Obviously, the basket bucks will start Craft, Smith and Thomas. What about the other two spots. Here's my thinking.
The options
At center, you have to think that they will start either Ravenel or Amir Williams. Early in the season, I'm guessing they go with Ravenel, but I hope that Williams develops and can take over the starting gig by conference play. I think he has more upside, and could really set the tone defensively. Either way, you figure that these two guys will take all the minutes at the 5.
That leaves one spot. The front-runner seems to be Sam Thompson, who is coming off an impressive freshman debut. He is long, athletic, and plays defense well. The coaching staff has raved about his off-season, and has said that he has a much improved jumper. This lineup would leave Craft and Smith in the backcourt, and play Thompson at the three.
A second option is to start Ross at the three. Ross seems to be an unknown, as his minutes were limited last year in part because he was ineligible in the first semester. If the bucks choose Ross, it will be because they are worried about offense. Thomas is really the only true go-to option. I expect them to play quite a bit of pick and roll with Craft as well, but losing Sullinger and Buford leaves a big gap. Many of the players have raved about Ross' ability to shoot and score in general. A couple of concerns about going with Ross that I have are: defensively Thomas and Ross in together scares me, and offensively it may be tough to establish quality possessions with two saturation shooters on the court.
A third option is to start Scott in the backcourt with Craft, bumping Smith to the 3. This option would allow for a ton of perimeter pressure defensively, as both Scott and Craft get after people. Scott is also a very smart player, and can push the ball well. Scott has worked hard on his shot as well, and the coaches have emphasized how he has improved substantially over the summer as well (noting his shooting and his ability to push the ball in transition). While this lineup boost our ball handling and our perimeter defense, I have concerns about: outside shooting (neither Craft or Scott looked great shooting last year) and size (how do we guard big athletic 2's).
A fourth option would be to not start Smith. This might allow them to start Craft and Scott together with Ross/Thompson. I like Smith a lot, but some of the other guys may have more upside. I think that this won't happen, but still figured I'd throw it out there.
My gut tells me that they will go with Thompson (option 1), because he seemed to get the most minutes last year, he is great in transition, and oh yeah, he can jump. I also think that Thompson is a natural three. That would allow Scott and Ross to come off the bench with either Williams or Ravenel. I think those eight players will get the vast majority of the playing time, with Della Valle and McDonald getting minutes in pre-season and in blowouts.
What are your thoughts? Only a couple of weeks away from our basket bucks taking on Marquette!
Ross will start. He's the 2nd best offensive option and you can't leave him out of the starting line-up on a team with only 1 proven scorer. Thad will get his defensive effort where it needs to be. We've seen Thomas learn to work a lot harder on D though it's still his weak spot...I think we'll see a little zone which Thad doesn't like but has used in the past based on personel. We can put a very long team out there this year (especially with Williams at center), and though I prefer man to man I'd like to see this team try some zone. Can you imagine Craft basically flying all over in a 1-3-1 or a box and 1, disrupting everything?
D. Anthony
FWIW, I tweeted Titus this question after he attended practice last week. His response: "if they played tomorrow, my guess is Craft, Smith, Ross, Thomas and Ravenel"
@D. Anthony Interesting point about the zone. I would err in the other direction and try and pick up the pace through spotting full court man-to-man. With Craft, Smith, Scott and Thompson, I think that we could create a lot of turnovers and get a lot of points in transition. Also, with how well mich, msu, and indiana shoot the ball, I would hesitate to run too much zone.
I think Matta should start Williams at center and Ross at the 3. Ravenel is a solid big man but Amir has so much more upside and obviously has a big height advantage to man down the middle. In my opinion Amir needs to come up huge this year on the defensive end and just slightly help on offense for the Buckeyes to compete for another B1G title. Ross should start strictly to give the offense more firepower. By the sound of the Seth Davis article it seems like Ross is ready to show off that sweet stroke and be the 3 point gunner tOSU needs! Then again Matta loves defense and Thompson could be another shut down guy on the wing and has shown flashes of a nice offensive game because of his athleticism. It will be interesting to see how it plays out but i guess the good thing is we should see some bench play this year and Thad can roll with the hot hand.
I like the idea of Sam Thompson coming off the bench. He brings some great energy/spark that I don't think Ross could provide.
My guy says the starting lineup will be Craft, Smith, Thompson, Thomas, and Ravenel. Thad Matta has made it crystal clear throughout his tenure that he will play his best defensive players as much as possible. Maybe Ross has really bought in on the defensive side; at least enough so that the skills he brings with the ball in his hands overcomes the difference between his and Thompson's defensive abilities. Or, maybe not.
You don't see the floor for Thad Matta if you can't play defense (as long as there are 5 on the team that can - otherwise you see what happened during Koufos's only year at OSU). If Matta is really being serious this time about wanting to get up and down the floor more with the athletes he has, he's going to want Thompson on the floor to provide that multi-dimensional defensive threat.
A really interesting combination on the floor, provided Ross has improved defensively, would be to see Thompson and Ross together, along with Craft, Thomas, and Williams/Ravenel. That would be 3 long, athletic wing players who are 6'7-6'8. That could present a lot of matchup problems.
Either way, this is a very talented, athletic, long team with diverse skill sets. I hope the guys all buy in to Matta's role-based structure because they can be very successful if they do so.
"What we do in life echoes in eternity"
We will miss Sully's rebounding/half-court scoring but I think this 8-man rotation could be the best in the country. A lot of the cbb blue bloods are either in a somewhat rebuilding year or extremely young (which hasn't mattered much as of late). I really think by the end of the year, this team will be better than last year's team. Final Four for this squad. I know Lenzelle will be much better, based on how much he has improved, and Seth Davis raved about Shannon Scott. Super quick, super athletic small-ball team that will be able to go with so many different looks. Also, if Amir emerges like we expect him to, this team could be a defensive juggernaut. I'm pumped about this team.
Craft, Lenzelle, Thompson, Thomas, Williams
Scott, Ross, Ravenal -- all see major time.
Big10 is ridiculous this year but I believe we could be the best. Stay healthy!
NC Buckeye.
Duke will be Duke and will outcoach/outhustle teams 90% of the time. They don't have the athleticism to play with the Bucks this year though. Carolina is having a down year and will do nothing unless a PG emerges. NC State has a lot of hype, but c'mon, its State. Kentucky will be good by the end of the year but they don't have enough to repeat. Not worried about Kansas.
Four Big10 teams are preaseason Top10 and I believe atleast three of them will finish that way. Big10 tournament could be one of the best ever.
NC Buckeye.
PG: Craft
SG: Smith
SF: Ross
PF: Thomas
C: Williams
Ross might be used as a 6th man to give the bench a boost.
"YOLO" = I'm about to do something extremely ignorant/stupid & I need an excuse to do it.
PG: Craft
SG: Smith
SF: Thomas
PF: Ross
C: Williams
I said this a few weeks back but I'll repeat it because it's relevant.
Ross will start only if he learned to play defense over the summer.
"It's just another case of there you are". ~ Doc (1918-2012)
I think you could easily see Thompson and ravenel start a lot of the games and Ross and Williams play more minutes anyway. This is the year where Thad will play his top 8 significant minutes in every game and people can lay off the criticism. This only wont happen if Thomas proves he can play 35+ minutes. Then you would have 4 guys rotating the 2 wing spots and the 2 bigs swapping. Occasionally could see a big or small lineup.
First of all, William, Why in the world would you put Thomas at SF and Ross at PF? Ross doesn't rebound and Thomas is your best.
Craft, Smith, Ross, Thomas, Williams
Oregonian, Uh Option 3 and 4 are the same unless you meant Thomas in the 4th option. That I definitely don't see happening.
Thompson is awesome but he at the moment is a limited energy guy that would be best suited for 6th man. Ross is a much more rounded offensive player and this team needs that. Thompson is also more of a true 2 than a 3. He played most of his minutes subbing for Smith and was excellent at making over the top passes with his height. It was a lot easier to feed the ball down low with him because he could see over the defense and get the ball inside without much opposition. At the 3 I just think he will run into more problems with scoring, despite a better jumper.
Ravenel is limited and OSU needs a shot blocking presence for once. Williams was really finding his niche at the end there and I think he will be a very effective defender.
I like Scott, Thompson and Ravs. I just think the other 5 are a more cohesive unit. Great blend of offense and defense with a true leader in Craft.
I'm stoked and can't wait to see some Bball!
Um Lebron is a SF and he rebounds.. Ross is also taller than Deshaun Thomas. Thomas has a much better build for SF than he does PF too.
Amir could have a big season, and hopefully he does to help out Thomas, Smith and Craft.
JT
He's an inch taller and weights 20 lbs lighter! Have you seen Thomas's arm length? Have you seen Ross rebound because I haven't. I seen Thomas rebound from the POWER FORWARD POSITION LAST YEAR!
Thomas is by far the best offensive rebounder in the big ten and you want him on the wing? Ross who is a supposed 3 point shooter, and you want him in the post where we have not seen any semblance of a post game?
Did you really throw Lebron in there? Lebron also gets assists, blocks shots and basically DOMINATES THE NBA! You can call him a SF, he really is any position he wants! Neither Thomas nor Ross is Lebron!
Thomas has been playing at PF, leave him there. Ross fits as a SF because he is more of an outside shooter. Only way I see Thomas moving to SF is if Thad decides Ravenel should start PF and Williams at center because Ross isn't ready to start.
Ross is not a PF but really when we are talking about Matta's team this year there really going to start Craft at PG and 3 SG's/SF's with the combination of Deshaun, Ross, Thompson, and Lenzelle. Ross does not have the size or defensive skills to play PF and he plays outside of the arc on offense which clarifies him as a SF. Just because Ross is an inch taller that doesn't mean he should play a big mans position! Deshaun is the defacto PF for the Buckeyes but is much more of a SF. Also he is probably the best rebounder on the team this year unless Amir really steps up in that department.
2 things that I am worried about this year
1.) Rebounding, who steps up and replaces Sully on the boards?
2.) Scoring, especially from outside. This was a weakness last year, and I see it continuing.
Per JJ Sullinger, the starting 5 is Craft, Smith, Ross, Thomas, and Ravanel. Scott, Thompson, and Williams will see time off the bench.
/Duff'd It
If JJ Sullinger is correct then I can live with that lineup but the two better defenders are coming off the bench in Thompson and Amir and Matta stresses defense. I hope Thompson and Ross can give major help to the offensive end this year because that is the only area that worries me.
@Squirrel Sorry to confuse. 5:00 am alarms suck :)
Option three is Craft, Scott, Smith, Thomas and Williams/Ravenel. I see this as the least likely option. So no Ross or Thompson at the three.
Option four is Craft, Scott, Thompson/Ross, Thomas Williams/Ravenel. I have a couple of people I know that have seen Scott play recently and say that he has made huge strides. If that's the case, it would not surprise me if he snuck into the starting five. Smith takes a seat here, which would surprise me as well, but I don't see them starting all three true guards together.
Ross will light it up this year...he's out of the dog house and put in work (big time) this off-season. Think Robert Horry (or You Tube him) if you're not old enough to remember him.
D. Anthony
I better see Amir Williams instead of Ravenel and nothing against him but Amir Williams is a physical freak and has so much potential and his ceiling is so much higher. The rest seems to be fairly in tact but the center battle should be interesting.
read a quote from Matta saying the best five defenders would start (although you have to take that with a grain of salt because deshaun is obviously starting) - probably more of a motivational quote for guys like ross than it is a true statement.
the kids are playing their tail off, and the coaches are screwing it up! - JLS
Sullinger, when he went to practice, said Ravanel was a clear starter ahead of Williams, but that was after the first practice and no one knows what will happen before we play Walsh or Marquette.
/Duff'd It
Amir has a much higher ceiling...I love Thad but he has to make sure he gets a lot of these young guys meaningful minutes all season long but especially early. Izzo does this so well and it seems like he gets his younger guys up to speed sooner...even if it costs them a couple games early, he plays those young guys in key minutes. I still don't like his big lion-face but he's good.
D. Anthony
Amir Williams has to start for me, he showed a lot of promise last year with limited playing time. He has to be better then Ravanel, nothing against him but he is a off the bench guy. Wiliams was a decent defender who can actually block shots, and I also think he can be an inside threat which ravanel is not either, and he is 7'0 ft tall!!! get the guy in there.
Good discussion here. Not to duplicate many good points/analysis above, I'd just add that it seemed - perhaps I'm totally wrong about this, though - that Ravenel was not quite in tip top condition last year. He seemed to get winded relatively quickly. If I'm right, I think we might be pleasantly surprised by Ravenel's production this year. I agree with others that Amir has more upside, but Ravenel showed flashes during the NCAA tournament that I'd like to see him build on this year - ideally, while coming off the bench.
I don't think Ravenel is a starter. I think the hardest decision is the 3 (Thompson/Ross) but I tend to think it will be Thompson because he plays defense.
1. Craft
2. Smith (I think his offensive numbers are going to spike this year)
3. Thompson/Ross
4. Thomas
5. Williams
Craft Ross Thompson Thomas Williams
Thats how I would do it anyway. May be issues with ball handlers though, but I don't really see Smith alleviating that problem in place of Ross.
FWIW someone very close to the team thinks it should be Craft-Smith-Ross-Thomas-Williams...looks like from everything I've heard that sounds about right with possibility of Thompson for Ross and Ravenel for Williams, but either way it will be Craft, Smith, Ross, Thomas, Williams, Ravenel, Thompson, and Scott as your main 8 that will play....despite good early reports I just don't see Della Valle getting too many minutes and then McDonald may see small minutes but still has a ways to go...of course Rogers, Goldstein, and Lorbach are not going to see much burn
Alex, thanks for the update. Any thoughts on my completely unsubtantiated hunch that Ravenel was less than 100-percent fit last year but is now ready to be a pretty solid, active power forward (defense, rebounding)?
I'm not disappointed to hear that Rogers & Hammerstein won't get much burn this year - not a big fan of their work.