STF Preseason Rankings: #12 Oklahoma Sooners

Yep, it's preseason poll time. We're unveiling our top 20 one-by-one. Today, we'll look at #12, the Oklahoma Sooners, as we count down to our choice for #1, the UC-Santa Cruz Banana Slugs.

I kid...well maybe not.

You'll find out who we've chosen number one in a few weeks.

#12 Oklahoma Sooners

Location: Norman, OK

Conference: Big 12

2008-09 Record: 30-6 (13-3)

NCAA Postseason: Lost to North Carolina 70-62 in the Elite Eight.

Head Coach: Jeff Capel (4th Season)

Losses: NBA Draft - 6'9" F Blake Griffin (22.7 ppg). Graduation - 6'7" F Taylor Griffin (9.6 ppg), 6'3" G Austin Johnson (8.6 ppg), 5'10" G Omar Leary (1.9 ppg). Dismissed from team - 6'6" F Juan Pattillo (5.9 ppg), 6'8" F Kyle Cannon (1.9 ppg).

Key Returnees: 6'9" Senior F Ryan Wright (1.8 ppg), 6'4" Sophomore G Willie Warren (14.6 ppg), 6'6" Senior G Tony Crocker (9.6 ppg), 6'5" Junior G Cade Davis(4.7 ppg), 6'6" Sophomore G Ray Willis (3.3 ppg). 

Additions: 6'4" G Steven Pledger (Chesapeake, VA), 6'8" F Andrew Fitzgerald (Baltimore, MD), 5'11" G Tommy Mason-Griffin (Houston, TX), 6'4" G Ryan Randolph (Oklahoma City, OK), 6'9" F Tiny Gallon (Vallejo, CA), 6'8" F Kyle Hardrick (Oklahoma City, OK). Transfer - 6'7" Junior F Barry Honore.

The Skinny:

Question: What do you do when you lose more than half of your team's offensive production in one summer? You learn to readjust to the changes on the fly.

Texas coach Rick Barnes had to do that very same thing in 2007-08, when he lost player of the year Kevin Durant to the NBA Draft. Without Durant on the team, Barnes placed the entire onus on A.J. Abrams and D.J. Augustine to run and shoot the opposition out of the building without a proven post presence.

The blueprint worked, as Texas managed to make it to the Elite Eight that year. While I'd hate to be the one to give Oklahoma coach Jeff Caple advice, I'm going against my better judgment and doing it anyway.

The video Barnes could provide could really help Oklahoma understand what it's like to play the following year without a once-in-a-lifetime guy on the court. I think Capel should either call Barnes up and ask for the film...or he could steal it. Either way, I think it could be beneficial.

Without Blake Griffin to rely on in clutch situations, sophomore Willie Warren and junior Tony Crocker become the two guard duo leading the way. Warren, a sophomore guard who's already being bandied around as a possible player of the year candidate, will have the entire weight of a basketball team on his shoulders. While he claims he doesn't really mind the added pressure, I'd like to wait and see just how well he copes after his team's first loss.

His 14.6 ppg average will need to increase with the loss of Griffin, as will his distribution to his teammates.

While Warren may be the biggest name on the Oklahoma roster, Tony Crocker may be the most important. The senior guard is the last remaining member of Jeff Capel's first recruiting class, and all signs point to him having a huge leadership role on a very young team.

Crocker spent most of the summer working on his conditioning and his consistency around the perimeter. He only averaged 9.6 ppg last season, and Jeff Capel said if there's one part of his game that needs to improve, it's his consistency. We'll see if the summer work paid off.

Warren and Crocker will also welcome the addition of 2009 Texas Gatorade High School Player of the Year Tommy Mason-Griffin. With six freshman and a JUCO transfer on the bench, Mason-Griffin will most likely play a big role in the team. How's that for a start to your first year in college?

Besides the loss of the Griffin brothers, Oklahoma is still reeling from another loss to their already-thin frontcourt, after Jeff Capel kicked senior-to-be Juan Pattillo off the team in May (violation of team rules) in a move that many saw coming.

The loss of the forward left Oklahoma without a proven force in the post. Former UCLA forward Ryan Wright will be asked to carry a bulk of the load this year, as will a couple of freshman (surprise, surprise). But if there's one frontcourt player on the team that's really worth mentioning, it's 6'9" freshman Tiny Gallon.

Gallon was considered by many to be Oklahoma's biggest coup last year. With a soft touch from the perimeter and a nose for the rim, Capel will certainly throw the kitchen sink at Gallon, with the hopes he can handle the entire load.

If the Big 12 is as good as many say it is this year, then Oklahoma will definitely need a solid post presence come conference play. Their backcourt is as good as any in the country; but their frontcourt could literally make or break their season.

Bloggers Say:

"It will be important for Capel to find a way to get the two most productive rebounders the most minutes at the forward spots. I get the feeling that OU will use it's speed and guard advantage to show some 4-guard looks and spread the floor. However, I really feel that finding a way to replace the rebounding prowess of Blake Griffin will be the most crucial aspect of the Sooners' success.

Willie Warren is a consistent scoring threat, but streaky shooters will need to find a way to get more consistent (Cade Davis, Tony Crocker, Ray Willis), and unknown commodities will need to produce."

-- Crimson and Cream Machine

Best Games:

11/21 at Virginia Commonwealth University

12/6 vs. Arizona Wildcats

12/31 at Gonzaga Bulldogs

Oklahoma ran the gauntlet last season during the non-conference slate. Davidson, Purdue, USC, Virginia Commonwealth, and Arkansas (before they fell off the face of the map last year). The players had Jeff Capel to thank for making that bear of a schedule possible, but then again, the team did have Blake Griffin the the fold.

Without Griffin, Capel appears to have reigned things in with the non-conference schedule. Three marquee games make up a relatively soft start to the season. A very early road game against Eric Maynor and VCU should give the young Sooners a taste of what a hostile environment feels like (the Siegel Center is one hell of a home court advatange).

From there it's a home game against Arizona, followed by a trip West to play Gonzaga in Spokane. All in all, it looks like Capel's made the right choices -- preferring to ease his team in rather than throw them to the wolves.

Kansas coach Bill Self proclaimed this year's Big 12 to have the best talent he's ever seen. If that's the case, then Capel may need the non-conference to make sure his young team gels prior to the start of conference play.

Famous Basketball Alums: Blake Griffin, Wayman Tisdale, Alvan Adams, Mookie Blaylock, Stacey King

Other Famous Alums: Minnesota running back Adrian Peterson and PGA Tour phenom Anthony Kim give Oklahoma a very formidable alumni duo. Actor James Garner and former Heisman Trophy winner Billy Simms also went to the Norman, OK, school.

Did we also mention that Stacey Dales of ESPN fame also went to Oklahoma on a basketball scholarship? You may recall she got canned from her job for complaining about not getting first class airline seats when the ecnonomy was going in the crapper.

Epic fail, Ms. Dales. Epic. Fail.

OU's Oxymoron: Freshman forward Tiny Gallon could be the biggest oxymoron in the Big 12 this season. Aside from the fact that his first name is tiny and his last name is gallon (I can confirm I've never seen a "tiny" gallon in my life), the biggest beef with have with Mr. Gallon's first name is the connotation it comes with.

Tiny would infer that Oklahoma's star freshman is a small fellow. Far from it. Tiny Gallon is 6'9" 296 lbs, has a 7'4" wingspan, and can stroke it from the outside, as well bang with the big guys in the post. Yep, Tiny Gallon is an oxymoron for the sheer fact that he's built more like Glen "Big Baby" Davis, than a scrawny point guard.

Aside from his name, Gallon does have a lot of game. Ranked as the ninth best player by Rivals.com coming out of high school this past year, Gallon will be part of the mix from the start of the season. Without a post presence to speak of on the OU roster, one would assume Jeff Caple already has him penciled in as a starter.

The Oak Hill Academy product posted a double-double (16 ppg, 10.3 reb) his senior year, while also wowing coaches with his shot from the outside. That's right, the 6'9" big man has an outside game as well.

The only problem with that is Jeff Capel wants nothing to do with Gallon's ball handling skills. He made it clear at Big 12 media day that he wants his star freshman to solidify his spot in the blocks.

Can he keep manage to keep his inner Ray Allen stuffed away? We'll see. Still, I'll put the over/under on the number of games before Gallon jacks up a three at 1.5.