Oklahoma Sports Net OSN

Oklahoma Sports Blog has moved.  We are now a part of Emerald Quest and we can be found at oklahomasports.net.  We'll still be bringing you all of the latest Oklahoma Sports news.

What we cover:
High School
The OSSAA includes high schools all over the state.  We have football, basketball, baseball and more.  We report on Class C, Class B, Class A, Class 2A, Class 3A, Class 4A, Class 5A and Class 6A.  Everything from the state playoffs to stories about individual successes.  We  have interviews from coaches and players.  We've also added a new feature called FCA Spotlight.

College
We try to focus on some of the schools that may not get as much publicity from the major news outlets.  You'll still see coverage of OU, OSU, Tulsa and ORU. But we also give much coverage to Division II and NAIA programs.

Professional
We occasionally delve into the pro realm.  We've been known to report on the OKC Thunder and Tulsa Shock.

We hope you stop by often and make Oklahoma Sports Net a part of your daily routine.


As always let us know what you think. Contact us at joey@oklahomasports.net.

Pink Sheets (After March 25)

The Final Four is set and here are the scores as of tonight:



Jacob 135
Jenna 126
Joey 117
Josh 102
Jeremy 95
Mark 72
Jacey 50

Pink Sheets (After March 23)

The Elite Eight is set and Jacob is still is the lead.



Jacob 119
Jenna 110
Joey 109
Jeremy 95
Josh 94
Mark 72
Jacey 50

Pink Sheets (After March 22)

After the first four games of the Sweet Sixteen...



Jacob 101
Jenna 92
Joey 85
Josh 76
Jeremy 71
Jark 60
Jacey 50

Note: I had to take 2 points from everyone's score because I mistakenly gave Temple the win way early in the morning in the airport on Sunday.  Sorry.  But everyone lost those two points, so no gain, no loss.

Pink Sheets (After March 17)

Here's the update from the airport. I hope this sends properly...

Joey 75
Jacob 73
Jeremy 69
Jenna 66
Josh 60
Mark 58
Jacey 36

First, this is sent from my iPhone, so there is no graphic.
Second, I need to advertise better next year.
Third, I may list Mark's name with a "J" next time...

Happy Thanksgiving!

In everything give thanks, for this is God's will!
Have a great thanksgiving!

New Site!

www.oklahomasportsblog.com

I haven't spent much time with Outside The Arc lately because I've been involved in another sports website venture.
My brother, Matthew, and I have started Oklahoma Sports Blog and are working with it pretty much daily. It launched Aug. 1 and we've seen a pretty good response so far. Come check us out.
And I haven't forgotten this page, but it may be on hiatus for awhile.

Mavs in Six!

In-Game Thoughts

Words cannot express how frustrated this Mavs fan is continuing to watch Dwyane Wade go to the free throw line when fouled on the floor.  It's also frustrating to see Rick Carlisle get Teed up arguing a LeBron James elbow to Dirk Nowitski's chest while Wade berated an official about a no-call and no one seemed to care.
I lived through enough of that officiating crap in 2006 when Dallas went through this in the NBA Finals and the Seattle Seahawks were violated in the Super Bowl.
Besides, Miami doesn't need the help when the Mavs are turning the ball over so much.

On The Mark

The Oklahoma City/Dallas series was a fun one to watch for someone who is a fan of both teams.  And though I personally cheered for the Thunder during the past week, it should be noted that OTA made its official prediction just before Game One.
I'm going to go put my Mavs jersey back on and get ready for the NBA Finals now...

OKC/DAL Game Five: 12 Down, 4 To Go

Once again

DAL/OKC Game Four: Age Before Beauty

When James Harden fouled out with 4:34 remaining in the fourth quarter, the Oklahoma City Thunder still had a 12-point advantage over the Dallas Mavericks.  But no one in a white jersey wanted to put the Mavs away and Dallas fought back.
The veteran Mavericks took advantage of a little momentum, a young Thunder team, and an incredibly hot shooting German and sucked life out the OKC Arena in overtime.  Dallas won Game Four 112-105 to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the Western Conference Finals.
Oklahoma City looked to put the terrible shooting of Game Three behind them and started off beautifully going 9-9 from the field and opening up an 18-6 lead to open the contest.  But wave after wave of Thunder scoring runs were patiently weathered by the older and more experienced Mavs.  And eventually the offensive meltdown caught up to OKC when Dallas closed out regulation with a 17-2 run, capped off by two Dirk Nowitski free throws with 6.4 seconds remaining.
When searching for answers about this game, the Thunder can also look at the 23 turnovers and missed free throws down the stretch.
Nowitski outdueled Kevin Durant 40-29 in points scored, but it was when those points were scored that told the story.  Nowitski lit up the basket once again in the fourth quarter with shots that looked physically impossible.  And Durant’s offense slipped quietly out of the building.
And the bench battle went to the Mavs again – Jason Terry’s 20 points were just a bit better than the 12 from Nick Collison combined with Harden’s seven.

DAL/OKC Game Three: Muted Thunder

Dallas Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said the Oklahoma City Thunder responded in Game Two.  He went on to say that the Mavs would have to respond to that responding in Game Three.

Respond they did.  

Dallas regained home-court advantage with a 93-87 win in Oklahoma City on Saturday night.

Dallas got out to an early lead and on more than one occasion in the second period led by 23 points.  The Thunder looked like as though they thought the game was being in Edmond and showed up late to the party.  Their offense didn’t begin to get underway until late in the third quarter. 

In addition, the highest scoring team in the playoffs this season nearly set an NBA playoff record for long-range shooting futility by going 1-17 behind the arc.

Granted, OKC mounted an impressive rally and pulled to within four in the final minute, but the hole they dug themselves was just too great.

A big key to the Game Three win for the Mavs was incredible ball movement in the first half.  Dallas just looked like they were in a different gear through the first 24 minutes and every pass went exactly where and to whom it needed to go.  Also, the experience of the Mavericks with Dirk Nowitski, Jason Kidd, Shawn Marion, Jason Terry, and the rest seemed to be a major factor as the series shifted sites.

And Marion threw his name in the hat for Best Performance by a Player in a Supporting Role with a team-high 18 points (matching Dirk’s scoring output) and was everywhere he needed to be with rebounds, deflections and steals.

The media made such a big deal about Russell Westbrook’s pine time in the fourth quarter of Game Two, but guard play wasn’t the main issue in the early going in this one.  In the first-ever conference finals game in Oklahoma City, the Thunder collectively looked tight and tense. 

As for Westbrook, he looked none the worse for wear, or the media’s overhyped beatdown.  He looked more like the Westbrook of Game Seven in the Memphis series and scored as well as distributed.

Kevin Durant, on the other hand, fell prey to the tough Dallas defense and couldn’t ever get going.

With Game Four looming on Monday, the Thunder need to spend a little more time in the shootaround to try to overcome the 36 percent performance from tonight.   The shots are going to have fall more in the first half for OKC if they are going to respond to the response of the response.

OKC/DAL Game Two: Second Team Wins The Second Game

So Dirk is human.
It was likely that Nowitski wouldn’t match the 48 points he had in Game One, and this was so for a number of reasons – Coach Scott Brooks would come up with a different defensive scheme; a new officiating crew might not send him to the line 24 times (and he may actually miss!); and hey, 48 points is a lot!

But even with a 16-point fourth quarter, it still seemed as though Dirk had come down to earth.

James Harden, on the other hand, was headed for orbit as the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Dallas Mavericks, 106-100, and gained a split in the Metroplex.

Harden and the OKC bench appeared to take personally that Jason Terry outscored them all by himself on Tuesday night.  Harden had a career scoring night with 23 points and was 4 for 7 from outside the arc.  The Thunder’s second unit plus Kevin Durant played almost the entire final period and earned their time on the court.

In fact, after Russell Westbrook picked up his fourth foul at the end of the third quarter, he never re-entered the contest.  It was somewhat surprising because Westbrook completely turned his game around from Game One.  He had 18 points in three quarters and shot the ball much better.  He looked like a point guard, not just a ball handler.

Give credit to Coach Brooks who decided that chemistry of a set of five was bigger than the play of one and kept the crew on the court that was doing the damage to the Mavs.  Make no mistake, the starting five for the Thunder need to remain starters.  But Harden, Eric Maynor, and Nick Collison were the difference makers tonight.

The Thunder goes home on Saturday night to face the Mavericks in OKC Arena knowing they have wrested home-court advantage away from the Red River rivals.

OKC/DAL Game One: All Dirk, All The Time

There was no one in the states of Texas or Oklahoma, much less in the American Airlines Center, who could guard Dirk Nowitski on Tuesday night.  He has been just about as unstoppable as one player can be in the 2011 playoffs.  The Dallas Mavericks took Game One over the Oklahoma City Thunder, 121-112.
The 13-for-13 free throw shooting performance in the third quarter was just an added bonus to go with the turn-around jumpers and all-around great play.  Dirk had 48 points on the strength of 12-for-15 from the field and had an NBA record 24 made free throws with no misses.  The Thunder had no answet for Nowitski's offense and it seemed that the only reason he stopped scoring was so he could let J.J. Barea go off on Nate Robinson in the fourth quarter.
In Kevin Durant's first conference finals appearance, he put on a show of his own.  He shot 10-for-18 from the field and his free throw was almost as good at 18-of-19.
And as much as Russell Westbrook looked like a great point guard in Game Seven of the Memphis series on Sunday, he looked as though the ball was stuck to his hands tonight.  Creating only three assists to go along with shooting 3-of-15 from the field simply is not going to get it done in the conference finals.
But the fantastic and timely shooting by Jason Terry and gutsy play from Shawn Marion was overshadowed by an incredible scoring display from the 7-foot Maverick veteran, who didn't even attempt a three-pointer in this one.
It was simply a show for the ages.  If you didn't see this one, set up your DVR for the first time it shows up on ESPN Classic.
Coach Scott Brooks has to go back to the drawing board for Game Two on Thursday.

Do I Really Want To Make This Prediction?

I have been a fan of the Dallas Mavericks since the '80s.  But I always said that if Oklahoma ever got a major professional team I would cheer for it.
Now I have the dream matchup in the conference finals I have looked forward to.
So before the tip, and though I will be cheering for the Thunder, I'm going to say...          Mavs in 5.

.......

Royals Manager Should Be Linked To Historically Bad Pitching Performance

Kansas City Royals’ manager Ted Yost was interviewed in Detroit this weekend during his team’s series with the Tigers.  Yost said that he doesn’t worry about how long a player has been in the major leagues when he decides which one to put on the mound.
“I think if you’re a big-leaguer, you’re a big-leaguer, and I don’t try to protect guys in the big leagues,” Yost said.  “I throw them right into the fire and let them go.  They’re big-league players.  They’ve earned their way here.”
Apparently Yost doesn’t try to protect any of his players – young, old, or struggling in colossal fashion.
Monday night, the Royals were at home to face the Cleveland Indians.  It seemed as though the only thing the Royals did right was to get their uniforms on properly.  Cleveland trounced them 19-1.
The issue here is not the loss but the historic significance in the way it went down.  Relief pitcher Vin Mazzaro gave up 14 runs in a three-inning stretch, including 10 runs in the fourth.  It will go down as the worst pitching performance in Royals’ history and one of the worst ever.
This game has been shown repeated on Sportscenter and other similar shows through the night and day today and understandably so.  What I don’t understand is how this situation came about.
Was Yost not watching this game?  How can a manager let one of his team collapse in such grand fashion?
Seriously?!  Mazzaro gave up 10 runs in the fourth and Yost dragged him back out on the mound to be whipped more.  It’s clear that Yost isn’t trying to protect his players, any of them.

It should be noted that Mazzaro was sent down to Triple-A immediately after the contest.  Well of course he was!  A 25-year-old Nolan Ryan would have been sent down to Triple-A following a meltdown like that.
Mazzaro will go down in history for the bad performance on display Monday night.  But a portion of the blame/credit definitely should go to Ted Yost for not knowing when to get a struggling member of HIS team out of the game in a timely and reasonable manner.