It's crazy how much more confident

[pfister1]

We are VERY good in elite 8 games. Remember OSU has basically two practices to prepare instead of having all week of watching zone film and how to attack it.

Wiscy was much more prepared, and had to hit 14 threes to have a chance.

OSU game will be higher paced (benefits us), they don't have as many 3 point shooters to cover (so we can concentrate on their top 2). However, I think Sullinger can foul out both Keita and XMAS in which case we're in big trouble. If we're up only 1 with 20 seconds left again, they will 100% go to him, and he WILL score.

And if the first attempt doesn't go down they will get the offensive board and put back. Let's make it a point not to give them the last crack at scoring to win.

 

[MCuse44]

Reasons to be nervous:

1. they rebound really well
2. they only lose when teams shoot extremely well
3. sullinger is a matchup problem, changes the zone

 

[CuseCrew08]

Lets not forget WE are playing as well as I have seen them play in over a month. The 2nd half against KSU looked like the SU team from the beginning of the season, and I thought we played very well all game against Wisco.

 

[phil77]

This was the one team in this bracket that I did not want to play.

 

[cusetown1]

In order for Sullinger to draw fouls they are going to have to get it inside first. I really think OSU will struggle with that. I think Sullinger will get many of his passes up top. He will work his way down low, a guy Southerland will help immensely. I can see a Sullinger getting a few of his shot swatted. He doesn't always go up strong, but is great at put backs.

 

[zhanjuzi]

I'm extremely excited about this match up. OSU looked unbeatable last night and will be riding high. The line, the media are all picking OSU .. just more fuel ... LGO!!

 

[cusetown1]

This was the one team in this bracket that I did not want to play.

well they are a 2 seed.

 

[phil77]

Yes

well they are a 2 seed.

Yes but we heard all that Vandy talk and Florida State talk. I was hoping we got to play Vandy and Florida State instead of Wisconsin and Ohio State.

 

[br801]

I'm extremely excited about this match up. OSU looked unbeatable last night and will be riding high. The line, the media are all picking OSU .. just more fuel ... LGO!!

OSU did look unbeatable last night, except for the 10 or so minutes when Cincy was riding roughshod over them.

 

[cusetown1]

Yes


Yes but we heard all that Vandy talk and Florida State talk. I was hoping we got to play Vandy and Florida State instead of Wisconsin and Ohio State.

I would much rather play OSU than Vandy or FSU. There I said it, and now I will be laughed at.

 

[cusetown1]

Cincy sucks. But they are awesome when they can hit 8-10 threes in 20 min.

 

[BlueCurtain]

OSU has basically two practices to prepare instead of having all week of watching zone film and how to attack it.

Wrong. They were preparing for this all week, and had great ball movement when Cinci tried to zone them. Did Cinci make their run when they switched out of it?

Either way, in a 7-game series we might beat OSU 2x sans Melo. We need the intangibles to favor SU: officiating, foul trouble, and shooting %.

 

[cusetown1]

well I guess we have a shot if we'd beat them twice in a seven game series.

 

[BuffOrange]

Those who think that they are a better match up for us than Wisconsin are looking at things through Orange colored glasses at best or at worst are simply delusional.

Right, we all know Gottlieb & Seth Davis wear orange glasses.

 

[HoustonCuse]

I struggle to understand why people would say OSU is a much worse matchup that Wisconsin was. On paper, maybe. But the way the game played out - UW hit 14 threes. They started the second half shooting 82% from deep. They have the #1 PPG defense in America. That, folks, is a bad matchup. Yeah OSU will be damn tough. Melo would be huge in this game. But I don't feel like there is any reason to be scared of this game at all. Our players are surging in their confidence right now. KJo is going to play a good game after several sub-par performances. If they don't hit 10+ threes, there is no reason to think we don't have an excellent chance.

As for rebounding: yes it is a concern. JB has found the antidote though. An aggressive and athletic Rak to grab a few of them, and also we have honed our skills over the past two games of neutralizing big men by having four to five guys repeatedly drive right into their chins until they leave the game with foul trouble. Then we rebound with impunity.

 

[ROCorange]

For me it just feels good to know that the rest of the tournament is going to be against teams that are not going to play stall ball or some other gimmick to change the game. They are pretty much going to play their game and say beat us.

I think this is part of the reason that JB has such a terrible record in the sweet 16 and does much better afterward

 

[realorange]

I said from the beginning of the season that I didn't want to see Ohio St. until the Final Four. They will rebound well, defend well and give us all we can handle along the baseline.
Having said that, if we can play as well as we did against Wisconsin, we stand a good chance of beating them. As someone else said, intensity will be a key factor.

 

[SWC75]

I wanted Duke soooooooooooooooooo bad.

The #2 seeds were Duke, Missouri, Ohio State and Kansas. Missouri had the best record and ranking of the three but I think Ohio State had the best team. We got the toughtest 2.

 

[kyleslamb]

We are VERY good in elite 8 games. Remember OSU has basically two practices to prepare instead of having all week of watching zone film and how to attack it.

Wiscy was much more prepared, and had to hit 14 threes to have a chance.

OSU game will be higher paced (benefits us), they don't have as many 3 point shooters to cover (so we can concentrate on their top 2). However, I think Sullinger can foul out both Keita and XMAS in which case we're in big trouble. If we're up only 1 with 20 seconds left again, they will 100% go to him, and he WILL score.

Thad Matta said they were prepping for playing against the 2-3 all week. They anticipated Cincinnati playing a lot of it and you also go into preparations for a week getting ready for possible match-ups in the Regional Finals as well. He said they planned on Cincinnati and Syracuse both.

 

[HoustonCuse]

Thad Matta said they were prepping for playing against the 2-3 all week. They anticipated Cincinnati playing a lot of it and you also go into preparations for a week getting ready for possible match-ups in the Regional Finals as well. He said they planned on Cincinnati and Syracuse both.

The interesting thing about this regional is that both games were Big East v Big 10 matchups. That meant that all four of the teams could direct their second game prep toward a specific team since both have already scouted and played against one of the possible opponents. May reduce our normal two-day-turnaround advantage for tomorrow. But that doesn't bother me so much as it means we also got a head start on OSU prep too.

 

[kyleslamb]

The interesting thing about this regional is that both games were Big East v Big 10 matchups. That meant that all four of the teams could direct their second game prep toward a specific team since both have already scouted and played against one of the possible opponents. May reduce our normal two-day-turnaround advantage for tomorrow. But that doesn't bother me so much as it means we also got a head start on OSU prep too.

Yep. I think that helped both teams tremendously. Obviously Ohio State didn't need to prepare too much for Wisconsin nor did Syracuse need to prepare much for Cincinnati.

 

[Col. Bleep]

This board is today as compared to the last few days. TOSU is such a better matchup than Wisky, I'm glad we all realize that.

True.
Better talent...but not as difficult a matchup for us.
A tough one, no doubt.
But given their style, we should get more than 2 fast breaks this game.

 

[osullfam]

True.
Better talent...but not as difficult a matchup for us.
A tough one, no doubt.
But given their style, we should get more than 2 fast breaks this game.

The obvious reason that OSU is a tougher match-up than the Badgers, is that the Badgers played a perfect game and we still beat them. If OSU plays a perfect game, it's over in 10 minutes.

 

[ORRange]

What a depressing thread. I didn't realize we were playing Tarks 'Rebs. Could be over at halftime or in ten minutes. Really? The Mayans are right. OSU plays M2M, and shoots worse than us from three. Hmm. I watched in dismay as Crean decided to run with UK last night. What happens if Matta lets his boys run with us? You would think we were 20 point 'dogs reading this thread. LGO. Oh, and by the way we have a home court advantage.

 

[cpatrocks]

The obvious reason that OSU is a tougher match-up than the Badgers, is that the Badgers played a perfect game and we still beat them. If OSU plays a perfect game, it's over in 10 minutes.

not if we play a perfect game.