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One down, fifteen to go Posted: Wednesday January 09, 2002 1:53 PM
Sherri Coale is in her sixth year as coach at Oklahoma. After seven years of coaching at the high school level, the Oklahoma native was hired by the Sooners. She has led Oklahoma to two Big 12 regular season titles and back-to-back Sweet 16 appearances. Check out Coale's diary on CNNSI.com throughout the season. January 7, 2002 OK, so Santa didn't bring me what I asked for this Christmas. Final Score: UConn 86, Oklahoma 72. While I realize there is very little to be ashamed of in losing to Connecticut -- particularly in Hartford in front of their frenzied 16,000-plus fans, I take little solace in the "moral victory" everyone seemed to be salvaging for us. We didn't go there to play them closely or to stay in the game or to give them a challenge. We went there to win. I must admit I had forgotten how empty losing makes you feel. The gaping black hole we found ourselves floating around in was, however, an instant and vivid reminder of what you can avoid when you win. We had 11 days to explore the abyss. Merry Christmas to us. Our trip to the East was great, the loss withstanding. We went out early and spent an afternoon and evening in Boston. It was beautiful, busy and breathless, but beautiful. I had the opportunity to meet up with my dear friend Willette White, the head coach at Northeastern and my traveling buddy/fellow assistant for USA basketball this past summer. She and her assistant Karen Pinkos met us for shopping and dinner. They made me taste scrod -- YIKES! -- and we laughed and told stories on each other until my ribs ached. Brno and the Czech Republic in July was "survivable" because of Willette. The best part of USA basketball is the relationships you make along the way. We had a great group of kids, a wonderful support staff, and we had the opportunity to work for Geno Auriemma (well, two out of three isn't bad -- just kidding!) Sometimes in this business we forget why we do what we do. Willette was a refreshing reminder to me of everything that's good about coaching. She's good for kids. She was good for me. Connecticut fans have to be the most amazing collection of people I have ever encountered. They are gracious, energetic, passionate ... and way too nice to us. I suppose that's partly because they're great sports and partly because we've never beaten them. I have a hard time thinking they'd be so gracious if we were to spoil their party. But then again you never know. A woman at the airport (at 6:00 a.m.) recognized me and asked, "Aren't you the Oklahoma coach?" When I replied, "Yes, I am," she answered, "I thought so. You are so pretty on TV!" I said thank you but I'm still scratching my head on that one. (I did later choose not to jump out of the airplane at 30,000 feet and chose instead to take her comment as a compliment -- it never hurts to be optimistic.) We had great workouts over the Christmas break. Our players had five days off -- the most we've ever had. The schedule just worked in such a way that it wasn't necessary to bring them back the day after Christmas. We came back on the evening of the 28th and had solid workouts before meeting Colorado on January 2. I think we got a lot better in those five days. I'm not sure it was improvement that will be readily recognizable, but we'll be a better team in March because of those five days in December. I reminded our players of the grueling Big XII days ahead and in so doing reiterated how important the mental side of this game would be. I don't think we'll get any faster or jump any higher in the next couple of months, but we can get a whole lot smarter. Offensively, the object is to make the best pass, the best cut, the best screen. Good basketball often boils down not to the bad decisions, but to the good ones that could have been better. I really like my team because they understand that. They don't always make the best choice but they understand the difference. That's half the battle. We opened Big XII play against a very good Colorado team. We took the floor, for the first time, from our brand-new locker room, completed while we were in Connecticut before the Christmas holiday. Our facility is absolutely amazing. After our Colorado win, I told my players that it really wasn't right for a team that turned the ball over 22 times to "live" in the Taj Mahal. You can't play ugly and locker in a place this pretty. It just doesn't work. Seriously, we defended Colorado's offense quite well. We outrebounded them by 12 and when we weren't throwing them the ball, we scored, to a certain extent, with an element of ease. One down, 15 to go. This league is brutal. We're 2-0 in league play. (After going to Lubbock and beating No. 9 Texas Tech by 12) Today we are ranked No. 2 in the country by the USA Today/Coaches poll. (We're sandwiched between UConn and Tennessee ... impressive bookends). Our men's basketball team is ranked seventh in the country. Bob Stoops said no to Florida. So it's a really good time to be a Sooner. Though I didn't get everything I wanted for Christmas, Joe Castiglione must have been really good. Either that or Santa has a soft spot for Italians who talk with their hands and treat their coaches like gold. Happy New Year, Norman -- 2002 looks good.
-- Coach Coale
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