I went to the game in Norman yesterday and watched McCasland coach for the first time in person. I walked away incredibly impressed with how he carried himself during the game. A few things stood out to me:
I liked the McCasland hire when we made the decision because I think our best path to winning is to be gritty and junk games up, but he has far outstripped my expectations. We have all the things I thought we would have plus a really good offense and good in game adjustments. I would have been over the moon with a tournament invite before the season but with every week my expectations are growing and I think the ceiling on this team is much higher than that.
- McCasland was all over the refs, but in a good way. For example, in the first half when the fouls were 5-0 against us, he called TO and spent about 2 straight minutes talking to the refs. Immediately after the TO we got 2 ticky tack calls in our favor and the half ended 8-7 fouls.
- Almost every time a player checked out Grant would coach them as they walked by. At one point Washington was pretty heated and he held him up, talked to him and patted him on the chest to calm him down.
- He was yelling at Darrion Williams coming out of a TO late in the game and I could read Williams lips in response saying “yes sir” repeatedly. They obviously have a lot of respect for him which is great to see after last year.
- Grit and toughness just ooze out of this team and it comes from the top. Grant isn’t afraid to rip into them when they’re making mistakes and that accountability seems to emanate through the team.
I liked the McCasland hire when we made the decision because I think our best path to winning is to be gritty and junk games up, but he has far outstripped my expectations. We have all the things I thought we would have plus a really good offense and good in game adjustments. I would have been over the moon with a tournament invite before the season but with every week my expectations are growing and I think the ceiling on this team is much higher than that.
