STILLWATER — In just over two months, Oklahoma State will make a short road trip to Oklahoma City for the Big 12 Men’s Basketball Tournament. On the eve of the Cowboys’ first conference game, the question is: What would constitute a good journey through conference play?
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Senior point guard Byron Eaton hasn’t pulled out a schedule and picked the Cowboys’ wins and losses, but he’s got a number in mind.
"I been telling my family that I definitely think we can win at least 10 games this year in the Big 12,” Eaton said. "That gives us 21 wins. I think we can do better than that, but I definitely think we can get 10.”
Success, Eaton said, would be arriving in Oklahoma City with definite plans for the next weekend. Since Eaton has been a Cowboy, Oklahoma State has always headed to the Big 12 Tournament in desperation mode, needing to win the conference championship to earn an NCAA Tournament berth.
"Hopefully, the Big 12 Tournament will just be an extra stamp of approval and we’re already in,” Eaton said.
Oklahoma State has had a pretty solid pre-conference performance. Under new coach Travis Ford, OSU is 11-3 heading into Saturday’s conference opener against Texas A&M. With the exception of two ugly performances — a loss to Michigan State in the Old Spice Classic and a meltdown at Washington in early December — OSU has competed hard and looked like a possible NCAA Tournament team.
Based on its first 14 games, OSU, picked to finish sixth in the conference by the coaches, looks like it could exceed expectations. Reaching Eaton’s prediction of 10 conference wins, however, still looks like a stretch at the moment. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has OSU as his fifth team out of the Tournament in this week’s "Bracketology.”
Ford isn’t yet ready to make bold predictions or even set concrete goals for OSU. He said he doesn’t set specific goals like that with new teams.
"I never really do that with first-year teams, because I really don’t know myself,” Ford said. "Other than we have a chance to compete. Our team, we’ve got some weaknesses. We are who we are. I think on any given night we can beat anybody and the exact opposite, probably.”
This first-year team is even harder than most to predict for a couple of reasons. First, the Cowboys are still getting used to a new system. Second, they’re extremely dependent upon perimeter shooting which, Ford likes to remind his players, can come and go. Finally, the Cowboys’ lack of a dominant — or even competitive, some nights — post presence is an issue. The Cowboys can make up for post points with their strong guard play, but defending some of the Big 12’s better post players will be problematic.
"We’re not overly deep, we’re not overly big,” Ford said. "We’ve gotta figure out how to rebound against Big 12 teams very, very quickly.
"I don’t want to set anything concrete or too unattainable. We’re still learning, so it’s tough.”
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"with the fall of the O-State basketball, wrestling and football programs". That's interesting. I guess I wasn't aware that the basketball, wrestling, and football programs had fallen. Well, we haven't won the Big 12 or gone to a Final Four in basketball in five years, so I guess that could be considered a "fall". It looks like there is a chance we might not win the National Championship in wrestling this year, so I suppose that might qualify as a "fall" (if you are an idiot). Darn it, I just can't figure out how the football team has "fallen". They improved from back-to-back 7-6 seasons to a 9-4 season and have some of the nicest facilities in the country. Nope, can't see a "fall" there.
Maybe with the fall of the O-State basketball, wrestling and football programs, Boone may want to add a ping pong and a horseshoes division to his Athletic Village.
MrBigglesworth, Sweetwater - Jan 8, 2009 at 1:46 pm
I am a huge OSU basketball fan but I really think it will be a tough remainder of the season. I think teams will cream us inside and our wins will be when we shot > 40% from outside. I think the team could also wear down. Chasing teams from behind versus playing out in front can wear a team out emotionally. There is a bright future.
I'm hoping for a .500 mark in conference play. Harris and Eaton are the keys. If Harris continues to shoot well, and Eaton doesn't hog the ball, it's a realistic goal. GO POKES!
If Ford has any rabbits in his hat, it's time to pull them out. He's getting ready to play with the big boys. Eddy Sutton was always ready for Big 12 play, and Ford has had months to get ready. Maybe he CAN teach his team to rebound in a couple of weeks...if not, 5th in the league might be optimistic.
I think the crowds will be there. Most of the students have been away on holiday, but they'll be coming back, and the fans will be there for the Big 12 opener. I went to the Mercer game. Had a complete ball there. It was so much fun! No, the place wasn't packed, but I didn't care. I saw my Cowboys in action, and I'll never forget the experience. Make some memories this Saturday in Stillwater. Go Pokes!
Have you been to a game in GIA this year? More people need to show up or that 5-6 pts it used to give us will be gone. I think there was a little over 4000 last game. It all starts this Saturday. Everyone needs to show up and be LOUD!!
OSU may not be able to out-rebound most teams in the Big 12, but I believe they can cause a lot of turn-overs with their steals and their hustle. I think they might be able to get out front of a lot of teams, and let them play catch-up, just because of the style of hard-nose defense, making it difficult each and every trip up the floor. This wears-down a team also - hopefully the opponent. Then you get in Gallagher-Iba and the team starts feeling the noise! Wow! You know our big men aren't really that bad. If they can learn good positioning, then that might counter-act the lack of height. Positioning is just as imp. as upward-stature, I believe. I kinda like Kirkland, Moses, and Brown. I'd like to see more scoring from them, but I would settle for consistent rebounding and maybe 8 to 10 points a game, perhaps 14 from the total combination, and 8 to 10 rebounds per game per committee. Moses is built like a Mac truck. Kirkland works hard, and Brown has pretty quick hands. Mix them all together and I think you got something, together with our very good guard and forward position players.
I am a huge OSU basketball fan but I really think it will be a tough remainder of the season. I think teams will cream us inside and our wins will be when we shot > 40% from outside. I think the team could also wear down. Chasing teams from behind versus playing out in front can wear a team out emotionally. There is a bright future.
I don't think Eaton is off the mark. I think he's pretty close to being right on. It might be only 9 wins, or it might be 11, but he's pretty close. 9 wins would give them a 20-win season, and that's pretty sweet for a 1st year coach at OSU. Yes, I believe we will beat OU at home. If OSU wins 20 or 21 games that would be my goal as a player and a coach. Let's get the wins, then see if we can get to the Dance. I think it is within their grasp. It starts Saturday. They need a win against a good A&M team.
A, one of the OU or Texas home games is a win - mark it down. Remember, it is still Gallager-Iba Arena. Remember, last year against Kansas (nat'l champs) at home - a packed crowd, an amped up team = upset.
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16 Big XII games. Let's count the losses. @Kansas - 1 loss. OU - 2 losses. Texas - 2 losses. @Baylor, @A&M.... That's 7 losses right there!