Our inability to shoot at a consistent level is gonna kill us this year. I noticed D. Thomas getting double and sometimes triple teamed because nobody respects our outside shooting. Teams are daring us to shoot and doubling Thomas meanwhile. Gonna be a long year unless they find some outside shooting.
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buckeye's what?
no one appreciates a good punctuation joke anymore
Maybe they can't shoot, I still believe in lenzelle but if matta sticks to playing craft too much then I agree. He can't play point guard and he's even worse offensivley playing the two guard, the good news is that Scott had his coming out party and should play more minutes. Q never looked in sync with the rest of the team and had a sugish preformance. I still dont understand sending Thompson out on the wing to shoot 3's all day, know your game kid try to put the ball on the floor. And don't even get me started on Ravanel....
Lenzelle was 3/13, craft 2/9, and Thompson 1 for his last 8, a layup no less. Did Q realize this was a big game?
Scott shows flashes of greatness, but he needs to be able to knock down open shots. He had plenty of oppurtunities yesterday to knock down wide open 3s, and he failed.
when has scott shown anything close to 'greatness'?
He has 51 assists and 9 TO. Throw in 27 steals. That's a small sample size but that's great.
Edit: 5.6 asst/to ratio. Excellent.
Wayne Woodrow Hayes
Banking in 3's isn't great??
it's mostly luck
-The Aristocrats!
Scott plays great defense and can make things happens on the fast break but he may be the worst outside shooter of them all. Prediction-we are gonna struggle against any decent team, the book is out on us and you'd be stupid not to double and triple team Thomas because nobody else is gonna make a shot. I think it is gonna be a long frustrating year and feel bad for D. Thomas cause he is gonna have zeo fun being double teamed all year.
There is not a shooter on this roster. Smith is to streaky and Thomas's shot selection is just ridiculous at times. Craft can't hit an open jumper to save his life and Sam Thompson isn't even in the discussion. Duke played the worst first half of basketball of their season against us and Kansas didn't play much better. Michigan State, Indiana and Meat Chicken are going to give us all we can handle and some. All three could beat us by twenty.
Lets add lllinois, Minn, becasue they are gonna figure out we can't shoot and beat us by 10 also. OSU finishes 5 in this conference.
when does football season start?
I don't understand how a team with the talent that should be a top 10 team can't shoot for shit. It's beyond ridiculous.
Class of 2010.
The last few sub-par recruiting classes are coming back to bite us.
Our honor Defend!
That says it all. The lack of a legitimate threat in the middle is killing us.
"It's just another case of there you are". ~ Doc (1918-2012)
Ohio State has lost so far to 2 of the best teams in the country. The negativity I'm reading on this site is rediculous. Seriously. While I agree this team has some pretty serious concerns to deal with - claiming that everyone in the B1G is going to beat OSU, or that Matta can't coach, or whatever horseshit I'm reading on here is a little over the top...
The world is full of kings & queens who'll blind your eyes & steal your dreams - it's heaven & hell - Ronnie James Dio.
Negativity or realistic opinions? If you don't like the realistic breakdown of the glaring weakness on this team then go wrap presents and drink your eggnog. Would you like me to lie and say that this team will be fine and the shooting will get better cause it isn't gonna happen. Your blind positivity is annoying!
Can you see into the future? Maybe the team gets better, maybe worse, or stays the same. Either way, why be negative about it? Can you change it? I don't think the answer is to disregard any dissenting opinions using inexplicable italics.
Yo buddy - I made a statement that it's a little early to deem this a horrible team. Yes - I will remain positive for the time being. I'm well aware there are issues & said as much...I'm just not ready to give up on them after losses to 2 great teams. Your blind negativity is annoying too. What makes you so sure they won't get better? Anyway - enjoy your anger - I'm going to go wrap some presents...
*/ Sips egg nog...ahhhh.
The world is full of kings & queens who'll blind your eyes & steal your dreams - it's heaven & hell - Ronnie James Dio.
I don't think I was ever stating that this team was horrible but I think my opinion of them will play out the rest of the season. Besides Thomas they can not shoot from the outside and with the lack of an inside presence we will get exposed all year long. You have to put the ball in the bucket and we will struggle all year doing this because we have 4-5 players in the rotation that can't put the ball in the bucket, that simple. We are only seeing the tip of the iceberg of how Thomas is going to get triple teamed . We are a good team that will need to play lights out defense to stick around against the better teams but as we have seen so far our shooting will be our downfall. We also play in the toughest conference and it will be tough to escape without 6-8 more losses. Sorry I can't be more optimistic for you but I say it the way I see it and I'd bet money I'm right. Yours truely Yo Buddy.
@AdamAnt - Didn't say you called them horrible. Said I'm not ready to call them horrible. My initial comment was about all the negativity in general I've read across the site. Wasn't aiming it your way at all or at one specific person. There is cause for concern, there's no need to say they will lose to pretty much the whole B1G. That's just as silly as saying they will definitely beat the whole B1G. I don't want to have a war of words with you or any other fellow Buckeyes. I simply don't know for sure that this team is as bad as some seem to think. Merry Christmas - yours truly as well...
The world is full of kings & queens who'll blind your eyes & steal your dreams - it's heaven & hell - Ronnie James Dio.
For pete's sake, can we fire some assistant coaches or something!!!! The egg nog is only a 6 paces away from the ledge. Let's all take a step back and enjoy a glass. January, February, March,....it's a little early for "maddness".
An angry fan...rooting for an angry team...led by angry coaches
hooray sarcasm font lol .
~Because we couldn't go for three~
I would probably call what you have posted on here not a "breakdown", but an opinion. Opinions are fine, but are far from fact. This team is still trying to find their offensive sets and matchups that work. Thad even said in the presser that he was yelling at the bench coaches to call any play where they scored. This team is still young and underdeveloped, but show flashes of their potential. Just have some patience. This team lost two of the best players they've had here in a while, and are still working out the kinks. They are only 1/4 of the way through the season, and basketball takes some time to build chemistry and figureo out what works with what players. The ship isn't sinking and the sky isn't falling.
-The Aristocrats!
totally agree with you but I am not sure you can fix the bad shooting of Craft, Scott and Thompson especially Craft who has been here 3 years now and his shooting motion has gotten worse. I just hope that Thad starts recruiting or has recruited some pure outside shooters for the future.
There have been players in the past that couldn't shoot and Thad fixed that. I don't understand what is going on with Craft's shot. I don't claim to be an expert but why is he moving forward on his shots? He needs to go straight up.
I think we'll most likely finish the season somewhere around 24-25 wins 8 losses. I don't see this team advancing further than the sweet 16 but then again who knows how the Bucks will be playing by then and what matchups we'll have.
Developing either Thompson, Smith, or Ross as legitimate threats is pretty impairative coming into the season. I think most believe Ross to be that guy, he just hasn't caught up to the speed of the game yet.
Patience folks. Scott has shown alot of improvement, Amir is getting confident in the middle.
This team has a long way to go and will be a work in progress all season..
This team is straight up offensively challenged. It's frustrating because it's not just one guy. When it's gone cold for one, it seems like it's gone cold for the whole team.
40 minutes of consistent play. That's what we haven't seen out of this team yet. I am not a Debby Downer, I'm just trying to be realistic. If the offense doesn't pick it up, things could be ugly this year. I'm hopeful that they can get things together for the conference.
Let's go Bucks!
Well said. We've had this problem before (minus the magical season two years ago with Deibler, Lighty, Sully et al), and it's only gotten worse this year with Sully gone. Thad always seems to coach great defenses, but it seems like we never have an offensive identity or gameplan. Too often guys just go down, pass it once or twice and someone heaves a shot up.
I think our shooting definitely has to improve, but I think the whole team goes cold when we don't try to get easier shots.
I don't get to watch as much Buckeye roundball as I'd like, so maybe my weak analysis isn't accurate, but...anyone agree? We need an actual offensive identity/strategy?
A lot of times the part we have trouble with isn't getting open looks, it's throwing the ball into the basket. (Really hope someone gets that)
I just came back from March 2013 in my Delorean, OSU makes the Final Four...my fluxcapacitor went bad and I had to come back before I could see what happened....
I was so excited I forgot to Google the next few months of Lotto numbers so I am pissed.
Shannon Scott is the most overrated player on the team. He may turn out fine but I don't understand why he has so many fanboys talking about his greatness. I feel like everyone wants to justify him being on this team instead of Burke.
This team has to win with defense (the only reason they were able to hang with Duke/Kansas in the first place). That all starts with Craft. Yes, he can't shoot, but neither can half of the guys in college basketball in general. I take Craft all day. Let Amir play and gain some confidence. Let Ross and Thomas air it out. It would also be nice if Matta could design a play to get two points that doesn't involve Thomas on a pick and pop...but that's just my opinion.
NC Buckeye.
Look at the statistics and tell me who is better. I'm not saying Scott is necessarily better but by the stats he is by far the superior player. Also, Scott is far from overrated. When I made a forum post simply comparing Scott and Craft without even giving an opinion it got shot down.
Stats is your problem. Stats don't mean anything when a player loses a game single-handedly. Scott lost that Duke game with him trying to be a "far superior player" instead of doing what was working, moving the ball around. It was Scott who consistently went down the court and took an unnecessary shot. It was Scott who killed the offense that was working. He wasn't as bad during Kansas but he is far from being a true starting point guard. And Craft is looking worst because of the fact that he isn't a 2 guard and isn't that great at shooting. I don't know who Matta is trying to play both fo them at the same time so often. Should only happen when it is necesary, not for a whole second half while Ross sits on the bench.
Scott has been allowed to be too reckless and it is hurting this team, despite better stats or not. I do believe Scott can be a better overall talent at PG but right now, it needs to be Craft with the ball in his hands and more shooters around him.
but the real issue is what is lacking in the post.
^Someone likes 36% shooting from their PG.
Scott is the better PG on offense and Craft is the better on ball defender PG.
I like them both on the floor.
Scott just needs to learn how to FINISH he gets too close to the rim like Conley used to. He is so fast he doesn't realize he is there already.
I would like a starting lineup of
Craft
Smith
Ross
Thomas
Williams
With Scott and Thompson getting PLENTY of minutes. I think Ross would play even better as a starter than off the bench and I think Thompson and Scott and Ravenel are instant energy guys.
For one thing, not using a bench isn't helping them with shooting either! The starting 5 are wearing themselves out way to early and there are only 2 or 3 subs to go in for them. No legs means no jump shot and no bench means no fresh legs. Matta needs to change his stance on his bench players or they'll never win a National Championship! Thats why we hung in there with Duke and Kansas but in the final minutes couln't make any shots!
I think the whole not using a bench argument gets overplayed way too much. If you watch enough college basketball you see that very few teams actually play more than 8 or 9 guys in a game unless it's a blowout. Kentucky rarely played more than 8 guys in a game last year and they won the title.
You must still be watching 2010 and 2011. Matta has been much more liberal using the bench this year. A lot of guys are getting 15-20 minutes or more rather than 5 guys playing 35+. And you do realize the inability to make shots started before the last 4 minutes of those games?? So, nice logic...
IMO this is kind of what the college game is in 2012. Most teams don't have a good/great post player so they live and die by the 3 etc. If Williams can develop for next year OSU will be able to make some noise, but as of today, this team will be like many others who has to sink shots to win because they don't have a good big guy. Teams like this have won national titles before (Uconn a couple years ago) but more likley are bounced on a bad shooting night
i believe we have the players to go deep into march but we just got outcoached. IMO Thad doesnt watch a lot of tape of his opponents before he plays and uses the motto were gonna do what we do and see if they can stop us. He's a great recruiter but i don't believe he's a top 5 coach but i do like Thad.
I really like Thad too, but I couldn't agree more. I believe all of our major losses the past few years have been due to his inability to make 2nd half adjustments.
NC Buckeye.
The current issue is not the shooting as much. It is the lack of a post presence. If you don't have a post to feed the ball, then the opposing defense can leak out to the 2 point line and/or double the most opposing threat, Thomas. Thomas is getting double teamed more because of there not being a threat in the post by either Ravenal and Williams. But I also think it is more than just those 2 issues, the guards are not getting the ball to Thomas and Thomas is not being aggressive enough in asking for the ball. I also think Williams is starting to figure it out in the post more. If they would just feed him better with a high/low (perhaps Thomas could working a 2 man game with him) then it should open up the outside more. It also didn't help that they couldn't get a turnover which helps the offense get started.
It will be fine though. Amir is starting to put things together more and for a bit during that Kansas game he was being dominant. He man-handled Withey! He should have been on the floor more. Ross needs to start, seriously. Thompson I like but Ross needs to get started early so he can get hot which will help Thomas alot more.
If the problem was just shooting, all Matta needs to to is bring in Della Valle, but its not. Its a very talented team that just hasn't put it all together yet. Despite the inside pressence of Sullinger, I think this team has a lot more potential than last years. Buford wasn't as good at the combination of Thompson and Ross, especially once they get through most of the regular season and some experience. It is way too early!
If it's not shooting, why did Thad say "We need to shoot better" after both of the losses, basically begging for someone to step up?
They got good looks against Kansas, no one made a thing though.
Your boy Ross was non-existent in that game.
Buford wasn't as good as Thompson/Ross? LOL
A post presence fixes a lot of things when it comes to offensive basketball. If you have a player inside that can make his man pay for helping on a driving player then that helps the other guys get easy buckets, and easy buckets get guys into the flow of the game. I don't think this team lacks shooting ABILITY, I think we lack shooting confidense. Where a great big also pays dividends is when we get in stretches like we did at the end of the Kansas game where we couldn't buy a bucket. Last year we would have tossed it to Sully in the post and let him go to work. This year we can't do that.