Photo by Todd Wickersty / CC BY-SA
General, Oklahoma City Thunder, Oklahoma Sooners

Weekly Wrap

Welcome to the Weekly Wrap where we dissect recent happenings across the local sports scene and generally whatever is on our minds. Look for the Weekly Wrap published every Friday.

• March Madness got underway yesterday and started off with a bang. Despite my urges to rip into the Sooner basketball team, I'd better stay away from that one. The Sooner basketball team is making strides in the right direction, but their March Madness lasted all of one day before losing to 12-seed North Dakota State. It was the Bison's first ever NCAA tournament victory. I'm leaving this one alone, I promise.

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• Speaking of March Madness, go check out Caleb Hixon's recap from day one. Good stuff in there and quite the bold prediction. Look for more pieces from Caleb in the coming weeks as a contributor here.

• The Thunder took on the Cavs last night and did their best to blow a 24-point 4th quarter lead. KD had taken a seat, the 2nd unit players had checked in for the remainder of the game, and it looked like the Thunder were putting the finishing touches on a solid night of work. Then the Cavs went on a 16-0 run. Durant was forced to check back into the game to secure the victory. A win is still a win, but the end of the bench players nearly got run out of the gym by the Cavs. I'm trying to stay positive today, I really am.

• Last night was win number 50 for the Thunder. Despite the recent negativity, 50 wins still means something. OKC takes on Toronto tonight and Westbrook returns to the line-up once again. The Raptors are currently the third seed in the East, so this would be a nice opportunity for the Thunder to flex their muscles.

• Take the plunge and join Yahoo and Quicken Loans' Billion Dollar Bracket? What's that? Your perfect bracket didn't even make it out of day one? Man…I just knew this was going to be the year of the perfect brackets! Hey, there's always next year for the first ever perfect bracket and new billionaire.

• The kind folks over at Welcome To Loud City wrote up a nice little review on the recently released Sports Insider – Thunder Edition app. If you are a Thunder fan with an iPhone and haven't checked it out yet, well what are you waiting for?

• Jake Trotter thinks the Sooners could have a "scary three-headed monster" in the backfield next season with running backs Keith Ford, Alex Ross, and Joe Mixon. It's crazy to think that Oklahoma is graduating three senior running backs who all played major roles in the offense, yet may not skip a beat with the upcoming young guys.

Photo courtesy: Joshua S. Kelly-USA TODAY Sports
General

March Madness: Day One Recap

This year, just like every other year, you set out to “play it safe” with your bracket, but my guess is you probably just couldn’t help yourself. The thought of saying “I told you so” was just too sweet for you. So here we are, day one’s in the books. How are you feeling about your bracket now? Did you have Dayton and Harvard winning? I did. But I also had Oklahoma in the Elite Eight. Whoops.

So whether you’re perfect through day one or you’re ready to throw in the towel we all can’t help but keep our eyes on the Madness that is the NCAA Tournament. Let’s take a look at the highs and lows of day one and see if we can’t peer into the crystal ball for some bold predictions.

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Highs or Lows (Depending on your perspective)
HARVARD! Who would have guessed that for the second consecutive year Harvard has a tournament win. The only Ivy league school who can say that. They didn’t just win, but they won in very convincing fashion. Then again, in 27 out of the last 30 years at least one 12 seed has beat a 5 seed.

Speaking of 12 seeds upsetting 5 seeds. For the first time since Blake Griffin, I actually believed in Oklahoma coming into the NCAA Tournament. With Lon Kruger at the helm, I was convinced that this year we'd make a dent in the tournament. But when you shoot 35% from the field and commit double digit turnovers like the Sooners did, there are not many teams that could come back from that. Despite Cameron Clarks' 25 point performance, North Dakota State just proved to be too much for the Sooners as they fell victim to the 5-12 curse in overtime. You hear that? I believe that's the sound of my bracket going down the toilet.

Ohio State has reached the Sweet 16 the last four years in a row, but in another big upset, Dayton decided to spoil the Buckeyes dreams of another Sweet 16. Squeaking out a last second victory over Ohio State, Dayton advances to face Syracuse. Can they ride the lightning past the Orange men? In the words of my favorite TV Uncle, Si, “Nah”. But then again, who doesn’t love a good ole Cinderella story? Except for Ohio State fans right now.

Michigan State looked healthy as they cruised past the fighting Blue Hens of Delaware. But with a mascot like "Blue Hens" one might even wonder how they got into the tournament. From Blue Hens to Ducks, Oregon made a statement with beating BYU by 19! Michigan also looked good, trouncing Wofford by 17. Three teams that are looking very good for the round of 32.

Last year, as a 4 seed, Saint Louis lost in the second round. This year, as a 5 seed, they tried to lose again in the first. NC State was up by 14 points with nearly eight minutes left. FOURTEEN! But Saint Louis found a way to take it into overtime where they sealed the victory. 

Staying with the overtime theme, UCONN went down to the wire with St. Joe’s in a thriller that had me on the edge of my seat (seeing as though I have UCONN in my Final Four). But they escaped the upset and kept my tournament hopes alive with a 82-77 victory over St. Joe’s.

In the late games, Texas edged out Arizona State with a last second layup from Cameron Ridley to steal the victory. Villanova easily handled Milwaukee, winning 73-53. And San Diego State topped New Mexico State University, 73-69. 

BOLD Prediction
Pittsburgh looked very impressive against Colorado winning by nearly 30 points. Their margin of victory alone would have made it a game had they been playing American who only put up 35 points against Wisconsin. But unfortunately the Pittsburgh Panthers will fall to the Florida Gators next round, right? Wrong! BOLD prediction of the day: Pittsburgh will take down the #1 overall seed Florida Gators. Call me crazy, I may be. The NCAA tournament is all about momentum and I can guarantee, with that heavy victory, Pittsburgh is riding as high as anyone right now. Couple that momentum with a seriously talented team and you've got a recipe for upset. But, you probably think I'm crazy and that's what makes it a BOLD prediction.

Plenty of basketball left to play and plenty of upsets to be had. Hold on tight. If there's anything that we can be sure of, it's that the NCAA Tournament is going to be a wild ride this year. 

Photo by Keith Allison / CC BY-SA
Oklahoma City Thunder

What’s Happening With the Thunder?

Are you a little concerned with what's happening in OKC?

Yeah, me too.

Something just hasn't been quite right about this team since the all-star break. The team that was once thought to be the favorites coming out of the West have all the sudden surrendered the lead to San Antonio with the Clippers not far behind. So, what exactly is going on?

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The defensive effort has been miserable.
Well, this is probably the most obvious answer. The defensive effort in OKC has been questionable at best lately. What was once a top defensive unit in the first half of the season has fallen off a cliff to now one of the statistical worst. Zach Lowe at Grantland does a good job of breaking down some of the poor defensive tendencies that have been creeping up as of late. To sum it up, the Thunder are over-crowding the lane and leaving shooters wide open on the kick out pass. You could say they were just running into hot shooting teams until Gerald Green and Jodie Meeks each torched the Thunder for career highs in back-to-back games earlier this month. Is it a lack of effort? Terrible defensive schemes? Missing players?

Two of their starters are injured.
Admit it, when Perkins and Sefolosha went down with injuries, you either silently rejoiced or at least assumed it wouldn't have much of an effect (if any) on the team. Despite what most fans thought, Thabo and Perk are important pieces on this team and serve a great purpose. I'll be the first to admit that I've screamed for Presti to amnesty Perkins for years now, but it's become increasingly evident the role he plays on this roster. I hate bringing up the intangibles that certain players bring to the table, but Perkins fits the bill. His stat line is always brutal, yet the defense seems to have a better identity about itself when he's on the floor. Maybe it's the constant communication. Maybe it's the toughness factor. Maybe it's something else. I don't know what it is, but it's something. Oh, and that little thing about missing their best perimeter defender in Sefolosha doesn't exactly help either.

IT'S ALL WESTBROOKS' FAULT!
Just kidding. You're still paying attention, right?

Scott Brooks is in love with the veterans.
What happened to Jeremy Lamb? Remember that time he scorched the Rockets for 22 points back in December? How about when he netted a cool 18 points on 7-10 shooting vs Miami back in January? What happened, you ask? Caron Butler happened. Don't mistake this as a gripe about the Thunder acquiring Caron Butler. Butler is definitely a nice addition to the team, but there's no question that he has stolen away the majority of minutes that were going to Lamb. Lamb averaged 24.6 minutes per game in January, 18.8 in February, and a measly 10.9 thus far in March. Lamb appeared to just begin coming into his own this season and really contributing to the team. Then his minutes gradually dried up. Now it's virtually to the point where he's playing garbage time minutes only. Fisher and Butler have played well, but I'm not sure I agree with their expanded minutes coming at the cost of Lamb's.

It's a long season. Down periods like this happen to every team.
While I understand this line of thinking, there are still certain games that are hard to excuse.  Losses to the Cavs and Lakers stick out the most. Add in a 23-point home loss to the Mavs? Yikes. The same Mavs squad the Thunder had defeated 11 straight times. Brooks chose to sit Westbrook for the game, but this one wasn't lost on that decision. The thing that perplexes me is the loss to the Lakers and then win over the Rockets two nights later. The loss to Dallas and then win over Chicago one night later. Are the Thunder struggling to stay motivated against the league's middling teams? I suppose it's encouraging to see them come out and take care of business against the better opponents, but it is still ultra frustrating losing to teams they absolutely have no business losing to. This is a long and grueling season. Every team does go through lapses where motivation is lacking. I am beginning to wonder how long this lapse will last.

At the end of the day, there's still way too much basketball left to be played before anyone should get too terribly worried. I am definitely concerned though. This is a team that has a legitimate shot at a championship and there's no telling how long that window will remain open. Let's hope there's still a switch that can be turned on when needed be and this team returns to form to close out the season.

Photo courtesy: NewsOK.com
General, Oklahoma City Thunder, Oklahoma Sooners

Weekly Wrap

Welcome to the Weekly Wrap where we dissect recent happenings across the local sports scene and generally whatever is on our minds. Look for the Weekly Wrap published every Friday.

• Seems like it's been a bit of a rollercoaster for the Thunder since the all-star break. Lost three in a row. Won three in a row. Lost two in a row. Won two in a row. There's a little more meat to those wins a losses though. Such a two losses sandwiched in there to absolutely terrible teams (Cavs and Lakers). Then there's the win over Houston who had been red-hot coming into the contest. I'm not sure if this Thunder bunch are lacking motivation towards the tail-end of the season or what it is, but they've got to remain focused and motivated or risk losing a top seed in the West. For the first time in awhile, they looked motivated vs the Rockets and it was good to see. I'm sure the whole story regarding James Harden now playing in Houston and the Patrick Beverely/Russell Westbrook incident from the 2013 playoffs was still fresh on the Thunder's minds. Speaking of Beverely/Westbrook…

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• Let's go ahead and add Patrick Beverely to the list of most disliked/dirty players in the NBA, ok? He and Ron Artest are on my short list off the top of my head (though I'm open for further suggestions). Everyone knew it was an unwritten rule Beverely broke when he crashed into Russell Westbrook during the playoffs last year while Westbrook was dribbling across half court to call a timeout. Some wrote it off as "playing to the whistle" or whatever bogus excuse they could come up with, but Beverely removed all doubt of his intentions when he tried the exact same thing again on Tuesday night. Beverely knew exactly what he was doing and the refs immediately T'd him up for his shenanigans. There's a difference between playing hard and just being an idiot. But, of course, Bill Simmons applauds him.

• Can't say enough good things about Blake Bell. Despite taking the backseat to Landry Jones for a couple of years and then having a freshman named the starter over him after Jones departed for the NFL, Bell has seemingly never wavered. He's now set to move to tight end to try and help the team however possible. I'd imagine most college other young college kids would throw a temper tantrum and go searching for a new school. Check out the excellent piece on Bell from my partner in crime penned this week. Highly recommended.

• Are NBA team really tanking? Royce Young over at Daily Thunder has a great piece on team tanking. I think most fans agree that, at a minimum, certain teams start eyeing draft position vs overall record in the latter parts of a season. Royce Young does a good job of breaking down different kinds of tanking and why the whole thing has likely been blown out of proportion.

• Former Oklahoma running back Damien Williams says he has no hard feelings towards the school or coach Stoops after he was dismissed from the team last November. In a classy move, Stoops allowed Williams to return to Norman for OU's pro day on Wednesday. When asked, Williams refused to elaborate on the nature of rule violations that got him suspended and ultimately dismissed from the team.

• While Durant may not be able to repeat his insane 50/40/90 performance of 2013, Ben Golliver at SI.com thinks Durant is on pace to join the possibly more prestigious 30/30 club.

• Oklahoma running backs coach Cale Gundy sent out an awesome tweet earlier in the week and then promptly deleted it. The tweet read: "Looks like someone came up short again. You better take that SEC country somewhere else. Let's Play Faster. #Boomer" Wish he had not deleted it as he's 100% right. Nick Saban was lobbying for a dumb rule change to try and slow down the up-tempo offenses. The talk of the new rule didn't seem to stick and Gundy fired off a nice little warning shot to Saban reminding him of the Sugar Bowl beat down from just a couple of months ago.

Photo courtesy: NewsOK.com
Oklahoma Sooners

Whatever It Takes

In sports, we recognize players, sometimes, based on their positions alone. We associate Sam Bradford as the starting quarterback for the Oklahoma Sooners. We recognized Adrian Peterson as the starting running back. At times, we get caught up in where players play, instead of what they actually do on the field.

A lot can be said of Blake Bell, former quarterback for the Oklahoma Sooners. In high school, Bell was a 5-star quarterback recruit as recognized by Rivals.com. He was a physical specimen standing over 6'5” weighing in over 230 pounds at the time. Bell waited, and waited, and waited behind Landry Jones. 

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In comes Trevor Knight, a scout team superstar the past season at Oklahoma. Coaches raved, players raved, fans wondered. Then, on August 31, 2013, Knight took the field as the starting quarterback vs the ULM Warhawks, leaving Bell waiting, again. You can only imagine the heartbreak from once the guy who was going to change the way Oklahoma played football on offense, to the guy who had to wait some more.

Knight struggled early, giving Bell a chance to play. Bell, not too long into the season, became Oklahoma's starter, and he played very well. Against Tulsa, he was 27-37 for 413 yards and 4 touchdowns. Then, a week later in South Bend, Indiana, Bell was 22-30 for 232 yards and 2 touchdowns. Both of these games were 2 touchdown or more wins. Bell had finally hit his peak. He had found his time. He had cemented himself as the next guy who could possibly have his statue held erect outside the east walls of Gaylord Family-Memorial Stadium.

And then, after a lackluster performance against TCU, struggles became mighty. 

Against Texas, Bell played quite possibly the worst game by an Oklahoma quarterback vs Texas since Rhett Bomar in 2005. It was as bad as it could have been. Something switched off. Something just didn't seem right. Was it the game plan? Was it nerves? Was it too much pressure too soon on the first year starter? We may never know. What we did know is that Bell wouldn't be the answer much longer for the Sooners.

In the coming weeks, Bell's play continued to be less than stellar. 131 yards passing at Kansas. Yes, Kansas. A week later, he played a little better at home against Texas Tech, but nothing short of just average. He piled up 249 yards that night, and OU squeaked out a win. 

The game at Baylor finalized Blake Bell's career as OU's starting quarterback. He threw 2 interceptions. One right before the half that allowed Baylor go go up 24-5 at half. A deficit far too steep to come back on, against a top 10 team, on the road, on national television.

In comes Trevor Knight, again. Against Iowa State, Knight dazzled the crowd with his legs. He had a moxy about him that Bell never did. He was amazing at getting the crowd hype. From there, it was no looking back. Knight led OU to 2 straight wins, then around halftime of the Bedlam game, Knight injured his arm. In comes, again, Blake Bell. He led one of the best drives in OU history, giving Oklahoma a 27-24 lead in the final seconds on a perfectly throw ball to Jalen Saunders in the back northwest corner of Boone Pickens Stadium. 

Something happened in the weeks leading up to the All State Sugar Bowl. Knight evidently won coaches over and he was given the nod vs mighty Alabama and the vaunted SEC powerhouse defense. 

What happened that night would never overturn Bell's future. Knight, again, vs the "best defense ever to take the field," lit the Tide up, leading Oklahoma to a Sugar Bowl win vs Alabama. Knight led the sooners to 45 points. He was 32-44 for 348 yards and 4 touchdowns. Bell was again, watching. Supporting. Cheering. Leading.

Then came the bombshell. 

On Feb 8, 2014, Bob Stoops announced Blake Bell would transition to Tight End. Wait? What? I think the entire Sooner Nation had 2 thoughts. 

1 – This is going to be awesome. He's going to be incredible with his athleticism. He's going to make Trevor Knight even better. He's going to become an NFL tight end.

2 – Wait. Has he ever played Tight End? Ever? 

I was more of number 2. Then I remembered. Bell has waited. He's played. He's waited again. He's played again. He's been the definition of a team player. Not one time, ever, has he complained. He's never questioned the coaching staff. I expect more of the same this time around as well. 

Bell was a receiver in high school, before transitioning to quarterback. He has incredible athleticism. I don't think the speed of the game will give him too much trouble. The only concern I have is this. Is he going to take so much of a beating that he can't backup Knight in a pinch? Will OU have a viable backup quarterback plan? 

I think we have seen some of the most selfless athletes at OU. Paul Thompson anyone? 

Look for Bell to do whatever it takes to bring number 8 to Norman next January. 

Til next time, BOOMER SOONER!