JimBob
01-22-2008, 09:19 AM
Cowboys have a lot to mull after UT loss
By DAVE SITTLER World Sports Columnist
1/22/2008
STILLWATER -- Perspective or panic? Half-empty or half-full?
Those are the options Oklahoma State's basketball team is left to ponder after the Cowboys' 63-61 loss Monday night to Texas at Gallagher-Iba Arena.
Do the Pokes view the loss from the positive perspective that they came close to upsetting the nation's 12th-ranked team? Do they take the glass-is-half-full approach after coming close against Texas (15-3, 2-1 Big 12), which owns wins this season against top 10 teams in UCLA and Tennessee?
Or do the Cowboys hit the panic button and see their season sinking to the bottom of that half-empty glass?
Coach Sean Sutton played spin doctor after his team dropped to 1-3 in the Big 12 Conference and 10-8 overall. Sutton praised the Cowboys' defensive effort and willingness to battle their backsides ragged the entire contest before 10,691 spectators.
"They fought their butts off," Sutton said. "I felt a lot better tonight than I did after the Baylor and Iowa State games.
"I think we can still go on and win a lot of basketball games this season."
It's Sutton's job, of course, to put a positive spin on the Pokes' plight.
But put me in that panicked group that thinks the half-full glass could get empty in a hurry because the potential is there for the bottom to drop out on this OSU team.
Yes, the Pokes put a marvelous run to open the second half. After trailing 41-31 at intermission, the Cowboys outscored the Longhorns 14-2 to take a 45-43 lead with on guard Terrel Harris' 3-point basket with 14:31 left in the game.
But OSU relied almost totally on 3-pointers during that surge. In addition to Harris, forward Marcus Dove and guards James Anderson and Byron Eaton also hit treys.
But teams whose hopes for victory rely so heavily on the 3-ball are usually going to die. And that became the Cowboys' fate as OSU managed just four field goals the rest of the contest.
OSU's reliance on its outside shooting became even more prevalent when Sutton opted to go play "small ball" most of the second half.
Part of that decision was forced on OSU's second-year coach when center Ibrahima Thomas picked up his fourth foul less than three minutes into the final half.
With the 6-foot-11 Thomas on the bench, Sutton stuck with a lineup that included the 6-9 Dove and four guards the rest of the game. The foursome included Obi Muonelo along with Harris, Eaton and Anderson.
The offensive result of the smaller lineup was often painful to watch as the Cowboys struggled at times to even get shots off against a Texas zone defense that dared them to shoot from the perimeter.
Once their outside shots stopped dropping, the Cowboys had no way to counter because they had no interior game. That produced a scoring drought of more than six minutes as Texas slowly chipped away behind guard D.J. Augustin's 26 points.
Two shot-clock violations, two misses on the front end of one-and-one free-throw situations and two turnovers proved too much to overcome for the Cowboys in the game's final minutes.
"You make mistakes late in the game and those mistakes are magnified because you don't have time to recover," Sutton said.
Speaking of recovering, where does OSU go from here with this team that may have finally found its defensive intensity but remains a mystery on offense?
Those road losses last week at Baylor and Iowa State figured to be two of OSU's best chances to break a 16-game losing streak away from Gallagher-Iba Arena.
Sure, the Big 12 season is still young, with 12 conference games left. But recent history suggests OSU will go 0-6 the rest of the way on the road, which means it will have zero margin for error in those six remaining home contests.
"I've always got confidence in Gallagher-Iba (Arena), and I've got confidence in this team right now," Sutton said. "I think they are starting to get it. But we've got to start winning some games . . . I know that."
With Texas A&M (15-3) and No. 2 Kansas (18-0) among league teams scheduled to visit Gallagher-Iba, panic is lurking for the Pokes. And it's not likely to be half-full panic.
By DAVE SITTLER World Sports Columnist
1/22/2008
STILLWATER -- Perspective or panic? Half-empty or half-full?
Those are the options Oklahoma State's basketball team is left to ponder after the Cowboys' 63-61 loss Monday night to Texas at Gallagher-Iba Arena.
Do the Pokes view the loss from the positive perspective that they came close to upsetting the nation's 12th-ranked team? Do they take the glass-is-half-full approach after coming close against Texas (15-3, 2-1 Big 12), which owns wins this season against top 10 teams in UCLA and Tennessee?
Or do the Cowboys hit the panic button and see their season sinking to the bottom of that half-empty glass?
Coach Sean Sutton played spin doctor after his team dropped to 1-3 in the Big 12 Conference and 10-8 overall. Sutton praised the Cowboys' defensive effort and willingness to battle their backsides ragged the entire contest before 10,691 spectators.
"They fought their butts off," Sutton said. "I felt a lot better tonight than I did after the Baylor and Iowa State games.
"I think we can still go on and win a lot of basketball games this season."
It's Sutton's job, of course, to put a positive spin on the Pokes' plight.
But put me in that panicked group that thinks the half-full glass could get empty in a hurry because the potential is there for the bottom to drop out on this OSU team.
Yes, the Pokes put a marvelous run to open the second half. After trailing 41-31 at intermission, the Cowboys outscored the Longhorns 14-2 to take a 45-43 lead with on guard Terrel Harris' 3-point basket with 14:31 left in the game.
But OSU relied almost totally on 3-pointers during that surge. In addition to Harris, forward Marcus Dove and guards James Anderson and Byron Eaton also hit treys.
But teams whose hopes for victory rely so heavily on the 3-ball are usually going to die. And that became the Cowboys' fate as OSU managed just four field goals the rest of the contest.
OSU's reliance on its outside shooting became even more prevalent when Sutton opted to go play "small ball" most of the second half.
Part of that decision was forced on OSU's second-year coach when center Ibrahima Thomas picked up his fourth foul less than three minutes into the final half.
With the 6-foot-11 Thomas on the bench, Sutton stuck with a lineup that included the 6-9 Dove and four guards the rest of the game. The foursome included Obi Muonelo along with Harris, Eaton and Anderson.
The offensive result of the smaller lineup was often painful to watch as the Cowboys struggled at times to even get shots off against a Texas zone defense that dared them to shoot from the perimeter.
Once their outside shots stopped dropping, the Cowboys had no way to counter because they had no interior game. That produced a scoring drought of more than six minutes as Texas slowly chipped away behind guard D.J. Augustin's 26 points.
Two shot-clock violations, two misses on the front end of one-and-one free-throw situations and two turnovers proved too much to overcome for the Cowboys in the game's final minutes.
"You make mistakes late in the game and those mistakes are magnified because you don't have time to recover," Sutton said.
Speaking of recovering, where does OSU go from here with this team that may have finally found its defensive intensity but remains a mystery on offense?
Those road losses last week at Baylor and Iowa State figured to be two of OSU's best chances to break a 16-game losing streak away from Gallagher-Iba Arena.
Sure, the Big 12 season is still young, with 12 conference games left. But recent history suggests OSU will go 0-6 the rest of the way on the road, which means it will have zero margin for error in those six remaining home contests.
"I've always got confidence in Gallagher-Iba (Arena), and I've got confidence in this team right now," Sutton said. "I think they are starting to get it. But we've got to start winning some games . . . I know that."
With Texas A&M (15-3) and No. 2 Kansas (18-0) among league teams scheduled to visit Gallagher-Iba, panic is lurking for the Pokes. And it's not likely to be half-full panic.