| TIPOFF | TELEVISION | RADIO | FAVORITE | PREVIEW |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4:00PM ET | CBS | Affiliates | OSU (-9.5) | #15 Wisconsin at #9 Ohio State |
Wisconsin Open Thread
PHONE'S RINGING -- IT'S URBAN ON THE LINE
•Football Schedule•Basketball Schedule•Forum•About•Contact
11W Poll
Buckshots
Buckshots Block
-
Ohio State Men's Tennis Season Ends in Heartbreaker
Fifth-ranked Buckeyes lose 4-3 to No. 1 UCLA in national semifinals.
-
One Year In and Ohio State Fans are Already Making Busts of Urban Meyer
That's one handsome bust.
-
Rivals Releases a New Rivals100
Heavy Ohio State lean Raekwon McMillan picks up a fifth star.
-
Kirk Ferentz's High School Nickname was "Fetus Head"
Explains a lot, really.
-
STROKE! STROKE! STROKE!
Ohio State Women's Rowing: 2013 B1G Champions
-
Hey Ladies, Here's Everything You Need to Know for Ohio State's Annual Women's Football Clinic
June 8th. Be there.
Recent Blog Posts
- 2013: The WR Rotation
- The Dontre Wilson Impact
- Better know a ... Mountaineer?
- Joey Bosa = perfect OOS recruit!
- Wrestling: Stieber defeats #1 Ranked wrestler in the world at Rumble on the Rails
- Response to Johnny's "There's so much money going around, well, mostly"
- My Worst Ohio State Football Experience Ever
- Summer Reading: The Most Hated On
- Big Ten State Beer Consumption Rankings
- Coop was better than Earle
Active in the Forum
- Best Buckeye Team in Our Lifetime?
- 2014 CB Quincy Wilson
- 2015 ohio players
- Not a form tackle
- 2015 Offers/Commits *Updated 5/20*
- 11W Community Interview: Detroit Cass Tech CB Damon Webb
- 2014 RB/ATH Jonathan Haden
- 2014 DT Andrew Brown
- Hang 100?
- Kiper Has Bradley Roby as His Top Corner Prospect
- Man claims to be an All American Tight End from Ohio State is a fraud
- Quick Bits 5/20 (one new offer in both sports)
- Worst single play in OSU football history?
- 2014 JUCO OT Jermaine Eluemunor
- 2015 Offers/Commits *Updated 5/20*
Want to say hello?
We love hearing from you! Whether you want to work with us, discuss advertising opportunities, or pass us a hot tip, you're more than welcome to drop us a line.
Comments
Lesssgo bucks!
Please, please, please... let us see more of the team that came out on fire against Illinois on Tuesday. Those guys could beat any team in the nation.
Would like to see OSU utilize a zone with some of our athletes on the side, i.e. Sam Thompson. I want to see how his long arms/leaping ability cut off that skip pass. Why not try something new before March
"You win with people." - Woody Hayes
Hate when there are broadcast games back to back and the team that you want to watch is the second tilt. Absolutely hate it. If the first one is anywhere near close, then you're missing the tip and untold minutes thereafter for a game you care nothing about. Love it.
no doubt... i wanna see Senior Day ceremonies as well
does CBS stream live games like ESPN3?
No clue. I think it was like this for Wisky at home last year too.
I believe they do
http://www.cbssports.com/
Good looking out... but it's still showing the Pitt-L'ville game. WTF?
Kitts..............again
was gonna lose my shit if he hit that three
you must not be in C-bus, they sent us to our game
Did Craft not start? It just changed and Scott was in already? Fouls?
Just 1
"You're pissed because we went after a committed guy? Guess what, we got 9 guys who better go do it again," said Meyer. "Do it a little harder next time."
When Sullinger is out and Ravenel is in, there is NO REASON to get the ball into the post.
except that we cant shoot very well
love the step in by scott.....just wish he'd hit it
I like Shannon Scott, but he really needs to work on that J. Wisky didn't even guard him. Didn't have to.
Our defense is leaving something to be desired today.
WB with a 3?
Good to see Buford found his stroke early for this game.
Ravenel is horrible.
just threw a hip into his own guy
Sure wish we could stop somebody on defense. Not even playing hard.
Tough not to have Thomas in the conversation for team MVP
I just hope that he stays with us for another year. Tough to lose Sully, Buford, and Tank in the same year.
No doubt
great defensive stand and then Shannon Scott sprints down the court and commits a dumb foul. That's a freshman mistake, for sure.
Happy birthday mr. Wilson
Wow, that was a LUCKY 3. In other news, we are looking sloppy with the ball.
Also getting some bad calls at home.
What? A charge on us?
Offensive foul my ass...that's my take and I'm sticking to it until I see a replay
Class of 2010.
There is no doubt in my mind we lead the NCAA in CTA (Charges taken against)
"You're pissed because we went after a committed guy? Guess what, we got 9 guys who better go do it again," said Meyer. "Do it a little harder next time."
This has been a fun start despite the refs. I saw Evan murder some Wisconsin kid under the rim.
If we took a little better care of the ball, and the charges weren't so ticky-tack, we'd be pulling away.
forget the ticky-tack, we are a turnover machine
Wow another turnover
Wide open threes, offensive rebounds. Wisky gets 3 chances to score. This is the most frustrating game EVER.
Pretty sure they didn't grease the ball guys...come on
Class of 2010.
Sloppy!
Craft basically passing the ball right to the defense
Another turnover
Oh for GOD'S SAKE THOMAS! Freakin unforced errors.
Class of 2010.
WB strokin it when he gets shots
Class of 2010.
I hate Wisconsin, I hate playing Wisconsin.
WB-3!
Nice 3!!
------------------------------------------------------------
"The height of human desire is what wins, whether it's on Normandy Beach or in Ohio Stadium." ~Woody Hayes~
Another turnover/stupid foul
Where was the foul there?
that is WB's best shot...............but damn, we need him to make it
Wisky offensive rebound, leave 3 pt shooter wide open, turnover, rinse, repeat
"You're pissed because we went after a committed guy? Guess what, we got 9 guys who better go do it again," said Meyer. "Do it a little harder next time."
tim brando is working on a record for the use of the word "proverbial" in a single broadcast.
swing hard in case you hit it.
This was the worst first half ever, except for the MSU game 2 weeks ago. We should be up by 10-12 points, and instead it ends up tied. Exceedingly poor effort. Turnovers, missed rebounds, sloppy play. If they don't clean it up in the second half, Buford goes home a loser on senior day. Just really, really hard to watch.
It's the TOs... gotta get a handle.
We should be killing Wisky. No excuses for this poor play.
rotate a fresh Ross, Sibert & 'Spoon in for a little jolt of energy!
"You win with people." - Woody Hayes
The effects of not playing the bench more in the beginning of the year. No one off the bench is really considered a scoring threat and has the potential to take over a game right now. Wouldn't mind seeing Ross or Sibert get in though.
For the Matta-Should-Play-The-Bench-More contingent: Scott/Thompson combined for 15 min, 0 pts, 0/3 shooting, 4 TO, 1 asst, no rebounds. Yay.
If those two just work on their jumpers this off-season, they'll be all right. Of course, that does nothing to help us today.
go figure..........I thought our bench was better than most teams starting 5's
I really think that in 2 years, we have a shot to be a very good team. These freshmen and Sophs are going to be good players. It would also help if we got that Tony Parker from GA. Guess we just don't have all of the NBA-ready youngsters like UK.
Buckeyefan927 pretty much said it. The development needed to start early and take place throughout the year. But to do this you have to live with mistakes and maybe lose a game or 2 you would have won. This does not appear to be Matta's philosophy.
yeah - but, did that include my trio of Ross, Sibert & 'Spoon ? nope --- Scott/Thompson are not Ross
"You win with people." - Woody Hayes
Buckeyes managed 5 pts over final 8:12 of 1st half by shooting 1/7 with 5 turnovers.
That's just gross. We have to play better.
I'm not usually one to complain about ref's but these big 10 refs are terrriiibbbllleee
This game isn't on the refs, it's the countless turnovers/poor shooting
A game with Wisconsin is like pulling teeth.
Lol I say that and then they start calling everything
Tank
Sweeeeet!! Thomas is a scoring machine!
Thomas is the best, most NBA ready player on this team, in my humble opinion.
Thing that sucks, is we may lose him too.
He gone. But it's OK - I'm looking forward to seeing our current bench players getting their shot.
I love Sullinger, but in an ideal world he should stay in college another year, drop another 5-8% body fat, put on 20lbs more muscle, and work on his skill set.
We just CAN NOT pull away from these turds. Every time we go up 5-6, they hit a three and a jumper.
How in the hell does scott have 4 fouls in like 5 minutes of play? good lord
"You're pissed because we went after a committed guy? Guess what, we got 9 guys who better go do it again," said Meyer. "Do it a little harder next time."
perhaps, this team is just not as good as all of us thought or think they should be
Well, to me that's coaching, because on paper this team has more talent than everyone in the B1G, and it's not even close. I don't think Matta sucks or anything, but I do think that this year was not his finest hour by far. This team is truly far from cohesive.
Turnover, turnover, turnover, turnover, turnover.....
Wasn't Wisconsin supposed to not be a good rebounding team? They're tearing us up.
Then when they do miss they just get offensive rebounds until they do score.
Good...god...sullinger
"You're pissed because we went after a committed guy? Guess what, we got 9 guys who better go do it again," said Meyer. "Do it a little harder next time."
Sully can't hit a free throw to save his life
Sullinger gets stuffed a lot.
he has no quickness, hops, or overall athleticism
dont forget t-rex arms
"You're pissed because we went after a committed guy? Guess what, we got 9 guys who better go do it again," said Meyer. "Do it a little harder next time."
Sully cost himself a whole lot of cash by coming back!
Tough times never last, tough people do
Yep no doubt about that, and he saved some NBA team from picking a bust.
He won't, but he needs to come back and learn to play as a true PF.
Yep.
I'll take the foul, but that should have been a no call, he fell to get out of the way.
The only basketball a guy like Berggren is going to play after college is at the YMCA. Yet Bo Ryan makes him a factor. That's why I hate him.
Willie B gets some shit, but at least you don't have to cringe when he shoots free throws
"You're pissed because we went after a committed guy? Guess what, we got 9 guys who better go do it again," said Meyer. "Do it a little harder next time."
There's no way Sullinger leaves after this year. He has absolutely killed his draft stock. I see Thomas possibly leaving but Sullinger's stock at this point has plummeted.
Thomas will leave (if he has half a brain). Sullinger will leave (if he cares about getting paid at all), he isn't ready to go, but it is his only shot at being a high pick because I doubt he improves his status next year.
injury fear factor. that alone should cause him to leave
He's not a big factor at all today. And when he doesn't play well, or get the calls he wants, he starts to get frustrated and his game spirals further down. He plays worse when he's mad.
Can't blame this one on Buford, hasn't been his best, but if he played like this every day we would only have 2 losses.
Was that...good D by Thomas?!?!
Ravenel getting a couple of quality minutes here. Respect.
Is that the first point from the bench today?
I hate Wisconsin...did I mention that?
Defense hasn't been that bad this half, they've hit some tough shots
"You're pissed because we went after a committed guy? Guess what, we got 9 guys who better go do it again," said Meyer. "Do it a little harder next time."
Get DT the f***ing ball!
Buford starting to force bad shots...right when we don't need it.
And just like that it's a 1 point game
Most frustrating game ever. Ever. OSU was up 8 like a minute ago. If they lose at home today against a very average Wisconsin team, they just need to give up the game of basketball for the rest of the year.
GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!! OFFENSIVE FOUL!!!!!!!!!!! LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!
Buford starting to make stupid decisions
Here we go.
"You're pissed because we went after a committed guy? Guess what, we got 9 guys who better go do it again," said Meyer. "Do it a little harder next time."
This team is just frustrating to watch due to the inconsistency. When they are playing at their best (moving the ball quickly, playing tough aggressive defense, rotating effectively, actually defending the three point line) they are so good it's amazing. But we haven't seen them put together a complete game like that in two months, and they definitely seem to be slow and unimaginative on offense. The defense looks great (Craft and Smith) and pretty porous for the other 3 guys, whoever they are. They might win this game, and maybe make a run in the BIG tourney, but if they play like this it's going to be tough to make a tourney run. Good team, just not close to a dominant one.
When told OSU set school record for 50+ games this year, UFM said "That's good. We're gonna break that next year."
I meant "tough to make an NCAA tourney run"
When told OSU set school record for 50+ games this year, UFM said "That's good. We're gonna break that next year."
Yup. OSU really lacks for consistent scoring options. Badly. When someone plays well (Thomas today), someone else seems to disappear (Sully). Rarely are they hitting on all cylinders. And recently (MSU, so far today), they are having real problems getting a stop when they need one.
Jordan Taylor gets calls from the B1G. Gotta keep the favored players looking safe and good.
solid high 3 - low 4 seed in the tourney
Taylor doesn't need any help from the zebras...he is lucky enough as it is
"You're pissed because we went after a committed guy? Guess what, we got 9 guys who better go do it again," said Meyer. "Do it a little harder next time."
I just do not see this team making it past the second round
I can't believe that this Wisky team could beat OSU at home. Wouldn't have bet on it.
DT only guy capable of stepping up and creating scoring opportunities in big games (of late). Only problem is 44 gets all the looks in our offense! DT is the hot hand today - get him the BALL!
Refs calling everything now.
Sullinger is so clueless
"You're pissed because we went after a committed guy? Guess what, we got 9 guys who better go do it again," said Meyer. "Do it a little harder next time."
Wisconsin = thugs
Cheerleaders: Keep your signs off of the playing surface.
Another 0-2 trip
Wow has our FT shooting been bad today.
I'm starting to think that Sully isn't as good as everyone thinks he is.
Have you read much of this thread? I'm pretty sure his popularity is at an all time low
"You're pissed because we went after a committed guy? Guess what, we got 9 guys who better go do it again," said Meyer. "Do it a little harder next time."
yeah, was trying to make a joke. Seriously though, I hear so often that WB is the key to a deep tourney run. I'd argue that Sully pulling his head out of his ass is the real key.
Yet another reason we won't go far in the tourney---Buford is the only person who can shoot a FT
"You're pissed because we went after a committed guy? Guess what, we got 9 guys who better go do it again," said Meyer. "Do it a little harder next time."
Taylor = 2-2. Craft = 0-2. Story of the game.
a loss here, a loss at Sparty and a loss in 2nd game of B1G tourney makes us a 4.
never would have figured it.
Neither would I. This team is beyond disappointing.
I hate games like this.
LOL! Great D!
"You're pissed because we went after a committed guy? Guess what, we got 9 guys who better go do it again," said Meyer. "Do it a little harder next time."
Sullinger follows his one good play of the game with his 10th boneheaded one
"You're pissed because we went after a committed guy? Guess what, we got 9 guys who better go do it again," said Meyer. "Do it a little harder next time."
He comes an unexplainable turnover.
go bucks
I could easily see them losing the next 2 games if they play like this
What.......The......
everyone is speechless with that possession
W.T.F.
This team has no composure when it comes to small time.
go bucks
This game is over. B1G title is over. Average Wisconsin team beats us at home. Underachieving OSU team loses for second time at home. Bye Sully, thanks for nothing. Bring on the football season.
Love our fans!
October 20th: National Kenneth Guiton Day
hahaha
It's hard to watch a team progressively get worse in February heading into March as we have done. Teams are supposed to get better during this stretch. I really looked forward to basketball season this year, and was disappointed by an underacheiving squad. Only in the Kansas and MSU games did we truly get beat by the better team. The other losses have been preventable if this team had their heads on straight. Hard to watch.
I hate Wisconsin.
Thomas just lost his mind. What an illegitimate way to cost yourself a chance at winning
Microcosm of the season. Just no basketball IQ. The only year that we beat Wisky at Madison since 2000, and we can't even beat them at home.
how many free throws have we missed?
9-17 so that would be 8
wow, that is pathetic
At least there is no longer any expectations for this crap team. Rather know we suck now than get suckered punched like last year.
"You're pissed because we went after a committed guy? Guess what, we got 9 guys who better go do it again," said Meyer. "Do it a little harder next time."
#3 for the B1G tourney.
Oh now you hit the free throw
Freshman Thomas just came back for a short period of time. Sheesh. Lets go focus on a Big Ten title in Indy. Mark my words this is going to be a final four team.
October 20th: National Kenneth Guiton Day
LOL
"You're pissed because we went after a committed guy? Guess what, we got 9 guys who better go do it again," said Meyer. "Do it a little harder next time."
Final Four of the B1G tourney if they're lucky. At the current trajectory of getting progressively worse since November, that would set them up for a second round loss in the NCAA's. This team will not go anywhere.
Laugh all you want. Laugh all your way to football season for all I care. I for one am not giving up on this team. Way too good of a team. They will hit their stride. I suspect after we start winning in Indy some of you will start to jump back on the bandwagon.
October 20th: National Kenneth Guiton Day
just watching without out buckeye glasses on.........this does not mean we are off the bandwagon and will not continue to root and be frustrated by them.
I didn't mean you weren't rooting for them.
October 20th: National Kenneth Guiton Day
I'm with you Jake. Not sure how far the Buckeyes will go but I will welcome seeing them play non-B1G opponents with non-B1G officials in non B1G venues come tournament time. This team isn't as good as I thought they were in November, but not as bad as they've been the last three weekends. If the B1G is as tough and good as everyone says, then these losses are to be expected. I'm hoping the Buckeyes style of play matches up better once they get out of conference again.
As for the bandwagon stuff, I'm not even going to get into that. It seems there are a lot of new and old posters who know everything about everything and believe that they deserve championships just because. I'll enjoy the ride while it lasts and then start getting ready for football once it's over.
I will take a piece of that action
I'm in too.
Maybe if everyone on our side of the bracket loses all of their starters, and even then it might be pushing it.
I've marked these words, FWIW.
this team is what it is...talented yet rudderless.
sweet 16 would be an achievement
I Hate Michigan.
Couldn't think of a better way of putting it.
will be interesting to see how far everyone picks them in their 11W bracket.
Well now you're looking at a 4 seed in the NCAA tournament, but remember there's still 2 road games that they could easily lose(Northwestern is no slouch at home), and then you're looking at a possible 6 seed.
I guess we won't see all the usual "Why is everybody panicking?" comments this time...
This Wisconsin team isn't quite as good as last year's team that we beat senseless in Columbus. Which gives some idea of how far we've slipped.
I wouldn't necessarily bet this way, but it's not impossible that this team won't win another game this season, when you consider that they apparently haven't hit bottom yet. They've got a 12-5 loss in the first round of the NCAAs written all over them.
The most "loud mouth, disrespect" poster on 11W.
Not a fun loss to watch. Execution for 70% of the game was putrid. Leaving that goon wide open for the game winning 3...sadly that was unsurprising. And Thomas...well there's nothing to be said about that shot. At least nothing fit for print.
When told OSU set school record for 50+ games this year, UFM said "That's good. We're gonna break that next year."
Can we just end the season now? Not sure I can handle watching a team this talented lose to a 14 seed in the first round.
Love my Buckeyes... Just not sure of what they are trying to run on both ends of the court. They have more McDonalds all Americans than Mds has French fries, but they keep getting deep fried.
Let your hobbies and interests supplement your life, not be the main course.
I would feel different if we were getting better, and not worse. We started off on fire, and have just lost it over the last 6 weeks. Don't know what's wrong, but they cannot find a way to win tough games, and that is a tourney killer. Really, the Kansas game and MSU game are the only ones where we've gotten beat by an equal or better team. All others have just been steaming piles. This team is in a tailspin, and that is tourney doom.
This sucks. Miss Lighty and Threebler and the Villian and Twilliger.
We like to find ways to give games away. You know how many of us loved Laurinaitis, Freeman, etc. but we're kinda just ready for them to leave so we could start fresh? That's kinda how I am starting to feel about Buford and Sullinger.
Was this just me, or did I see Craft try to pull the team into huddles and fail? If this group of kids could play like an actual team they would be fantastic. Hopefully these losses can provide the growth needed.
I think if they provide growth, it would have been shown by now, I basically see a team that really isn't trying anymore. Like they're ready for the season to be over and don't really care how the year ends up.
That's the most frustrating thing. All the talent in the world, and just no cohesion. Bo Ryan will never have the players we have, but they didn't turn the ball over, made their free throws, and made the tough plays to win a close one. For all our McD's all-americans, we have real trouble doing the things it takes to win.
Sheesh. Our fan base is 150% football centered and it shows. Its like if we are not a one or two seed in the tournament we might as well go home. Look at last year's champion. The NCAA tournament rarely rewards the regular season's best team. This is not the BCS. This team will gel when it matters. They have the confidence (the numerous HUGE wins against good/GREAT teams that everyone seems to forget about) and leadership they need to survive and advance in March. We are all just freaking out because the Big Ten has absolutely beat each other to bits this year in the regular season. Relax and enjoy the ride. Its just getting fun, March is the best month of the year!
http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/team/schedule/_/id/41/year/20...
October 20th: National Kenneth Guiton Day
Great. There are 15 other average-to-above-average teams out there screaming 'REMEMBER THE HUSKIES!' after every loss, thinking they still have a chance to miracle their way to a championship by winning 11 straight games against constantly improving competition. It's sad that we're now one of them. It's just not going to happen. Thad's teams don't get better come tourney time, they get worse. It's just happening a little bit earlier this year.
Okay dude, because that's what I meant. No. I was just using the most recent example of something that happens ridiculously often. The NCAA tournament doesn't reward teams for their regular season. We have 6 freaking losses in arguably the best conference in college basketball. Do you realize how good that is? Our strength of schedule and talent will pay off in March.
October 20th: National Kenneth Guiton Day
If they have all this confidence, why have they lost almost every close game they have been in this season?
Dude, I hope you're right, but the trend is extremely unpromising.
The most "loud mouth, disrespect" poster on 11W.
I love basketball season, and am one of those who begin to watch when football is still in full swing. I've seen every game this year, even the December clunkers. That said, last year's UConn team was turning it on in the late part of the season, not falling apart. The hard part about this team is that they are falling apart at the wrong time of the year. I agree with you about the tourney not rewarding the regular season's best team. If that was so, we'd have won it last year. All of those huge wins were in the early part of the year. We've lost the last three games against ranked teams, 2 of those at home. Just leaves one with no confidence for the rest of the year.
"That said, last year's UConn team was turning it on in the late part of the season, not falling apart."
With all due respect, what are you talking about? UCONN had lost four of their last five games before the Big East tournament. They had completely fallen apart. But their immense talent coupled with their strength of schedule was rewarded in March. Just like ours will be. I'm not saying we should bank on UCONN's case as our great hope. Teams like UCONN always go far in the NCAA tournament. Its not rare, its common.
October 20th: National Kenneth Guiton Day
The problem is we don't have a guy like Kemba Walker, a player that when the team needed it most, could produce for them.
No killer instinct for this disappointing team. Diebler had it from three. Lighty could take it to the rim. Only Thomas has it this year. Sullinger is lazy and relying on weight he doesn't have. Craft is doing his thing. Buford is apathetic on O. Lenzelle is just a body on defense.
LQR shows flashes of it. Williams shows it on defense. Ravenel is too big to be effective at the four and too short to be effective at the five.
The starting five should be (imo, if we want anything this post season):
C: Amir Williams
PF: Jared Sullinger (his REAL position)
SF: Deshaun Thomas
SG: William Buford (with Ross first in, Smith second, Thompson third)
PG: Aaron Craft
This team has no leadership, so let those with killer instinct get a shot.
Williams has yet to show evidence of any reason why he should start. Sullinger still has another 30 pounds to lose. Buford has been horrid offensively this year. Thomas has played well and Craft needs to be more involved in the offense, he has the ability to drive and can shoot. There's also no way that Ross should get playing time over Smith. He has no idea how to play defense. At the very least Smith can defend and rebound.
Ravenel is terrible. He doesn't deserve minutes over Williams. He's the only true sized center on the roster, Sullinger needs to play PF. Smith does nothing offensively. I don't care that Ross can't play defense, we need a slasher and we need 3 point ability off the bench. That's why he's first off the bench, to provide a spark in a couple minutes. This team has no heart and no spark.
Smith actually can play offense. He's gone off several times this year. It's just a matter of him actually taking the shots. Craft has heart, he's tried to draw these guys together several times this year and they have yet to respond. Also has Ross really evidenced any of these amazing offensive skills yet? No, he's been decent during his playing time. Replacing him with Smith would worsen the defense significantly while only barely increasing the offensive capabilities. Ravenel gets a lot of undeserved hate, the guy plays decent defense and has more offensive ability than Williams. Also once Sullinger drops down to about 230-240, then he can play PF, because right now at 260-270 he's way too slow.
So what do you recommend for a spark?
Get Lenzelle Smith more involved in the offense, and sit Buford for Scott. We played well running the two PG system with Scott and Craft. Scott can drive and dish well. I'd rather see us run an offense like UNC ran with Hansbrough, Lawson, and Green. The only problem is that Sullinger can't run the floor like Hansbrough could.
Scott can't shoot and Craft often chooses not to when given good shots. I just think there are guys itching to get out there while Sully and Buford (although talented) play uninspired and lazy.
How you can say that Ross should be in the game is beyond me. Unless you're in on practices and know something people on this board don't. He's played like 5 minutes and hasn't done anything in those minutes. There's a reason he's on the bench.
OSU has 1 loss to a team who's not in the top 25. Life moves on but this team will be a 2 seed with a chance to win it all.
He's a known shooter, if watched his tapes. He should at least get a few minutes. Thompson can't shoot worth anything. Like I said, if what do you recommend for a spark? I know we have a prolific and proven high school scorer (like Diebler was) who can also slash. This team has defense, with Craft and Smith on the floor we effectively have a total of 3.5 scorers (Craft .25, Smith .25). Against Illinois, LQR looked good. Disjointed at the end due to his teammates inability to have any chemistry, but he looked good. I'm not saying start him, I'm saying give him an opportunity to change the flow of a game.
Seriously, what do you recommend based on what's wrong with the team? The proven guys have shown they have no leadership.
Also, who cares about practice? Craft said during the press conferences that practices have been bad.
Matta is a terrible manager of the game. It's just that simple. When starters are cold or frustrated or erratic, he just doesn't take them out. He used the bench in the first 10 minutes of the game, then pretty much never for the rest of the game. And by bench, I mean sitting Craft, Sullinger, Thomas/Buford all at the same time. It's obvious that they were sloppy and frustrated, and he forced them to stay in there and get tired.
It's a recipe for disaster, and without a 3-point game, it's just never going to work. Great recruiter, terrible game manager.
Yup. And he continues to run pro-sets that we don't have skill to run.
Craft had, what, 4 or 5 turnovers? After the 2nd bad pass, his ass should have been on the bench. I don't care if he has the ability to score a bucket or two, or to play defense...his 4 or 5 turnovers might lead to as many as 15 points in the wrong direction, or if you play the percentages 7 or 8 points.
Matta just doesn't understand the math that turnovers are the worst thing ever. If your guy isn't making good passes, you take him out and settle him down.
Matta doesn't adjust to poor play. He doesn't have a feel for when things are not going right. This team will never go far without that skill at the top. It's what separates the good coaches from the GREAT coaches.
First of all, cool off. It's just a game, and, while incredibly frustrating, it's not the end of the world. Believe it or not, we can still pull off a 2 seed. Is this loss frustrating? Hell yes it is. Can they play better? Absolutely. Do we have major flaws? Yep.
Looking at the boxscore, Craft only had 2 direct turnovers, but there were a few passes where the recipient did not notice it was being passed/dropped it. Guess what, after a foul and a couple bad passes, Matta did sit Craft. Want to know what happened? Taylor abused Scott.
In fact, Scott committed 4 fouls, 2 turnovers, and missed his only shot in 9 minutes of play. If you want to compare that, the damage that out backup PG did in 9 minutes (an extra 6 possession/FT if they were in the bonus), versus what our starting PG did in 35 minutes (3 fouls, 2 turnovers, and a couple stupid passes), it's not even close. Scott turned it over 66% of the time he was on the court, not including his missed shot that was probably a badger rebound, where Craft turned it over about 23% of the time, using the 5 TOs + 3 PFs. If you use the 2 TO + 3 PF from the box score, it comes out to be 14% of the time. You do the math: which is more effective at minimalizing second chance points?
If you're so much better than Coach Matta, get your ass out there and do it. Obviously, the man hasn't won a ridiculous percentage of his games, both at major and mid-major schools, because he doesn't know how the hell to coach. Matta does have flaws, as does everyone else, but he has his strenghts as well. Did you notice that Matta did take Sully and Buford out of the game in stretches and put in Ravanel and Thompson, both of which played with great energy?
Plus, how the hell are you to fix upperclassmen leadership when your underclassmen cannot compete at this level? Do you really want to see Amir Williams who looks like a twig among trees, and can't bang with the badger's big men, out there for 20+ minutes? Or LaQ who can juke people like none other, but gets abused on the defensive end? While I am excited for what both will bring in the future, the Illinois game did show why Matta doesn't go past an 8 man rotation of the starters plus Scott, Thompson and Rav.
The main problem with this team is two fold. One, we don't have any consistent scoring threats, period. Two, the team chemistry is virtually non-existant, staring with no team leader. Those things result in the problems we are seeing our team have.
Just as a general remark, can we stop attacking the coaches and players? This is not directed solely at you, Bucksfan, but a lot of people have just abused them with little to no logical or critical reasoning, and it's quite irritating.
Yeah, it happens really ridiculously often. As in, a seed lower than a 2 has won the tournament four times in the last 22 years. Ridiculous.
For serious, runs like UConn's never happen and likely won't happen again any time soon. And certainly not with these Buckeyes.
Not the way they're playing. Also from the post game presser it appears there are some locker room issues too.
You can kind of see it with their play. What makes you say this?
If this team gets hot during the B1G tourney, then I can buy into them going deep. A decent win against Sparty in their house would go a long way.
Ugh. I didn't necessarily mean winning it all. That's just what UCONN did. I believe my initial statement was that this team can make a run to the final four. Once you make the final four its a whole new season. And yes that happens ridiculously often with teams that had done far worse in the regular season than what we have done.
October 20th: National Kenneth Guiton Day
Could see this team losing in the sweet 16. They still have some time to work on things, but my gut is telling me this team is not a NC contender, I hope I am wrong
And for the record, I've seen Matta teams make runs in March. I don't want just another run. I want a championship. It's not an unreasonable expectation given how freely Matta pulls in All-Americans.
I don't think we have the right to expect anything. We are by far the shittiest fan base in America. Yes, a lot of that has to do with having a top three fan base in size, but most of us are spoiled little brats none-the-less. Luckily, a lot of the good ones populate this fine blog.
October 20th: National Kenneth Guiton Day
Fine. You can make excuses for routine failure if you wish. But programs are built on expectations, and great programs are built on high expectations. If people were satisfied with being "good enough" at a place like Ohio State, Earle Bruce would still be our coach.
That's not what I meant. I'm just tired of Buckeye fans who think they "have a right."
And LOL at "routine failure." You're a joke man, if you think what we've seen from Thad's era of Buckeye hoops should be considered routine failure. That's exactly what I am talking about. S-P-O-I-L-E-D
October 20th: National Kenneth Guiton Day
Right. Thad Matta took a program that had been to final fours, won Big Ten Championships and he... took them to one final four and won a few Big Ten championships. Oh, and he lost to Siena. But he won the NIT!
I'll give you that he revitalized recruiting, but... look what that has gotten us. An 0-fer on March Madness appearances. And that's not changing any time soon.
I do think we need sullinger in his more natural position at PF. Last year he was a force there with his big body and lauderdale held the paint. I also think that Sully's weight loss has impacted his game in a seriously NEGATIVE way. He no longer is able to impose his will inside and can't get rebounds with big bodies on him (see MSU, Wisky, IU, scUM). Most athletes who lose the weight they so often used to their advantage have struggled. Look at Wisky RB PJ Hill - lost weight fell off the map and Ron Dayne. Tractor Taylor did the same. Beside that he has struggled at times and I think it's just a combination of this basketball team not being able to play with each other. We turn the ball over too often in some games, go on too long of scoreless streaks, and have 0 bench contributions. No one plays with intensity for a whole game besides Craft which is a same - Sully should be a vocal leader and lead with his play. Instead, with a B1G title chance on the line he goes to the bench after "hurting" his ankle. Someone needs to ask him the old football ques "are you hurt or injured?" He should have been out there willing us to victory. I think he misses the leadership of Diebs and Lighty who he prolly looked up to and kept his ego and "spoiled bratness" to a minimum. Lenzelle said it in his radio interview that this team doesn't have the chemistry and it rears it's head too often at this point. It makes sense that we peaked early when people were over whelmed on some of our talent but they have now figured us out and we are not able to answer with our lack of chemistry and bball IQ. The expectations for this team are Elite 8 absolute tops. I was holding out hope for a UCONN type run but I don't think we have equal talent to that team. No offense out of your guard spots in the NCAA tourney means you will eventually lose. On a positive thanks to William Buford for his play these last four years. Frustrating at times but definitely a Buckeye great.
GO BUCKS