrees and not do a 360.
For the sake of our country, I'm rooting for Obama to be a better President than Blake was a head coach. But me cheering on Blake didn't help any in 1996-98.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Coppell Disrespects Alumni
I'm a normal reader of Matt Hinton's Dr Saturday blog over at Yahoo! Sports. This week he had a post covering the McCoy and Shipely kids, and a link to a Coppell alumni site that listed players who have played or are playing D1 college football. The list excludes Hunter Wall, who even scored a TD for the Sooners on a marvelous fake punt, and Brian Hodges, who walked on the team in 2001. The list also details Spencer Covey, who is not listed on the most excellent site, soonerstats.com.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Stolen Thoughts 02-14-09
Baylor is recruiting athletes with weed - I mean speed - to burn
Texas Tech and Texas will play Sat night on Sep 19. This game will be in the middle of a murderer's row of games for the Horns, Louisiana-Monroe, then Wyoming (on the road!), then the Dust Pirates, and they close out the month with the UTEP Miners in Austin. Texas had done a good job of avoiding a repeat of last year's Oklahoma-Missouri-Oklahoma State-Texas Tech gauntlet. Looks like they flipped Central Florida and Texas Tech. This is taking a tip from the SEC, where most teams sneak in a Sun Belt or Southern conference foe in the middle of the conference grind.
According to some, Matt Simms, younger bro of Longhorn alum Chris Simms, is eyeing Oklahoma after a stint at juco this fall.
Texas Tech and Texas will play Sat night on Sep 19. This game will be in the middle of a murderer's row of games for the Horns, Louisiana-Monroe, then Wyoming (on the road!), then the Dust Pirates, and they close out the month with the UTEP Miners in Austin. Texas had done a good job of avoiding a repeat of last year's Oklahoma-Missouri-Oklahoma State-Texas Tech gauntlet. Looks like they flipped Central Florida and Texas Tech. This is taking a tip from the SEC, where most teams sneak in a Sun Belt or Southern conference foe in the middle of the conference grind.
According to some, Matt Simms, younger bro of Longhorn alum Chris Simms, is eyeing Oklahoma after a stint at juco this fall.
Leach and Texas Tech
Today we read even more about the negotiations between the Great Pirate and Texas Tech. TT Chancellor Kent Hance and AD Gerald Myers seems to really be botching this one, in my opinion. On one side, you have Leach, who seems to be a candidate for every BCS conference vacancy out there, and doesn't denounce the rumors. On the other hand, Myers is 67 years old and by accounts I've heard has an absolutely horrible relationship with Leach. So, the Tech administration has to decide, do you want to create an environment where the coach with the highest winning percentage in school history wants to stay? Or do you want to put contract language in place that exists in few, if any, football coaches contracts.
This thing is getting caustic, and public, and I do believe if it's not solved shortly it will harm Texas Tech football. While I don't like getting beat in Lubbock every other year, I don't want them being a novelty in the Big 12 south either.
Let's look at the TT coaches since WW2 with a over 60% career winning percentage.
- David McWilliams (1986) - parlayed a 7-4 record in one season into a gig at Texas.
- Steve Sloan (1975-7) - went 6-5, 10-2 and 7-5 and bailed out to Ole Miss.
- Jim Carlen (1970-4) - went 37-20-2 and ran off to South Carolina.
Leach has actually stayed 9 years. Even if it appears it's only because no one's made him an offer, he hasn't gone anywhere. Do something to make him want to stay.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Head Visor at Duke UNC
Top 5 Reasons Coach Stoops was at the UNC-Duke game last night.
- Carol had a Mary Kay event in Durham
- Taking some time off after a hard day of negotiations in Charlotte to bail out Bank of America.
- Moonlighting for extra money as an advance scout for Coach Capel.
- Attending a Coaching clinic run by John Blake in nearby Chapel Hill.
- Running from the federales, who are on to the drug ring he and Ben Bowling started.
I ran out of steam at 5, so if you have some to add, put 'em in the comments.
Monday, February 9, 2009
88 vs 09
The Sooners are having a historic hoops season, and I thought I’d spend some of my time I should be doing something else by breaking down this team versus the team my senior year, the 1988 team that played for the national championship. Contrary to what some people may think, I was not around for the 1947 team that lost to Holy Cross in the NCAA finals.
Blake Griffin vs Stacey King – this isn’t even close. Stacey was a #6 draft pick and a three time world champion with the Chicago Bulls. However, those championships had more to do with that Jordan fellow, Horace Grant and Scott Pippen than Mr. King. Stacey just didn’t have the motor that Blake Griffin demonstrates. Griffin has better points per game, better rebounding stats and a higher FG%. In defense, King played against more formidable big men in his days in the Big 8. But Blake wins this head to head by a long shot. Advantage: 2009
Austin Johnson vs Ricky Grace– I’ve enjoyed watching Austin Johnson develop his game over the past four years. However, he doesn’t hold a candle to my Theory of Basketball classmate, Ricky Grace. Ricky averaged 15 points, 4 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals per game in 1987-88. Austin is a averaging 9 points per game, 3 boards, 4 assists per game and 1 steal. Grace was a better three point shooter and had a higher shooting percentage overall. Advantage: 1988
Willie Warren vs Mookie Blaylock – Willie Warren is a phenomenal talent. He’s averaging 15 points per game, shooting 39% from 3 point land, and is shooting 500% overall. He has huge upside, and I’m looking forward to watching him play next year, and hopefully beyond. In a 88-09 matchup, he’d have a definite height advantage (6-4 to 6-0) over the Mook, but that’s about the only advantage he has against my Theory of Basketball classmate, Mookie Blaylock. In that magical 1988 season, The Mook averaged nearly 4 steals per game and had 13 steals in a game against Centenary. Mookie averaged 6 assists a game, 16 points per game and made 39% of his 3 pointers. To opponents he was a defensive nightmare, always picking off errant passes or lax dribbling. Mookie was a #12 pick by the New Jersey Nets and averaged over 10 points per game for 12 years in the NBA. Advantage: 1988
Taylor Griffin vs Harvey Grant – Harvey was skinny, a 6-8, 195 pounder. As an All-American, he averaged 21 points a game and 9.4 rebounds in 1988, and made 55% of his shots. I love Taylor Griffin, but he doesn’t match up well with Harvey, in spite of his 40 pound weight advantage. Taylor makes right at 50% of his shots, but it seems like many of his makes are dunks or layups after fab passes by his brother. He doesn’t have much of an outside shot, but he can jump out of the building. Harvey had a smoother outside stroke, was more gifted athletically, and was quicker. Advantage: 1988
Tony Crocker vs Dave Sieger – Sieger was a 3 point shooter averaging 11 points and 5 rebounds per game. Crocker averages 10 points per game and 3.5 rebounds. Crocker is better at creating his own shot, but Sieger averaged 3.5 assists per game. Advantage: 1988
Juan Patillo vs Andre Wiley –I have to give the nod to Patillo here, who’s quicker and more versatile. The stats don’t’ compare right now, as Patillo just came out of redshirt a couple of weeks ago. However, I have to tell you a story about my Theory of Baseball class I took with Ricky Grace and Andre Wiley. Wiley has a 6-7ish power forward. He could jump and he could dunk. He also could jump and dunk. Other skills, not so much. His jump shot had a sideways rotation. Anyway, the OU pitching coach at the time, I believe it was Stan Meek, was teaching the class. He was talking about pitching, and explaining the rotation of a curve ball, how the spin eventually overcame the forward motion and made the ball curve. At that point, Ricky interrupted, “That sounds like one of Andre’s free throws.” Advantage: 2009
Billy Tubbs vs Jeff Capel: It’s tough to compare Capel to Tubbs. Capel is more of a technician, I believe, while Tubbs was more of a “here’s what we do, try and stop us”. Tubbs teams seem to have more of a killer instinct, as I don’t see the present day Sooners putting many teams away. Advantage: Push
Overall: The 88 team was one of the best in NCAA history. It had three lottery picks on it, played at a frenetic pace and lost the NCAA final to a team it had beaten three times previously. They played in a league that placed three teams in the Elite Eight, the Sooners, the Jayhawks, and the Kansas State Wildcats, led by Mitch Richmond. The bench, albeit lightly used by Tubbs, had lots of athletic talent, including Tony Martin and a pre knee injury Terrence Mullins. The current team plays in a 3 guard lineup and rarely plays in a conventional 2 guard, 2 forwards and a center lineup. Strangely, the Sooners are one of the bigger teams in the Big 12 right now, but would be outsized by the 88 Sooner team. Advantage: 1988
This Sooner team is poised to make a run deep into the tourney, but I don’t see three lottery picks on this edition. But I do see a chance to bring home the first Sooner hoops title in history.
Blake Griffin vs Stacey King – this isn’t even close. Stacey was a #6 draft pick and a three time world champion with the Chicago Bulls. However, those championships had more to do with that Jordan fellow, Horace Grant and Scott Pippen than Mr. King. Stacey just didn’t have the motor that Blake Griffin demonstrates. Griffin has better points per game, better rebounding stats and a higher FG%. In defense, King played against more formidable big men in his days in the Big 8. But Blake wins this head to head by a long shot. Advantage: 2009
Austin Johnson vs Ricky Grace– I’ve enjoyed watching Austin Johnson develop his game over the past four years. However, he doesn’t hold a candle to my Theory of Basketball classmate, Ricky Grace. Ricky averaged 15 points, 4 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals per game in 1987-88. Austin is a averaging 9 points per game, 3 boards, 4 assists per game and 1 steal. Grace was a better three point shooter and had a higher shooting percentage overall. Advantage: 1988
Willie Warren vs Mookie Blaylock – Willie Warren is a phenomenal talent. He’s averaging 15 points per game, shooting 39% from 3 point land, and is shooting 500% overall. He has huge upside, and I’m looking forward to watching him play next year, and hopefully beyond. In a 88-09 matchup, he’d have a definite height advantage (6-4 to 6-0) over the Mook, but that’s about the only advantage he has against my Theory of Basketball classmate, Mookie Blaylock. In that magical 1988 season, The Mook averaged nearly 4 steals per game and had 13 steals in a game against Centenary. Mookie averaged 6 assists a game, 16 points per game and made 39% of his 3 pointers. To opponents he was a defensive nightmare, always picking off errant passes or lax dribbling. Mookie was a #12 pick by the New Jersey Nets and averaged over 10 points per game for 12 years in the NBA. Advantage: 1988
Taylor Griffin vs Harvey Grant – Harvey was skinny, a 6-8, 195 pounder. As an All-American, he averaged 21 points a game and 9.4 rebounds in 1988, and made 55% of his shots. I love Taylor Griffin, but he doesn’t match up well with Harvey, in spite of his 40 pound weight advantage. Taylor makes right at 50% of his shots, but it seems like many of his makes are dunks or layups after fab passes by his brother. He doesn’t have much of an outside shot, but he can jump out of the building. Harvey had a smoother outside stroke, was more gifted athletically, and was quicker. Advantage: 1988
Tony Crocker vs Dave Sieger – Sieger was a 3 point shooter averaging 11 points and 5 rebounds per game. Crocker averages 10 points per game and 3.5 rebounds. Crocker is better at creating his own shot, but Sieger averaged 3.5 assists per game. Advantage: 1988
Juan Patillo vs Andre Wiley –I have to give the nod to Patillo here, who’s quicker and more versatile. The stats don’t’ compare right now, as Patillo just came out of redshirt a couple of weeks ago. However, I have to tell you a story about my Theory of Baseball class I took with Ricky Grace and Andre Wiley. Wiley has a 6-7ish power forward. He could jump and he could dunk. He also could jump and dunk. Other skills, not so much. His jump shot had a sideways rotation. Anyway, the OU pitching coach at the time, I believe it was Stan Meek, was teaching the class. He was talking about pitching, and explaining the rotation of a curve ball, how the spin eventually overcame the forward motion and made the ball curve. At that point, Ricky interrupted, “That sounds like one of Andre’s free throws.” Advantage: 2009
Billy Tubbs vs Jeff Capel: It’s tough to compare Capel to Tubbs. Capel is more of a technician, I believe, while Tubbs was more of a “here’s what we do, try and stop us”. Tubbs teams seem to have more of a killer instinct, as I don’t see the present day Sooners putting many teams away. Advantage: Push
Overall: The 88 team was one of the best in NCAA history. It had three lottery picks on it, played at a frenetic pace and lost the NCAA final to a team it had beaten three times previously. They played in a league that placed three teams in the Elite Eight, the Sooners, the Jayhawks, and the Kansas State Wildcats, led by Mitch Richmond. The bench, albeit lightly used by Tubbs, had lots of athletic talent, including Tony Martin and a pre knee injury Terrence Mullins. The current team plays in a 3 guard lineup and rarely plays in a conventional 2 guard, 2 forwards and a center lineup. Strangely, the Sooners are one of the bigger teams in the Big 12 right now, but would be outsized by the 88 Sooner team. Advantage: 1988
This Sooner team is poised to make a run deep into the tourney, but I don’t see three lottery picks on this edition. But I do see a chance to bring home the first Sooner hoops title in history.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
State Project #30 - Nevada
Teams – 2 (Nevada, UNLV)
Winning percentage – 12-13
Bowl game winning percentage – 0
Teams making bowl games – 1
Conference championships - 0
Ranking points at year-end – 0
Summary – UNLV was much improved this year, and Nevada’s 7-6 record is misleading. They lost two money-maker games to Texas Tech and Mizzou, lost to Maryland by a TD in the Humanitarian Bowl, and lost to Boise State by a TD in a WAC shooutout.
Best team – Nevada (7-6)
Worst team – UNLV (5-7)
Highlight of the year – Nevada’s victory over WAC rival Fresno State in Fresno ranks highly, as does UNLV’s overtime win over 15th ranked Arizona State.
Lowlight of the year – Nevada’s 45-48 home loss to doormat New Mexico State is puzzling. I guess they got caught looking ahead to Utah State. UNLV’s loss to San Diego State appears to have been a feeble attempt to keep Chuck Long coaching in the MWC.
Winning percentage – 12-13
Bowl game winning percentage – 0
Teams making bowl games – 1
Conference championships - 0
Ranking points at year-end – 0
Summary – UNLV was much improved this year, and Nevada’s 7-6 record is misleading. They lost two money-maker games to Texas Tech and Mizzou, lost to Maryland by a TD in the Humanitarian Bowl, and lost to Boise State by a TD in a WAC shooutout.
Best team – Nevada (7-6)
Worst team – UNLV (5-7)
Highlight of the year – Nevada’s victory over WAC rival Fresno State in Fresno ranks highly, as does UNLV’s overtime win over 15th ranked Arizona State.
Lowlight of the year – Nevada’s 45-48 home loss to doormat New Mexico State is puzzling. I guess they got caught looking ahead to Utah State. UNLV’s loss to San Diego State appears to have been a feeble attempt to keep Chuck Long coaching in the MWC.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
John Blake Coaching Tree Thrives
Justin Fuente was promoted to co-offensive coordinator yesterday at Texas Christian. Fuente was initially concerned he would have to share play calling duties with Jarrod Reese, Patrick Fletcher and Eric Moore, but was relieved to find out he would be working with Jarrett Anderson.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
State Project #31 - Arkansas
Teams – 2
Winning percentage – 46% (11-13)
Bowl game winning percentage – 0%
Teams making bowl games – 0%
Conference championships - 0
Ranking points at year-end – 0
Summary – the Hogs started the Bobby Petrino era horribly, nearly losing to Louisiana-Monroe and the Western Illinois Leathernecks. They figured things out by the end of the year, beating a previously undefeated Tulsa team and upsetting LSU. Their last four losses were by a combined 19 points. Considering the coaching transition and losing three running backs to the NFL, the Razorbacks did okay this year. Arkansas State started off fast, upsetting Cash Machine U to start the season, and beating Texas Southern 83-10 the following week. However, the Indians were unable to navigate through the SunBelt conference with a winning record intact.
Best team – Arkansas (5-7)
Worst team – Arkansas State (6-6)
Highlight of the year – the Arkansas State victory over Texas A&M was the crowning W for the Indians this year. Hog fans argue the two Dick victory over LSU was the apex of an otherwise dreadful season.
Lowlight of the year – There are a few to choose from for Hog fans…coming from 10 points down in the fourth quarter to beat Western Illinois…losing to Houston Nutt. Most important was Michigan transfer Ryan Mallett's loss to the NCAA in petitioning to not sit out a year before playing.
Winning percentage – 46% (11-13)
Bowl game winning percentage – 0%
Teams making bowl games – 0%
Conference championships - 0
Ranking points at year-end – 0
Summary – the Hogs started the Bobby Petrino era horribly, nearly losing to Louisiana-Monroe and the Western Illinois Leathernecks. They figured things out by the end of the year, beating a previously undefeated Tulsa team and upsetting LSU. Their last four losses were by a combined 19 points. Considering the coaching transition and losing three running backs to the NFL, the Razorbacks did okay this year. Arkansas State started off fast, upsetting Cash Machine U to start the season, and beating Texas Southern 83-10 the following week. However, the Indians were unable to navigate through the SunBelt conference with a winning record intact.
Best team – Arkansas (5-7)
Worst team – Arkansas State (6-6)
Highlight of the year – the Arkansas State victory over Texas A&M was the crowning W for the Indians this year. Hog fans argue the two Dick victory over LSU was the apex of an otherwise dreadful season.
Lowlight of the year – There are a few to choose from for Hog fans…coming from 10 points down in the fourth quarter to beat Western Illinois…losing to Houston Nutt. Most important was Michigan transfer Ryan Mallett's loss to the NCAA in petitioning to not sit out a year before playing.
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