How do you think next year's Buckeyes will fare? Who will be the best player on the team? Will our record be better or worse than this year?
PHONE'S RINGING -- IT'S URBAN ON THE LINE
•Football Schedule•Basketball Schedule•Forum•About•Contact
11W Poll
Buckshots
Buckshots Block
-
Hey Ladies, Here's Everything You Need to Know for Ohio State's Annual Women's Football Clinic
June 8th. Be there.
-
BetOnline Releases College Football Point Spreads for 44 Opening Week Games
Buckeyes -33 for the Buffalo game.
-
Cornell Knocks Ohio State Out of the NCAA Tournament
Brutal end to a successful season.
-
Kyle Rode the Purple Line
11W's beat writer stopped by Lake the Posts to discuss the most anticipated Ohio State-Northwestern game since 2000.
-
Randy Ayers Named to Ohio Hoops HOF
Coached the Buckeyes from 1989-97 and was national COY in 1991.
-
"Man, he looks unbelievable."
Deshaun Thomas, describing a weight-lifting, freely running and physically fit Greg Oden.
Recent Blog Posts
- 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
- The Fake Lantern Campus (Finals) Week in Review: April 21-27
Active in the Forum
- More Foodie Stuff: Overrated Eats
- next commit for may june
- Important: Remember to Vote
- Lack of Offers to Kids from Ohio High Schools
- Michigan Takes Over at #1 in ESPN's Class of 2014 Rankings
- New Rivals 100 & Rivals 250
- What '13 recruit did you follow closest/were most excited about them commiting?
- Bret Bielema's New Biggest Fan
- Quick Bits 5/18 & 5/19
- Congratulations to the 700 Club!
- 2014 WR/ATH Mavin Saunders
- Best Play in OSU Football History?
- 2013 Cleveland Indians
- Favorite Sandwich? #Offseason
- Tell me this isn't f*cking true, Ohio!
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.
Too many variables right now to be able to even speculate.
Here are some questions we have to answer:
1. Does Sullinger leave? (Probably)
2. Does Thomas leave? (60/40 Yes)
3. Do we get either Amile Jefferson or Tony Parker? (50/50)
4. Does Sam Thompson take the next step?
5. Can LaQuinton Ross step into Buford's role as perimeter shooter/scorer?
6. Can one of Thompson/Lenzelle/Sibert turn into a viable and trusted scorer?
7. Will anyone transfer from lack of playing time? (Weatherspoon, Sibert come to mind)
8. Can we get by with Ravenel/Williams as our top post players?
There's one thing we know for sure next season: No Buford. Beyond that, there are way too many questions and not enough that we can know.
Well I hope Thomas stays, and I hope we get Tony Parker, if he is athletic enough he could step right in and play the PF and let Williams play the C. But your are right there are a lot of questions to be answered, we have a lot of young guys that I hope all stay and can work hard and all get some playing time. Will be interesting to see how everything works out.
as bad of a shooting team as we currently have, it will be worse possibly next year.
if we can get laquinton ross or sam thompson to make a big step similar to what evan turner did from freshman to sophomore year, we might have something. i doubt they make a step that is really really tremendous, but thad seems to progress guys from freshman to sophomore year pretty well (lenzelle, deshaun)
craft HAS to get a midrange jumper and spot up three pointer. he has to hit the wide open ones. we also HAVE to get something from amir williams if sully leaves. i think sully might seriously entertaining staying though, because he can't help nor hurt his draft staus a ton with another year, hes kind of like tyler hansborough in that regard.
we aren't going to be special without sully and if thomas leaves we arent going to be that good is my guess unless thompson and ross develop quicker than i guess
i think 2013-2014 we are really good.
I'm certainly not an NBA scout, but IMO Thomas is simply not ready yet for that big step to the NBA. I think in one more season he will be, but to leave after this season would be a bad choice. I really don't see him getting drafted in those 2 rounds, and would have to try to make a roster as a free agent. If he stays another season and has the year he's capable of, then he should be very draftable.
As for Sully, I'd say he's 99% leaving. The money is just too much to pass up at this point. I'd absolutely love it if he decided to return, and I think he could improve his skills much more with another year. But I also think he's completely frustrated with the B1G refs allowing him to take beatings in the paint all season, and he's ready to move on. I hope I'm wrong.
Does anybody have any news on Parker or Jefferson? (I had heard they were both leaning other ways). Why did we not go after any other big names in recruiting? Have we ever had a season where we signed zero recruits?
@Cesmit, I believe the year before Sully's class we signed nobody, I could be wrong, and Thomas would get drafted IMO at least in the 2nd round, he's a flat out scorer and someone will be willing to take a risk in the 2nd round to see if they can strike gold.
Favorite Buckeye: Obviously BJ Mullens
I just don't see Sullinger the way other Buckeye fans do (or Dick Vitale). I don't see him having any career in the NBA. I mean, he'll be there for 6-8 years but he'll never be a main contributor. He doesn't have the size to play the 4 or 5 or the quickness to make up for that lack of size. I'm not sure I could name 10 guys in the NBA playing those positions that Sully could guard. He struggles against guys that will be bagging groceries in a couple years.
On the offensive end, I don't think the refs are unfair to him at all. If anything, I think he gets calls he shouldn't. He ALWAYS initiates the contact as he leans and jumps into the defender. I watch the NBA religiously, and I can guarantee he will not get those calls in the NBA. His offense will only come from 15-20ft on the pick and pop.
Having said all that, I think he is great for OSU but his game does not translate well to the NBA
Formerbuck, I understand your points but, most people have him as a top 10 pick maybe a top 5, so if a lot of people think he will go that high, they must think he will do ok. I know people are wrong but I see him being a 10pt 10 reb guy in the NBA, think Blair for the spurs ya he is a little more athletic but Sully is loosing some weight and I am sure he will loose some more when he goes to the NBA
FormerBuckeye is right. He is slow and not athletic enough to compete at the next level. I wouldn't give any NBA scouts any creditability on scouting talent. You have to look that a high amount of players drafted are busts. May from North Carolina reminds me of Sully a lot. He used his size to his advantage at the college level but he also lacked athletic ability that Sully does. I don't think May is even in the league anymore. Sully is better off staying in College and getting a 4yr degree. He will be out of the league after his rookie contract and playing overseas. Sully thinks he is better than what he really is. That white boy from Kentucky last year exposed him on the spot light. That guy is bagging grocieries today and he made Sully look slow. If he has to guard anyone with an ounce of more athletic ability than him he looks like an average player. IMO, Sully is overrated.
@Ekeith21: if youre thinking of Josh Harrelson from UK, he is actually on the Knicks 15 man roster, just injured. He'll wind up being a better version of Sean May and he was like th 6th pick and now playing basketball overseas in Montenegro. Sully's ceiling is probably Glen Big Baby Davis' best nights.
IMO, Sullinger does not have the fire to compete against MEN. He would have to guard: Garnett, Bosh, Griffin, Dirk, Gasol, etc.
I hope I'm wrong.
FormerBuckeye is right. Sully isn't that great of a player for the NBA. Every time he has to gaurd a hybrid post player who makes him gaurd him from outside the basket, around 3-point territory, he struggles. He's too slow when he has to fight through screens, especially the high post screens, and he struggles when he's double teamed. He doesn't really have that great of a jump shot either. I would almost be willing to bet you that he'll leave this year because he's injury prone as well. If he sticks around for another year, I don't think it would help his stock that much.
Craft (no outside shot), scott (no shot at all), sibert (can't shoot this year), Ross (what we've seen is limited...supposed to be an offensive weapon), thompson (can't shoot), smith (limited offensively), which will leave williams, ravenel, spoon, and maybe parker or whatever we recruit we get for the 4/5 spots (I guess we have to count Tre McDonald). Yikes. Obviously Buford, Sully, and Thomas are gone in this equation. I'm guessing Sibert transfers. Only WB is gone from those 1-3 spots, and he's still got ross, thompson, scott ahead of him. Next year...much worse than this year. Best player...Craft if he can develop his offensive game. Or Ross if he can start playing a lick of defense. We'll probably go something like 22-10 (or whatever the # of games turns out to be)...7/8 seed in the big dance and lose 1st round.
Also...who's the skinny white kid in the team sweats at all the games? A transfer?
Sully will be a good NBA player. He reminds me more of an Elton Brand than a Big Baby Davis. He can hit a jumped from the elbow. Heck he has a great shooting stroke from 3. He will be a top 5 pick. People with A LOT more knowledge than us have him going that high. He will be fine. He just needs to mature more though. WAY too much crying about the refs. Let us as fans do the complaining. JUST PLAY!
Elton Brand is 50times more athletic than Sullinger.
Agreed. Elton was a serious shot blocker before his achilles injury and age caught up to him. Sullinger, on the other hand, can barely dunk.
Maybe it's time for a forum devoted to how Buford, Thomas, and Sullinger project as NBA prospects (though I'm assuming the most interesting topic would be Sullinger)?
Since there isn't one, I'll post my 2 cents: that being that I agree with OSBUCKS9, Sully likely won't be a star at the next level. However, when a top 5-10 pick is going to be spent on you (which it will be - name 9 prospects better than Sully), can you expect him to pass up on that kind of money?
That brings me to the original forum topic: next year's team, which without Buford may be an even worse outside shooting team than this year's. Sully has taken a beating this year (self-imposed or not) down low because teams don't need to respect the outside shot. I don't think he'll be too eager to get beaten up more next year if Craft and the relative unknowns on Thad's bench don't develop into more reliable shooters.
Maybe my post reeks of pessimism, but that's what a lifetime of Buckeye fandom does to you: you hope for the best, but expect the worst.