Oklahoma
Oklahoma C Joshua Bates Apologizes for His Meltdown: ‘I Need to Be Way Better’
NORMAN — Joshua Bates’ mea culpa has come in layers. But it’s been sincere every time.
First, Bates apologized to his Oklahoma teammates. That came on Saturday night, minutes after the Sooners held on to a 16-12 victory over Houston.
On Monday, OU’s redshirt freshman center apologized to the world.
It was the sixth question to Bates in a post-practice interview that lasted nearly eight minutes. It was the one everyone wanted answered, and Bates took on the glare of the cameras and microphones and a dozen or so local reporters, standing just a few yards from where it all went down.
“I need to be way better in that moment,” Bates said.
The moment in question happened in the closing seconds of the Sooners’ narrow escape of the four-touchdown underdog Cougars.
OU held a four-point lead, and the Sooners were trying to bleed as much time off the clock as possible before pun ting the ball back to Houston. On third down, quarterback Jackson Arnold took the snap at 47 seconds, and the play clock almost immediately reset for 40. But Arnold didn’t go down immediately, hesitating, waiting for Houston defenders to get close.
Meanwhile, the Oklahoma offensive line, which had a very difficult night against the Cougar front seven, was holding its ground, aggressively not letting anyone gain ground on Arnold. At the last possible moment, Arnold dropped to the ground, but he was met there — with some force — by some Houston defenders.
Bates, an aggressive young player who plays notoriously hard (it’s been said that he got into three fights in his first preseason training camp last year) didn’t like that, and quickly engaged.
Even as his teammates surrounded him and escorted him away from the melee, Bates’ fury was unrelenting. Within a few seconds, Bates took his helmet off and continued screaming at his adversaries.
Bold. Defiant. Even a little courageous, maybe. Admirable, to be sure, to defend his quarterback with such ferocity.
But the moment Bates escalated things and took off his helmet, it drew an immediate 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, which stopped the game clock with 35 seconds to play — and ensured Houston would have one final breath on offense.
Instead of getting the ball back with 4-5 seconds left, the Cougars started possession at their own 13-yard line with 29 seconds to go. They ran four offensive plays and actually gained 42 yards to the OU 45 before the clock finally ran out.
On the “Oklahoma Breakdown” podcast on Sunday, former OU offensive lineman Gabe Ikard called it “the stupidest play I’ve ever (expletive) seen on Owen Field.”
Bates stood up in front the team on Saturday night and apologized for his actions. He reiterated his regret again Monday night.
“I have dealt with it with my team,” he said. “I have apologized to the team, and my No. 1 thing is to make sure I gain the respect of my teammates back.”
“I think what’s most important for me personally is earning the trust of the coaches back,” head coach Brent Venables said Tuesday during his weekly press conference. “And I trust Josh. Don’t get me wrong. But that was a tough moment to watch under the circumstances any time. That doesn’t represent me, and it certainly doesn’t represent this program.”
Maybe Bates just finally lost his cool because he’d had such a frustrating night blocking Houston’s defensive tackles. Or maybe he really blew up at seeing Arnold smushed at the bottom of an otherwise unnecessary pile.
“He owned it immediately, felt terrible,” Venables said. “And that still doesn’t take it back. But at the same time, he’s an emotional guy that was going to bat for his quarterback and lost his cool. So we’re not going to make it more than it needs to be. We’re talking about it because you brought it up, but we’re moving forward. His moving forward and earning the respect back from everybody is just (to) go to work.”
“That’s something I’m still down about,” Bates said. “It’s something that I cannot do in that moment. Emotions got to me. That stuff will never happen again. I’ve apologized to the team. I’ve apologized to the coaches. I made it clear I’ll do anything I can to fix that mistake and move on.”
“I know his teammates respect him,” Venables added, “because Josh comes to work, he likes to work, he loves practice. He’ll take every rep in practice if you allow him. So, I don’t think that Josh will do anything other than work, and that’s it. In the locker room, that’s what it’s all about.”
The Oklahoma City Thunder are taking on the Phoenix Suns in Game 2 of their opening-round series. The OKC Thunder are hoping that they can repeat their Sunday afternoon performance in this contest. Game 2 will be an interesting test with the Suns having more time to prepare.
Phoenix was up against a rock and a hard place in the series opener. The Oklahoma City Thunder not only have the talent advantage but the rest advantage as well. Phoenix punched their ticket to the NBA Playoffs on Friday night by staving off the Golden State Warriors on Friday night before landing in Oklahoma City on Saturday and playing on Saturday afternoon to the tune of a 119-84 blowout Thunder victory.
The NBA has seen plenty of upsets already. The Orlando Magic, Philadelphia 76ers and Portland Trail Blazers have all stolen games from the higher seed. The Thunder know they have to keep the foot on the gas in this contest.
“These series are unpredictable. No 2 games are the same. The minute you make an assumption, you are overconfident, or the minute you go down and you’re overly urgent, that can impact your ability to be present in the next game,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said pregame on Wednesday night.
The Oklahoma City Thunder are seeing the Suns make an adjustment with their starting lineup by inserting Collin Gillespie to give Phoenix a trio of ball handling scoring options alongside Devin Booker and Jalen Green. This gives the Suns hope to be able to find better shot quality against this stifling Thunder defensive unit.
Oklahoma City is healthier now than they have been all season. The Thunder only are missing rookie Thomas Sorber (ACL) who is out for the year. This allows the Bricktown Ballers to roll out their traditional first five in this contest.
Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Phoenix Suns, Game 2 Starting Lineup
Oklahoma City Thunder Starting Lineup
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, G
- Lu Dort, G
- Jalen Williams, F
- Chet Holmgren, F
- Isaiah Hartenstein, C
Phoenix Suns Starting Lineup
- Devin Booker, G
- Jalen Green, G
- Collin Gillespie, G
- Dillon Brooks, F
- Oso Ighodaro, C
The series will shift to Phoenix this weekend as the Oklahoma City Thunder hope to head into Saturday afternoon’s Game 3 with a 2-0 advantage in the series.
Stay tuned to Thunder on SI for complete coverage of the NBA Playoff run for the Oklahoma City Thunder.
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OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLA (KOKH) — The Oklahoma City Fire Department responded to a home fire late Tuesday evening, around 10:42 p.m.
According to OKCFD, fire could be seen from a window of the home located in the 4200 block of N. Phillips Avenue.
Firefighters were able to rescue an adult female from inside the home. No injuries were reported in connection with the fire.
Investigators believe that the fire may have originated from an outlet near the refrigerator that had a power strip plugged in that was supplying multiple appliances.
There was also no smoke detector present within the home.
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NORMAN — The Sooners were behind the eight ball for much of Tuesday’s game against Oral Roberts.
But one swing of the bat got them in a more favorable position.
Shortstop Jaxon Willits blasted a grand slam in the sixth inning to give No. 14 Oklahoma its first lead before eventually winning 7-6.
The Sooners trailed by as many as five runs before they rallied late.
In the first inning, Oral Roberts’ Cooper Combs hit a two-out grand slam to give the Golden Eagles a comfortable cushion. OU infielder Deiten Lachance got the Sooners on the board in the second inning with a solo home run, but ORU responded with a solo shot of its own in the next frame.
The Golden Eagles made it a 6-1 run game in the top of the fourth, and they appeared to be on cruise control. But in the bottom of that frame, OU’s rally began.
Dasan Harris made it a four-run game again with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fourth before Camden Johnson hit a sacrifice fly of his own in the fifth.
Then, in the sixth, the Sooners took their first lead of the game.
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Harris singled before Kyle Branch and Connor Larkin walked to load the bases. Willits then swung at the first pitch he saw, sending it well over the right-center field fence.
Neither team scored after Willits’ home run, as OU relief pitcher Xander Mercurius retired nine ORU batters in a row to seal the Sooners’ one-run win.
Michael Catalano started on the mound for Oklahoma, but his outing was short-lived — he gave up four earned runs on two hits and five walks in 1 ⅓ innings.
After coach Skip Johnson relieved Catalano in the second inning, six different OU arms entered the game. Reid Hensley collected the win, while Mercurius got the save.
OU improved to 28-12 overall with the win, while Oral Roberts dropped to 23-15. The Sooners are 7-3 in midweek games this season, and they clinched the season sweep of the Golden Eagles on Tuesday.
Next, the Sooners will hit the road for a three-game series against Auburn. The Tigers, ranked No. 11 by D1Baseball, are 10-8 in SEC play and took two of three games against Florida over the weekend.
The series will open on Friday, and first pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.
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