Thad Matta re Syracuse: "It's like there are 8 of them out there"

[RoysRunts]

Am I the only one who thinks Sullinger is overrated?

IMO I think Sullinger will foul out Keita and Rak, and destroy the ZONE inside. The only hope I see is stop their other scorers and limit turnovers.
Remember the Center from Rutgers? I'd like to say this Game will be similiar to Rutgers but OSU is much more talented. Thatta has used and beaten SU with the Zone before. SU is the Underdog in this Game. Oh and Sullinger is not overrated. IMO OSU is one of 2 teams left in the field (as of today) that can beat UK

 

[cusetown1]

IMO I think Sullinger will foul out Keita and Rak, and destroy the ZONE inside. The only hope I see is stop their other scorers and limit turnovers.
Remember the Center from Rutgers? I'd like to say this Game will be similiar to Rutgers but OSU is much more talented. Thatta has used and beaten SU with the Zone before. SU is the Underdog in this Game. Oh and Sullinger is not overrated. IMO OSU is one of 2 teams left in the field (as of today) that can beat UK

Sullinger will foul out both Keita and ROC?

 

[cusetown1]

IMO I think Sullinger will foul out Keita and Rak, and destroy the ZONE inside. The only hope I see is stop their other scorers and limit turnovers.
Remember the Center from Rutgers? I'd like to say this Game will be similiar to Rutgers but OSU is much more talented. Thatta has used and beaten SU with the Zone before. SU is the Underdog in this Game. Oh and Sullinger is not overrated. IMO OSU is one of 2 teams left in the field (as of today) that can beat UK

You will be very surprised when Syracuse beats OSU. Syracuse is a better team, OSU has been overrated all year.

 

[MyMeloMyMan]

I just never liked his game.

Call me crazy..I love power forwards who can get 17/10 and shoot over 50% from the field...also shoots very well from the stripe. I'd take him in a heartbeat. How many bigs have we ever had as good as Sully? Coleman...and maybe Hakim..

 

[44PRIDE]

IMO I think Sullinger will foul out Keita and Rak, and destroy the ZONE inside. The only hope I see is stop their other scorers and limit turnovers.
Remember the Center from Rutgers? I'd like to say this Game will be similiar to Rutgers but OSU is much more talented. Thatta has used and beaten SU with the Zone before. SU is the Underdog in this Game. Oh and Sullinger is not overrated

Last night, both Baye and Rak got into foul trouble against a mediocre big-man. Starting with tOSU, we will genuinely start to feel how much Melo meant to this club.

From here on in, we need to shoot lights out from outside the arc to cover up this deficiency.

 

[cusetown1]

Call me crazy..I love power forwards who can get 17/10 and shoot over 50% from the field...also shoots very well from the stripe. I'd take him in a heartbeat. How many bigs have we ever had as good as Sully? Coleman...and maybe Hakim..

I'm not comparing him to our guys. Last year he was a can't miss superstar. This year showed the limitations in his game. 3 or 4 of his baskets last night were very tough shots.

 

[cusetown1]

Last night, both Baye and Rak got into foul trouble against a mediocre big-man. Starting with tOSU, we will genuinely start to feel how much Melo meant to this club.

From here on in, we need to shoot lights out from outside the arc to cover up this deficiency.

The front line for Wisconsin moved very well. Those were fouls waiting to happen.

 

[44PRIDE]

The front line for Wisconsin moved very well. Those were fouls waiting to happen.

This is one of the main reasons I hope not to see Kentucky. They run the baseline like nobody's business. I can see both Baye and Rak picking up a few "cheapies" each.

 

[cusetown1]

This is one of the main reasons I hope not to see Kentucky. They run the baseline like nobody's business. I can see both Baye and Rak picking up a few "cheapies" each.

Yeah, Terrence Jones is the key to that team.

 

[BlueCurtain]

Rakeita really only have about 6 fouls to give. The other 4 will be for breathing on Sullinger.

If they're going to blow the whistle anyway, you might as well hack 'em and avoid the cheap "and-1". Southy better be ready to donate his 5 fouls after the last media timeout.

 

[Knicks411]

I'm not comparing him to our guys. Last year he was a can't miss superstar. This year showed the limitations in his game. 3 or 4 of his baskets last night were very tough shots.

Seems like he was a guy who hurt his stock by coming back.

 

[Ghost]

Am I the only one who thinks Sullinger is overrated?

He's overrated in the sense that he's going to be a high draft pick next year - he won't be very good in the NBA. Overrated otherwise, maybe a little. He's a great college player - really whiny though which makes me dislike all the more.

 

[TexanMark]

I'm nervous about OSU being able to play volleyball on the offensive glass against us.

But I LOVE that they only have 1 day to prepare for the zone, and that they are going to play us straight up man-2-man all game.

I loathe Ohio State. My wife is an OSU grad, as is her whole family, so for me this is personal.

Let's Go Orange!!!

Is the horde from Ohio making the trip to Boston or are you just with all Orange this weekend?

 

[jekelish]

Regarding Sullinger and whether or not people like his game, isn't he the guy most people compare DC2 to?

Also, it's funny going to the Kentucky board and seeing their thread about this quote, because every last one of them thinks Matta was referring to the refs. According to the Kentucky people, we've gotten nothing but gifts all the way through, and every call has gone our way.

For a fanbase that's so far above us they sure do spend a lot of time getting irritated by us.

 

[cusetown1]

Regarding Sullinger and whether or not people like his game, isn't he the guy most people compare DC2 to?

Also, it's funny going to the Kentucky board and seeing their thread about this quote, because every last one of them thinks Matta was referring to the refs. According to the Kentucky people, we've gotten nothing but gifts all the way through, and every call has gone our way.

For a fanbase that's so far above us they sure do spend a lot of time getting irritated by us.

he's the poor mans DC2. Yeah definitely.

 

[Francis03]

Regarding Sullinger and whether or not people like his game, isn't he the guy most people compare DC2 to?

Also, it's funny going to the Kentucky board and seeing their thread about this quote, because every last one of them thinks Matta was referring to the refs. According to the Kentucky people, we've gotten nothing but gifts all the way through, and every call has gone our way.

For a fanbase that's so far above us they sure do spend a lot of time getting irritated by us.

Kentucky and their fans

 

[Knicks411]

If Sullinger is a poor man's DC2 then we're gonna be awesome next year.

 

[LennX6]

Am I the only one who thinks Sullinger is overrated?

I thought that too but I saw him close out Gonzaga and he played well last night so I am coming around. I think our strategy should be contain Craft, Buford and Thomas, let Sullinger get his and we move on.

 

[hardysf]

Sullinger plays below the rim and he can't jump. He seems to have awareness as to where the ball is going though and has a large body; thus he doesn't have to jump that high and is really tough to box out. I don't like his game at all though.

 

[cusetown1]

Sullinger plays below the rim and he can't jump. He seems to have awareness as to where the ball is going though and has a large body; thus he doesn't have to jump that high and is really tough to box out. I don't like his game at all though.

He draws fouls on put backs, makes a living with and 1's. He won't be drawing nearly the fouls people may think.

 

[Madbiker]

OSU is a load and we will have lots of problems with them. They will kill us on the boards (who doesn't). Thomas may give us more problems that Sullinger. Buford is the x factor. Inconsistent but when he gets on a roll he can be deadly. We will be so concerned inside, Buford might kill us from outside. We need to force TO's which I think we can and we need to take it to the rim and draw fouls. BTW, UK would kill OSU. Davis would shut down the lane and block like 10 shots. OSU can't win any game they don't control the inside and they wouldn't against UK.

 

[Upstate]

Sully is pretty lazy, though, too...walks back on defense, not a great defender, can be a black hole, not a good passer

 

[Orangezoo]

In the majority of OSU's wins they really relied on Craft to force turnovers to get them seperation so they could then force the issue into sullinger. Thats of course only one of many ways they win. The teams Craft did not dominate were teams with bigger physical guards... Wisky, Illinois (on the road), Michigan, Michigan state. He is pesky but reaches a lot. He is prone to foul trouble against more physical teams. Scoop/Dion/Brandon cannot try to cross him up.. they can however find the angles and use their strength when they get him on their hip after a screen. OSU really relies on doing everything they can to keep guys out of the lane. They have not done a good job as noted on the PNR or on keeping physical guards from getting into the lane. Cincy has Wright and Dixon.. who are decent sized but play less physical than our guards. Watching the B-10.. outside of indiana and wisky its the same kind of strategy.. a big guy who can score..scrappy guards and another scorer or two who can shoot the 3. That contrasts to the Big East having a lot of long defenders in the post, quality guard play and guys who can take you off the dribble. A large contrast in styles. I expect our athleticism will be a problem for OSU. Against a MTM .. we are rolling and able to score in the half court... meaning if this continues.. OSU has to be top notch in transition D which they are good.. but not Wisky good. This game has a chance to be like Oklahoma in 2003.. but I expect much more of a battle. Big thing will be the defense will need to guard the corner 3's and then move quickly to cutoff the easy post delivery to sullinger and the skip pass.. lots to ask for but it was really active last night despite how well wisky shot.

 

[MonsterGame]

If Rak and BMK both foul out. JS probably plays center from then on. Certainly that gives OSU an advantage when they are on offense, but what do they do on defense against KJ, CJ and JS? Sullinger has to guard one of those guys out to the 3 pt line right? That's gonna be a tough task for him.

 

[IthacaMatt]

I'm nervous about OSU being able to play volleyball on the offensive glass against us.

But I LOVE that they only have 1 day to prepare for the zone, and that they are going to play us straight up man-2-man all game.

I loathe Ohio State. My wife is an OSU grad, as is her whole family, so for me this is personal.

Let's Go Orange!!!

Cinci played a lot of 2-3 zone. The advantage isn't as much as it used to be.