Ok that is all the trash talking I got. Is it bad that I feel relieved when this team goes on defense this year? I have not seen OU play this year...how do we match up? Should I be confident tonight?
We have the inside game to at least slow down Blake (no one can stop that guy). Foul trouble will be key and we need to stay out of it. I think our permiter guys can slow down Willie Warran as well. Once again, it appears our perimeter play (or lack thereof) will be the difference. Maybe Texas will figure it out before tonight, but I doubt it.
Texas matches up pretty well against OU. 1) the OU guards will have a hard time just setting up a half-court offense against UT's on-ball pressure 2) UT can throw 3-4 quality big bodies against Blake and make him earn his points at the FT line 3) Capel's teams have always struggled to break 60 points against Barnes - OU's inside/outside offense have met a lot of resistance b/c of UT's sticky perimeter defense and clogging down of the post I'll go with 73-67 bad guys.
Mason will be able to get to the rack whenever he wants. AJ will probably have Crocker on him, which will make it difficult to find shots. Damion needs to have a big game, because nobody in white will be able to match up with him. Blake will get his, just don't let Taylor or Warren go off and the 'Horns should be fine. If Austin Johnson gets hot, I'll take OU. Hopefully that won't happen.
1. If Dexter can stay out of foul trouble....We are in for a good night. 2. If Justin decides to attack the basket...We are in for a good night.
Put me down as thinking this will be a low scoring affair with both offenses struggling to score over 70. This is a game that I think our team can excel in one of those back alley brawl type games. We match up pretty well inside and should be able to defend the perimeter. I think the key will be how much foul trouble we get into defending their big boy and how Damian James & Gary Johnson play. I don't expect much from Abrams or from Mason, but if James & Johnson light them up, we win. All that said. It'll be close 68-64 Sooners. Home court advantage and home cooking from refs. Can you imagine how bad this game would have sucked if OU had won in Miami. I would guess they already had plans to honor their football team during the game & there would be plenty of signs and chants to highlight their victory over us in the BCS polls. Thank God for Big Choke Bob living up to his name and reputation. Hook 'em
HH, I did not even think about the football angle. That would have been an additional knife in our hearts if they celebrated a victory at halftime of this game. I ditto the "Thanks to Big Choke Bob" comment.
Ooo...You are right. I also had not thought about that angle. I can imagine ESPN talking all night about it...showing signs...blahblah. Thank goodness!
This is what we absolutely cannot have tonight from our guys: 1) The constant feed to Abrams. We HAVE to start looking down low more and giving the rock to our best players at that time. Like GJ and Dex. They have been putting the ball in the hoop. Thats what we need tonight. 2) Connor hesistating on his outside shot. Once he touches and has the look, he needs to take it. Anytime he waits and thinks about it, it never falls. Either proove me wrong tonight or just shoot the dang ball when you get it! 3) Balbay constantly dishing it when he gets 2 ft from the basket. Defenders know when a guy is afraid to shoot, so they leave him open and double team someone else. Hes got to try and lay it in a couple times after making those great drives. 4) Missing free throws. This will absolutely kill our team in the tourney. Its already killing us in close games during the season. Should we pop in the DVD of last years National Championship game? Memphis lost down the stretch due to FT's. I love this team, and it can go far if we keep getting better. Tonight is going to be a tough game for us. After having a quick turn around teams tend to come out slow. Dex has got to stay out of foul trouble and push to play a couple extra minutes tonight. He can stop Griffin, and from what Ive seen this year.. if you stop Griffin.. you stop Chokelahoma. With that said, lets get out early revenge from the BCS crap and get a W in Norman.
The way our guards shoot on the road, I'm not very confident. The keys are Johnson, Pittman & Atchley. If we can work it into those guys, & force Blake to play defense, we might tire him a little and get out of there with a 1-3 pt. win.
wulaw---I salute your optimism and wish I shared it. I gotta bad feeling about this one, make it swooners by 15. Hope I'm wrong.
Is it me or is Blake Griffin one ugly MOFO? Maybe not Popeye Jones level, but a scary looking guy nonetheless.
my questions... 1. How much will the loss of longar hurt Ou's interior defense? 2. What would be considered a cancel out in the Warren/Mason Match up? 3. How does Ou keep Johnson/Pittman/James off the offensive glass? 4. Both teams seem to have decent perimeter defense so how does that affect the outcome of the game? 5. Who's Ou's interior bench help and how do they match up against our bigs defensively? 6. How will Ou defend Pittman, Johnson, and James on the floor at the same time. 7. Will Warren be able to shake constant pressure from Mason, Balbay, and Ward since they will have 15 fouls to give? 8. How is Griffin's FT shooting this year? At this time last year he was averaging around 60%. Comments: **Atchley showed up on d against isu notching 4 blocks and a steal against brackins... a good forward/center. If he can hit a couple of 3's and get Griffin out while geting some blocks it may be the difference for Texas. ***I've watched the last 4 games during AJ's slump and Abrams is still getting his shot off. A lot of them rimming out so it's not because of d. He averaged 17 ppg against Ou last year and if he can do that again, it's a win for Texas w/ our new weapons in Johnson and Pitt. **I think the true X factors between this year and last are the loss of Augustin & Longar, emergence of Pittman & Warren, Griffin's development of an outside J to draw Texas defenders away from the hoop, & Texas' defensive improvement v Ou's offensive improvement. Texas 64 Ou 58 73
Jesus Christ, I've seen Middle Schools pass better than this team tonight. Looks like they are spooked. Hook'em!!!
