Pack's promise can't overcome Moser's mojo
At Texas A&M on Saturday, Sooners lose like they've always lost since coach's arrival
I was all ready.
I knew where I was going.
“Porter Moser will not be leading Oklahoma back to the NCAA tournament, but Nijel Pack might.”
It would be the first sentence or headline of the column I’d begun to write in my head.
Because Pack was great on Saturday.
He led both teams with 24 points, making what seemed like everything he looked at for most of the game, and finished with a co-game-high five assists, too, matching Texas A&M’s Jacari Lane, who scored only three points.
He was a big part of Derrion Reid’s next-among-Sooners 19 points, drawing defensive attention, springing Reid for 3s and 2s.
You see it sometimes. It grabs you. And it’s what Pack looked like for at least 30 of the contest’s 40 minutes: the guy who would not let you lose.
I was ready, but I was wrong.
The final score from College Station wound up 83-76 Aggies.
But, good for me, when it appeared Pack might fail to overcome the program’s coach and culture, I was ready with something new.
It was another narrow conference loss for the Sooners, because every time they’re close, they lose.
That idea would carry the day.
It couldn’t be true to the letter, of course. OU doesn’t lose every, say, two-possession game it plays. But it sure feels like it, and it has to be close.
So, as the game drew to a close in front of me, I began charting every two-possession conference contest since Moser became the Sooner skipper.
Four seasons and change.
I was right, but not right enough.
It’s a losing record, 13-18 (.429), yet far better than I’d guessed and better, too, than Moser’s overall conference mark of 27-48 (.360).
Foiled again.
Also, by the time it was over, the Sooners had lost by seven points, so not quite a two-possession game.
I had one more thought.
Moser’s Sooner teams always die at the end. They’ve never had the “it” to finish. No, to win once conference play rolls around, they have only two formulas.
One, dominate throughout.
Two, dominate and hold on.
They’re not coming from behind.
Memory tells me I’m right, but there’s no time to go through the play-by-play of every Moser conference loss to prove it.
How about just this season?
How about OU’s losses this season?
There are five.
In two — Gonzaga and Arizona State — the Sooners were never in the game, beaten before the first half was complete. In the other three, yes, they gave it up late.
• Leading Nebraska 44-28 in the first half and 63-53 with 14:37 remaining, they were outscored 52-36 the rest of the way and fell 105-99.
• A few nights ago at Mississippi State, they were outscored 36-14 over the final 14:28 and lost 73-52.
• At A&M, they were outscored 20-9 over the final 10:23 and fell 83-76.
Perhaps you’ve heard the phrase, “Past is prologue.”
The Sooners ought to put it on their media guide and whatever sign’s placed above the door on their way out of the locker room, because all of it, whether it can be meticulously proven or not, feels, sounds and presents the same.
We’ve seen this movie before, over and over again, and it never gets any better.
It was fun for a while.
OU trailed by nine points, for the third time, 39-30, with 5:50 left in the first half, after which it did something Moser-coached Sooner squads hardly ever do: score nine points over three possessions spanning 75 seconds.
Reid followed a Kuol Atak miss with a make and got fouled doing it, turning it into a three-point play.
Next, Pack assisted Reid on a 3.
Next, Pack assisted Tae Davis on another three-point play.
It would have been tied at the half but for Rylan Griffen’s buzzer-beating 3, making it 48-45 Aggies instead.
OU kept going to begin the second half, knocking down 11 points over its first four trips down the floor.
A 3 from Pack.
A 3 from Reid, assisted by Pack.
A three-point play from Reid, assisted by Pack.
A deuce from Pack.
Pack really was terrific.
The Sooners led 56-53.
They might have run away.
Instead, eventually, after a run of five empty trips in the space of six possessions, they trailed 74-71 with 4:02 remaining.
They did not run away.
They did not hold on to the lead.
They did not even possess the ball with a chance to tie or lead thereafter.
Same old. Same old.
Even if I can’t, you know, down to the letter, prove it.
Funny thing, every pose Moser fashioned when it was falling apart looked like every pose he fashioned when it wasn’t.
No, it can’t be easy to keep a roster on the same page when you turn it over every season, but that’s on him, too.
He’s outmatched.
We see him standing.
We see his mouth moving.
We see his arms flailing.
But is anything really happening over there on the Sooner bench?
Once again, he does not project confidence.
Once again, it’s Groundhog Day for Sooner basketball.
It feels that way, at least.