Tilting at Windmills

Wednesday, ponderos. The men’s Big 12 tournament starts on Wednesday, NOT Thursday. They’re starting on Wednesday so the NCAA selection committee won’t have any excuses when they shaft one of the teams on Sunday since they will have chosen their teams already by the time the tournament is usually done.

Thank you, inside voice. Go back to whatever you were doing.

Yes, the 13th Big 12 men’s basketball tournament starts tomorrow at the Ford Center (home of yourrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr OKC Thunder!) in idyllic downtown Oklahoma City. While you’re there, head over to the track if you have a moment. Hitting a quinella at Remington Park is dominance defined.

Personal grooming habits have been an issue with the Thunder's new cheerleader.

As always, the first round games are of interest to fans of teams who couldn’t get the first round bye, and those teams who await them on Thursday (not Friday). The team probably most disappointed to be playing on humpday is Texas, which thought it would be able to rest on Wednesday after beating a Griffin-less OU. That was before laying eggs at Stillwater and Lawrence.

Some interesting facts from Big 12 tournament history:

• Only four teams have won the conference tourney: KU (6), OU (3 straight), OSU (2), and ISU (1).
• The conference’s regular season winner has won the post season tournament 7 times: Kansas (5), OSU (1), Iowa State (1).
• This is the second time the Ford Center has hosted the Big 12 tournament. The last time was 2007 when Kansas won an 88-84 thriller over Kevin Durant and four other Longhorns.
• Kansas is the winningest team in the Big 12 tournament at 25-6. OU is second at 19-9.

2009 Big 12 Tournament Bracket

Here’s a quick, just past the boxscores look at the first round games:

#8 Nebraska (18-11) vs. #9 Baylor (17-13). The Huskers don’t have a player over 6’5” who logs significant minutes, yet they were able to beat much bigger teams like Texas and Mizzou in Lincoln, plus a 20-point face-rape of K-State. Nebraska will play about eleventy-million quick, ankle-biting guards who will harass and bug the shit out of you. That might be enough against Baylor, which after looking like they might be this year’s NCAA Cinderella early in the year, turned into the proverbial pumpkin mid-season. After beating K-State and running their record to 15-3, the Bears went to Norman and got absolutely blasted by the Sooners, beginning a 10 of 12 losing streak. The last of those losses was to Nebraska, in Waco, when all Baylor had to do was hang onto the ball in the last two minutes of the game to win. The Bears need Curtis Jerrells and LaceDarius Dunn to light it up for them to have a chance to win. Nebraska should be able to use its speed and ballhawking (they average 8.4 steals per game) to advance to a Thursday matchup with Kansas.

Sure do like pumpkins, Cotton.

#5 Texas (20-10) vs. #12 Colorado (9-21). The Longhorns got a great draw, despite losing their first round bye. They get to play the worst team in the conference in the first round, then are bracketed with K-State should they win. It wasn’t quite that easy when the Horns played the Buffs last, though. Second team all-conference gift receiver Damion James clanked two free throws at the end of regulation that would have won the game. James made up for it in OT, though, single-handedly outscoring the Buffs to beat them in Boulder. A.J. Abrams was on that night, pouring in 29, but UT had no answer for CU wing Cory Higgins and his 34 points. I don’t know what Barnes is going to do to counter Higgins this time around, but it needs to be something different. Still, I’m thinking Texas will be fine here and should get through to play K-State on Thursday with its front line of Pittman, Johnson and James overpowering the young, small CU post players. Colorado has to hope that Higgins goes ballistic again and Texas starts playing WTF ball like they have at times this season.

#7 Oklahoma State (20-10) vs. #10 Iowa State (15-16). This will be a de-facto home game for the Pokes. Considering this is a school that includes barrel-racing championships as a “we own you” stat, you can pretty much guarantee that there will be copious amounts of deer season-orange littering the Ford. OSU is likely already in the NCAA tournament, but at least one win in the conference tournament would seal the deal. The Cowboys are on a good run right now, winning six out of their last seven. They began that run with a 19-point win over the Cyclones in Stillwater. ISU has a mirror-image streak, losers of 11 out of their last 14. Two players to watch are ISU’s Craig Brackins (20.1 ppg) and OSU’s James Anderson (18.9 ppg), the second and third leading scorers in the conference, respectively. OSU’s supporting cast is much better, though, with three other players scoring in double figures. That coupled with the intangible of OK State playing in front of a home crowd should push them past ISU and into a Thursday Bedlam rematch with Oklahoma.

#6 Texas A&M (23-8) vs. #11 Texas Tech (13-18). The Aggies might be the most underrated team in the conference. They’ve quietly rolled up 23 wins, including their last six straight. A&M has signature wins against Mizzou and Texas, both of those at Reed Arena in College Station. Their big weapon is 6’7” wing Josh Carter, who’s hitting 40% from the three point line. His size makes him a tough cover at the 3, but he sometimes has trouble creating his own shot. A&M swept the season series against Tech, although both were tight, including the Aggies’ 6-point, foul-plagued win in Lubbock. Tech has gone from the team nobody wanted to play in the NCAA not too many years ago to nearly the Big 12 doormat, losing 16 out of its last 19. Raiders’ fans would like to say they’ve seen improvement since East Central Oklahoma dropped 167 points on them back in November, but they really can’t (unless you count not having a buck and a half scored on you again as an improvement). A&M wins this one easy and advances to play Mizzou on Thursday.

It happened.

We knew OU probably would not run the table in conference, although they had a great shot. We, along with the rest of the country, knew that as Blake goes, so goes OU. We knew that UT hadn’t been playing well as of late, but was talented enough to play over their heads and if they got the right breaks, could upset these Sooners in Austin.

Done, done and done.

The summary

The unthinkable happened last night at the Erwin Center: Blake went down with a concussion after only playing 11 minutes and OU missed out on its chance to be the #1 team in the nation for only the sixth time in school history.

Reports vary as to just how Blake was injured. Some folks think it was Dexter Pittman grazing his big mitt over Blake’s nose (no foul called on the play). The Oklahoman indicates it might have been PG Dogus Balbay slapping Blake around. ESPN highlight video shows and talks about reserve center Clint Chapman throwing an elbow to the back of Blake’s head at about the 5:40 mark of the first half.

However it happened, it happened and the Sooners had to play without its best player in school history for most of the game last night. How did they respond? Like a Top 5 team. They scratched, clawed and gritted their way the rest of the way and it wasn’t until A.J. Abrams decided to go bonkers that the game was finally decided. Hey Crocker, nice sleeves. Guard somebody.

What went well

Willie Warren continued his outstanding freshman season, putting the team on his back by pouring in 27 points, 18 of them coming from long range, and dishing 6 dimes. He showed his heart late in the second half when as he fell to the floor, bothered by a cramp in his calf, he was unable to run to the other end of the floor. He saw Austin Johnson grab a steal, made his way to his feet, called for the ball, got it and drained a three (putting OU up by 5) before falling to the ground again, writhing in pain. It was an extremely masculine move that said a lot not only about Warren, but about the team in that they weren’t going to lie down and take it.

Ryan Wright logged 20 minutes spelling the concussed Griffin and really gave OU a lift off the bench. While Juan Pattillo was struggling, Wright did a solid job on the wide-bodied Pittman, helping limit him to 5 points for the game.

OU’s heart. Playing most of the game and the entire second half on the road in the most hostile of environments without the national player of the year, OU could have easily folded and been blown out. They came together as a team, though, and showed that they’re more than just Superman and a supporting cast. We’re Oklahoma so we don’t believe in moral victories, but damn guys. If I’ve ever been proud of a team in a loss, this was it. Capel summed it up nicely:

“We didn’t have anything to prove to ourselves. We’ve played hard all year. Again, I’ve been saying all year, and our guys know it, that it’s not Blake and the Sooners, it’s Oklahoma. We didn’t prove anything to ourselves. We lost and we’re disappointed.”

You could make an excellent case that Capel outcoached Rick Barnes last night. Instead of continuing to try and counter UT’s bigs down low, Capel went small ball with Austin Johnson, Willie, Crocker, Pattillo and Taylor Griffin on the court at the same time last night. OU got back in the game with that lineup, thanks to Willie being able to get past anything in front of him and finding cutters who were just quicker than UT’s front line.

What went wrong

Tony effing Crocker. 16 points and 7 rebounds aside, I thought we might be in trouble when I saw him on Abrams late in the game. I was exasperated to the point of wanting to run out of the Erwin Center flailing my arms when, not only did he let Abrams get open time and again in the final three minutes, but he totally lost him on UT’s last possession. Even though Abrams missed the shot, Pittman was able to bull his way for an offensive rebound and putback. Had Crocker been able to play a shred of defense, he could have better denied Abrams the ball and OU would have been down only one point with 30 seconds to play. Then to compound the problem, he took the inbounds pass, dribbled the length of the court and threw up a wild three that didn’t even come close to going in. I honestly do not know what Capel sees in this guy.

Juan Pattillo finally had a bad game. Pattillo had a respectable 7 points and 4 boards coming off the bench, but was repeatedly responsible for turnovers, mainly by not being ready to receive easy passes thrown his way. He was outplayed by Wright and just killed OU at times when they really needed a basket to either get back in the game or stave off a UT run.

Officiating. When you start off saying “I’m not gay, but,” that’s usually an indicator of gay. I don’t like putting things on refs because there are so many other times in a close game when the losing team should have just taken care of business and didn’t. However, we know for a fact that Blake was clubbed out of the game. We also know that there weren’t any calls on any of the aforementioned clubbing. Bottom line, though, OU should have gotten stops when they had the chance, period.

OU let Balbay get into the lane over and over. Like I pointed out in the preview, he was the overlooked guy for the Horns that I thought could make a difference. He took advantage of Blake being out by repeatedly driving to the hoop and either finishing at the rim, or more times than not, dropping it off to somebody like Damion James for an easy two. Balbay finished with 10 points, 9 assists and 8 rebounds. When your point guard is filling up a stat sheet like that, you’re going to win a lot of games.

What’s next

Oh crap, it’s Kansas tomorrow on Big Monday. Too bad OU doesn’t have the week of rest that it had last week. Blake had an MRI today that was negative, but his status is still uncertain for tomorrow night’s game in Norman. If he doesn’t play, Wright probably starts in his place and OU will have to go to the formula they used against Texas and ride Willie if they’re going to maintain first place in the Big 12.

Gridlocked traffic. Tex-Mex. Barton Springs. Pink granite. Live Music Capital of the World. BBQ. Burnt-orange clad douchebags. Matthew McConaughey.

OU travels 5.5 hours down I-35 to meet up with their BFFs in Austin tonight. This isn’t an ordinary rivalry where everybody shakes hands and has beers together afterwards. No, each fanbase probably wishes a meteor would strike the other school’s campus. Sorry Sooner fans, it was close last week. Try again.

Some tips for those coming down or up or over for the game tonight (wherever you happen to live … the Sooner Nation is omnipresent): park in the state lot at 15th (Enfield) and Trinity. That will put you within a couple blocks of the Erwin Center and right next to Scholz Beer Garten, a favorite pre-game watering hole. OK, for those of you who already knew that, some out of the way places you might want to try close by are Nuevo Leon (best margarita in Austin) on east Sixth and the Crown & Anchor (pool tables, darts, pub grub and a shit ton of beers), just north of campus where San Jacinto meets Speedway.

Good criminey, that's some tasty goodness.

Another crew coming to Austin is ESPN College Gameday. They’re here to watch the 25-1, #2-ranked Sooners who, should they get by Texas as expected, will be the number one team in the nation next week. At 17-8, unranked and losers of four out of their last six (two in Austin), Texas is grateful just to be in the national discussion today.

The Texas fans and media homers seem to get it somewhat, others not so much. Local sports radio personality and longtime Dallas Morning News columnist Chip Brown said this week that UT would keep it close or be tied with a minute and a half to go, “then who knows.” A caller immediately thereafter said that Texas would win it on a 35-foot buzzer beater by Abrams. What this tells me is, based on this scientifically accurate data sample, UT fans are basically saying they’ll win if prayers are answered.

Thou shalt not get blown out by A&M.

The guys at Barking Carnival at least have somewhat of a clue what’s about to hit them: Blake Griffin. Tech really didn’t do us any favors by showing the devastation that can happen when you leave Blake single-covered, and the BC guys astutely picked up on that. Where they missed the mark is by thinking Blake’s a black hole once he gets the ball in the post. I hope Rick Barnes thinks that, too, but I’m pretty sure he’s seen film of Blake dishing to a cutting Taylor or Willie or Juan Pattillo (pick one) for an easy layup or dunk many times.

Last time these two teams met in Norman was hella-fun, if you’re a Sooner. OU was up by 9 at the half and it really didn’t feel that close as the Sooners eventually won by 15, led by Blake’s 20 and 10. Damion James, UT’s asshat forward who decommitted from OU as soon as he figured out Capel wouldn’t grease his pockets like Sampson would, rode the bench most of the game in foul trouble. A.J. Abrams, UT’s best offensive weapon, was just 3-15 from downtown and was really never a factor.

James' password wasn't that hard to crack.

For their part, OU had four players in double figures, including Tony Crocker’s once-a-month good game. OU could probably handle Texas tonight without hitting on all cylinders, but it would be nice to blow them out of their own gym and watch a line of orange leave the HumDrum midway through the second half.

Since that game in Norman, Texas is 5-4, which includes a home loss to Nebraska and getting their asses handed to them by A&M. Oklahoma is, of course, a perfect 9-0 over that same stretch with four of the wins coming on the road and five wins by double-digits. Sounds like a recipe for an old-fashioned woodshedding, doesn’t it?

Definitely, but that brings up the only fear: that UT will play over its head and get the win it desperately needs to impress the tournament selection committee. The Whorns would also like nothing better than to deny OU its first number one ranking since March 13, 1990.

We know UT’s weapons: Abrams and James, not necessarily in that order. Abrams has allowed himself to be taken out of games as of late and a couple of things happen when he does: he forces bad shots and the rest of the team seems a little lost. Austin Johnson did a great job shutting him down early in the Norman game, contributing to OU’s fast start. It also helped that James was in foul trouble pretty much from the get-go, played just 20 minutes before fouling out and didn’t look all that great during the time he was in. Barnes was so fed up with James’ frustration that he benched him in favor of Dexter Pittman’s manboobs and reserve Gary Johnson, even in situations where it would have been appropriate (given his foul situation) to play him.

UT will try to guard Blake with a frontline of Connor Atchley, Pittman and Johnson. Atchley’s a 6’10” stiff who will get abused if Blake gets him on his hip, 1-on-1. Johnson is a nice post in the Ryan Wright mold, but think about Wright trying to keep Blake from rolling to the basket.

Count it.

Pittman is UT’s best post defense against Blake. He’s big and could push The Beast around a bit, but honestly that’s about it. Pittman hasn’t started every game for the Horns and Barnes will have a dilemma here: does he start Pittman knowing that’s the best way of slowing down Blake, or does he go ahead and tell him to skip the pre-game nachos run and get in immediately, knowing that he could easily get into foul trouble early, like James did in Norman. Another problem Barnes will have here is Pittman wearing out his gelatinous body trying to keep Blake from dropping 40, and not being able to do anything on the offensive end. Today’s game preview in the Austin American-Statesman indicates Pittman will take a seat in a very large chair to start the game. That same story quotes Pittman, who needed an oxygen tank and defibrillator after spending 21 minutes on his feet in Norman, as saying yeah, Blake wore his big ass out so much that he couldn’t keep up on the offensive end (Big Dex rained 6 points on 2-7 shooting that day):

“I was caught up more on the defensive end trying to stop Blake Griffin from scoring and rebounding. I forgot about the offensive part of it.”

The guy who concerns me is 6’0” Turkish guard Dogus Balbay. A veteran of Euro-style basketball, Balbay is an excellent pass-first point guard. He can duct tape dimes to his person and distribute them freely without fear of being molested by a sadistic Sağmalcılar narc. His strength is getting others involved, which he did in Norman, handing out six assists. Problem is, UT has to have people who can knock down what he’s giving them and that’s been a big problem for them over the past three weeks. The knock on Balbay is that he can’t shoot. He’s a pedestrian 43% shooter from the field, but is an absolutely horrendous 34% from the FT line. Teams have been known to back off of him when he has the ball, knowing he’s Doug Gottlieb with his shorts adjusted properly. So, there’s an easy solution to guarding Balbay here: put Crocker on him. It’s not like you have to worry about contesting his shot or letting him get the first step, then fouling him in an effort to catch up.

Finally, back to magaritas, beer and Mexican food: Pittman just calls that “pregame.” So, while he’s ordering the #9 heart attack on a plate platter and a frozen swirl (no salt), fans should be piling into the EC, ready to see a long-anticipated game that we thought earlier in the year would actually mean something. Well, it might not have much bearing in the overall Big 12 scheme of things (don’t tell that to Kansas and Mizzou), but it sure means a lot to us as fans. Since I live about 10 minutes from downtown Austin, I’m pretty much obligated to go. I love living here for the weather, the music, the nightlife and for the love of god, Tex-Mex is an actual food group. The best times here, though, are when the Longhorn faithful are whining once again that OU has somehow screwed them out of something. On Monday, I fully expect the entire Sooner Nation to hold up an index finger with their right hand, a middle finger with their left and proclaim the University of Oklahoma Sooners the number one team in the nation for the first time in 18 years … at the expense of the Texas Longhorns.

It really doesn’t get much better than that.