Porter Moser’s first basketball season in Norman will be my favorite basketball beat on my blog this season. Not even close.
The Thunder with a $1.6 billion valuation by Forbes and more draft picks than they know what do with are still tanking when they really don’t have to be. It was refreshing for me to hear Mark Rodgers on the Sports Animal agree with me. Like me he sees the Thunder right now just about where the Memphis Grizzles were at this point last season.
The realistic goal in Oklahoma City NBA-wise isn’t to dream you’re going to win the O’Brien Trophy, but more to the point be competitive enough to not only be NBA relevant, but to be Oklahoma disposable sports entertainment dollar competitive in this market.
Portland taking Greg Oden in front of you only happens once in a basketball lifetime. That train left the station for San Franciso and is now in Brooklyn.
And tragically–Mike’s Boynton’s O State team isn’t eligible to play in the Big 12 Tournament or the NCAA Tournament this basketball season. I hurt for Mike Boynton and his players.
I was incredibly excited about seeing Avery Anderson and Rondel Walker in the Big Dance this March. Rondel was the best OKC high school player his senior year while playing at PC West and he’s fun to watch as is Avery who’s a late first round projection.
So when you take the above in consideration…Porter Moser’s Sooners of the three teams in reality is the only one playing a legitimate basketball season. No tanking, no probation.
OU opened tonight at home versus Northwestern State from Lousiana and won 77-59 before a half empty Lloyd Noble Arena. Student section was decent…the donor tea sipper seats always pretty much stay empty until football season is winding down. OU football donors are a trip.
Caleb Williams was in attendence and apparently loves the college life in Norman. What an infectious smile that kid has.
I thought OU played well for the most part.
My three stars of the game for OU were 1 Jalen Hill, 2 Jordan Goldwire, and 3 Tanner Groves.
Coach Moser looks like he already has a 9-10 man rotation in place with two of his true freshmen guards CJ Nolan and Alston Mason very much in the mix already. Bijan Cortes from Kingfisher who looked really sharp in the exhibition game didn’t get much time, but he’s there if and when the need for him to add more point guard depth is needed.
Bijan’s court vision is the best of the three freshmen guards, but he needs some work in the weight room. He has one of those bodies right now that Sam Presti seems to crave using a first round pick on. Play your cards right, Bijan and you could be a Presti lottery pick next summer. Don’t laugh.
Moj Gibson played okay and EJ Harkless had a tough offensive night and seemed to be pressing offensively to me. When EJ’s overall two zone game picks up and he settles in with what Coach Moser needs from him is when this team will look like a team which could challenge for a top four or five seed in the rugged Big 12.
The pieces are there though for this be a decent basketball team.
For the most part the team looked good with Jalen, Jordan, and Tanner leading the way in Coach Moser’s first regular season game as the head coach of the Sooners.
Next up on Friday night University of Texas at San Antonio with former OU assistant coach Steve Henson head coaching the Roadrunners.
Steve was an All Big 8 point guard at K State who played for Lon Kruger and then was an assistant for Coach Kruger at OU.
I ran into Steve Henson one late night at a DFW terminal while we were both waiting to catch connecting flights. He was recruiting players for UTSA and I was coming back from Denver.
I think he was actually flattered I recognized him and he was great to talk to in regards to his time with Coach Kruger and his new job at UTSA.
It has been my experience that basketball coaches are the best coaches to talk to if you’re just polite and don’t act like a jerk. Maybe it’s because Oklahoma is just so football crazy, but the great hoops coaches in this part of the country have somehow found my way thru the years…from Abe Lemons, to Paul Hansen to Billy Tubbs to Jim Kerwin to Eddie Sutton to Jeff Capel to Lon Kruger to Steve Hansen.
High school coaches are even better. You haven’t lived until you’ve talked to Blake Griffin’s father Tommy after a game. So much passion and love for the game. You don’t see that with the NBA guys after they start making big money.
I haven’t run into Mike Boynton just yet, but we will and we have mutual friends and it will go well. I’ve never run into Kelvin Sampson, but once his Houston team starts playing in the Big 12…I’ll figure out a way to have a nice talk with him.
Houston at O State is a game which would be fun.
The thing with hoops coaches is that they’re so passionate about their game they just love to talk the game like Fran Fraschilla and Ron Franklin did with me that night after Kevin Durant’s only game played at Lloyd Noble versus Blake Griffin.
Friday night..Coach Moser’s second game in Norman …then the schedule gets going with better teams in a hurry. This isn’t going to be CupCake City very long in Year 1 for Porter Moser.