Tramel's ScissorTales: OU softball loses chance at NCAA history, but first loss could be good in the long run
Patty Gasso says losing a softball game should be good for her Sooners in the long run. And that’s a common refrain among coaches across most sports.
But man, it’s a bummer to waltz with history and come up short.
Texas beat OU 4-2 Saturday night in Austin, ending the Sooners’ 40-game winning streak and pinning the first loss of the season on the nation’s top-ranked team.
Losing the chance to take aim at Arizona’s NCAA-record 47-game winning streak — yep, 47, easy to remember in Oklahoma — was disappointing.
But the undefeated aspect was a bigger deal. This OU team seemed capable of sweeping the season, which would have made it one of the greatest college teams of all time, any sport.
Chances at that kind of history and dominance come along rarely.
OU softball rewind: A perfect season wasn't 'realistic,' but how will Sooners respond to their first loss?
Of course, coaches can’t let that kind of thinking seep in. Just winning a game, winning a series, winning a conference, winning a regional, those have to be the priority. Recall the 2003 Sooner football squad, which some billed as the best in OU annals and perhaps the greatest of any annals. That team lost both Big 12 and national championship games.
But for us outsiders, the softball supremacy was fun to think about. As is, OU is 38-1, still ranked No. 1 and the nation’s most feared squad. Just not as feared.
Gasso said losing to the Longhorns will make OU better. And maybe so.
“It was a tough weekend; it was a challenging weekend, without question,” Gasso said. “We walk away knowing there’s a lot of things we need to work on and being better at.”
Rookie pitcher Jordy Bahl was not herself Saturday night. The sellout Texas crowd of 1,698 was revved up, and the 18th-ranked Longhorns played above their status.
“It’s a tough place to play,” Gasso said. “The fans came out … it was wonderful for them, and I think it will trend for them going forward. It was wonderful for us to feel that kind of energy that’s not always ‘Go Sooners.’ It was an intense atmosphere, and it was good for us to feel that.”
The Sooners likely won’t feel that kind of antagonism the rest of the season. Their Bedlam showdown series is in Norman. The Big 12 Tournament is in Oklahoma City. The NCAA Regional and Super Regional almost surely will be back in Norman. Then the Women’s College World Series in OKC.
More: What was it like facing OU softball star Jordy Bahl in high school? 'Close your eyes and swing'
The lessons learned from the inhospitable reception at Texas won’t likely be needed for the rest of this Sooner season.
But the sting of defeat could be motivating.
“They didn’t like what that felt like, especially sitting on a bus for six hours and just thinking about it all the way home,” Gasso said.
Gasso said Bahl, in particular, was angered by the defeat and felt horrible.
“After the loss, on Sunday, she reached out to the coaching staff and was like, ‘I promise you ... you’ll never see again that kind of attitude,’” Gasso said. “It’s good for her to feel that. It’s different. Definitely, I think it’ll pay off for her and us.
“She missed on some pitches. There was a little bit of inconsistency. She lives – lives! -- to be like the Evel Knievel of softball. She loves danger. She loves bases loaded ‘watch me.’ She gets this feeling about her, being so invincible when the going gets tough.”
Instead, Bahl was vincible, at least for a day. And so were the Sooners. History will have to wait, which is a bummer, even if it helps OU down the road.
Tramel's ScissorTales: Mike Gundy was sure that Brent Venables would keep Cale Gundy
Do coaches have chemistry issues?
The name, image and likeness revolution in college sports has brought all kinds of concerns, and I’ve written about the potential effect on team chemistry.
But we have a decent amount of evidence in which to know the possible ramifications on chemistry. First off, the National Football League has been dealing with disparate salaries forever. And yes, that occasionally has led to problems, though most NFL players are quite professional about it.
But on the college level, we have another segment of people who are paid wide-ranging sums: assistant coaches.
Within the same staff, some coaches are making north of $1 million, with some coordinators cracking $2 million per year. Meanwhile, on the same staffs, some assistants will make far less than half that.
Could that make for dissension in the workplace?
“I would say yes, sure,” Mike Gundy said, who’s been overseeing OSU staffs for 17 years. “I would guess there would be more of those than actually are brought to people's attention.”
Interesting. If there is disgruntledness, it rarely is brought to light. Most coaches have agents these days, and agents I’m sure work the backrooms to get the best deals for their clients, yet head coaches have done a nice job of keeping the lid on any potential problems.
“I really haven't had a bunch here,” Gundy said. “I would say that's because I'm always real honest with them. When they come in, I don't try to beat around the bush. I just tell them, 'This is exactly the way it is, I'm sorry,' or 'This is the way it is, I hope you're happy,' whatever.
“But that's human nature again. And I would say that if you're not consistent in that area, you could have issues with chemistry just like you could potentially with NIL if it's not handled right away."
It seems potentially more hazardous at bigger-profile programs. At a Tulsa, everyone knows money is tight and there’s no big vault in the back, with discretionary funds for the football coach to make problems go away. At an OSU, money is tight, but the Cowboys can find money for things. At an OU, money is tight, but the Sooners always are spending more and more, so it’s not that tight.
At public universities, coaching salaries are public record. So everyone knows how much someone else is making. How often do coaches making $300,000 decide they’re worth as much as the guy in the next office making $450,000 and demand a raise?
Like Gundy said, probably more often than we think.
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Isaiah Roby report card
Isaiah Roby had an interesting season. Through two-thirds of the Thunder season, Roby had played in only 18 games and totaled just 247 minutes. Then his playing time picked up, and Roby produced.
Here is the Roby report card, continuing our series of the Thunder individual seasons:
3-point shooting: A
Roby made 33.3 percent of his deep shots as a Nebraska Cornhusker, so there was mild optimism that might translate to the NBA. Then Roby made just 29.4 percent for the Thunder last season. But Roby became quite the 3-point marksman this season, making 44.4 percent. From the corners, Roby made 48.1 percent. A big man who can shoot like that will intrigue NBA decision-makers.
Attitude: A
Roby played sparingly much of the season and even spent time in the G League, playing 10 games. That has to be discouraging for a guy who is in his third pro season and who has shown the ability to be productive. But Roby remained a pleasant personality, and when his time came late in the season, he made the most of it. The Thunder brass will be pulling for him.
Interior defense: D
Roby is undersized, at 6-foot-8, in post defense and not quick enough to last long on the perimeter. Effort is not the problem. But he’s a tweener. The Thunder had an effective defense through much of the season, when Roby was playing sparingly. When Roby became a lineup mainstay, the defense collapsed. It wasn’t all on Roby, but he was a major contributor.
Foul shooting: D
Big men tend to get fouled a lot, and Roby, a 6-foot-8 power forward who played some center, got fouled a reasonable amount of the time. His free-throw rate (foul shots per field-goal attempts) was .359, second on the team, trailing only Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. But Roby made just 67.2 percent of his foul shots. That's a paltry figure that makes you wonder if Roby’s shooting success was an aberration.
Paint prowess: B
Roby often produced in the paint. He made 69.9 percent of his shots from the restricted area (0-3 feet from the basket), which is better than Steven Adams’ career percentage from that distance. Roby was 10th on the team in minutes played but second in dunks, with 36 (trailing only Darius Bazley’s 77). Roby is a solid offensive player. He twice scored more than 25 points in a game, and neither time did he take more than 13 shots.
Mailbag: Joe Washington
ESPN recently ranked the top 60 running backs over the last 60 years of college football. It was a thankless list, destined to draw more criticism than anything else, and it seemed to have a Big Ten-bent. But it accomplished its purpose. Lots of talk.
John: “Just looked at ESPN’s list of best running backs over the last 60 years. Of course, I agree with (Barry) Sanders at No. 1, but I think Joe Washington should be much higher than No. 56. I know you probably watched him play, what do you think? He was so much fun to watch.”
Tramel: I have no idea if Little Joe deserved to be 56th or 156th or in the top six. But I do think OU fans tend to overrate Washington, because of that excitement little.
Among Sooners on the ESPN list, Billy Sims was 14th, Greg Pruitt was 38th, Steve Owens 44th, Adrian Peterson 46th and Washington 56th.
In 2019, as part of the 150-year anniversary of college football, I produced a ranking of the top 150 OU players ever. Here’s how I slotted the running backs: Sims, Billy Vessels, Tommy McDonald, Washington, Pruitt, Owens, Clendon Thomas, Peterson.
Of course, Vessels, McDonald and Thomas weren’t eligible for the ESPN list, since they played in the 1950s, and they also played in the single-platoon version of the game, so part of their greatness came from their defense – Vessels and Thomas especially.
And I ranked the ESPN criteria-eligible Sooners this way: Sims, Washington, Pruitt, Owens, Peterson.
ESPN ranked them this way: Sims, Pruitt, Owens, Peterson and Washington.
The only difference, ESPN slid Little Joe down. And you know, I don’t have a quibble. My list was based on greatest players. Part of Washington’s greatness was his versatility – his punt returns and even his punting, that remarkable senior year of 1975 when Barry Switzer often resorted to quick kicks.
If I was ranking based solely on running backs, I might have Pruitt and Owens ahead of Washington. I would not rank Peterson ahead of Washington. Peterson was great, as everyone knows, but injuries limited him to some degree over his final two seasons. Washington had a better career than did Peterson.
Carlson: That positivity we heard last week from Thunder players? Sam Presti feels the same way
The List: NBA playoff advancement droughts
On May 12, 2016, the Thunder beat the Spurs 113-99 to win their Western Conference semifinal series.
Kevin Durant scored 37 points. Russell Westbrook had 28. Steven Adams posted a double-double. Andre Roberson scored 14 points. Seems like a long time ago. It was.
OKC hasn’t won a playoff series since, and the Thunder is precariously close to the bottom third of the NBA in post-season success drought.
Only 10 franchises have gone longer than the Thunder without advancing in the playoffs. Here are the 10 longest droughts:
1. Sacramento 2004: The Kings beat the Mavericks in the West’s first round and haven’t won since. Haven’t even made the playoffs since 2006.
2. Minnesota 2004: The Timberwolves beat the Kings in the ‘04 West semifinals (at the time, did we know what a monumental matchup that was?) and haven’t advanced since.
3. Charlotte 2005: ‘05 is when the NBA returned to Charlotte, forming the Bobcats, after the original Hornets moved to New Orleans in 2002. The Bobcats changed their name to the Hornets a few years ago, but that franchise never has advanced in the playoffs. The original Hornets, the franchise that now is the New Orleans Pelicans, last won a playoff series in 2002).
4. Detroit 2008: In ‘08, the Pistons advanced to their sixth straight Eastern Conference Finals. But they haven’t won a playoff series since.
5. Orlando 2010: The Magic reached the ‘10 Eastern Conference Finals, a year after making the NBA Finals, but Orlando hasn’t won a playoff series since.
6. Dallas 2011: The Mavericks won the ‘11 NBA title and haven’t advanced in the post-season since.
7. New York 2013: The Knickerbockers beat the Celtics in a '13 first-round series, but that’s their only playoff advancement since 2000.
8. Indiana 2014: Thunder lite. The Pacers were a playoff staple, even through the 2019-20 season, but they haven’t advanced beyond the first round since ‘14.
9. Chicago 2015: The Bulls beat Milwaukee in the ‘15 first round but haven’t won a playoff series since.
10. Memphis 2015: The Grizzlies have Chicago beat by a day – they eliminated Portland in the 2015 first round, a day before Chicago advanced.
Berry Tramel: Berry can be reached at 405-760-8080 or at btramel@oklahoman.com. He can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including FM-98.1. Support his work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU softball: Sooners lose chance at NCAA record winning streak
