Griffin, Capel should be Bedlam difference makers
Published: 1/24/2009 10:57 PM
Last Modified: 1/24/2009 10:57 PM
Oklahoma rolls into Monday night's Bedlam with a built-in advantage -- Blake Griffin. Provided he stays both healthy and free of foul trouble, Griffin should feast on the guard-heavy Cowboys, just as he did guard-heavy Nebraska and Baylor his last two games.
OU might expect to score a few points on the sideline as well, and that is no disrespect to OSU coach Travis Ford, who seems to be squeezing all he can out of his size-challenged team.
Jeff Capel is having a Griffin-like breakout year. There were notions that the Sooners had struck gold with the young coach his first two years at OU. Now, it's a practical declaration.
Last week, after his team had fallen in Norman, Nebraska coach Doc Sadler offered this unsolicited statement: "There is nobody I respect more in this league than Jeff Capel. I think he is doing it the right way. You never hear anything negative out of this program."
Representing the national media, Sporting News columnist Mike DeCourcy weighed in by proclaiming Capel the second-best candidate for national coach of the year behind Dino Gaudio of Wake Forest.
"The Sooners' only significant addition was freshman guard Willie Warren -- unless you count the souped-up version of Blake Griffin as an entirely new player," DeCourcy wrote. "They've gone from an erratic, hustling squad to the precise, rugged, unyielding bunch that is 18-1 heading into today's game against Baylor."
The Sooners are now 19-1 after their win over the Bears, a beatdown that was over by halftime. It took 20 minutes for Griffin to post his NCAA-leading 16th double-double, and for Capel to sic seldom-used Juan Pattillo on the gameplan of unsuspecting Baylor coach Scott Drew.
OU's two stars were on full display, much as they have been all season. If they shine Monday night in Stillwater, Bedlam should be the Sooners'.
-- Guerin Emig
Written by
Guerin Emig
Sports Writer
