Diebs needs a big game tonight.
#15 Ohio State
5-1, 0-0 Big Ten
Roster | Schedule
|
December 2, 2009 9:30 PM ET - ESPN2 —— The Schott Columbus, OH |
Florida State
6-1, 0-0 ACC
Roster | Schedule
|
The Buckeyes look to improve their 2-5 all-time record in the B10/ACC Challenge with a tough match up against a hot Florida State team tonight.
Entering tonight's play, the B10 won the first 3 games, but dropped the final 3 last night, as the conference is looking for their first win in the decade long series.
The Seminoles come in fresh off their Old Spice Classic title, taking down Iona, Alabama and Marquette in consecutive nights down in Orlando over the Thanksgiving weekend, after losing to Florida 2 nights before the tourney started.
| # | Name | PTS | REB | ASST | POS | # | Name | PTS | REB | ASST |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | Evan Turner | 19.9 | 12.8 | 6.7 | G | 22 | Derwin Kitchen | 10.9 | 4.3 | 3.0 |
| 33 | Jon Diebler | 15.7 | 2.7 | 2.3 | G | 4 | Deivides Dulkens | 8.4 | 2.6 | 0.9 |
| 23 | David Lighty | 12.3 | 4.8 | 2.8 | F | 31 | Chris Singleton | 12.3 | 8.1 | 2.7 |
| 44 | William Buford | 11.3 | 3.2 | 2.3 | F | 42 | Ryan Reid | 6.9 | 5.3 | 1.3 |
| 52 | Dallas Lauderdale | 7.6 | 5.2 | 0.4 | C | 32 | Solomon Alabi | 9.9 | 6.1 | 0.0 |
Opponent
Florida State comes in shooting 46.8% from the floor and averaging 68 points a game on the year, although they haven't scored more than 60 in each of the last 4 games. They played 3 cupcakes to start the season and eclipsed the 80 point mark each time, hitting 59 percent of their shots in 2 of those games, but started to struggle shooting when the competition got better.
A couple of sore spots for FSU thus far is their A/TO ratio and free throw shooting. The 'Noles turn it over an average of 18 times a game, while assisting on just 13 FG's and hit just 62 percent of their charity attempts. They don't attempt too many from deep, taking about 16 bombs a game and making 6 of them.
The Seminoles go deep, with 9 players logging more than 15 minutes a game and no one playing more than 30. They'll be tall across the front, going 7'1", 6'9" and 6'8", which explains their 43 boards per contest and could lead to trouble for the Bucks.
Buckeye Breakdown:
The Bucks come in averaging almost 86 points a game, on 52.2 percent shooting. The shooting percentage is good for 8th in all the land, while the PPG ranks them 9th. Their 17.8 assists per game ranks them 15th nationally and their 9.0 threeballs made ranks them 13th.
The key for me tonight will be the play of Jon Diebler and William Buford. In the loss to UNC, the two combined to go 7/29, including 4/15 from downtown. There is no doubt the duo can get shots up whenever they want to, but they need to be smart shots tonight that happen within the flow of the offense and not forced up because they haven't taken a shot in a few minutes.
As for Evan Turner, he just needs to play under control as well tonight. Remember, he had another triple double against the Heels, 23 points, 11 boards and 10 TO's. He just needs to slow himself down tonight and trust in his teammates. BTW, Turner is 4th nationally with 12.8 boards and 6th with 6.7 assists a game and his 19.8 PPG is second, behind Talor Battle amongst conference players. Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of ET's game thus far is his shooting, connecting at a blistering 62.5 percent from the field, second on the team to Dallas Lauderdale, who has made 15 of 16 shots this year and hasn't missed in 2 games.
I don't see why the Buckeyes don't pull this win off tonight. FSU is a hot team, but Ohio State has more scorers and will use a tempo that should wear the bigs of FSU down. Plus the Buckeyes can play lock down defense and should be able to contain FSU's Singleton. Prediction: OSU 76, FSU 65
Etc
- OSU leads the all-time series 3-0, with the last win coming in 1968.
- Thad is 76-2 vs. unranked opponents in Columbus.
Comments
anyone intrested in writing Buckeye Basketball or football (need BB more though) comment back please. Basketball will earn you automatic on the staff.]
Great Write.
Has anyone ever seen Diebler hit a shot off the dribble ? Keep shooting the treys !!!!!!!!
You're right about Diebs needing to have a good shooting game. But I think what's more important is that Dallas stays out of foul trouble and Lighty hits the boards stronger.
while it's fun to watch the buckeyes thrash teams out of the stooges conference, i will finally be able to watch some real competition (other than north carolina and acorns state....no wait, forget that last one).
I would be interested in learning more about what you are looking for. I consider myself one of 7 or 8 people who frequent this site to be actually interested in basketball. Do you need my e-mail?
Needless to say, the Bucks need to take better care of the ball. I think our lack of size will make good shot selection essential, not only tonight, but for the rest of the season. Luckily, we have 3 or 4 guys who can shoot, so if FSU focuses solely on ET, they may pay for it.
I really think the key to the game is if WB takes horrible shots at bad times. Yes I Know he's a shooter and he needs to keep shooting to get out of his funk but at least have a better shot selection.
Rebounds on both sides of the ball, free throws and great defense.....it would be like Tresselball on the hardcourt.
I hope they run them out of the Schott. I'm excited for this game.
I thought we were much worse at the foul line than this:
Evan Turner .75
Jon Diebler .938
David Lighty .50
William Buford .727
Jeremie Simmons .75
Dallas Lauderdale .444
PJ Hill .833
Lighty and Lauderdale need to improve at the line.
If you have a gmail, great, send it to me at icuevas1011@hotmail.com, if not, then make one and send it to me. You will also need to download MSN messenger so we can talk easily. After that, I will send you an invitation to write for the blog, and then off we go.
Lauderdale is the most painful free throw shooter I have seen. I had no idea Lighty was this bad as well, though.
Worse than the Shaqtus when he was on the Magic?
have you tried craigslist?
what is up with ohio state kickers and "sport and leisure studies"
Lighty's % is right down there with Wilt Chamberlain's.
??
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!! ed hightower is officiating the game, i am pissed already
This game will tell us a lot about this team tonight, because outside of NC the Bucks have played no one. (Don't say Cal -- the Pac 10 is looking horrendous this year.)
A win tonight is big because I do think FSU is a legit team (not contend-for-the-ACC-title legit, but make-it-into-the-tourney legit) and it's OSU's only meaningful non-conference home game. All the tough non-con stuff this season is on the road. I think this is a game we could needed down the road if OSU stumbles at all during conference play or, worst yet, the B10 is worse than everyone thought it would be.
or Ben Wallace on any team he has played for......
wow...nice score prediction -- only one point off the actual final score!