Eleven Warriors

Ohio State 6-3, 0-0 Big Ten Roster | Schedule

December 18, 2007 7:00 PM ET ------ The Q. Cleveland, Oh.

Cleveland St. 7-3, 1-0 Horizon Roster | Schedule

Opponent: Cleveland St. hosts the Buckeyes tonight in the inaugural McLendon Scholarship Classic, a recognition and fund raising event in honor of CSU's former coach John McLendon. Ohio St.'s own Gene Smith will be part of the ceremony, being inducted into the Legends Class of Minority's Athletics Administrators.

Cleveland St. has a roster similar to Ohio State's, returning five players from last year's 10-21 team and adding 10 newcomers. The Vikings are playing their first game in 10 days, having won 6 of their last 7 contests prior to their break. This team is averaging 73 points a game, shooting 46 percent from the floor and 30 percent from beyond the arc.

CSU is still learning to play with each other and will run 8 significant players at Ohio State, with the potential debut of sharp shooting Eric Schiele added to the mix. All eight are playing over 18 minutes a game, so I expect another trapping defense thrown at Thad's boys tonight. Beating Ohio State would be sweet for CSU's 9 native Ohioians and could propel this team into conference play.

Key Players: Cedric Jackson (#11 6'3" Jr.) is a transfer from St. John's and leads this team in scoring (17.9) and assists (5.4). He is also the Vikings leading three point threat, making 17 of 38 attempts thus far. Jackson is joined in double digits by J'Nathan Bullock (#35 6'5" Jr.) and Joe Davis (#23 6'0" So.), scoring 14.5 and 10.3 respectively.

Bullock is presumably the love child of his famous father Jim J. and this woman. Bullock also leads the team in rebounding, snagging close to six a game, while Davis seems to only score and shouldn't be a threat from downtown.

Chris Moore (#42 6'9" Jr.) and George Tandy (#21 6'8" Jr.) will challenge Ohio State's bigs in the paint. Moore is another transfer from UC Santa Barbara and chips in with 7.3 points and 5.2 boards per game. He has hit 16 of his last 22 shots and will be a shot blocking threat to the Buckeye's inside chances. Tandy transfers in from Eastern Illinois, recently cracking the starting lineup with 5.6 points and 5.3 rebounds a game.

Breyhon Watson (#13 6'3" Sr.), Kevin Francis (#5 6'8" Sr.) and D'Aundray Brown (#32 6'4" Fr.) all score around 5 points a tilt and will combine for over 10 boards and 5 assists per. As mentioned, Eric Shielle (#2 5'10 So.) will make his anticipated debut tonight after sitting out the first 10 games with academic problems. He lead the nation in scoring as a high school senior ('05-'06) at 40 points per and had 3 games with at least 12 threeballs.

Notes: Cleveland St. has over 16,000 students and was founded in 1964... CSU is coached bu Gary Waters... Some experts gave Cleveland St. the second best rated recruiting class in Ohio this year, trailing only Ohio St.

Buckeye Breakdown: Ohio State put their shooting woes behind them last game against the mighty Blue Hose and will hopefully continue that trend in yet another venue tonight. The Buckeyes set a Value City Arena record by hitting 35 of their 49 shots, good for 71.4 percent and the second best shooting night in Buckeye history.

Ohio State's overall field goal shooting has been raised to 45 percent on the year, but we'll see if a different arena will cause any problems and if this game will have the feeling of a home or away game. Ohio State has looked timid getting out of traps and their scoring slumps are well documented, any type of trapping D or a cold shooting streak could make this into a nerve wrecker.

I have been anxiously awaiting an unveiling of this team's man to man defense, but I don't know if that is going to happen. This zone defense is starting to grow on me, I like the pressure on the wings and Ohio State has held opponents to 37 percent shooting, including 28 percent from 3land. However the flaws are quite visible.

Any team that overloads one side of the zone can score. While the wings are extended, the corners are left wide open and teams can get open threes from that spot all night. Also Coppin St. worked the baseline and free throw entry passes to keep the game close. Ohio State's rebounding has been effected by the zone as well, giving up numerous second chance opportunities per game and barely out rebounding their opponents. It makes me nervous if this team can not man up at any point.

Key Players: Kosta showed signs of reemerging against an under sized Blue Hose team, scoring 21 points in 21 minutes. He lead a 16-0 run with 9 points in the first half and closed the game missing only 1 of his 9 shots. His dwindling rebounding numbers are starting to concern me though, knowing how physical play is going to get after the New Year's.

Jamar Butler played with great energy and needs to bottle some of that for every game. His penetration in the second half fueled Ohio State and Jamar finished with 8 assists and 16 points. He connected on another 3 threes and is shooting a torrid 45 percent from the arc.

There was a David Lighty and Othello Hunter sighting last game and Buckeye fans are hoping the don't miss another game tonight. These two are critical for this team, their combined 21 point, 10 rebound effort last game has to become the norm for these two if Ohio State is to have any success this year.

I believe the rest of the freshman are getting closer to contributing significantly to Thad's squad. Evan "Turner-over" has done just that the last three games, but has injected some scoring and defensive help. Diebler is going to break out soon, I can feel it and Eric Wallace got some confidence with 6 points and 4 boards.

Notes: Sportstime Ohio will televise tonight's game... Jamar Butler is now 6th on Ohio State's all time assists list, with 405, 14 behind 5th place Ronnie Stokes... Thad Matta is 3-0 all-time against Cleveland St...

Once again, Anthony Gonzalez earned 11W's Buckeye NFLer of the Week. Gonzo had 7 catches for 86 yards, leading the Colts in both categories. With less than 5 minutes left in the contest, Gonzo's 7th catch of the day was a game-winning 20-yard pass from Peyton Manning as the Colts rallied late to beat the Oakland Raiders 21-14.

Week 15 was the 3rd time Gonzo has won 11W's weekly award. He also nabbed this prestigious award in Week 5 and Week 12. Arguably, Gonzo could've been Week 14's recipient as well.

Anthony Gonzalez has had a promising rookie season. Being a 1st round draft choice by the Colts and with the departure of Brandon Stokley, you kind of got a feeling that Gonzo had a chance to be a very productive rookie. It didn't hurt that Manning was going to be the QB throwing to Gonzo either.

Considering Gonzo started his first game in Week 5 due to Marvin Harrison's injury, as well as the intangibles listed above, Gonzo started out the season kind of slow only having 15 catches for 207 yards and no TDs in his first 8 games. But since his return 4 weeks ago from a broken thumb injury, Gonzo has steadily improved and has become another weapon for Peyton Manning. His numbers since his injury are an impressive 21 catches for 347 yards and 3 TDs.

Nothing but good things are being said about Gonzo around the league right now. Peyton Manning is impressed with Gonzo's ability to be coached. Manning also does not want to rest in able to gain a better rapport with new players like Gonzo even though the Colts are locked as the AFC's 2nd seed in the playoffs. The fantasy world is also abuzz with Gonzo's rising fantasy stock.

It's looking more and more like Anthony Gonzalez will have a Ted Nugent-style stranglehold on this season's Buckeye NFLer of the Year. Matt Wilhelm and Joey Galloway still have a chance to tie Gonzo with awards won as they both own two of them themselves. Only time will tell.

Bob Hunter had a pretty interesting piece in yesterday's Dispatch about the current state of national hate following the program. He shared a Barton quote that sums up what we've all seen plenty of online:

"In all likelihood we will be the underdogs, because we know that pretty much everyone on Earth hates us."

I usually take it with a grain of salt online. College football fandom has nearly reached the ridiculous level of politics to the point of "If your guy does it, think of the children!! However, if it's my guy, it's overblown and things are under control."

Gordon Gee took his turn at running some smack when Hunter asked him about the hate:

".. hate would not be the word I would use. Admiration. Fear. Jealousy. Envy. Try those words."

Buckeye fans can certainly be obnoxious, but these days, trash comes in all colors.

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Meanwhile, the DDN reports that fans are just as cautious as we are heading into the Championship.

Michigan West Virginia North finally found their guy.

Only 8 months after hiring Mountaineer basketball coach John Beilein, the Wolverines plucked football coach Rich Rodriguez to replace Lloyd Carr and become the schools 18th head football coach.

No word yet on whether they'll also make a run at the "King of Pork", in an effort to get the stadium renovation funds cooking.

The hiring finally ends the 28 days of pain endured by Wolverine fan as they come out of the ordeal with a good hire. Maybe not the guy they wanted most, but in the long run, probably a better selection. In one move, Michigan advanced their offensive scheme 20 years.

As SVM pointed out in the comments, Terrelle Pryor is now in play for Michigan and the thought of going from front-runner to potentially having to gameplan against Vince 2.0 is not exactly inspiring pleasant thoughts. They better hope they can land him because the thought of Luc Longley Ryan Mallett running that set is inspiring inspiring pleasant thoughts.

Rodriguez has a pretty hefty buyout clause ($4m) with Michigan expected to pick up most of that. He's also taking some heat on the way out for deciding to leave the team prior to their Fiesta Bowl matchup with the Sooners.

UPDATE: Rodriguez will reportedly be making $2.4m per.

Playing their first D-1 season, the Presbyterian College Blue Hose actually led OSU 14-11 nine minutes in before a 16-0 Buckeye run led to a 40-20 lead at the half. The second half was more of the same as the Buckeyes came out with a 12-0 burst leading to an 87-43 rout.

The Buckeyes were scorching from the field (71%) including 10/15 from downtown and the full court press produced 18 turnovers but the 'game' was such a mismatch that it's hard to get too excited about what we witnessed.

Kosta Koufos bounced back from his recent benching with 21 points on 8/9 shooting but continued his trend of avoiding contact at all costs, it just didn't matter against the overmatched Blue Hose. Koufos moved freely along the baseline against the PC zone defense notching easy buckets on nice feeds from Jamar Butler and the high post passers to fuel the 16-0 first half run.

Butler dropped in 16 points (6/8 FG) but more importantly, his 8 assists gave the offense some flow allowing OSU to scale back on the ridiculous amount of three point shots they took Monday against Coppin State. In that game, the Buckeyes attempted more threes (22) than two's (19) because the offense lacked movement. Today, only 15 of the 49 total shots came from deep although the level of competition most certainly had a lot to do with the offense looking like, well, an offense.

At the other end of the floor, the Buckeye defense continues to get the job done. Taking away penetration and anything on the low blocks, Thad's matchup zone held the Blue Hose to 34% shooting forcing them into 32 three point attempts out of 44 total shots. The Buckeyes also had a good day on the glass with a 30-14 edge.

Individually, Evan 'Turner-over' made his second straight start and lived up to the nickname Corey bestowed upon him last week committing 7 turnovers in 17 minutes of action. That makes 12 miscues in his two starts and marked the third time this year he had atleast 5 in a game. Turner's got the skills to be a double digit scorer but he's been consistently careless with the rock, most notably on some of the laziest post entry passes we've ever seen.

Othello Hunter added 13 points (6/8 FG), 5 boards and 3 assists hitting double figures for the 4th time in 9 games. Fellow starter David Lighty hit a couple threes and finished with 8 points and 5 boards.

Jon Diebler came off the bench with an active 6 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists in just 13 minutes. In total, the reserves added 24 points and 12 boards after scoring just 4 points in the last 3 games combined. Besides Diebler, Eric Wallace (6 pts, 4 reb) and P.J. Hill (5 pts) gave Thad the most off the pine.

Again, I have no reason to believe today's win is a sign of growth based on the opponent but the Buckeyes did what they were supposed to do and remain on track to be no worse than 8-4 when the conference season begins.

Cleveland State is up next (Tue 12/18) so secure your valuables if you see former Buckeye/Viking Damon Stringer hanging around.

Coach Tressel announced yesterday that Antonio Henton has replaced Rob Schoenhoft as the backup quarterback, at least for the championship game.

Horny Henton still has plenty of work to do with regard to the passing game but his running skills looked good early and that hasn't changed according to DL Doug Worthington:

"He has been juking cats in practice. He had a couple of good runs today. He is looking tremendous."

I'm glad to hear Henton's coming along but I agree with Brian Hartline's assessment of the situation:

"It's a major move but I think it wouldn't really matter if Boeckman goes down anyway we might be in some trouble. Both guys are going to be good but they're not ready yet."

I wonder if Henton might get a snap or two on plays designed especially for the LSU defense? Another long term consideration (credit reader Harold) could be that Tressel needs to free up some room on the QB depth chart for the arrival of Terelle Pryor.

As for "Schoenhop" (inspired by reader Zach), he's helping out at TE on the scout team. Nobody is saying whether or not this is a permanent thing but based on his few opportunities at QB, I don't think anyone is worried about losing Schoenhop to scout team duties.

This type of stuff never gets old, I love the 33 second mark.

The WWL reports 13 OSU juniors have filed paperwork with the NFL advisory committee to help evaluate where they might be taken in next year's draft.

The thought of this used to spook much of Buckeye Nation but now most everyone realizes this is just the natural progression for a top flight athlete attending a football factory.

Personally, I've always felt strongly that if a player feels they are ready and/or the committee has given favorable feedback then the player should turn pro. I'm all for loyalty and such but the bottom line is that people go to college to prepare for their future and if a player gets feedback indicating where they'll be selected and they are okay with that then you should give them your blessing.

What's important is that this year's junior crop appears focused on the task at hand, at least that's the way Malcolm Jenkins tells it:

"We took it upon ourselves to say, 'Look, we're not going to think about this, we're not going to talk about it until the time comes.' And that's after the game," Jenkins said. "We're just going to focus on this game right now."

As the article states, 25 Buckeyes have turned pro early since 1992. So what do you think? Do you have a problem with players leaving early in hopes of establishing themselves in the NFL?

Ohio State 5-3, 0-0 Big Ten Roster | Schedule

December 16, 2007 12:00 PM ET ------ The Schott Columbus, Oh.

Pres. College 1-10, Indep. Roster | Schedule

Opponents: Presbyterian College (PC) is playing their first season as a Division I program and is in the midst of an eleven game road trip. PC is not good at 1-10, but I'm sure they will pose a stiff test for the struggling Buckeyes. The Blue Hose, yes that's right the Blue Hose, come in scoring 58.4 points a game and shoot only 41 percent from the floor, with almost half of their shots coming from behind the arc (264 of 549 attempts).

Key Players: PC has three players averaging in double figures and 9 players who play more than 10 minutes a game. Pat Kiscaden (#25 6'3" Sr.) leads the team with 10.6 points, but doesn't do much else. Brian Bostic (#23 6'3" Sr.) and Al'Lonzo Coleman (#34 6'7" Fr.) are right behind him at 10.5 and 10.1 respectively. Coleman also leads the team in rebounds, steals, blocks, FG's and FT's made.

Travis Sligh (#42 6'4" Jr.) and Josh Johnson (#22 6'3" Fr.) are the only other players who chip in with more than 5 a game.

Notes: PC is located in Clinton, SC and has an enrollment of 1200 students... It cost 33,930 dollars to attend PC for a year... PC is coached by Gregg Nibbert, who has compiled a 328-216 record in his 18 seasons.

Buckeye Breakdown: By Saturday at noon, our eyes should be recovered from the bleeding we endured on Monday night. This season has been hard to stomach and any type of struggle against PC will send the Schott's older crowd heading for the exits earlier than their normal eight minute mark.

Sadly, the Buckeyes come in with similar shooting numbers, scoring 65.4 points and shooting only 42.6 percent per contest. Ohio State continues to get out hustled, rebounded and pushed around. I was bummed we didn't see any man to man defense last game. In Thad's first three years, OSU's in-your-grill defense was a catalyst for the offensive end and I think the match up zone doesn't channel enough intensity. Ohio State used the 3/4 court press after made buckets, but even that had limited effectiveness.

Key Players: The lone bright spot in Monday's scoring was Evan Turner, who made the most of his first start, by scoring 13 points and recording five turnovers. He looked confident shooting the ball, but was a bit careless with the rock. Jamar Butler once again scored all of his point from 3point land and didn't even attempt a 2 point shot. I know Jamar is a quiet leader, however he has to start penetrating more and needs to increase his vocal communication.

David Lighty has now fallen below the 10 point average after his four point performance against Coppin St. Kosta Koufos was benched for the last 12+ minutes of the game for being soft inside. He and Othello Hunter combined for a mere 14 points and 5 rebounds (none by Koufos) against a team that played no one over 6'7".

Surprisingly, Ohio State's other newbies have struggled to get going. P.J. Hill provided a spark last game in his first extended time, but Jon Diebler continues his shooting woes, while Dallas Lauderdale and Eric Wallace simply aren't playing much.

Ohio State has to seize their opportunity Saturday to calm the mild panic going on in Buckeye Nation, but Thad is still the coach and he will work endlessly to make sure this team makes the tournament. I just want a few players to step up, so I can have something to write about before the Cleveland State game.

Notes: Walter Outfitt, a guard recruit for the 2008 season, suffered a season ending knee injury. This is the second time he torn knee ligaments, getting injured his sophomore season... Ohio State has failed to score 60 points in 4 of their last 5 games

Folks around Columbus already knew. But now the rest of the nation is figuring it out. Michael Redd is a damn good basketball player.

Through the first 7 years of his NBA career with the Milwaukee Bucks, Redd's scoring average increased every year. Though this season his scoring average is down slightly from last year (26.7 points per game in 2006-07 to 24.1 ppg in 2007), his assist and rebound per game averages are up significantly (2.3 assists per game in 2006-07 to 3.6 apg in 2007 & 3.7 rebounds per game in 2006-07 to 5.5 rpg in 2007).

Redd came into this season with a newfound attitude towards his play. Redd attributed his new outlook to playing with Team USA over the summer in the FIBA Americas Championship in Las Vegas. He says he learned a lot from his Team USA teammates on how to be a leader and how to win. He studied Jason Kidd's passing, Kobe Bryant's defensive skills, and the overall team's winning expectations. Redd tried to bring the same skills and attitude he learned from his Team USA teammates to his Bucks teammates. But Redd realized his expectations for the Bucks needed to start with himself.

So in the off-season, Redd hired a personal trainer. Although still a prolific scorer, he wanted to be an all-around player. Redd's hire paid off. Redd is now at 7% body fat, where he was once around 19%, and his numbers for this season don't lie (see above). But more importantly, his leadership on the floor is molding a young crop of talent (Mo Williams, Andrew Bogut, Yi Jianlian, Charlie Villanueva, Charlie Bell, etc.) that could some day develop into an Eastern Conference power.

The Milwaukee Bucks have played 21 of their 82 games so far. Although they are only 9-12 for the season, the Bucks are currently sitting in the 9th position in the Eastern Conference standings. If Michael Redd has anything to do with it, expect the Bucks to make the playoffs. And if he gets more support from his teammates, expect them to win.

The Bucks may not be in the class of the Celtics, Pistons, Heat, Cavs, etc. in the East. But they could very well move up the ladder in coming years.

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Notable quotes:

"Most shooters need to find a rhythm, but [Michael] is ready right away. His [shooting] is something we did not have last year. He's one of the few guys that I've seen in coaching, in over 30 years, where guys are just so happy that he is shooting the ball." - Team USA (and Duke University) coach Mike Krzyzewski

"What we just saw is exactly the kind of stuff we've needed in international play." - USA Basketball scouting director and former Houston Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich (after watching Redd draining some 3's, hitting step-back jumpers, and taking it to the hole for easy lay-ups in a Team USA practice)

I've scored a lot of points, but now I've got to make my teammates better, show more leadership and take more responsibility for the team's success." - Michael Redd