The Saints Came Marching In
Moore crushed the Bucks tourney hopes.(Skip Peterson: AP)
The weaknesses that have haunted them all year, were once again major factors in Ohio State losing their opening round game 74-72, to Siena in double overtime.
The taller Buckeyes allowed 23 offensive rebounds and 19 second chance points to a team that measured 6′9″ and 6′6″ across the front.
The Buckeyes also tied a season high with 20 turnovers, as the lack of great point guard play was evident when the Saints changed defenses on a consistent basis. I appreciate the energy and improvement PJ Hill has brought to this team all year, but with Simmons failing to show up, he was forced to play 40 minutes and that simply is not good. Thank you Mrs. Crater.
I am not going to rehash the entire game, we all watched in disbelief as the Buckeyes lost for just the 2nd time this year when leading with 5:00 left. I am still too sick to discuss specific flows of the game, knowing that Ohio State should have dominated this team if everyone would have shown up.
26 points, 28 rebounds compared to 18 points and freaking 8 boards, those are the numbers for the opposing front courts. Flopping Ryan Rossiter and Alex Franklin out hustled MullenDale all night, gaining an edge on the offensive glass, 13-1. For me, this was the most frustrating aspect of the evening, there is no excuse as to why the Saints dominated in the paint.
This BJ Mullens to the NBA talk has become a complete joke to me. I understand the situation BJ and his family come from, but if they seriously had his best interest in mind, they would advise him to stay for another year. Lee Caryer of Bucknuts put it best last week.
Athletic, 7-0 guys are hard to find; when they learn how to post-up, catch the ball in traffic, move their feet in order to make the defender move his, make a strong move and take a reliable shot, rebound consistently, intimidate on defense, pass to open teammates and a few dozen other things, they can become legends. As they learn they can help their team win games.
Now, B.J. has none of those skills. He can dunk the ball if his opponent is much smaller, has forgotten to defend, or has switched to guard Evan Turner on penetration. That is the entire resume, without using the word potential (famously defined by former Texas football coach Darrell Royal as “you ain’t done it yet”).
Mullens has so much to learn yet and sitting at the end of an NBA bench will stunt his growth as a player and potentially send him on his way to a disappointing career. His totals in the post-season, 27 points and 14 rebounds or less than 7 and 4 per game.
Evan Turner was again the best player on the court, but he had little help from his teammates. Turner lead all scorers with 25 and flirted with his first triple-double, registering 9 boards and 8 assists. I know some analyst and fans feel ET has held the ball too much recently, but he has no choice. He started the game with 2 points and 4 assists, then realized his teammates weren’t going to give him much help and he had to take over the scoring on his own. If he stays and the consistent help arrives, there is no doubt we will be watching an All-American season next year.
Diebler was ice cold from outside making only 2 of 11 attempts from downtown. It still baffles me that he refuses to give a pump fake and drive to the basket if his stroke is a little off. He attempted only 5 shots from inside the arc and 2 free throws in 4 post-season games.
Unfortunately, William Buford was hurt by foul trouble most of the game and it affected his shooting to the tune of 4 of 12 overall and 1 of 5 from deep, his worst percentage in over a month. He contributed only 3 boards and 0 assists in 39 minutes.
Credit has to be given to Fran McCaffery and his coaching staff. They changed defenses at least three different times in the first half, slowing OSU’s offense to a crawl for the final 10 minutes. They took advantage of sloppy ball handling by the Bucks and continued to confuse the young guards with changes and pressure throughout the game.
Crucial mistakes down the stretch also hurt the Bucks. First, they made only 1 of their last 4 free throws in the final 80 seconds and didn’t score a FG in the last 2:38. Second, the Bucks failed to get back on defense with 8 seconds left and Turner was forced to foul, putting Siena at the line with a chance to win it. Then at the end of the first overtime with OSU up 3, PJ Hill forgot to foul Ronald Moore in the backcourt, forcing him to the line instead of hitting the tying three pointer.
The only silver lining of this loss, we don’t have to sit through a humiliating game against Louisville on Sunday. Can you imagine what their press and inside game would have done to this team? The loss will sting for a few days, but spring ball is right around the corner and according to the current poll, that is what will get most of us through the next few weeks.
I was sitting at a table with about 7 other alumnus last night, SURROUNDED by at least 100 Siena fans on all sides, and I started the O-H!……I-O! chant and we were louder than them the whole game. WHY THE FUCK DIDN’T THEY FOUL! that was my first thought this morning. Luckily, my true interest is with football…………
Well, at least you’re honest about the whole bandwagon thing.
There is no secret there pogue
The other benefit is that both Buford and Mullens stunk it up and didn’t get a chance to showcase their NBA talent (which I think they both have but both need to develop) over the course of a few tournament games. I still think Mullens leaves, but I am more confident now that Buford stays; even though Turner said he would stay, I am of the mind that he would fare better in this year’s very weak draft class, rather than compete in a stronger class next year. The scary thing with Buford is that Lighty will come back next year and threaten to take his spot. I don’t think that happens; I think it’s Diebler that gets pushed to the bench and comes off regularly as the 3 point threat. That would give a starting 5 of PJ Hill/Turner/Buford/Lighty/Lauderdale. Not bad, but never going to be great with Hill at PG.
Hill kept ohio state in the game going 6 for 6 from the line. He’ll be better next year. Remember Hill, Buford, Dallas, Mullens, Olfutt are all first year players. You can’t expect them to be like Oden, Cook, and Conley. Those guys were special players.
Next year Hopefully Turner, Buford, Lighty, Dallas, Diebler starting. With Hill coming off the bench. Turner is going to have to move to the point but that line-up gives alot of fire power. If turner comes back with Buford this team will be very good.
Whatever we have coming back and the class coming in, we have to get out of the GD zone. It’s ok to have it as a wrinkle to throw into the mix but we have to man up. I am so SICK of watching teams get wide open looks all day against us! Mullens, good riddence if you really think you are “ready” for the NBA because you played yourself to the bench. I am more worried about Turner leaving than I am about him. It looks to me like he mailed it in all year to avoid getting hurt so he could leave. They need to change that rule to something similiar with football. At least have the players stay two years. This one and done deal is a joke and helps nothing.
Agree 100%
“Whatever we have coming back and the class coming in, we have to get out of the GD zone.”
The problem is there is no class coming in next year….we have 5 in 2010, but had no schollies in 2009….Mullens leaving opens one and Crater leaving opened one, but at this point it’s too late to get in on other players…expect those to be used for 2010 or maybe on ANOTHER Juco (which pains me)….I wouldn’t be surprised to see Diebler/Lighty/Turner/Buford/Dallas starting next year…PJ proved last night he just can’t cut it when it counts and couldn’t break a press either
#1,
I find it incredibly ironic that you boast being louder than the 100 saints fans that surrounded you on all sides. You may have to consider the only reason you heard yourself was because the Siena crowd was surrounded by tens of thousands on all sides.
Don’t be a goon.
That was a terrific game played, regardless of how poor the playing was.
thats funny, I find it incredibly ironic that you are on this site at all. Congrats on your win. I’d like to say that we’ll get to you ’saints’ come football season, but your intermural flag football team might have trouble stepping it up….enjoy your season ending blowout on sunday at the hands of louisville…
I will give Siena credit for sticking around and hitting huge 3s down the stretch to force overtime and then win. We failed to make the big shots at the end.
Siena’s press was tough and even Turner made some bad decisions breaking it, that wasn’t just PJs problem last night.
I know its hindsight, but my guess is for the rest of his career Matta fouls 100% of the time when he has a team up by 3 with 1 possession left. That has to be burned into his brain for years.
Epically pathetic. Ohio State basketball lately has been a story of futility. Why does everything seem to blow up in our faces? We get so close then….BOOM!!!…it’s all over in everything we do (football, basketball, etc)
kill yourself
I’m feeling a little better this morning (not much), so I’ve only got a little rant today. I do admit that for most of the game I was thinking about what BuckeyeSki was going through in the beast’s belly.
What a dispirited effort last night. The much decried lack of rebounding totally pissed me off. The ball movement/handling against the press was pitiful. Were we coached to pick up our dribble just before/as son as we cross mid-court, or did the guards decide to do it on their own.
I agree with Kelly, get out of the zone. Alex, you may have a point that tOSU won’t have good enough players (I can’t believe I’m typing that) to play man-to-man, but jesusjumpinchrist, at least mix up the defensive looks now & then. Hell, even throw a different zone scheme at out there, especially when it’s evident that we can’t seem (or want to) find a body to block out.
To continue my rant; I’ve been a Buckeye fan for several decades, and frankly I’m almost to the point where I just can’t emotionally invest in basketball and football teams anymore. Maybe a more reasonable expectation would be that tOSU has a nice little regional powerhouse (Big-10 titke here, spank UM there) athletic program, but really not able to compete for national titles. That might lower my Disappointment Quotient a bit. I don’t know, maybe I’ll feel differently tomorrow.
Anyway, I plan to watch the Lady Buckeyes this afternoon to hopefully see some good basketball for a change.
AAARRRGGGHHH
This era, say 2003-09 has been a heck of a lot better than the 1980’s. We lose the Rose Bowl by one point on the first day of the decade, and were NEVER ranked #1 for the rest of the decade. Other than the Herb Williams/Kelvin Ransey/Clark Kellog team, a first round NCAA loss was the best the team did until the Jackson/Jent team reached the final 8 in the early 90’s. The ’80s were a vision of Ohio State as only a regional power, not now.
who do you blame for the 1 point loss – earl for the play call or art for not getting outside to score. herb ruled – whatever happened to todd penn?
OK, one more for now. I know much has been made about Mullens’ family situation and future basketball plans. I don’t want to appear insensitive, but I really don’t give a shit. He (recently) has show very little heart and not much in the way of basketball skills. Now, if he appears to have been dogging it to prevent pre-draft injury, as has been suggested, then he is doing tOSU, his family and himself a huge disservice.
Yeah, I was unbelievably frustrated when we were still in our zone “defense” during the last two Siena possessions of the two OTs when they had a chance to tie then win. The zone allowed PJ Hill to help TRIPLE team another player and to completely abandon “what’s his name” who hit the game winning 3. Piss poor coaching by Thad Matta for sticking with the porous zone defense for… umm… like the whole entire season!
And oh god… BJ Mullens and Diebler… ugh. I haven’t been a fan of those two since the season started. Like I’ve been saying to myself, Mullens and Diebler are as SOFT as they come in the sport of basketball. Corey, you nailed it with this about “the all-time leading Ohio HS basketball scoring king”:
“It still baffles me that he refuses to give a pump fake and drive to the basket if his stroke is a little off.”
My response to that: SOFT.
And Mullens, aside from being SOFT as well, also seems to have a basketball IQ equivalent to a rock. Almost every time when he touches the ball it seems like he has no clue what to do with it, which often times leads to piss poor decisions. You’d think after a whole entire season that Mullens would look improved (like a William Buford), especially with all the “potential” they tout him of having, but that isn’t the case.
Mullens is athletic as hell, but there are some just don’t have the basketball IQ for the life of them and he doesn’t. Go ahead and jump to the NBA, we won’t miss you, BJ.
Evan Turner for President!
The good news is that we won’t get destroyed now by Louisville. 9/5/09 vs. Navy is right around the corner.
I still think it’s ridiculous that the strategy for the 3/4 court defense was dribble until just before half court and pick up your dribble and get surrounded by defenders and try to lob the ball over them. After it blew up twice, three times, etc. shouldn’t there be a change in strategy…maybe run with it to half court and NOT pick up your dribble? Poor coaching adjustments in this game. Matta is a great coach but I question the way he’s teaching fundamentals based on our rebounding stats and turnovers this whole season. Hopefully it’s just a product of a young squad but it certainly needs to be a focal point in the offseason.
I will be attending the home game against New Mexico State….anyone else plan on being there? Looking to rep 11W to the fullest
mullendale was quite awful…but i honestly think part of the problem was that rossiter kid. he was like a god damn fainting goat – everytime someone approached *collapse*. that clearly was in lauderdale’s head…and im sure it would have messed with mullens, if mullens had anything going on up there.
this site has a poll that asks us fans how we are dealing with the loss. one of the options is ‘i’m already thinking football’………YEAH…..because i can’t wait to see ohio state get blown out again by usc……at home this time around! whoop dee freakin doo!
That is crazy talk fit for emo kids who cut themselves with dull sporks. COME ON MAN! We are EASILY favored to win vs. USC week 2. First off, its in C-bus. Secondly, USC lost EVERYBODY. That Barkley kid thinks he’s great now, wait till he feels the pressure of playing in the shoe. EPIC FAIL. They lost all their good players on D. How are you not optomistic about this year? Plus, don’t forget that we have THE best all around athlete playing QB for us. He is going to be absolute gold this year….
‘Ski you’re better off not even engaging with this guy. He’s not a Buckeye fan; he’s a hanger-on that associates himself with OSU during the good times, to try and soak up that aura of ‘winner-ness.” When the bad times come around, he drops it like its hot. In a lot of ways, he reminds me of USC fans; where were they before Pete Caroll?
In the poetic words of Dr. Ronnie Coleman: Everybody wants to be a bodybuilder. Don’t nobody wanna lift no heavy-ass weights. Everyone wants to be associated with a winner, but when times is tough they tuck tail and cry foul.
True poisonous nuts appreciate the good because they’ve been through the bad.
Matty waxing philosophic……I likey LOL
*slow clap*
USC didn’t lose everybody on offense. They are loaded at running back. They seem to have good luck finding qb’s but that position should drop off a bit.
On d they won’t be nearly as good as last year but they do reload just like us. Huge advantage for us playing at night in the shoe’. I’ll be making the trip back home for this one.
Ok now….that was painful to watch all year. I’m sure next year will be better. Enough of this shit basketball season is over except for the Cavs.
We need a spring football preview to put it to rest. We are loaded once again with more speed then I can ever remember over all. Here is the Proof.
Qb T. Pryor-4.4
Rb Berry 4.31 Boom 4.5 Saine 4.4
Wr Thomas 4.3 Small 4.4 Fields 4.3
Te Stoneburner 4.4
LB Sabino 4.5 Rolle 4.5 Bell 4.5
Cb Chekwa 4.4 Travis Howard 4.4
S Coleman 4.5 Hines 4.5
We also have more talent on d-line then in recent memory.
Wells, Williams, Rose, Gibson, Goebel, Heyward, Wilson, and Worthington
That right there is sick. OSU has two starting d lines. That is the reason I believe this years defense will be better. They will play 8 deep on the line effectively wearing down the other teams o-line.
Ohio State can go power or speed rush with so many different line ups pick your poison. I wouldn’t be surprised if this team leads the big ten in sacks and TFL’s next season. Speaking of TFL’s, onto the LB’s
Rolle-bad ass ballhawk
Sabino-Bigger bad ass ballhawk
Homan-AJ hawk with less hair
Hines- I know he plays nickleback/safety but he also hits like a LB
Spitler-Has been waiting to play for along time and will see some action
Bell-He would start right away if there wasn’t so much talent infront of him
Sweat-See above
We are loaded on the front seven. This has to be the Fastest and deepest team in recent memory at Ohio State. They have increased speed on defense and the spread will no longer be as effective as in the past. This team could be another national title contender.
i think i gotta half chub goin on there, papa bear
Our improved D-Line is perfect for the “holes” our questions we have in the backfield on D. Linebackers and DBs will play a full letter grade better behind a great line and that should balance our D out pretty well so that we don’t fall too far, if any, from where we have been on D the last few years.
I hate how the world of football has put so much into the word speed the last few years…O-State has never been slow – I think Chris or Jason actually posted an article a year or so ago that showed a matchup of the Buckeyes and Florida’s skill posistions and we were actually faster than Florida overall – it was pretty impressive, but I’m too lazy to search for it.
That said, I am impressed with the amount of playmakers we have on offense this year. Pryor is a given, but I feel that this team could be one of the most exciting teams we have had in C-Bus EVER and it will only get better as the years go on(Team will be young and the amount of talent I believe we will bring in next year will only make it better)
I really hope we use this team to the best of its ability. We all know how freakish Pryor is, but with this great WR core lead by Posey, TEs like Stoneburner and Fragel (sp?), A deep list of RBs including Herron, Hyde, Berry and Saine and a player that I hope gets used like Harvin in Thomas….There shouldn’t be any reason why this team can’t be in the run for another Championship.
Yes I know we’ve always been fast. The point of my post is the overall speed is on a different level now. When has Ohio State had 3 legit 4.5 linebackers?
Your right about the d-line freeing up the linebackers to make plays. I just hope we don’t play soft zone on defense. If they attack like they did vs. Texas they will dominate on d.
Tampa… I didn’t mean to come at you with that post…Just in general it seems that anyone talking about college football can’t go 2 minutes without using the word speed.
I agree, it does appear we are pretty damn quick across the board though!
No worries. I liked your feedback.
I’m in love with that defensive line as well. And that unit alone can bring home hardware (see Giants over Pats).
Im just really excited about all the different options that we are going to have. Purdue running a spread? NO PROBLEM….speed unit in. Penn State going to try to play 3 yards and a cloud of dust….RUN STUFF UNIT to the rescue. I cant wait to see Hines unleashed. He reminds me alot of Doss the way he hits with reckless abandon…..
I’m just going to go on record now.
This team will win it all next year. There… now I feel better.
And the sary thing is Ski…It’s like that on both sides of the ball! Do you want us to spread you out or do you want us to run it down your throat?
Maybe im getting ahead of myself, but this is shaping up to be a DANGEROUS team….
This will be said over and over leading up to the USC game…. If we win that game we will be playing for the title. That game is the season.
Thanks, tampa, I need a little tOSU boost right now, and I believe this may have done it.
thanks i needed a report like that – well stated. its 9:33 and michigan still sucks
I think this Nova team would beat us by about 30. Bounce passes to their bigs? We’re still about two years away from that unfortunately.
It really looks like I’m watching the Globe Trotters.
bounce pass to a big man? WOAH! hold up jason. you are confusing the shit out of me…I haven’t seen that since Oden left
that wasn’t even seen too often when Oden was here…Alan Major needs to go-he supposedly coaches up big men, but in my opinion all 3 of our bigs have not done much on the offensive side of the ball and the last two didn’t play d either
Someone should tell Thad you can run your offense inside the painted area.
Yeah, as soon as we get mid-court, whenever that happens. Aww, I need to take a break for a day or so, I’m letting myself get too cranky-assed today. Maybe go out and hit some golf balls.
Could someone enlighten me to Mullen’s family situation?
His family is about as dirt poor as you can imagine, siblings have had various run ins with the law and drugs, whole neighborhood is in pretty bad shape. If he manages his money right he could do a lot of good getting it as quickly as possible.
Well i don’t wont him to go to the NBA, but after hearing that i dunno. I bet he’s getting alot of pressure from his family to go pro so that he can lift them out poverty. Then you have OSU and Matta probably telling him that he’s not ready… seriously he’s not even the starter. But there is always Europe.
Yeah – I would say that he has a much better chance of a long term pro career if he stays at OSU and improves a bit, but there’s always the Greg Oden rule – it’s much better to be paid to recover from injury than to just end your career.
Greg Oden also led his team to a Big Ten Championship and the National Championship Game.
BluegrassBuck-
This article will give you more insight. Basically, they have had it rough and an NBA contract would change their lives. Let’s hope they’re all smart enough to wait another year.
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/sports/stories/2009/03/08/bj_mullens_3-8.ART_ART_03-08-09_C1_BDD54JP.html?sid=101
Well written article and a nice read. I too was wondering about his family situation.
Mullens is projected as a late first rounder right now. Bye bye, BJ.
Lady Buckeyes are taking care of business at least:
http://scores.espn.go.com/ncw/gamecast?gameId=294000009
At the end of the game with 18 seconds on the clock (or whatever time was left after tuners great play) you don’t play zone… you play man. So even if that kid thinks about shooting the three ball he’s a hand right in his face. Matta knows we’ve had trouble defending the three all year… why leave it up to chance? Go to man and make them beat you off the ball. Not on three passes and a wide open look at a three.
It’s a wonder that the Bucks didn’t have multiple over and back violations last night in the the 2nd half because of the press. I was kind of expecting the whistle to blow every time they brought it up the court.
The true need of this team is a point guard (ad nauseam). Turn(ov)er, Simmons and PJ aren’t gonna cut it full time at the point.
As for BJ, just leave and annouce quickly. The Basketbucks will be better off without your sorry ass.
Not that any of you would necessarily be huge wrestling fans, but the Buckeyes are in a real position to battle for their first ever NCAA championship right now on ESPN.
They trail Iowa by 8.5 points, but have three guys in the finals to one for the Hawkeyes.
And if you’re not up on the history and such, Iowa would be the team with 21 team titles in the sport.
Buckeyes fall short yet again for a national title.
It’s not over yet. Big upset of Iowa’s Metcalfe just now means if we win the 184 match, we get the team title.
It’s over.
how bout Purdue getting a crack at UCONN…rep the B10 boys!…how is scUM even IN the game against the Fighting Blake Griffins?
That a way purdue
at least someone is representing the big 10 well
final nail in the coffin
c ya michigan
And the gloating and shit talking ends after… umm… ONE DAY. Ha!
See ya in football season.
Status on team title please…
Never mind. The curse holds true.
Once again…FUCK! From 2006 to 2009 that’s like 6 second place finishes for tOSU in 7 tries(we won fencing) not counting NIT. For the same time frame the state ( Cavs, Indians ALCS, And Destroyers) is 1for forever. This shit is out of hound.
2 football, 1 bball, 1 soccer, 1 wrestling, what’s the other one?
2 football 1 basketball, 1 soccer, 2 wrestling (tonight and last year)
in a former life i fenced, at OSU no less, but i would be remissed if i didnt give a shout out to OSU pistol who won a national title lsat year as well
Oh well. 1/2 marathon at 0700. I’m outta here.
Good luck!
The best part of the game was when they played the Saints song at the end.
Fencing