The Bucks showed off depth tonight. Because of foul trouble, Sullinger and Craft were on the bench for a key portion of the second half and the bench increased the lead from 15 to 19 points while they were out. Northwestern was clearly overmatched. Most importantly, OSU controlled the tempo, as the score clearly indicates. The key to this was offensive rebounding in the first half and one and done on the defensive end in the second half.
Very impressive opener.
"Rounding 3rd and heading for home, good night everybody"
Top to bottom, this might be the most talented squad OSU has had in a long time.
Let's get weird!
While not an avid basketball fan, I love how this team shapes up from top to bottom. The depth they have is the best it's been in a long time and Matta and his staff has done a superb job in developing the talent on the roster.
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Buford...
I hate blaming losses on refs, but I believe the outcome of that game would have been different with some better officiating. That said the Bucks last two or three possessions were awful.
Prayers sent to Any OSU fan there.
Worst fans in the country
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Refs were bad for both teams. OSU lost because they played terrible interior defense and were sloppy with the ball. They have been sloppy with the ball for a month now, even when they are playing the cupcakes they still turned it over way to much.Originally Posted by BuckeyeRed27
Craft had his worse floor game of the year. He panicked some down the stretch and they did not get Sullinger the ball at the end of the game after Zellar fouled out.
This team has to gAnet much much better before March if they plan on making it past the Sweet 16.
I'm terrified that they are going to get matched up with a long athletic team early in the NCAA. Sullinger, Thomas, and Ravenel are not elite athletes. Sullinger gets his shot blocked by backup caliber players a lot and is always falling down. And do not get me started on how awful Thomas is on the defensive end.
All that said, one loss does not ruin a basketball season. Just need to get back in the gym and fix the defensive issues.
I agree with most of what you say. I think the one argument that could be made, though, is that Ohio State was up 10 and showing signs of pulling away when the refs decided to keep the game close in the first half. That stretch of about 8 minutes from the 12-minute mark down to the under-4 timeout was probably the worst I've ever seen in my lifetime of watching basketball... and I'm not at all exaggerating to make a point. I truly believe it was that bad. Sometimes there's home cooking. Other times there's real, honest-to-goodness home cooking. The refs singlehandedly got Indiana back into a game they weren't in.
I'm not blaming the game on the refs, mind you. I think the second half was evenly called (badly) on both sides. In fact, Indiana adjusted to the game's flow better than Ohio State did and made the plays they needed to make down the stretch. Ohio State got careless with the ball and made too many mistakes. I think had that stretch in the first half not happened, without knowing what would have happened, it was clear what seemed awfully likely to happen until the officiating took over.
Nonetheless, Ohio State had 20 minutes to adjust to that absurdity. Indiana did a much better job of it.
I truly commend Tom Crean for the focus on exploiting Buford on those ball screens. Ohio State by rule switches all perimeter screens 1-through-4. With Buford playing matador defense over concern of fouling out, Indiana basically gave the green light to anyone that drew him on those switches. That adjustment by Indiana was what got them the win.
"No matter how good you are, you're going to lose one-third of your games. No matter how bad you are you're going to win one-third of your games. It's the other third that makes the difference." ~Tommy Lasorda
I think OSU is more susceptible to ticky tack officiating because of the large drop off from Sullinger to the next guy on the depth chart and relatively short bench. Of course I would say the same thing about Indiana. Pritchard and Elston played some big minutes tonight.
Doesn't matter. Indiana returns the visit to Columbus in two weeks (Jan. 15), and it'll be a different story. Bucks by 20.
Not much more to add to the summations given so far. The Northwestern game had a lot of fouls called also. My guess is that there was the obligatory pre-conference referee meeting, points of emphasis were made that "this is a foul, that is a foul, keep your eye out for this and call it" and it practically played out in excessive whistles. They'll go back to their own style of officiating, or the league will say "what are you guys doing? You can't call a foul on every bit of contact. You're disrupting the flow of the games."
And I think Brutus nailed it as to the turning point in the game, which was a blown call on Sullinger for the charge when the guy slid in under while he was in the air. Late in the game, Sullinger has perfect position, gets barrelled over, block and a key basket counts.
Another turning point was when OSU allowed IU to turn the game into a out of control up tempo game. When OSU was running their offense in the early going, IU had no answers. A few calls go their way, Bucks get in foul trouble, and they start playing kamikaze basketball. Not their game, but it sure is IU's right now.
Officiating out of the way, Craft was not a good point guard yesterday. Regardless of why (officiating, poor D), IU has a lot of offensive weapons. IU is better right now than I thought they were. And they didn't rush the floor, so their fans are growing as wellMatta has a lot of coachable moments to take away from that game, esp. about executing when the game is on the line.
One side note: I have to give Dan Dakich credit for being a very professional, non-biased announcer. He did not get into any homerism at all, if you didn't know it beforehand, you wouldn't have known he was an IU guy.
Oh, and one more thing. Tom Crean is one annoying dude. Not sure what it is, but he bothers me, alfalfa hairdo, body language, something.
"Rounding 3rd and heading for home, good night everybody"
I think this is the great thing about conference play, when winning in another team's house is never a certainty no matter what the national rankings say (although I can't explain what the heck happened in Madison yesterday).
I'm looking forward to seeing the Big Ten beat each other up this season. Makes for some great basketball and I think it makes them all better. And now that XU has completely fallen off my radar of admired teams, I feel free to root for a Thad Matta team.
Next Reds manager, second shooter. --Confirmed on Redszone.
Tonights game should be a good test for the Buckeyes. Illinois is undefeated at home so far this season and the Bucks have struggled on the road.
Sullinger is going to go up against someone who is 7'1" and athletic in Leonard. That will be a big challenge for Sullinger.
Depending on how the game is called, I think OSU pulls out a 5-7 point win.
Really interested in seeing Sullinger play against Leonard. Might be a precursor as to how effective he'll be in the pros.
I'll be suprised if this game is close. Illinois barely beat Nebraska at home on Sunday. Famous last words but that's my prediction.
"Rounding 3rd and heading for home, good night everybody"
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