JimBob
02-25-2008, 07:16 AM
Give Sutton credit for turnaround
By JOHN KLEIN Senior Sports Columnist
2/25/2008
SEAN SUTTON had a lot to prove when he followed his father as coach at Oklahoma State.
He has certainly done more than enough to earn another season and another chance to prove he's the right guy to follow his legendary father.
It is time that Oklahoma State get rid of the rumors and give Sutton a legitimate chance to become a successful coach at his alma mater.
Sutton is making it difficult, and virtually impossible, for those hoping he'll be out at the end of this season.
Even OSU super booster Boone Pickens, who was courtside for the stunning upset of Kansas on Saturday, visited the locker room after the game to join in the celebration.
In just his second season as a head coach, Sutton is showing a resilience and determination that should hearten those who wish him well.
"He's really done a great job," said Kansas coach Bill Self, the OSU alum often rumored to be the guy that some at State covet.
OSU needs to end the speculation and give Sutton a fair chance to recruit and coach at a school he has devoted much of his life to as a player, assistant coach and now head coach.
Sutton's Cowboys continued a late-season surge that has turned them into one of the Big 12 Conference's best teams down the stretch of what had been a largely disappointing season.
OSU got its best victory of Sutton's short tenure as coach when the Cowboys tripped fourth-ranked Kansas, 61-60, on Saturday at Gallagher-Iba Arena.
This was no fluke.
Byron Eaton has become perhaps the best guard in a league full of tremendous guards. He has scored 25, 17 and 26 points in the last three games.
As Eaton has taken off, so have the Cowboys.
He's heard all the rumors about his coach.
"I'm going to fight for my coach," said Eaton.
"I let that stuff go in one ear and out the other," said OSU's Obi Muonelo.
The speculation could have easily distracted this team, but Sutton didn't let it.
As he has said many times this year, he has remained upbeat and positive with his team.
He knew there wasn't much difference between the Cowboys and the top teams in the Big 12.
Remember all of those close losses to start the Big 12 season?
Those losses are a distant memory because Sutton has kept working and kept believing that Oklahoma State has the players and coaches to win in the Big 12.
"We've grown up," said Sutton. "We've have been learning how to win those close games. We couldn't find a way to win all of those close games earlier this year. We've learned how to win those."
Sutton knew how to beat Kansas, a team he figures may win the national title.
He had to slow the game down, frustrate the Jayhawks who like to get out on breaks and play the kind of defense his father and Mr. Henry Iba made famous in Stillwater.
"I felt coming into this game that Kansas was as good as anyone in the country and they can win the national championship," said Sutton. "I also felt we could beat them."
Just when it seemed the season was a loss, and Sutton was halfway out the door, the Cowboys are coming back to life.
They've won four of their last five. They've beaten two teams ranked in the top 16 in the nation, including one on the road.
It ain't over 'til it's over.
OSU has four games left on the schedule. The Cowboys play Nebraska and Oklahoma at home in Gallagher-Iba, a place that had gone strangely quiet for much of this season.
"Their crowd was great," said Self.
OSU has two road games left -- at Missouri and Texas.
It's no stretch to believe OSU has a decent chance to win three of the last four.
Much of the credit should go to Sutton. As Self pointed out, when a team starts to slump in midseason, it's easy to start a slide that you can't stop.
Despite repeated close calls that kept going in the loss column, Sutton wouldn't let OSU slide even further down.
He kept quiet and kept working. He's turned the Cowboys into a team that not many folks in the Big 12 may want to face in the next several weeks.
He has also cleaned up what was a messy end to his father's career in Stillwater after Eddie Sutton's drunken-driving incident.
In his first full season, Sean Sutton won 22 games and had the Cowboys as high as No. 10 in the polls. But this season was largely a disaster until recent weeks.
Two years is far too short to evaluate any coach in any situation. Talk about his future as head coach was premature.
Sutton's situation was further complicated by the way he got the job. He was promised the job, with no head coaching experience, while his father was still the head coach.
The pressure was on him long before he called his first timeout as the head coach.
Sure, he still has much to prove. OSU fans believe the NCAA Tournament is where they belong. The Cowboys went to two Final Fours in the 10 years before Sutton jumped in as head coach.
Sutton has made it clear he understands those high expectations, but that he also embraces them.
A few more wins like Saturday's victory over Kansas, and the smiles will return to the faces of OSU fans and Sutton.
They both deserve more than what they've been through the past two years.
By JOHN KLEIN Senior Sports Columnist
2/25/2008
SEAN SUTTON had a lot to prove when he followed his father as coach at Oklahoma State.
He has certainly done more than enough to earn another season and another chance to prove he's the right guy to follow his legendary father.
It is time that Oklahoma State get rid of the rumors and give Sutton a legitimate chance to become a successful coach at his alma mater.
Sutton is making it difficult, and virtually impossible, for those hoping he'll be out at the end of this season.
Even OSU super booster Boone Pickens, who was courtside for the stunning upset of Kansas on Saturday, visited the locker room after the game to join in the celebration.
In just his second season as a head coach, Sutton is showing a resilience and determination that should hearten those who wish him well.
"He's really done a great job," said Kansas coach Bill Self, the OSU alum often rumored to be the guy that some at State covet.
OSU needs to end the speculation and give Sutton a fair chance to recruit and coach at a school he has devoted much of his life to as a player, assistant coach and now head coach.
Sutton's Cowboys continued a late-season surge that has turned them into one of the Big 12 Conference's best teams down the stretch of what had been a largely disappointing season.
OSU got its best victory of Sutton's short tenure as coach when the Cowboys tripped fourth-ranked Kansas, 61-60, on Saturday at Gallagher-Iba Arena.
This was no fluke.
Byron Eaton has become perhaps the best guard in a league full of tremendous guards. He has scored 25, 17 and 26 points in the last three games.
As Eaton has taken off, so have the Cowboys.
He's heard all the rumors about his coach.
"I'm going to fight for my coach," said Eaton.
"I let that stuff go in one ear and out the other," said OSU's Obi Muonelo.
The speculation could have easily distracted this team, but Sutton didn't let it.
As he has said many times this year, he has remained upbeat and positive with his team.
He knew there wasn't much difference between the Cowboys and the top teams in the Big 12.
Remember all of those close losses to start the Big 12 season?
Those losses are a distant memory because Sutton has kept working and kept believing that Oklahoma State has the players and coaches to win in the Big 12.
"We've grown up," said Sutton. "We've have been learning how to win those close games. We couldn't find a way to win all of those close games earlier this year. We've learned how to win those."
Sutton knew how to beat Kansas, a team he figures may win the national title.
He had to slow the game down, frustrate the Jayhawks who like to get out on breaks and play the kind of defense his father and Mr. Henry Iba made famous in Stillwater.
"I felt coming into this game that Kansas was as good as anyone in the country and they can win the national championship," said Sutton. "I also felt we could beat them."
Just when it seemed the season was a loss, and Sutton was halfway out the door, the Cowboys are coming back to life.
They've won four of their last five. They've beaten two teams ranked in the top 16 in the nation, including one on the road.
It ain't over 'til it's over.
OSU has four games left on the schedule. The Cowboys play Nebraska and Oklahoma at home in Gallagher-Iba, a place that had gone strangely quiet for much of this season.
"Their crowd was great," said Self.
OSU has two road games left -- at Missouri and Texas.
It's no stretch to believe OSU has a decent chance to win three of the last four.
Much of the credit should go to Sutton. As Self pointed out, when a team starts to slump in midseason, it's easy to start a slide that you can't stop.
Despite repeated close calls that kept going in the loss column, Sutton wouldn't let OSU slide even further down.
He kept quiet and kept working. He's turned the Cowboys into a team that not many folks in the Big 12 may want to face in the next several weeks.
He has also cleaned up what was a messy end to his father's career in Stillwater after Eddie Sutton's drunken-driving incident.
In his first full season, Sean Sutton won 22 games and had the Cowboys as high as No. 10 in the polls. But this season was largely a disaster until recent weeks.
Two years is far too short to evaluate any coach in any situation. Talk about his future as head coach was premature.
Sutton's situation was further complicated by the way he got the job. He was promised the job, with no head coaching experience, while his father was still the head coach.
The pressure was on him long before he called his first timeout as the head coach.
Sure, he still has much to prove. OSU fans believe the NCAA Tournament is where they belong. The Cowboys went to two Final Fours in the 10 years before Sutton jumped in as head coach.
Sutton has made it clear he understands those high expectations, but that he also embraces them.
A few more wins like Saturday's victory over Kansas, and the smiles will return to the faces of OSU fans and Sutton.
They both deserve more than what they've been through the past two years.