Andy Diaz: leading an experienced group.
 #3 Ohio State 3-0, 0-0 Big Ten Roster | Schedule |
November 21, 2011 8:30 PM ET - BTN —— The Schott Columbus, OH |
 North Florida 1-3, 0-0 Atlantic Sun Roster | Schedule |
On Monday night Ohio State finishes its run in the five-team round-robin Global Sports Shootout with a home game against the Ospreys of North Florida. For those who are wondering, an Osprey is a fish-eating coastal bird sometimes known as a "sea hawk". On this day, I expect that the predatory instinct will be unsatisfied as UNF faces an OSU team that is talented and experienced.
This is game two in a run of four appetizers for the Buckeyes before the main course gets underway when the mighty Duke Blue Devils make their way to Columbus. The gameplan tonight will be to get the starters some work and then work the youngsters in to see what they can do.
The Buckeyes made short work of Jackson State on Friday night and I expect more of the same tonight. The most interesting thing about the game tonight might well be to see how many times a certain former Florida football coach gets mentioned during the broadcast.
| # | Name | PTS | REB | ASST | POS | # | Name | PTS | REB | ASST |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Aaron Craft | 8.3 | 2.7 | 4.7 | G | 4 | Will Wilson | 1.3 | 1.3 | 2.7 |
| 32 | Lenzelle Smith Jr. | 5.7 | 4.0 | 2.0 | G | 15 | Jerron Granberry | 9.0 | 2.5 | 1.0 |
| 44 | William Buford | 15.0 | 4.0 | 2.7 | F | 5 | Charles McRoy | 4.0 | 4.0 | 0.0 |
| 1 | Deshaun Thomas | 11.7 | 4.7 | 0.3 | F | 21 | Andy Diaz | 11.7 | 5.3 | 0.7 |
| 0 | Jared Sullinger | 18.3 | 8.7 | 1.7 | C | 24 | David Jeune | 4.0 | 5.0 | 0.7 |
Opponent
North Florida plays in the Atlantic Sun Conference, which used to be called the Trans America Athletic Conference when it started back in 1978. I like the name change. The Ospreys finished 15-19 overall last season and a mediocre 10-10 in the conference, but they made some noise by winning their first two games in the Atlantic Sun tourney before being crushed by conference leader Belmont in the championship game.
UNF returns 4 starters from last season plus 4 other players who saw significant time. Coach Matthew Driscoll likes to play a lot of players and the guys who start are not necessarily the ones will be on the court in crunch time. Case in point, their leading scorer in a 75-62 loss to the Miami Hurricanes on Saturday night was sophomore forward Travis Wallace, who came off the bench to score 16 points and grab 7 rebounds.
The Ospreys' leading holdovers from last season are junior guards Jeron Granberry and Parker Smith and junior forward Andy Diaz. Granberry and Smith averaged 12 points per game in 2010-2011, but Smith will start on the bench tonight. Diaz and Granberry added 13 and 12 points respectively against Miami on Saturday, while none of the other starters had more than 2.
UNF basically plays a four-guard line-up, and most of their bench players are interchangeable with the starters in that rotation. They like to throw up a lot of 3-pointers, although so far this season their effectiveness has been suspect as they have hit only 16 of 63 attempts. Smith has been the biggest culprit in that stat as he has hit only 6 of 27. In addition to that, the Ospreys are not what you would call an unselfish team as they have accumulated only 39 assists in four games (versus 64 turnovers).
North Florida is an experienced group, and last season they showed the ability to rise to the challenge against good competition. However, it's been a struggle this season, and the schedule-makers have done them no favors. OSU will be the 3rd top-20 team that UNF has met in their first five games.
Buckeye Breakdown:
Ohio State looked sharp on Friday night, showing very little signs of a letdown after the showdown against Florida. Jared Sullinger shook off the off-night he had against the Gators with a 20-point effort in only 21 minutes of playing time. Most importantly, he continued to excel at the free throw line, an area where he frequently struggled last season. Sully has now hit 24/27 for the season and that could be very bad news for future opponents.
Thomas: Scoring is not a problem.OSU in general has improved their free throw shooting from last season, as they are hitting over 71% from the line thus far. Of course, Sullinger gets fouled more than anyone else and so his 89% is especially gratifying. Ohio State's field goal shooting on the season is a respectible 46.8%, but there is room for improvement from the outside as they are shooting only 27.3% outside the arc.
The development of Deshaun Thomas will be important for the Buckeyes as the season wears on, and so far so good in that category. Thomas is averaging 11.7 points per game and shooting 44% from the field. However, he is only 1 of 7 from distance and so it might be necessary to work on his shot selection. Also, Thomas has only one assist on the season, which plays to the most obvious criticism of his game from last season.
OSU will look to get the ball to Sullinger early tonight in an attempt to put the Ospreys away quickly. They will also look for many turnover opportunities, and thus we should see the legend of steal-machine Aaron Craft grow even more. The Buckeyes will need to rotate players frequently on defense to prevent the Ospreys from getting hot from beyond the arc.
I look for an easy OSU victory tonight and a great opportunity to rotate the young players in and get them some game experience. I also look for the continued development of Lenzelle Smith Jr. as a defensive stopper and a consistent threat to take the ball to the hoop. Getting some production from Sibert and Weatherspoon off the bench will also help to build confidence in some guys who might be needed to contribute important minutes down the stretch.
Etc
- Ohio State is 11-0 all time against Atlantic Sun teams, and North Florida is 0-10 all time against AP Top 25 teams
- The Buckeyes have won 25 straight home games, and 42 of their last 43.
