JimBob
01-15-2008, 07:50 AM
OSU faces its travel trouble
By JIMMIE TRAMEL World Sports Writer
1/15/2008
Oklahoma State has lost 14 consecutive road games.
Obi Muonelo -- perhaps he's a credible source since he's majoring in health and human performance -- believes he knows what the problem is.
"It's more mental than anything," the sophomore said.
"I think we've got to break the barrier that, hey, we can win road games. We all know we can do it. We've got to go on the road and just play tougher. . . . You've got to be together, which I think we are right now. And, once we do that, I think we will be fine. We are making too big of a deal of it. Win the game and get it over with."
OSU, riding a season-best five-game winning streak, will play a Tuesday game at Baylor with the goal of winning a road game for the first time since a Feb. 4, 2006, triumph at Kansas State.
The Cowboys' road losing skid is the fifth-longest in school history.
Coach Sean Sutton said his players are sick of hearing they can't get a road win.
"But they've got to go do it," he said. "We've got two opportunities this week. Sometimes you just need one breakthrough."
Sutton said he was on an OSU staff that went through this sort of thing before. The Cowboys went 1-12 in road games and 1-7 in Big Eight road games during the 1996-97 season.
"Doug Gottlieb, when he came here as a sophomore (transfer from Notre Dame), he did a great job with Desmond Mason and Joe Adkins and some of those guys back then of changing their mindset on the road and the '98 team went on and won five (league) road games," Sutton said.
In fairness, it should be pointed out that OSU won a quasi-road game last season, beating Syracuse at Madison Square Garden in front of a not-very-neutral crowd.
But Sutton said fifth-year senior Marcus Dove is the only Cowboy who knows what it's like to win a big road game. Sutton reminds players that, other than postseason games and rivalry games, road wins are what they will remember most when their careers are over.
"It's special to go in somebody else's building and beat them," he said. "They haven't had that feeling to see what it's like."
This isn't the best year to go looking for a road win in Waco. Baylor is shooting for its first 14-2 start since the 1945-46 season.
"They could have the best -- maybe outside of Kansas -- the best collection of guards in the Big 12," Sutton said.
By JIMMIE TRAMEL World Sports Writer
1/15/2008
Oklahoma State has lost 14 consecutive road games.
Obi Muonelo -- perhaps he's a credible source since he's majoring in health and human performance -- believes he knows what the problem is.
"It's more mental than anything," the sophomore said.
"I think we've got to break the barrier that, hey, we can win road games. We all know we can do it. We've got to go on the road and just play tougher. . . . You've got to be together, which I think we are right now. And, once we do that, I think we will be fine. We are making too big of a deal of it. Win the game and get it over with."
OSU, riding a season-best five-game winning streak, will play a Tuesday game at Baylor with the goal of winning a road game for the first time since a Feb. 4, 2006, triumph at Kansas State.
The Cowboys' road losing skid is the fifth-longest in school history.
Coach Sean Sutton said his players are sick of hearing they can't get a road win.
"But they've got to go do it," he said. "We've got two opportunities this week. Sometimes you just need one breakthrough."
Sutton said he was on an OSU staff that went through this sort of thing before. The Cowboys went 1-12 in road games and 1-7 in Big Eight road games during the 1996-97 season.
"Doug Gottlieb, when he came here as a sophomore (transfer from Notre Dame), he did a great job with Desmond Mason and Joe Adkins and some of those guys back then of changing their mindset on the road and the '98 team went on and won five (league) road games," Sutton said.
In fairness, it should be pointed out that OSU won a quasi-road game last season, beating Syracuse at Madison Square Garden in front of a not-very-neutral crowd.
But Sutton said fifth-year senior Marcus Dove is the only Cowboy who knows what it's like to win a big road game. Sutton reminds players that, other than postseason games and rivalry games, road wins are what they will remember most when their careers are over.
"It's special to go in somebody else's building and beat them," he said. "They haven't had that feeling to see what it's like."
This isn't the best year to go looking for a road win in Waco. Baylor is shooting for its first 14-2 start since the 1945-46 season.
"They could have the best -- maybe outside of Kansas -- the best collection of guards in the Big 12," Sutton said.