OU men's basketball: Still room for improvement
‘We can’t settle’ OU’s 6-0, but the perimeter shooting and bench production could get better

BY JOHN HELSLEY

Published: December 1, 2008

Leave it to Blake Griffin to add some levity to No. 11-and-rising Oklahoma’s most promising beginning under Jeff Capel — and the basketball program’s best start since 2003-04.

The Sooners are 6-0 and already own wins over two Top 25 teams, yet Griffin sees the warts along with the beauty marks.

"I think we’re right where we need to be right now,” Griffin said, "but we can’t settle.

"We need to keep improving.”

And the best news for the Sooners: they can improve, dramatically.

For your consideration:

→OU’s guards haven’t yet found their perimeter stroke. Cade Davis has been clutch off the bench, knocking down 13-of-31 shots from beyond the arc.

But starters Tony Crocker and Willie Warren have combined to make but 14-of-59 (23.7 percent), and the Sooners overall are making 3s at just a 29.5 percent clip. With teams overloading attention on Griffin, that’s not good enough.

→OU’s bench production remains a work in progress. Against UAB and Purdue in New York City, outside of Davis’ 22 points, the rest of the Sooner reserves combined for one point.

→This group is leaving too many points on the floor, shooting just 68.2 percent as a team. OU’s shown an ability to hit key free throws in crunch time. Yet this is an issue — if revealed to be a weakness — that could be a curse, because the Sooners are going to go to the line.

→Sometimes, the Sooners play like they forget they have an NBA star-in-waiting. Griffin doesn’t have to score on every possession, but he should at least touch the ball on most. He creates, not only for himself, but his teammates. And he’s unselfish.

OK, enough nit-picking on the backside of an NIT title.

It’s early. There’s a feeling out process still taking place, even for Capel, with a team working with six newcomers and a freshman starter in Warren.

Truth is, the season couldn’t have started much better for the Sooners.

There are more positives in the fact that they can improve — and likely will — perhaps dramatically.

If — when — the Sooners do, they’ll be ready to contend for more titles.

Your thoughts!