Season started yesterday with a win over Albany. Next game Saturday vs. Rhode Island. Questions for this season are will the Bucks get anything on the offensive side from Ravenel and Williams? And who will emerge as the 3rd scorer on the team. Hopefully this is another fun and entertaining year Im looking forward to it.
I am optimistic about this team. I don't know how much Ravenel or Williams will bring on offense but as long as they provide the defense they should be ok.Originally Posted by redsfan1995
I do think it comes down to them finding a legit 3rd scorer. Its scary when you consider that Craft is the #2 scorer. Hopefully Ross can be as good as he was billed and either Thompson, Scott, or Smith Jr. can score.
I was surprised to read a very poor recruiting summary. Is Thad's player usage starting to affect recruiting?
"Rounding 3rd and heading for home, good night everybody"
That could have some effect but I think the state of Ohio has been lacking some talent the last few years we are used to seeing. They do have a nice player in Marc Loving coming from Toledo though in next years class. Also with Crean being at Indiana hes doing a good job with keeping kids in state so that hurts. I think they will make a big splash though in the 2014 class.
The Buckeyes won last night against Rhode Island and they play Washington today at 4:30 on ESPN 2
Watched most of this game last night. The achilles heel of this squad prevented a big road win---lack of offensive threats. You have Thomas, then the other best offensive guy couldn't find the floor in the second half after playing a good first half (Ross). That befuddled me. I want to see more of Ross, less of Smith and Thompson. I don't think they are going to win too many of their close games with one offensive threat and four defensive specialists on the floor for most of the minutes.
"Rounding 3rd and heading for home, good night everybody"
I was encouraged by the performance last night. They need to find another scorer, but for the most part they played a good game. Its tough to beat Duke in Duke and in the end Duke hit some tough contested shots that ended up being the margin.
OSU will need to find another scorer. Hopefully Ross will see the floor more and more as the season goes along. I do think this will be a team that gets better as the season goes along.
One of the things that is starting to bug me about Matta teams is that they are long on "athletes," but a little short on basketball players. Maybe its just a cycle, but he just loves Sam Thompson, but all the guy can do on the offensive end is alley oops or penetration dunks. Shannon Scott can't shoot. No long range shooting guard since Diebler left two years ago. Just not liking the last few recruiting classes.
Oh, and since Craft reportedly worked hard on his outside shot in the offseason, it did not seem to make much of a difference.
Last edited by traderumor; 11-29-2012 at 11:57 AM.
"Rounding 3rd and heading for home, good night everybody"
I was actually very happy with the peformance last night even though they lost. The only problem was Craft had more shot attempts than Thomas. They need Thomas to be getting up the most shots. I can see this team getting alot better in March.
My one beef in the game, and its a constant beef when Duke plays, the fouls. In the first half OSU was the more aggressive team, a step quicker to all the lose balls, and Duke was a step slow. Normally that combination means Duke is going to have more fouls than OSU, not so. In reality it kept Duke in the game and it put OSU's best two players on the bench for 10 minutes in Thomas and Craft for 5. Now in all likelihood that stretch playing deeper into your bench in a tough game will help OSU out in the long haul it was frustrating to watch.
As for traderumor's beef about Thad, its strictly a defensive thing. Thad has preferred to play better defenders over scorers. His last good 3 point shooter was Diebler but last year also had Buford who was a damn good shooter who had a tough season from deep. I think if anything Ross will get playing time as the season gets along but Smith and Thompson are very good defenders.
OK, you started it now.Duke. Can the media be anymore up the butt of Coach K? In the first half, they play bad, "well, looks like they're tired out there, boy this has been a grueling stretch for them." Jay Bilas claims they have played a schedule tougher than anyone has played in the history of the game. Well, that was Groundhog Day from last year when they were dismantled in Cbus. If somebody besides Thomas could hit a shot, they'd have gone down two years in a row. Oh, and apparently they had something in the tank to play at a high level the entire second half. Quit making excuses for the pretty boys.
Then there were the frat boy coaches trying to show emotion at the end of the game. They really didn't even know how to celebrate, as much as they tried. Grit your teeth, grab the other guy by his tailored suit jacket sleeve. What was that? They didn't even get a hair out of place during their "celebration." Elitists to the core.
Then there was #2, Cook perhaps, who was intent on starting a fight more than playing bball in the first half, trying to bait Ohio State and succeeding a couple of times. A new opposing player to disrespect.
As for my criticism, this team is going to need to balance the minutes if they are going to exceed my expectations, which right now is MAYBE a Sweet 16 team. There are too many one trick ponies on the squad to use the 7 man rotation. Going to have to sacrifice some defense to get another scoring threat on the floor at times. Tell Shannon Scott he is not allowed to shoot anything outside the paint when he is in the game. Use Ross to spell both Thompson and Smith, limiting the time that only one offensive threat is on the floor. I was worried about last year's team ability to shoot the ball, but this year is even worse. If he's going to keep on recruiting one trick ponies, start looking for a long range specialist.
Last edited by traderumor; 11-30-2012 at 03:15 PM.
"Rounding 3rd and heading for home, good night everybody"
@traderumor
I thought Quinn Cook was a punk thug in that game. There were many times where his intent was to get into an OSU players face and start something. There were a couple of times where he initiated something and probably could have gotten a technical.
I wasn't expecting much out of this team, and today it was on display in a national telecast. One team is athletic, but also has basketball players, the other team is athletic.
They just are going to struggle to have answers on offense when playing teams that can take away Thomas. I'm sure someone can give a technical answer, but Thomas disappeared and there was no answer. That is what I expect in most games against ranked opponents this year.
LaQuentin Ross, I'm off that bandwagon real fast. Yikes, he is lost on both ends of the court. He looked like a promising swing man, now I'm not sure he will be able to start in his last two seasons.
Craft, Scott, Ross and Thompson will get lots of open jumpers like today.
I think it is gonna be a long Big 10 season.
"Rounding 3rd and heading for home, good night everybody"
You may not want to hear this, but that is exactly the type of game where OSU needed a William Buford-type. They didn't have anyone who could break down Kansas defense and they don't have enough shooters to be really scary.
Variatio delectat - Cicero
Both games they have lost this year Thomas has disappeared in the second half because he cannot get an open look. For this team to be good others have to make shots for Thomas to get shots.
Now I partially agree with you on the Ross part. Yes he does look lost at times but to make him and the offense effective I think him and Thomas need to be on the floor at the same time. When ross is out there they always have a man guarding him because he is a threat as opposed to Craft. With those two out there at the same time you have two guys who can make plays and create shots.
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