Early Season Thoughts / Lipscomb Gameday Thread
by Sam @ WWAHT on Nov 24, 2009 12:00 PM EST
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PrintLipscomb Bisons at Ohio St. Buckeyes, Nov 24, 2009 7:00 PM EST
Ohio State plays Lipscomb tonight, having started 3-1 and generally performed up to expectations so far this season. Some of my initial thoughts:
- Evan Turner is so close to being as good as we need him to be. That said, the UNC game was brutal. Ohio State simply will not win games against the better opponents on its schedule when the focal point of the attack is turning the ball over every other possession. Also, I have questions about whether Turner really can be a one for this team. In the first two games, he wasn't shy about sharing the ball with his teammates. Against UNC, all of his bad, selfish habits reared their ugly heads again, and it showed. It wasn't until Turner started playing smart basketball that Ohio State closed the gap against the Tar Heels. Ohio State was able to put away Cal early despite only getting two more assists from Turner (6) than he had in the UNC game, but that just isn't a sustainable style of basketball.
- I'm not sure what to make of William Buford yet. This team needs him to be a crackerjack scorer come Big Ten play, and averaging 10 points against UNC and Cal just isn't going to cut it. Dude has to be the Pippen to Turner's Jordan, and to do that, he has to rediscover his stroke against better teams. If he doesn't do it...
- .... then Jon Diebler will have to, and the day Ohio State is forced to rely on Jon Diebler's perimeter game is the day it loses a basketball game. Perhaps he'll develop into the picture of consistency once he settles into the season, but right now, he's nowhere near steady enough to provide anything more than a couple of nice flashes from the outside.
- It stinks that Ohio State doesn't have the outside game we hoped it would, because the inside game is non-existent. Dallas Lauderdale wasn't the horror show I thought he'd be against UNC, but he's going to get chewed up by the Big Ten's better big men. I see no reason to think it'll be any different when Zisis Sarikopolous and Kyle Madsen hit the court. This worries me, because it makes OSU even more one-dimensional than it already is. If this isn't as much of an issue as it appears to be, Ohio State still still steal one or two games from the better teams in the conference, but... a conference championship is highly, highly unlikely, going off of these first four games.
This is a live thread, technically, but it's for a game where Ohio State could roll out the mouthguards and win. I'm more interested in this: after four games, what are you thoughts on this Buckeye squad? Are they roughly as good as you expected? Are there areas you'd hoped would better? What about the opposite: areas that are better than you had expected coming into the season?
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They are who I thought they were, and I'm lettin' em off the hook!
At least — that’s the case for the UNC game. Yeah, I think we’ll have success against the teams we should beat, but I wasn’t holding my breath for a W against UNC. And moving forward, we’ll struggle just as badly against teams with good size because our starting center (dallas, when he’s healthy) is only 6 foot 8. Granted, he has the arms of a 7 footer, but he’s not a dominant presence on the inside (offensively).
My hope is that some veteran guys from this year’s team (Diebler, Turner, Bufford) will stick around for one more year. Hopefully Matta can combine their experience with the talent of the incoming freshman class (like he did with Oden, Conelly, Ron Lewis and Jamar Butler) to make a run at a final four… This year, I’d be happy/surprised if we made the sweet sixteen.
So far not too shabby
First, Dave, props for channeling your inner Dennis Green.
Second, can’t complain about where they’re at really. Disappointed with the UNC game for sure though. Early on you look at the schedule and go, “This team can easily start 11-1 or 10-2” with the losses being to UNC and potentially Butler. After watching the UNC game you say “They gave the Tar Heels that game.” Thats what poor shooting will do to you, and yes, I’m talking to you Buford.
Just before the last couple games, ESPN was predicting this team to be a top 4 seed in one of the regions in March. The talent is there, and I think a few of the upcoming games (Lipscomb, St. Francis, Presbyterian, Delaware St, Cleveland St.) will help work out the kinks.
Sweet Sixteen easily, Elite 8 hopefully. After that, the Super Six will be here to help push us towards the Final Four!
Columbus til I die, Columbus til I die. I know I am, I swear I am, Columbus til I die!
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