Oklahoma freshman Blake Griffin scored 15 points and pulled down 14 rebounds against Gonzaga on Thursday night in the All-College Classic. BY MATT STRASEN, THE OKLAHOMAN
Rough road
Jeff Capel's Sooners have been better on the road this season than last, when they lost crucial road games against beatable opponents at Iowa State and Missouri down the stretch. This season, they played well but lost at USC and won three nights later at TCU. They also gave a good performance against Memphis in New York's Madison Square Garden.
That's a good sign, because OU has a tough road schedule remaining, beginning with Saturday's game against West Virginia in Charleston, W.Va.
Here's a look at the Sooners' toughest remaining road tests:
•Saturday vs. No. 24 West Virginia in Charleston: The Mountaineers are 10-1 with their only loss a two-point setback to No. 12 Tennessee.
•Jan. 14 at No. 3 Kansas: Capel's first visit to Phog Allen Fieldhouse with the Sooners.
•Feb. 23 at No. 4 Texas: Despite Saturday's setback, the Longhorns are for real.
•Feb. 27 at Nebraska: Though they started the season with low expectations, the Huskers are gaining momentum quickly. They beat then-No. 16 Oregon in the Devaney Center.
•March 5 at Oklahoma State: This game doesn't look as tough as it once did, but Bedlam in Stillwater is never easy.
By Scott Wright
It was from his head coach, Jeff Capel, encouraging Griffin to have more fun on the basketball court. The next day, Griffin had a one-hour meeting with assistant coach Mark Cline that generally focused on the same subject.
It seems that the tactics worked. Griffin responded with his best game of the season, 15 points and 14 rebounds in the Sooners' 72-68 win over No. 18 Gonzaga in the All-College Classic on Thursday night.
Though he admits he never had one of his coaches write him a letter before, Griffin says he wasn't surprised by it.
"Coach Capel has done things like that before,” Griffin said. "It just shows you the relationship he has with his players and everyone in this program.”
For the most part, the contents of the letter — as well as the meeting with Cline — remain private, but Griffin says it was just what he needed to hear.
"Coach Capel was just letting me know that he cares, and he's trying to help our team and me as a player,” Griffin said. "He and coach Cline were encouraging me not to worry about missing shots or making mistakes, just to go on to the next play.
"It really motivated me.”
Griffin says he has been pacing himself during games, something he grew accustomed to doing in high school, when he was often asked to play the entire game.
Breaking that habit has been a focus of the coaching staff much of the season. They'd rather see him play hard for four, five, eight minutes — whatever he can stand — and come to the bench for a breather.
When Griffin is playing hard, he instantly elevates his game. He drives to the basket with more authority.
He chases down rebounds all over the court.
Basically, he does all the things he did against Gonzaga on Thursday night.
In the previous five games, Griffin's best rebounding effort was nine against USC on Nov. 29. Against the ‘Zags, he had that many by halftime.
"As the leader, you try so many different methods to reach guys, and that's what the letter was,” Capel said.
"Besides his parents and his brother, I'm probably his biggest fan. I want the kid to accomplish the world, and I think he has an opportunity to.”
