2011-2012 Buckeyes Basketball
I have no idea what to expect from the Buckeyes this year due to the turnover. They do bring back three starters, one of them a consensus All-American and NBA lottery pick.
The inside/outside game Craft and Sullinger will be able to play should be formidable. More consistency from Buford and Thomas will be needed. To deserve their lofty ranking, one of the young bigs is going to have to step forward. The transfer from BC (Ravenal) and Amir Williams seem most likely. Sibert will also need to provide a shooting spark to help keep defenses honest.
And there seems to be the key for me and why I wonder if the Buckeyes are currently barely a top 10 team. Matta likes to rotate 7, he currently has three knowns, but four unknowns on who is going to be in that rotation.
Williams, Ravenal, Lenzell Smith, Jr., Sibert, Shannon Scott, J.D. Weatherspoon? Or will Matta adjust to his depth that I see as I type out these names and go deeper on his bench than is his custom? No doubt, the Bucks are a top 10 team due to the depth of talent, but I see too many question marks to think they are an early season Final Four candidate.
An early season test looms in Florida, who also lost stars and experience from last year's team. Duke is also on the preseason schedule, so there are some good gauges prior to the conference season starting.
Re: 2011-2012 Buckeyes Basketball
This team is so young that it will take them a little while to become a "team". They have a ton of talent but they have 6 sophomores and 4 freshman and only ONE senior.
Obviously Sullinger is someone who will just do his thing and get his 20 & 10 pretty much every night. I think the key is who is going to step up and hit the open 3 when Sully gets double teamed constantly?
I think Smith Jr. is going to be someone who surprises a lot of people. He is already in the starting lineup and at 6'4 can provide good rebounding and good D. If he can hit his jump shot that would be huge.
I think Matta will end up going with an 9 man rotation early and by the time the B10 rolls around it will be more of an 8 man with Weatherspoon getting less minutes.
Sully, Craft, Buford, Smith Jr, Thomas, Thompson, Scott, Williams, Weatherspoon.
Re: 2011-2012 Buckeyes Basketball
I'm pretty excited for tonight.
A football season like Florida's having will do that.
Should be a good one.
Re: 2011-2012 Buckeyes Basketball
I don't get the same feeling about OSU I had going into last season. I still think they will be a top tier team in college basketball. I do think they will miss the likes of Lighty and Lauderdale this year. Lighty could guard 2-3-4 and Lauderdale was a nice defensive big guy. Both of which OSU doesn't have this season. Its still early but I was surprised that guys like Scott and Amir Williams didn't get into the game more.
Aaron Craft is an absolute joy to watch. It has been a long time since I have seen anyone as good defending the PG as he is. His hesitation blow by is always nice to watch. Bufford showed to be the same player he was in his Soph and Jr year. He takes his fair share of bad shots, if they go in no one cares. Sullinger is going to be a beast this season as long as he stays out of foul trouble. I think their upside is better than last year but also their their downside is much bigger.
Re: 2011-2012 Buckeyes Basketball
I thought it would be a long time before the Buckeyes had a PG as good as Mike Conley again. Glad to be proven wrong so fast.
Re: 2011-2012 Buckeyes Basketball
Last night was very encouraging, not just because of the win, but that the team looked solid and deep against what appears to be a legit top tier team. They also played a lot of the second half without Sullinger and it really was barely noticeable. Smith, Jr. quickly emerged as a shutdown defender, and Craft is about as good as I've seen at the ball strip. Looks like its going to be a fun year.
Re: 2011-2012 Buckeyes Basketball
The team looked good, but I was really happy to see the crowd. I know it was a big game, but it is still awesome to see a crowd that into a game in November. I graduated in 2005 and the difference with Thad Matta in that amount of time is amazing.
Re: 2011-2012 Buckeyes Basketball
Some thoughts in general...
* Love Florida's backcourt. Their guards have in-the-gym range and are all pretty quick with the ball. As good as their backcourt is, I was equally impressed withe the improvement of Patric Young inside. He's becoming a legitimate post threat for them. Their frontcourt depth is a concern, however.
* Craft was being Craft last night, but I think the bigger story than his defense is how aggressive he was attacking the rim. He's got a lot more confidence in his game as a sophomore than he did last season. He's going to eventually have to be able to knock down shots, though, as teams will go under screens and play off him to honor his penetration.
* I think Ohio State has found two gem secondary contributors in Lenzelle Smith and Evan Ravenel. Both are playing stout defense and doing a lot of little things to help win games. Smith, especially, has enough offensive talent that he'll contribute offensively as he gets more of a defined role. Nonetheless, Jordan Sibert will need to be involved this season as he's the best shooter on Ohio State's team, and OSU probably will need one more consistent scoring threat.
* What intrigues me about this group is that LaQuinton Ross, by all indications, is the freshman OSU's staff has been most excited about. When he joins them in December, he'll make a play for PT.
That was a high-level game being played last night, which is impressive for Nov. 15. I really think Ohio State and Florida are both justified in their rankings, and quite honestly I'd move Florida up a few spots simply based on what we've seen merely a week into the season.
Re: 2011-2012 Buckeyes Basketball
Biggest game in OSU basketball since Indiana in '91. My mom took my ticket to th at game because she hated Bobby Knight. I was 12 and devastated and ended up missing an all time classic. My Dad said that St. John Arena was literally shaking back and forth, which Vitale mentioned during the broadcast.
That will not happen to me again as I will be in Value City arena tonight. I can only hope it comes even close to the '91 game.
Re: 2011-2012 Buckeyes Basketball
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Buckeye33
Biggest game in OSU basketball since Indiana in '91. My mom took my ticket to th at game because she hated Bobby Knight. I was 12 and devastated and ended up missing an all time classic. My Dad said that St. John Arena was literally shaking back and forth, which Vitale mentioned during the broadcast.
That will not happen to me again as I will be in Value City arena tonight. I can only hope it comes even close to the '91 game.
It's a beautiful thing to watch Duke get worked.
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That's the best I've seen a college basketball team play this year.
Ohio State deserves to be ranked number one.
Re: 2011-2012 Buckeyes Basketball
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Scrap Irony
That's the best I've seen a college basketball team play this year.
Ohio State deserves to be ranked number one.
Might happen after Saturday. I think UK wins, but it could go either way.
Re: 2011-2012 Buckeyes Basketball
Quote:
Originally Posted by
WVRed
Might happen after Saturday. I think UK wins, but it could go either way.
It might happen regardless of whether UK wins or not. Ohio State would need to flip just 14 votes to overtake Kentucky in the poll. Nonetheless, that's obviously not really a big deal at this point in the season (inasmuch as the poll is a big deal at any point in college basketball lol)
Ohio State definitely looked the part against Duke last night. The big thing is that they shot well, something they haven't done to this point. The passing was so crisp, and the penetration so effective, they were getting open shots -- especially when Duke was doubling down on Sullinger or helping off to stop the penetration. This was getting a lot of open looks and OSU was burying those shots.
Defensively and athletically, I think this Ohio State team is as good as it's been. I don't know if it's nearly as polished as the team last year, but it still has 3-4 months to work out those kinks. I think Kentucky is by far the most talented team in the country, but at the end of the year, I still think UK-OSU-UNC-UCONN will be in a class above everyone. UCONN is still a way off, but they're pretty athletic in their own right.
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Quite the rock star event last night with LeBron James and Dwyane Wade in crowd and the #1 ESPN guys there and all the hoopla.
I can't remember the last time I saw Duke handled so easily. Coach K played some odd combinations. I almost got the feeling he treated it as a pre-season game and played a lot of guys to let them know how far they need to go to get ready for the ACC and the NCAAs.
OSU was in mid-season form. My only worry is that they are peaking too soon. And this may be heresy, but I don't think Sullinger is all that great. He's not an above-the-rim guy with dynamic skills. I think having such an athletic and talented team around him makes him look good. I mean, he's a good college player, but I don't get that he's a NBA lottery-type guy. JMO.
Re: 2011-2012 Buckeyes Basketball
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Roy Tucker
Quite the rock star event last night with LeBron James and Dwyane Wade in crowd and the #1 ESPN guys there and all the hoopla.
I can't remember the last time I saw Duke handled so easily. Coach K played some odd combinations. I almost got the feeling he treated it as a pre-season game and played a lot of guys to let them know how far they need to go to get ready for the ACC and the NCAAs.
OSU was in mid-season form. My only worry is that they are peaking too soon. And this may be heresy, but I don't think Sullinger is all that great. He's not an above-the-rim guy with dynamic skills. I think having such an athletic and talented team around him makes him look good. I mean, he's a good college player, but I don't get that he's a NBA lottery-type guy. JMO.
I don't know about heresy, but there is a lot of evidence that he is great, such as averaging a double-double in his Freshman season is great. Where he is mere mortal is on D. Apparently other teams think he is great also, since they double and triple team him, and resort to Hack a Shack techniques, even though there are several talented players on the team.
I do understand where you are coming from, because he is a bit of a clunky player rather than a "Phi Slamma Jamma" type, and I could care less about what type of NBA player he projects because that league is just another animal when it comes to the type of player who is successful. He may be Danny Ferry for all we know, but that doesn't mean that Danny Ferry was not a great basketball player. I did not appreciate Sullinger that much when I first started watching his game, but he is just so strong, has great feet, passes well, has a soft touch, really makes intelligent plays, is a team player, that he is a force. If he can just work on that D (which I think his effort can be questioned at times).
BTW, I said throughout his college years that Kelly Trupucka "wasn't that great," kinda the way you seem to be saying it here. He just didn't have that sexy game, but just was the best player on his team. Didn't think he'd amount to anything in the NBA, yet he turned out to be an All-Star there as well. I do think if Sullinger was a lottery pick this year, that he would be disappointing initially because he isn't the most athletic, high-flying type score like a Kevin Durant, or a 7+ footer, just a solid guy who gets the job done.