Tuesday Morning Shootaround

Oklahoma 78, Texas 63: Oklahoma was this game because of their back court play. The Longhorns actually did a fairly good job on the Brothers Griffin, who only combined for 27 points and 17 boards ("only" may sounds ridiculous there, but they average almost 32 and 21). Austin Johnson, Willie Warren, and Tony Crocker played fantastic through out (48 points combined), mainly because they excelled doing exactly what OU needs them to do.

How good Oklahoma ends up being this season is going to be based completely on those three guys. If this game proved anything, its that Jeff Capel should not have much faith in his bench.

So what do these three need to do for the Sooners? Johnson is a penetrator. He's not all that great of a shooter and he's not an incredible passer, but he has a nice touch on his floaters and short jumpers. He is playing his best when he is slashing into the lane and scoring. With Cade Davis struggling right now, Crocker is going to be playing a lot more minutes. When he is playing well, he is the only legitimate catch-and-shoot guy Oklahoma has. Warren can shoot it, but he might be better off of the dribble than off of the catch. Warren was really impressive last night taking the ball to the rim. He finished a couple tough drives, absorbing contact and finishing off the window. But as their best creator, he needs to have more than one assist.

Blake Griffin was slowed by the big Texas front line. Dexter Pittman was the most effective, simply because Griffin could not go through him to the rim, and Texas had enough help side that he couldn't get around him. Griffin has already improved his jump shot during the season (Fraschilla was talking during the game about how Blake works tremendously hard on it). I can remember him knocking down a three, hitting a 17 footer off the glass, hitting a turn around from about 15 feet, and knocking down a tough fadeaway off the glass.

Griffin was slowed a bit this game because of the depth of the Texas front line (they were able to throw four or five different guys at him) and the fact that he had to play 40 minutes against fresh legs. But if he is knocking down those jump shots, he is going to become impossible to stop 1-on-1 at this level.

AJ Abrams struggled again tonight. He came into this game 19 for his last 66 over five games, and proceed to go 8-27 from the floor. I think Abrams is running into some of the same problems Steph Curry is over at Davidson. He doesn't really have a point guard that is able to get the ball in his hands in a position where he can score. I love Justin Mason, but he isn't really a natural point guard. Dogus Balbay played well tonight (8 points, 7 boards, 6 assists, 1 turnover), but he is one of those guys that is going to penetrate and drop it off to a big man. When Abrams shoots, a lot of times it is coming off of the bounce, which he is not as good at.

No one on Texas really played well for that matter. Oklahoma jumped out to a 24-8 lead early, and while Texas hung around for most of the game between 6-12 points down, they only got it closer once, at 54-50 (OU immediately responded with a 12-0 run to put the game away). They didn't shoot well and battled foul trouble through out (Damion James played just 20 minutes, getting all 12 points and 3 boards in the second half), but more than anything OU was just the better team tonight.

Louisville 87, Notre Dame 73 OT: Believe it or not, the best thing that happened to Louisville tonight was Samardo Samuels picking up his fourth foul. When this happened, it forced Pitino to use Terrence Jennings on Luke Harangody (switching Jennings and Samuels offense-defense). 'Gody had 28 points, but could not score late on the longer, more athletic Jennings, which was a huge reason why Louisville held Notre Dame to just two points in the last 10:35 of the game (5:35 of regulation and overtime).

One thing that really bothers me about Harangody's game was that he wasn't getting to the free throw line. Everything he took was a fadeaway or a jump shot. He hit them for a while, but he finished just 13-28 from the field. If I'm Mike Brey, with guys like Kyle McAlarney and Ryan Ayers on the perimeter, I want the big fella to be more efficient with his scoring and to be scoring inside. If he is going to the free throw line, he is drawing fouls and more likely than not picking up some and-one's. It also forces the defense to pay more attention to him on the block, giving the ND shooters more space on the perimeter. When he fades away, ND loses their only good rebounder.

The story of this game, however, was Terrence Williams. He had a phenomenal game, finishing with 24 points, 16 boards, 8 assists, and 3 steals. There isn't much to say about this guy's game (he can do everything), other than he needs to stay aggressive. Sometimes he tends to settle for three's (he shoots it about 30% on his career) and does not really use his strength and athleticism when attacking the rim (running one-handers instead of going at the rim strong).

These two teams are first and second in made three's in the Big East (ND makes more, Louisville take more), and tonight proved it. This game ended up being a three-point shootout. Louisville hit their's late (10-30), while Notre Dame didn't (started out 9-12, but missed their last eight).

I think Notre Dame is going to be in trouble this year because of their lack of depth. They only play six guys, and 'Gody, McAlarney, and Tory Jackson essentially play the entire game. There are too many good teams in the Big East, and I see those three losing their legs a bit by the end of the year.

I think Louisville looks like they are about to hit their stride. T-Will is playing some of the best basketball of his life, they are starting to become more consistent shooting the ball, and Samuels is finally learning how strong and tough he needs to be to play the pivot in the Big East. They are sitting pretty at 3-0. It's early still, but this Cardinals team is going to be right in the thick of the title chase at the end of the year.

The only other game of significance was Davidson knocking off Appalachian State 70-52. Curry had just 16 points in 18 minutes (foul trouble, picked up his fourth early in the second half).