SWC75
Bored Historian
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2011
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- I was sure our first loss would be to Florida. Then Marquette. Then Pittsburgh. After the loss at Notre Dame, there was no way we were going to win at Cincinnati. There was no way we were going to get through Georgetown,. Connecticut and Louisville without getting nicked. I was wrong in each case. I also never saw the Notre Dame and Cincinnati losses coming. Why are you even reading anything I wrote?
- Because Ohio State has not had to face the type of speed and driving ability we have. Craft may be a great man-to-man defender but he’s going to be in another world if they assign him to guard Deon Waiters. Kansas State and Wisconsin were supposed to be tremendous man-to-man defensive teams and they had no answer for our guys. Are the Buckeyes even as good as they were?
- Yeah, our zone didn’t look very good against Wisconsin. We could have played it a lot better in covering the three point line. But what it’s really designed to do is to prevent the ball from getting inside, taking front lines out of the game. A team that wants to get it inside to score is exactly the type of team we want to play. We have to be active in the zone, especially denying entry passes into the paint. I like the fact that we got back to the half-court traps vs. the Badgers, (although they managed to get out of them). That’s an important part of our defense. Finally there’s the cliché about teams that haven’t faced our zone before having a hard time with it. But to become a cliché, something has first to be true. We’ve seen some very good teams look very bad against our zone when we play it right and they don’t.
- People forget that Rakeem Christmas was a highly rated recruit when he agreed to come here, (at least one service had him the #1 big man in the country). Like a lot of freshmen big men, he’s been up and down. He and Keita seem to alternate good games. We will need both of them “on” for this one. Rak’s best games have come against Yancy Gates and K-State, a team that likes to come right at you. He does less well against teams that are moving around or trying to finesse him. Ohio State isn’t going to try to finesse him.
- If our centers foul out, here’s the plan: Put Southerland in front of Sullinger to deny the passes to him. He’s our ’longest’ forward and a good jumper. Then have CJ slip in behind Sullinger to try to slap the ball away after he gets a pass and gathers himself for the move to the basket. On offense, put James in the high post and have him shoot jumpers from there the way Berggren did for Wisconsin to draw Sully out. Having Joseph, Fair and Southerland in the game at the same time could be interesting. It would make defending them harder\. But it would make defending us harder, too.
- JB says it’s all about the seniors. Scoop, despite some bad moments, has been playing very well in the tournament. Kris Joseph can’t find his own shadow. CJ got his game going last time out. Now it’s time for Kris to bust out in a big way, as he did vs. Georgetown.
- They cannot guard Dion Waiters. No one can.
- Brandon Triche was having a heck of a game before he came out. JB actually expressed regrets at having to pull him out after the game. If we wind up with a forward guarding Sullinger, I wonder if JB puts all three guards in at once to find out if the Buckeyes can “guard this“.
- You need everybody- everybody- playing well to win games like this and we are very close to putting all the pieces together. Despite being 34-2 we’ve never really seen what this team could do if all the pistons are pumping at once. Now’s the time!
- Watching the other games, have you seen anybody we can’t beat? Neither have I.
- Impossible is nothing!
- Because Ohio State has not had to face the type of speed and driving ability we have. Craft may be a great man-to-man defender but he’s going to be in another world if they assign him to guard Deon Waiters. Kansas State and Wisconsin were supposed to be tremendous man-to-man defensive teams and they had no answer for our guys. Are the Buckeyes even as good as they were?
- Yeah, our zone didn’t look very good against Wisconsin. We could have played it a lot better in covering the three point line. But what it’s really designed to do is to prevent the ball from getting inside, taking front lines out of the game. A team that wants to get it inside to score is exactly the type of team we want to play. We have to be active in the zone, especially denying entry passes into the paint. I like the fact that we got back to the half-court traps vs. the Badgers, (although they managed to get out of them). That’s an important part of our defense. Finally there’s the cliché about teams that haven’t faced our zone before having a hard time with it. But to become a cliché, something has first to be true. We’ve seen some very good teams look very bad against our zone when we play it right and they don’t.
- People forget that Rakeem Christmas was a highly rated recruit when he agreed to come here, (at least one service had him the #1 big man in the country). Like a lot of freshmen big men, he’s been up and down. He and Keita seem to alternate good games. We will need both of them “on” for this one. Rak’s best games have come against Yancy Gates and K-State, a team that likes to come right at you. He does less well against teams that are moving around or trying to finesse him. Ohio State isn’t going to try to finesse him.
- If our centers foul out, here’s the plan: Put Southerland in front of Sullinger to deny the passes to him. He’s our ’longest’ forward and a good jumper. Then have CJ slip in behind Sullinger to try to slap the ball away after he gets a pass and gathers himself for the move to the basket. On offense, put James in the high post and have him shoot jumpers from there the way Berggren did for Wisconsin to draw Sully out. Having Joseph, Fair and Southerland in the game at the same time could be interesting. It would make defending them harder\. But it would make defending us harder, too.
- JB says it’s all about the seniors. Scoop, despite some bad moments, has been playing very well in the tournament. Kris Joseph can’t find his own shadow. CJ got his game going last time out. Now it’s time for Kris to bust out in a big way, as he did vs. Georgetown.
- They cannot guard Dion Waiters. No one can.
- Brandon Triche was having a heck of a game before he came out. JB actually expressed regrets at having to pull him out after the game. If we wind up with a forward guarding Sullinger, I wonder if JB puts all three guards in at once to find out if the Buckeyes can “guard this“.
- You need everybody- everybody- playing well to win games like this and we are very close to putting all the pieces together. Despite being 34-2 we’ve never really seen what this team could do if all the pistons are pumping at once. Now’s the time!
- Watching the other games, have you seen anybody we can’t beat? Neither have I.
- Impossible is nothing!
