SB Nation - Jean-Paul Olukemi

Know Your Quarterfinal Rival: Oklahoma State

Bill C. — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 14:51:07 -0000

UPDATE: Just saw that Philip Jurick is out tonight. Updated to account for that.

LEAVE YOUR TRIFECTA PICKS IN COMMENTS.

Hopefully I have three games to preview over the next three days; for each, I'm going to flip the format around a little bit considering this will be Preview No. 3 for each opponent. Instead of looking at their season or "since last time" stats, let's focus just on the two times these two teams played.

Missouri Vs. Oklahoma State (1-1)

	MU	OSU
Pace (No. of Possessions)	65.0
Points Per Minute	1.94	1.80
Points Per Possession (PPP)	1.19	1.11
Points Per Shot (PPS)	1.23	1.27
2-PT FG%	52.8%	55.8%
3-PT FG%	29.7%	40.7%
FT%	84.8%	71.4%
True Shooting %	55.2%	58.9%

	MU	OSU
Assists/Gm	11.5	15.0
Steals/Gm	8.0	6.0
Turnovers/Gm	8.0	11.0
Ball Control Index (BCI) (Assists + Steals) / TO	2.44	1.91

	MU	OSU
Expected Off. Rebounds/Gm	12.5	10.0
Offensive Rebounds/Gm	12.0	7.0
Difference	-0.5	-3.0

Where Mizzou Has Enjoyed The Biggest Matchup Advantages

Rebounding. In both games, Oklahoma State was prevented from deriving any sort of advantage on the offensive glass. Granted, it didn't matter in Stillwater, since the Cowboys chose not to miss many shots; still, Mizzou has done well here. We know rebounding is rather effort- and matchups-driven -- considering the teams against whom Mizzou has done well (and not so well) against, these are the only factors that make sense. OSU has some size in Michael Cobbins and Marek Soucek, but while that size has translated pretty well on defense, it hasn't helped the 'Pokes on the offensive glass. And without Philip Jurick or Le'Bryan Nash ... yeah, it doesn't look good for OSU.

Ball Control. Mizzou hasn't shot amazingly well (mostly because of the game at Gallagher-Iba) and therefore hasn't had great assist totals, but they haven't suffered many turnovers either, and the turnovers they force are mostly of the steals (i.e. turnovers that stay in play!) variety.

Fouls. OSU beat Missouri in Stillwater via jumpers, mostly from Nash and Brian Williams. They did not necessarily play a physical brand of offense, and accordingly, they drew only 20 fouls in two games. Mizzou, meanwhile, drew 26 and shot 37 free throws to OSU's 27.

Where OSU Has Enjoyed The Biggest Matchup Advantages

The Long Ball. Granted, two hot streaks (only one of which mattered) cloud this data a bit. Le'Bryan Nash made three in a row late in the game in Stillwater, while Keiton Page made four in a row against Missouri's walk-ons after Mizzou had taken a 30-point lead in Columbia. Of the other 20 3-pointers the Cowboys took in the two games, they only made four of them (25.0%). Still, if nothing else this does prove that OSU can be an incredibly streaky team, and if they find a good streak, they can stick around a while.

Interior Defense. OSU blocked 10 shots in two games, including seven in Stillwater. Michael Cobbins is an excellent defender in that regard, and Phillip Jurick proved capable of muscling Ricardo Ratliffe around at times. Then again, Ratliffe still averaged 20 points and 12 boards in the two contests, and Jurick is out anyway, so ... what was my point again?

Common Opponents

Game	Missouri	OSU
Baylor	W (+15)	L (-4)
at Baylor	W (+1)	L (-41)
Iowa State	W (+6)	W (+2)
at Iowa State	W (+7)	L (-3)
Kansas	W (+3)	L (-12)
at Kansas	L (-1)	L (-15)
Kansas State	L (-10)	L (-8)
at Kansas State	L (-16)	L (-19)
Oklahoma	W (+38)	W (+7)
at Oklahoma	W (+3)	L (-13)
Texas	W (+9)	W (+12)
at Texas	W (+1)	L (-9)
Texas A&M	W (+19)	W (+18)
at Texas A&M	W (+9)	L (-15)
Texas Tech	W (+13)	W (+8)
at Texas Tech	W (+22)	W (+17)

No real point to this. Just thought it was fun. And on average, per matchup, it shows a Missouri advantage of about 11.9 points, for whatever that's worth to you.

Mizzou Player Stats Vs. OSU

Player	*AdjGS/Gm**	GmSc/Min	Line
Ricardo Ratliffe	22.4	0.73	30.5 MPG, 20.0 PPG (62% 2PT, 89% FT), 12.0 RPG, 1.0 BPG, 2.0 TOPG
Phil Pressey	15.1	0.47	32.0 MPG, 11.5 PPG (56% 2PT, 40% 3PT, 88% FT), 6.0 RPG, 4.5 APG, 2.5 SPG, 2.0 TOPG
Marcus Denmon	13.6	0.41	33.0 MPG, 17.0 PPG (46% 2PT, 33% 3PT, 90% FT), 3.5 RPG, 1.5 SPG, 1.0 APG, 1.5 TOPG
Kim English	8.5	0.25	33.5 MPG, 10.5 PPG (60% 2PT, 14% 3PT), 3.0 RPG, 1.5 APG, 1.0 SPG
Mike Dixon	7.4	0.32	23.5 MPG, 9.5 PPG (67% 2PT, 25% 3PT), 2.5 APG, 1.0 RPG, 1.5 TOPG
Matt Pressey	5.0	0.17	28.5 MPG, 5.5 PPG (11% 2PT, 40% 3PT, 60% FT), 2.0 RPG, 2.0 APG, 1.5 SPG
Steve Moore	4.2	0.31	13.5 MPG, 3.5 PPG (60% 2PT, 100% FT), 2.0 RPG

* AdjGS = a take-off of the Game Score metric (definition here) accepted by a lot of basketball stat nerds. It redistributes a team's points based not only on points scored, but also by giving credit for assists, rebounds (offensive & defensive), steals, blocks, turnovers and fouls. It is a stat intended to determine who had the biggest overall impact on the game itself, instead of just how many balls a player put through a basket.

Highest Usage%: Williams (25%), Brown (24%), Page (21%), Guerrero (14%)
Highest Floor%: Jurick (67%), Cobbins (60%), Page (47%), Williams (43%)
Highest %Pass: Guerrero (85%), Jurick (66%), Brown (60%), Page (50%)
Highest %Shoot: Page (50%), Cobbins (43%), Williams (32%), Brown (28%)
Highest %Fouled: Williams (26%), Cobbins (10%), Everybody Else (0%)
Highest %T/O: Cobbins (16%), Brown (12%), Jurick (11%), Williams (3%)

OSU Player Stats Vs. Mizzou

Notice: there is no Le'Bryan Nash or Philip Jurick in the table below. Nash fractured his hand at Oklahoma and will miss the rest of the season, while Jurick tore his Achilles. Without them (and Jean-Paul Olukemi, who was lost for the season a while back), Oklahoma State is painfully, amazingly thin, with only five remaining role players from the first two OSU-Mizzou games. Almost by default, we will see quite a bit more of Cezar Guerrero (who had a lovely game against Texas Tech last night -- 30 minutes, 16 points on 6-11 shooting, two assists and two steals), Marek Soucek (7'0, 235, Fr.) and Christien Sager (6'3, 200, Fr.) tonight; Soucek and Sager combined to play just three minutes against Missouri this season.

Nash's absence will not only impact OSU's offensive upside; it will also completely change Kim English's role. English's primary job in Columbia was to kill himself guarding Nash, and for long periods of the game it worked. Now, English is more likely to be paired with somebody like Michael Cobbins, who is mostly nonexistent offensively (he scores mostly on putbacks and dunks) but active on the glass. English will have quite the quickness advantage over Cobbins on offense as well.

(And yes, the stats below do count Keiton Page's late barrage of 3-pointers against Mizzou's walk-ons at Mizzou Arena.)

Player	*AdjGS/Gm**	GmSc/Min	Line
Keiton Page (5'9, 165, Sr.)	16.1	0.43	37.5 MPG, 17.5 PPG (54% 2PT, 44% 3PT), 2.5 APG, 2.5 RPG, 1.5 SPG
Michael Cobbins (6'8, 220, RSFr.)	14.4	0.44	33.0 MPG, 8.0 PPG (88% 2PT, 100% FT), 8.5 RPG, 2.5 BPG, 2.0 SPG, 1.5 TOPG
Brian Williams (6'5, 205, RSFr.)	11.8	0.36	32.5 MPG, 15.0 PPG (56% 2PT, 0% 3PT, 71% FT), 2.0 RPG, 2.0 APG
Markel Brown (6'3, 190, So.)	5.4	0.18	31.0 MPG, 8.5 PPG (41% 2PT, 50% 3PT), 3.5 APG, 2.5 RPG, 1.5 SPG, 1.0 BPG, 4.0 TOPG
Cezar Guerrero (6'0, 175, Fr.)	0.5	0.05	10.0 MPG, 0.0 PPG, 2.5 APG, 1.5 RPG

Highest Usage%: Williams (25%), Brown (24%), Page (21%)
Highest Floor%: Cobbins (60%), Page (47%), Williams (43%)
Highest %Pass: Guerrero (85%), Brown (60%), Page (50%)
Highest %Shoot: Page (50%), Cobbins (43%), Williams (32%)
Highest %Fouled: Williams (26%), Cobbins (10%), Everybody Else (0%)
Highest %T/O: Cobbins (16%), Brown (12%), Williams (3%)

Keys to the Game

Don't Let Page Get Hot. If Keiton Page has a bad game tonight, the only way OSU can win is if either a) Mizzou hits an amazingly cold, and sustained, offensive rough patch or b) Brian Williams, Markel Brown or Cezar Guerrero get incredibly hot. Granted, (b) isn't out of the realm of possibility (Williams did have a fantastic game against Missouri in Stillwater, Brown is occasionally scary, and Guerrero is improving quickly), but you still have to like Mizzou's chances very much if Page is held to, say, fewer than 15 points.
'Cardo. We've been debating for a few weeks how much defense plays a role in poor 3-point shooting. All I know for sure is that Oklahoma State's defensive 3PT% for the season is pretty damn good, and that Missouri has only made 30 percent of its 3-pointers in two games against the 'Pokes. No need to get sucked into some "bombs away" game if you don't have to. Move the ball, dump it inside to Ricardo Ratliffe, and take as many shorter shots as possible. Force the inexperienced Soucek to defend without fouling. Cobbins and company will block some shots ... but not all of them. Ratliffe scored 40 points in 61 minutes versus the 'Pokes this year, and that was with Jurick involved. Make that about 60 points in 90 minutes, and Mizzou's in excellent shape.
~~Road~~ Neutral Court Things. There will almost certainly be quite a few more Mizzou fans in attendance tonight than OSU fans (call it a hunch), but for this game, the effort stats will mean quite a bit. So we'll break out the Road Things™ template again: offensive rebounds, fouls and Phil Pressey. If these three things go in Mizzou's favor, odds are very good that the Tigers are playing again on Friday night.

Prediction

Ken Pomeroy's projections say Mizzou wins by a 79-67 margin. With no Nash or Jurick, I'll go with more like 81-64. I honestly feel bad for Travis Ford -- he has had horrid injury luck this year (I feel nauseous even saying this, but imagine if Mizzou had lost not only Laurence Bowers but also Steve Moore and Kim English this season?); that said ... show no mercy.

The Preview You Must View: OK State vs Texas Tech

E. Carnes — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 18:09:17 -0000

Despite finishing dead last (or, if you're a Red Raider fan, finishing 10th out of 10 teams), Texas Tech has improved tremendously over this season. Tonight, we'll find out if it's enough to upset Oklahoma State in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament.

It's a tall order for Billy Gillispie's squad. Despite being short three key players (Le'Bryan Nash with a broken arm, Jean-Paul Olukemi with a knee injury, and Philip Jurick with a torn Achilles' tendon), the Cowboys can be a dangerous team. After all, they still have three-point shooting wind-up toy Keiton Page, who averages 16.8 points and 1.5 steals a game.

Seventh-seeded Oklahoma State went 13-17 overall and 7-11 in Big 12 play. The Cowboys logged some bad losses (Oklahoma, Texas A&M) and some solid wins (Mizzou, Iowa State). They've already beaten Texas Tech twice: once by 8 points and once by 17 points.

To keep that from happening a third time, Texas Tech will need all hands on deck, including Ty Nurse (8.9 points per game), Jaye Crockett (8.7 points per game), Javarez Williams (8.2 points per game), and - of course - the official savior of Texas Tech basketball, Jordan Tolbert (11.4 points and 5.7 rebounds per game).

The Red Raiders went 8-22 overall and 1-17 in Big 12 play. Their single conference win was against Oklahoma, although they recently gave Texas an overtime scare.

Both teams are very young. Although Oklahoma State is the more talented team, they've had an up-and-down season (how can the same team beat Mizzou, but lose to A&M?), while Texas Tech has been steadily improving. Keiton Page isn't likely to let the Red Raiders sneak in a win, but it will be fun to watch Tolbert and co. give it their best shot.

The game is at 8:30 CST and airs on the Big 12 Network. The winner faces Mizzou on Thursday.

Poll

Who wins tonight?

Oklahoma State

50 votes

Texas Tech

9 votes

59 votes | Poll has closed

Texas Tech vs. Oklahoma St. | Game Preview

Seth C — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 16:00:16 -0000

TEXAS TECH (8-22, 1-17)
VS.
OKLAHOMA ST. (14-17, 7-11)

Game Essentials

Texas Tech Starting 5

Javarez Willis (5-11/170) | 8.2 PPG | 1.8 APG
Ty Nurse (6-1/180) | 8.8 PPG | 1.9 APG
Luke Adams (5-9/150) | 4.0 PPG | 1.1 APG
Jordan Tolbert (6-7/210) | 11.3 PPG | 5.7 REB
Robert Lewandowski (6-10/256) | 6.8 PPG | 3.0 REB

Oklahoma St. Starting 5

Cezar Guerrero (6-0/175) | 5.1 PPG | 1.5 APG
Keiton Page (5-9/165) | 16.8 PPG | 2.1 APG
Markel Brown (6-3/190) | 10.4 PPG | 4.1 RPG
Brian Williams (6-5/205) | 8.9 PPG | 3.1 RPG
Mike Cobbins (6-8/220) | 5.2 PPG | 4.3 RPG

WHAT TO EXPECT

THE BIG 12 HAS DRUNK TEXAS TECH'S MILKSHAKE | This has been a long season with only one win to show for the entire conference season (thanks Oklahoma!) and I've said repeatedly that I don't know what else to write. We've seen this movie before in that Texas Tech doesn't have the depth or the skill or the talent level to compete in the Big 12 and I don't know how much we're going to know going into next year either as it wouldn't surprise me to see at least six new players next year, maybe more. I don't know that anyone will be able to predict what next will have in store as well, but this game very well could be the last game that you see a majority of these players. There will be a long offseason to guess who will or will not be in Lubbock next year, but there will be a roster overhaul.

SHORTHANDED COWBOYS | Oklahoma St. is a bit short-handed as terrific freshman LeBryan Nash and Phillip Jurick will not be available on Saturday. I can recall that Jean-Paul Olukemi was also lost for the season, so that's at least three players that OSU won't have for Wednesday night, although Olukemi has been out for most of the year. Still, head coach Travis Ford won't play a lot of additional players, so you can pretty much expect OSU to roll with their starting five for pretty much the entire game.

KEY MATCHUPS

TOLBERT/LEWANDOWSKI VS. WILLIAMS/COBBINS | I'm pretty sure that I've written that the Texas Tech post players should have an advantage, but in this case, it really should be true. I think that Williams is more of an outside threat and in previous games Nash was playing Tolbert (if I remember correctly), but OSU really doesn't have much, if anything behind either of these two players. Seriously, I need for Tolbert and Lew to do something.

PAGE VS. ADAMS | There was a time this year that I thought that eventually Luke Adams could eventually be Page, but after reflecting on that, I think I realized that this is completely unfair to Page and Adams. Page is a 5-9 white guy who can light it up, but thinking something like that diminishes what a guy like Page has done at Oklahoma St. and the thought that any sharp-shooting white guy can do the same isn't appropriate either. Page isn't the best shooter for OSU, but he's been incredibly solid since his freshman year and he always has a knack for getting off a shot despite being so much shorter than everyone else. That's a talent and it shouldn't be overlooked or dismissed. Adams would have a long ways to go to reach the level of what Page has done and if Adams had half the career that Page has had, it would be an unmitigated success for Texas Tech from a walk-on, but it's not fair to think that they're even remotely the same player.

Oklahoma State Preview: Is Frank's Way Still Working?

Ahearn Alley — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 23:00:37 -0000

Before I get started with today's post, I'd like to apologize for jinxing the ‘Cats before last Saturday's disaster against Oklahoma. I felt bad about that and knew I couldn't write a Texas preview without mentioning the streak, so I just decided to skip that one.

For a preview of ~~an easy~~ a ~~challenging~~ .......road game against fellow 2-3 opponents Oklahoma State, click the jump.

By the way, did anyone else feel less nervous than they should have down the stretch because it was against Texas, or was that just me? The free throw shooting was atrocious and it ended up feeling like a loss, but it's starting to become sort of hard to remember what a loss to Texas in a revenue sport even feels like.

Unfortunately, one thing that's become harder and harder to forget is a certain familiar trend in the way Frank Martin handles his lineups and rotation. It's been talked about a fair amount here, but I feel like it needs to be brought to the forefront.

Most teams, by this point in the season, have a fairly solid starting lineup and then at least 2 or 3 guys that are depended on consistently off the bench. Frank has never seemed to subscribe to that philosophy, and doesn't really seem to solidify his lineup and rotation until late January, at the earliest.

Rodney McGruder (who has become the stud we all were hoping for and them some of late), Will Spradling, and Jamar Samuels are the only guys that have started all five games so far, though Thomas Gipson will obviously become a permanent fixture in the lineup if JO does not return.*

Will, Rodney and Jamar are also the only players on the team that have seen at least 16 minutes of action every game in Big 12 play. That's not a lot, and I can't imagine that's good for team chemistry.

*I've seen "indefinitely suspended" turn into "dismissed" too often to not be a little nervous here, but hopefully he didn't do anything too terrible and JO and Frank can work out whatever disagreements they're having. Without going into too much detail, I will assure you from personal experience that I don't have a lot of faith in JO's ability to make intelligent decisions off the basketball court, but that's probably not an earth-shattering revelation.

I was going to try to extrapolate some trends from the data and while that could be productive, so instead of doing that, I'll just present the data for playing time from K-State's other nine players in the first five conference games.

Of course, there are some external factors, such as garbage time vs. MU/KU, and the Nino Williams/JO/Angel situations, whatever those are.

Player	@KU	vs.MU	vs.BU	@OU	vs.UT
Gipson	16	12	22	15	16
Irving	26	25	24	15	22
Southwell	9	25	9	30	11
Williams	12	4	0	15	0
Rodriguez	10	19	12	0	15
Diaz	2	2	0	0	8
Henriquez	21	26	27	8	8
Jones	4	3	4	14	9
Ojeleye	0	4	0	3	19

Still, it really seems like there's too much variation to expect this team to really develop any kind of consistency. What the hell was Victor Ojeleye doing getting 19 minutes vs. Texas? In case you were wondering, he had 2 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 turnovers.

The results of these wild fluctuations in the lineups aren't hard to see on the court (or in Frank's early conference season history), as K-State can go on an 11-0 run then give up a 19-2 run in the same half, as it did in the first 20 minutes against Texas when Frank went 12 deep.

Certainly benching a player when he makes a mistake or has a bad practice can be a valuable teaching tool at times, but it's getting out of control and I can't imagine all of the players are enjoying the system, either.

To look at an example on the opposite end of the spectrum, Missouri has seven scholarship players and is the #5 team in the country.

The Tigers' talent level isn't that much above Kansas State's, and they have some glaring weaknesses (Kim English can't guard a quality 4-man) but you don't need to be a basketball genius to realize the value of how well they play together.

I don't know everything that happens in practices, and as long as Frank continues to meet or exceed expectations in March, it's hard to complain too much. Plus, it's easy to forget now, but this team has still probably exceeded most people's expectations so far, especially when you factor in nonconference.

Still, the repeated miscommunication and inconsistent play that seem to stem from the constant mixing and matching of lineups can be really frustrating to watch.

Oklahoma State's last three results are quite confusing. The Cowboys struggled to knock off Oklahoma in Stillwater, got absolutely obliterated at Baylor, then might have won at Iowa State if not for a bank error in the Cyclones' favor that completed an improbable late rally.

Basically, even though Gallagher-Iba may be eerily empty on Saturday, this is not a team K-State can afford to take lightly. Oh by the way, the ‘Cats haven't won in Stillwater since Dana Altman's team prevailed 75-62 in overtime in 1993. Yikes.

Even though he hasn't really lived up to the hype, the Cowboys' best player is freshman Le'Bryan Nash, a freakishly athletic wing player and is one of the most inconsistent players in the country. He has had his struggles shooting the basketball, but will kill you if you let him get to the rim.

~~He gets some help inside from Jean-Paul Olukemi, another versatile forward in the mold of Jamar Samuels, making that a really interesting matchup to watch.~~

Incredibly, though, the Cowboys are led in scoring by that irritating hobbit, Keiton Page, who is playing for his (just off the top of my head) 14th and (supposedly) final year.

K-State has shown in the past that he can be stopped and even flustered with constant high-pressure defense, but if you underestimate him for even a moment, he can be tricky. Just like Bilbo.

Hopefully Rod's remarkably improved floater game won't be deterred by Philip Jurick, the 6-11 reserve who is 4th in the Big 12 in blocked shots. Rod likely will be facing Markel Brown, one of the best perimeter defenders in the league.

In fact, Oklahoma State's defense has been rather stifling this season, holding conference opponents to less than 41-percent shooting (2nd to only KU), so K-State must prepare for a battle. Winning the rebounding battle would be nice as well, but we learned in Norman that doesn't help so much if you aren't making shots.

Rodney has been the undeniable leader of this team so far, and road games are generally where leadership is needed the most. It would help a lot to avoid an awful start like the one we saw last Saturday, since K-State should still be the favorite in this one and doesn't want to let OSU gain any kind of confidence.

I wish I could tell you what to expect with any sort of certainty, but really, I have absolutely no idea. All I know is if K-State lays another egg Saturday afternoon, Frank's critics are going to start getting louder.

Big 12 Hoops Conference Call

Evan Pfaff — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 18:00:44 -0000

This week we look at fanbases who might freak out, 5-star recruits, K-State's impossible start to conference play and Big 12 players/coaches as politicians. The questions....

1. Fred Gulley and Reger Dowell transferred, Jean-Paul Olukemi is out for the year. Le'Bryan Nash is shooting 36.4% from the field. Time for Oklahoma St. Cowboys fans to freak out?

2. In the last 11 games, Texas A&M has cracked 70 points once (against Arkansas Tech).They are now 9-4 with Sagarin's 338th ranked schedule. Time for Aggie fans to freak out?

3. The Big 12 signed three 5-star recruits last year, Myck Kabongo, Quincy Miller and Le'Bryan Nash. All have shown flashes but none have dominated the way we've seen some other top notch conference freshman dominate in years past. Which of these guys is most likely to consistently play like a 5-star recruit first?

4. Who did K-State piss off to start conference play at Kansas then home versus Mizzou and Baylor? If you're a Wildcat fan, what record are you happy with after the first three games? Do you jump off a cliff at 0-3?

5. The Iowa Caucus took place yesterday. Disregarding political affiliations, which Big 12 player or coach would make the best politician?

Our answers, after The Jump.

1. Fred Gulley and Reger Dowell transferred, Jean-Paul Olukemi is out for the year. Le'Bryan Nash is shooting 36.4% from the field. Time for Oklahoma St. Cowboys fans to freak out?

Joe Loyd: Umm yeah most definitely. Is it too early in the season for Cowboy fans to already be looking for a new basketball coaching prospect or taking a look at spring football depth charts?

E. Carnes: Markel Brown has a hip injury and didn't play all of their last game, either. If he's out, then it's only Keiton Page who has ever played a Big 12 game before. Freaking out is definitely warranted.

Nathan Kotisso: Hopefully Nash will step his game up for conference play but yeah, it's time to freak out. I don't believe coach Travis Ford is on the hot seat yet but his chair is getting warmer and warmer. Some of the players that made him successful were holdovers from the Sean Sutton era. He needs more time to carve out his own niche.

Evan Pfaff: Yes. The injury to J.P. couldn't be prevented, but the combination of that, the transfers and their highest rated recruit ever not performing up to his hype should all be a concern going forward for the Cowboys. They just simply haven't played good basketball and squeaked through a difficult non-con one game over .500. Now they go into arguably the toughest conference schedule in the country depleted and wounded.

2. In the last 11 games, Texas A&M has cracked 70 points once (against Arkansas Tech).They are now 9-4 with Sagarin's 338th ranked schedule. Time for Aggie fans to freak out?

JL: Once again yeah I think so especially with the round robin scheduling in the Big 12 this year which doesn't bode well for a team that doesn't consistently score points. I have not seen much of the Aggies to be honest so I can't begin to tell you what is fully wrong with them. Anybody have any comments?

EC: Time for a little freak out. If the Aggies lose to Iowa State or Texas, time for a big freak out. If the Aggies lose to Texas Tech, time for a full-blown panic attack. A&M has got to snap out of it and find a consistent way to score or it's going to be a rough second half of the season.

NK: If that doesn't grind your gears Aggie fans, ponder this. 5-8 Houston Baptist (No. 252) is ranked just above you all (No. 253) in the latest RPI. But I don't know if it's time to freak out just yet. It's hard to size up this team because the Aggies have either played top 25 teams or scrubs so far (except for Rice). The upcoming Iowa State and Texas games will be their second and third matchups against solid competition (meaning not ranked but not terrible). I'm in wait-and-see mode with the Ags.

EP: I don't think we ever thought A&M would be an offensive juggernaut, but I don't know if anyone would have suspected that they would be this inept. I wouldn't freak out if I were A&M... yet... as I feel they have talent. It brings up a question, really, of coaching. You look at Oklahoma and what Lon Kruger has been able to do with his talent level and you look at Billy Kennedy and what they haven't been able to do with his talent level. I hate to keep dogging coaches, but in college hoops a good coach is worth 5 games a season? Maybe 10?

3. The Big 12 signed three 5-star recruits last year, Myck Kabongo, Quincy Miller and Le'Bryan Nash. All have shown flashes but none have dominated the way we've seen some other top notch conference freshman dominate in years past. Which of these guys is most likely to consistently play like a 5-star recruit first?

JL: Well I am gonna take a shot in the dark and say Nash simply because he is going to be forced to do so with the defections around him. Obviously he won't have as much help around him now but for Nash now is the time.

EC: Nash still has a long way to go. It's closer between Kabongo and Miller, but I like Myck. And not just because I'm a Texas fan. I think Barnes can mold Kabongo into a more consistent, elite player before Drew can do the same with Miller (even if it means more public drubbings like after the Texas-UNC game).

NK: I'd say Miller but again none have been spectacular. If there wasn't so much depth he'd play more than his normal 20-25 minutes a game. Kabongo is an outstanding passer but has to learn to make the same plays minus the turnovers. Don't be surprised if all 3 decide to come back for sophomore seasons.

EP: I have seen the most potential out of Quincy Miller. His athleticism and height is just unmatched, problem is that he lost his senior year of high school with a torn ACL and now must face D1 players. That is a tough transition. I do think Kabongo is closer than any of the three today, but Miller will surpass him.

4. Who did K-State piss off to start conference play at Kansas then home versus Mizzou and Baylor? If you're a Wildcat fan, what record are you happy with after the first three games? Do you jump off a cliff at 0-3?

JL: This is just typical K-State scheduling from the Big 12 as they messed up and actually gave the Wildcats a home football game to start conference play this year so they figured they would get them on the back end in basketball. There is obviously some sarcasm in that statement but some truth as well since it was a well known fact amongst KSU fans that the football team always started on the road in the conference which isn't easy. The only thing can say about this schedule is maybe if they can steal a win or two early then it could set the Wildcats up for a good run this year.

EC: Don't give Joe ideas. It's not the way I would want to start conference play, but I wouldn't be too worried about an 0-3 start for them. No shame for any team in the Big 12 losing to the top tier of the conference. That being said, it would be awfully beneficial for the Wildcats to beat one of those teams. If they go 0-3, it puts a lot of pressure on K-State not to drop games to second-tier teams like Oklahoma or Texas.

NK: I want to give credit to Joe for being bold in his stance for K-State. I saw a team that would struggle this year without Jacob Pullen and Curtis Kelly and he saw one that could contend in the Big 12. Kudos to you sir. If you're a fan, either a win against Mizzou or Baylor should do. The tournament committee will remember the team who knocked BU or MU first.

EP: Not sure just whose cape K-State stepped on, but man, that is brutal. And it's not like KU, Mizzou or Baylor snuck up on anyone, everyone thought they were going to be good from the get-go. I don't see K-State going 3-0 and think I would elated as a K-State fan at 2-1. 1-2 is probably more realistic, though with two games at the Octagon of Doom, you never quite know. But I still wouldn't jump off a cliff at 0-3. With the new round robin format you have to play each team twice so basically they're just getting this first pass out of the way earl.

5. The Iowa Caucus took place yesterday. Disregarding political affiliations, which Big 12 player or coach would make the best politician?

JL: Hmm very interesting question I must say. Gonna have to go with either Scott Drew at Baylor or Bill Self at KU since both seem to be very slick in their recruiting efforts and have the ability to influence people.

EC: My two favorite things to talk about! Frank Martin has the LBJ-style intimidation down, Travis Ford is working some Mitt Romney/John Edwards hair, and I bet Rick Barnes could use his recruiting skills to assemble a scary campaign machine. But my choice would be Kim English. He's well-spoken and would work the heck out of rope lines and photo ops. Plus, imagine all the money he could raise through social media...

NK: KU's Bill Self would be atop my list. All he does is get results so theoretically he'd torch other candidates at caucuses/primaries in every conceivable fashion. BTW, how about Romney and Santorum doing their best impression of Baylor and Missouri at the top! The Big 12's as up in the air as the GOP race.

EP: No doubt Kim English. Not only is he charismatic and media savvy, but If you haven't heard the story of how he helped get Baltimore mayor ~~Tommy Carcetti~~ Stephanie Rawlings-Blake to clean an abandoned playground outside his grandmother's house, you should take a look at this story by KOMU's Eric Blumberg.

Poll

Who would you want running your country/state/municipality?

Kim English

71 votes

Bill Self

54 votes

Scott Drew

22 votes

Frank Martin

21 votes

Travis Ford

2 votes

Rick Barnes

3 votes

Other

23 votes

196 votes | Poll has closed

Texas Tech vs. Oklahoma St. | Game Preview

Seth C — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 16:00:04 -0000

TEXAS TECH (7-5, 0-0)
VS.
OKLAHOMA ST. (7-6, 0-0)

Game Essentials

Texas Tech Starting 5

Javarez Willis (5-11/171) | 8.5 PPG | 2.5 AST
Ty Nurse (6-1/180) | 10.7 PPG | 1.6 AST
Terran Petteway (6-6/185) | 5.3 PPG | 2.2 REB
Jordan Tolbert (6-7/210) | 15.4 PPG | 6.0 REB
Robert Lewandowski (6-10/256) | 7.8 PPG | 4.3 REB

Oklahoma St. Starting 5

Keiton Page (5-9/165) | 13.0 PPG | 1.2 APG
Markel Brown (6-3/190) | 8.7 PPG | 6.0 RPG
Le'Bryan Nash (6-7/230) | 12.3 PPG | 5.0 RPG
Michael Cobbins (6-8/220) | 4.0 PPG | 3.7 RPG
Philip Jurick (6-11/270) | 1.9 PPG | 6.4 RPG

WHAT TO EXPECT

TOUGH NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE | Texas Tech has a better non-conference record, but OSU has played mch better opponents, the problem is that they have lost every gamem to all of those quality opponents. OSU wins come against TAMU-CC, Ark-Bine Bluff, UTSA, Tulsa (quality win), Langston, Missouri St. and SMU. The Cowboys have lost to a lot of very quality teams, Stanford, Virginia Tech (twice), Pittsburgh, New Mexico and Alabama. I think the problem for OSU is that they most likely thought they would have 3 wins from that group of quality opponents rather than none. Even then, I still think that on paper, OSU is significantly more talented with an RPI of #98, compared to #198 for Texas Tech, and that's even with one of the softest non-conference schedules for Texas Tech.

NOT A TYPICAL OSU TEAM | When I traditionally think of OSU, I always think of a team that plays incredibly annoying and tough man defense and has enough talented athletes and shooters to win 20 games a season. And a tough rebounding team, especially on the offensive boards. Thus far, that's not what we've seen from Oklahoma St. Right now, opponents have a 1 rebound advantage against Oklahoma St. and essentially have similar rebounding numbers to Texas Tech, although OSU is a better offensive rebounding team. OSU is holding opposing teams to under 40% from the field, which is good, but not enough to get any significant wins and that's just not a normal OSU team. I think the expectations for most Cowboy fans was a NCAA tournament spot, but I think that's in jeopardy, unless of course OSU goes on a tear in the conference, which seems likely.

One other thing to watch for OSU is that the Cowboys have some injury issues. Olukemi is out for this game and so I've plugged in Cobbins for the other possible starter. Not sure what OSU will do. Also, Brown is coming off an injury and there's a question as to whether or not he'll play, but I think he's scheduled to start and play.

KEY MATCHUPS

NASH VS. PETTEWAY & CROCKETT | Prior to Toddrick Gother's injury, I was fairly certain that he would take the opposing team's best scorer on defense. Not that Gotcher was some sort of shut down defender, but he was quick, gave good effot and had good size. Nash would have been a match-up problem for Texas Tech even if Gotcher had played. Last game Petteway got the start at small forward and given Nash's size, I'd expect an early dose of Petteway again and then expect to see plenty of Crockett as Crockett can better match-up with OSU's true freshman. And I think that if I'm either Petteway or Crockett, I let Nash have the outside shot. Despite being the second leading scorer on the team, he's only shooting 36% from the floor and 24% from beyond the three point line, which leads me to believe that he's probably pretty good going to the basket, but maybe TTU needs to give him whatever he wants from the outside.

PAGE VS. WILLIS | Seems like everytime that OSU beats Texas Tech, Page is having a good game and despite being 5-9, he's leading his team in scoring, but I don't know if he's truly leading his team. Page plays point guard, perhaps by default because of his height and Cezar Guerrero is the only other point guard on the team, but he's averaging only 1.4 assists per game, which is just behind team leaders, Brown and Roger Dowell who have 1.7 assists per game. Maybe this is a situation where Page is being asked to do too much heavy lifting from the scoring department and would be better suited setting up his teammates. Page is still a fantastic three point shooter and has hurt Texas Tech in the past with his three point shooting, but maybe the key is to let Page score, but if the ball is mainly in his hands and scoring, then he's not setting up his teammates.

Big 12 Basketball Power Rankings - Week 8

Evan Pfaff — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 16:30:04 -0000

We'll start separating pretenders from contenders with Big 12 play tipping off last night... and we've got some killer games to start which should shake things up.

Disagree with us? Put your rankings in the comments section.

1. Baylor Bears

Overall Record: 14-0 (1-0 conference)
Last Week's Record: 1-0
Last Week's Ranking/Movement: 2, up one spot
What Nathan Says: We know they can score but holding the Aggies to 28.6% from the floor is impressive.

2. Missouri Tigers

Overall Record: 13-0 (0-0)
Last Week's Record: 1-0
Last Week's Ranking/Movement: 1, down one spot
What Evan Says: Nail biter in their first true road game brought up some question marks as has their SOS. Conference play should be exciting.

3. Kansas Jayhawks

Overall Record: 10-3 (0-0)
Last Week's Record: 2-0
Last Week's Ranking/Movement: 3, same
What Nathan Says: There's no better way to start Big 12 play than to face their nemesis from Manhattan. Should be fun!

4. Kansas St. Wildcats

Overall Record: 11-1 (0-0)
Last Week's Record: 1-0
Last Week's Ranking/Movement: 4, same
What Evan Says: You'd have thought K-State was leaving the conference with the way the schedule makers set them up to begin Big 12 play: @KU -> vs Mizzou -> vs Baylor

5. Texas Longhorns

Overall Record: 10-3 (0-0)
Last Week's Record: 1-0
Last Week's Ranking/Movement: 5, same
What E. Carnes Says: The Longhorns look back on track after an easy win over Rice on Saturday.

6. Oklahoma Sooners

Overall Record: 10-2 (0-0)
Last Week's Record: 1-1
Last Week's Ranking/Movement: 6, same
What Evan Says: Sooners had the Cincy game in the bag, until they forgot to score down the stretch. Big test at Mizzou tonight might show up who the real OU team is.

7. Iowa St. Cyclones

Overall Record: 10-3 (0-0)
Last Week's Record: 1-0
Last Week's Ranking/Movement: 8, up one spot
What Nathan Says: They absolutely NEED this one against Texas to start building a tournament profile.

8. Texas A&M Aggies

Overall Record: 9-4 (0-1)
Last Week's Record: 1-1
Last Week's Ranking/Movement: 7, down one spot
What E. Carnes Says: Last week ended with backup guard Jamal Branch transferring from A&M and this week began with a loss to Baylor. The downward slide continues.

9. Oklahoma St. Cowboys

Overall Record: 7-6 (0-0)
Last Week's Results: 1-1
Last Week's Ranking/Movement: 9, same
What Evan Says: The loss of J.P. Olukemi cannot be overstated enough for a team that was already reeling. And looking back, maybe I was right about Travis Ford being on the hot seat?

10. Texas Tech Red Raiders

Overall Record: 7-5 (0-0)
Last Week's Record: 2-0
Last Week's Ranking/Movement: 10, same
What E. Carnes Says: This team is looking better now than at the beginning of the season. Let's call it the Tolbert Effect.

Rankings are based on averages of our individual picks. See how we each voted after The Jump.

Evan's Rankings:
1. Baylor
2. Mizzou
3. K-State
4. Kansas
5. Oklahoma
6. Texas
7. Iowa State
8. Texas A&M
9. Oklahoma State
10. Texas Tech

E. Carnes' Rankings:
1. Mizzou
2. Baylor
3. Kansas
4. Kansas State
5. Texas
6. Oklahoma
7. Iowa State
8.Texas A&M
9. Oklahoma State
10. Texas Tech

Nathan's Rankings:
1. Baylor
2. Missouri
3. Kansas
4. Kansas State
5. Texas
6. Oklahoma
7. Iowa State
8. Texas A&M
9. Oklahoma State
10. Texas Tech

Jean-Paul Olukemi Out For Year WIth Torn ACL

Evan Pfaff — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 22:31:04 -0000

Oklahoma St. Cowboys swingman Jean-Paul Olukemi is out for the year with a torn ACL, head coach Travis Ford announced Monday. Olukemi tore the ACL in the first half of the Cowboys' 67-61 loss to Virginia Tech on Saturday.

The 6-5 junior was third on the Cowboys in scoring on the season, averaging 9.4 points per game, while also grabbing 4.8 rebounds per game.

Fourth leading scorer Markel Brown also limped off the court on Saturday and is now listed as "day to day" with a hip injury, according to Ford.

So far this season Oklahoma State has been disappointing, posting a 7-6 record in non-conference play and the loss of Olukemi will severely affect the Cowboys scoring output. Highly touted freshman Le'Bryan Nash, who is not playing up to his top 10 Rivals.com ranking, will need to step up and help carry the team, along with Keiton Page.

Oklahoma State begins conference play on Wednesday when they host the Texas Tech Red Raiders.