OU guards are reason for concern

Missouri whacked the OU basketball team 73-64 Wednesday night, and Jeff Capel kept a stiff upper lip about his team’s newfound slump. “We’ll figure it out,” Capel said. “We’ve been really good all year.”

Not so. The Sooners aren’t really good, or even a little bit good, in their last three games, and OU’s guards have gone completely in the tank.

Here’s how bad it’s gotten. Capel has benched one of his guards each of the last three games for long stretches, and the message hasn’t really gotten across.

Capel played Austin Johnson for only 23 minutes against Kansas, basically going with seldom-used backup Omar Leary down the stretch. Johnson has played just so-so the last two games, and he got hot late against Missouri to reach so-so status — 11 points on 3-of-11 shooting.

Capel pulled Willie Warren from the starting lineup against Texas Tech for disciplinary reasons,  and Warren seemed to sulk in his 12 minutes. Didn’t even score. Against Mizzou, Warren, like his fellow guards, played like he was in quicksand: 35 minutes, four turnovers, 3-of-11 shooting.

Capel played Tony Crocker only 16 minutes against Missouri. Crocker had two points on 1-of-5 shooting.

The Griffin brothers came to play, combining for 30 points and 29 rebounds on 13-of-20 shooting, and though Blake Griffin had six turnovers, no one could claim he was anything but tenacious.