Rest up, young BuckWith a win over Minnesota on Saturday, the Buckeyes now have a week off before they take on Bucky at the Kohl Center this Saturday night in front of ESPN's College Gameday. While the free time this week can be assumed to be a positive for Matta’s squad, there are also some negatives to taking a full week off before heading up to the Cheesehead state. Let’s take a look at both sides of this issue.
Positives
Coming off a week in which they played and defeated two Top 25 teams in Purdue and Minnesota, the Bucks could probably use a week off. This week can give them time to rest up any minor injuries or soreness they may have, as well as give Evan Turner a chance to rest, as he has played at least 39 minutes in the last seven games. The Buckeyes have also fared well with a week between games this season, defeating Butler, who is now #15 in the newest rankings, on December 13 after playing Notre Dame on December 6. The most important issue at hand, though, is the amount of preparation time OSU will get leading up to Saturday’s contest.
OSU is 0-3 under Thad Matta in Madison and will be looking to break the testy Badgers' success at home under Bo Ryan (Ryan is 116-11 at home at UW). Ryan’s squad has underachieved this year at 12-9 (3-6), but came up with big wins at home against Illinois and at Happy Valley this past weekend and is looking to build up a March Madness resume with wins over Iowa tonight and against the ‘Young Bucks’ on Saturday. What better way to go into this game, if you’re the OSU coaching staff, then to have a full week to watch video and prepare your players in practice to prey on the Badgers’ weaknesses and come up with a game plan that has the perfect formula to win.
Usually the coaches are not blessed with this much time, as in the Big Ten you normally play on Tuesday or Wednesday and then on Saturday or Sunday of a week. Thad and his staff have a chance to show how good of coaches they are by preparing this team in practice for an entire week with one mission on their minds: Beat the Badgers. If Ohio State comes out lousy and lays a goose egg like they have many times this season (see: here and here), there is no one to blame but the coaching staff for not taking advantage of a great scheduling break in the middle of the conference slate.
Negatives
While getting a chance to rest up and have a full week to game plan for Wisco certainly won't hurt anyone, there is something to be said about the momentum a team has when they have won four games in a row and have just moved up from #26 to #20 in the RPI. While I really like how the Buckeyes have a chance to look at film and prepare for the Badgers for an entire week, I just can't help but worry about this young team losing focus and sitting back in the driver's seat like they have done many times before during this campaign. The basketball Bucks have coasted into both the West Virginia and Illinois games this season after stringing together an impressive run of victories, and have given us no reason to believe this week will be any different. Maybe the freshman and sophomores have matured since earlier in the year, but even so, it is easy for the players to see this as a week off rather than an opportunity to better themselves on an individual and team level. After all, these kids are just in college and have their school work and other extra curricular activities on their minds, in addition to the hours they put forth in the gym.
The freshman are just starting to emergeThe Buckeyes need to take the momentum that has been built up in the last two weeks and run with it. There is no substitute for the energy and charisma that a team who is playing good basketball brings to the court and the Buckeyes cannot afford to lose these characteristics when they head on the road, especially to a venue as hostile as the Kohl Center. While having the week off will give the team plenty of practice time, there is no better way to keep your team as hot as the Buckeyes have been than to keep playing in live game action, and this bye week could cool the Bucks off a little bit. OSU is playing it's best basketball of the year, so why stop now?
What do you guys think? Is the week off before the Wisconsin game beneficial to Ohio State at this point in the season or will stopping their momentum during this win streak set them back a step?
Comments
Having the bye will benefit not only Turner but Buford as well. Since the Bucks have been rotating a total of 7-8 players a game, this is the perfect time to get a rest and to prepare for Bucky on Saturday night. It's a primetime affair and Dickie V will be at the Kohl Center getting his first public glimpse of perhaps the Big Ten POY(Turner).
If I didn't live down here in Memphis, I'd drive to Madison for a brat, to see Erin Andrews in person and a Buckeye victory.
Good points all around, but I think the week off is more positive than negative. At this point in the season, a week off to rest up and get healthy could prove to be very beneficial in about a month when the Big Ten Tournament starts.
The week off will only benefit this team. The guards need the rest, the bigs need to gain confidence in post moves and the PG's will continue to understand Thad's concepts. Plus everyone on the team will get at least 1000 jumpers in, which is rare in-season.
I don't think a layoff in hoops is a momentum killer like it is in football. The Bucks may come out slow, but will eventually turn it on.
"What do you guys think? Is the week off before the Wisconsin game beneficial to Ohio State at this point in the season or will stopping their momentum during this win streak set them back a step?"
I have to say I didn't think they'd have this good of a record at this time in the season a month or two ago. Not anymore.
I think they've built confidence and now have a purpose for their season. I think they use the time off wisely and go beat Bucky. The Wisconsin fans will think the game is out of hound when it's over.
GO BUCKS!
What has happened to Offutt? I am hoping that Lighty is keeping him engaged while on the bench so he doesn't leave after the season.
These are 18 and 19 year old kids, dont tell me these guys need more than a good nights sleep to get healthy. The preperation time will be the biigest benefit for the young guys.
That gets me to the next point about how I think Thad has really proven how good a coach he is lately. After the Illinois game, I really thought we were heading for another NIT bid, but Thad went back to the drawing board and now we look to be a lock for the dance. He is not getting enough credit and I think the improvement in the second half defense is all his doing.
As usual, Wisco will get all the calls and be looking to bust somebody's nose open, so I dont think we have a very good shot, but who knows, I think Buford has a couple of big games in his sleeve, this could be one.
This team seems to be peaking at the right time. A week off could keep them from getting too high right now and have a let down in early March. If they keep playing as well as they have at the end of games, this team may be the surprise team come NCAA time, possibly even into the elite eight or who knows.....maybe higher
Offutt came to OSU after two years straight with ACL tears....I'm sure that stunted his development as a player in his junior and senior years of high school and OSU has not gotten the player the originally offered (which was way too early!). Offutt can develop into a solid combo guard at OSU, but for now has to take his lumps and sit on the bench and learn.
If they lose in Wisconsin there will probably be more at fault than just the bye week.
Examples:
1) Winning in Wisconsin has always been next to impossible.
2) Another underachieving basketball squad is coming on to its own, and happens to be at home.
3) We can't keep Wisconsin from getting 14 plus offensive boards. :-)
"3) We can’t keep Wisconsin from getting 14 plus offensive boards. :-)"
This is my biggest pet peeve, and I also think it'll be the biggest reason if they don't get a win. It's so painful to watch them "try" to box someone out at times...or not at all.
Ah well, no team is perfect. GO BUCKS!
It's why I'm not a big fan of the zone.
Go Bucks!
[...] will soon find out whether the week off was a good thing or not. I personally think it was a well-timed break by the scheduling gods, allowing the Bucks to [...]