OSU seeking cure for fall-behind disease
Published: 12/18/2011 11:30 AM
Last Modified: 12/18/2011 11:30 AM
Oklahoma State led from start to finish in a season opener against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. If you’re looking for a personality trait for this basketball squad, that was fool’s gold.
Ten games into the season, it’s blatantly obvious that the Cowboys are the opposite of frontrunners.
Game 2: OSU allowed Arkansas-Pine Bluff to take a nine-point lead in the first seven minutes.
Game 3: OSU had to rally from an 11-point deficit in the last two-and-a-half minutes of regulation to salvage an overtime victory over Texas-San Antonio.
Game 4: OSU trailed by 11 points at halftime against Stanford and the Cowboys were behind by as many as 28 points in the second half of a lopsided preseason NIT semifinal.
Game 5: OSU fell behind by 11 points in the first half against Virginia Tech and rallied to lose by two.
Game 6: OSU had to rally from a late seven-point deficit for a homecourt victory over Tulsa.
Game 7: This was an exception. The Cowboys never trailed by more than a point against NAIA opponent Langston.
Game 8: OSU fell behind by 12 points in the second half and rallied to win at Missouri State.
Game 9: OSU trailed Pittsburgh by 16 points in the second half and got as close as five at the end of the game.
Game 10n: OSU rallied from a 13-point second half hole to take a one-point lead with 7:25 left in an All-College Classic game against New Mexico. But that was the Cowboys’ last gasp. The Lobos landed a knockout punch and won by 10.
As the Cowboys move forward with a schedule that is only going to get tougher, the big mission for coach Travis Ford will be finding a cure for fall-behind disease. What can he do to squash the trend?
“We just discussed it for about 15 or 20 minutes with our guys,” Ford said after the New Mexico game.
“I have talked a lot about what a great group of guys we have got, and they are. They are as fun a group as I have ever been around, just a really good group of guys.
“But they have got to understand once they step across the line, it’s time to get serious. This is not just fun and games. Some of them are still trying to figure out what this is all about. You can’t wait until you are down 10 all the time, and that’s what we keep doing, to say, ‘oh, OK, now we are down 10. Let’s pick it up a little bit’.”
Ford said his team is using all of its runs just to get close rather than using spurts to build a big lead. He said the Cowboys “didn’t do anything with it” after briefly rallying for a lead against New Mexico.
“We made a lot of bad decisions,” he said. “They made every big play down the stretch.”
Ford said he is tired of hearing about -- and talking about -- OSU’s youth and a difficult schedule. But he acknowledges that immaturity and inconsistency (one guy starts playing well, another takes a step back) have been factors during a 6-4 start.
“I’m not happy with the way we are playing, but I think we have got it in us (to be better),” the coach said.
“We’ve got some guys (who) have got to figure out and understand how difficult it is at this level to compete. If you don’t bring it every night, if your button is not turned on from the beginning, it’s tough.
“And you can’t turn it off and on. You can’t wait to turn it on. We’re playing against good teams. We’re playing against really good basketball teams right now -- teams that are better than us. But that doesn’t mean you still don’t expect to win and beat people and compete.”
--Jimmie Tramel.
Written by
Jimmie Tramel
Sports Writer
