Most important player in the OSU lineup?

• rydawg5

  definitely not the case. a sullinger injury would be of much greater impact than buford or deeb.
  
  a craft injury would kill us against a pressing team.
  
  a lighty injury wou kill us against someone with a stud player. lighty is great on defense.
  
  a deeb injury would have little impact.
• centralbucksfan

  rydawg5;609944 wrote:definitely not the case. a sullinger injury would be of much greater impact than buford or deeb.
  
  a craft injury would kill us against a pressing team.
  
  a lighty injury wou kill us against someone with a stud player. lighty is great on defense.
  
  a deeb injury would have little impact.

  
  Disagree about Diebler injury having little impact. Sullinger was played 1 on 1 vs SC because of Diebler for the most part. Last nite, Ashville doubled Sully every time he touched it....Lighty stepped up big obviously. The surrounding cast are the pieces to a very nice puzzle for this OSU team. IMO, currently they all fit perfectly. Without one, OSU would not be where they currently are IMO. Obviously, the loss of Sullinger would be HUGE. But the loss of Lighty, Craft, Dielber or Buford would also have a big time impact on this team. And I say TEAM because that is what they are. Its obvious they enjoy playing together, are completely unselfish like no Matta team I have seen to date. Thus far, I have enjoyed watching this team more so then even the Oden team. Still a LONG way to go. But this team has the makings of something special if they ALL stay healthy.
• rydawg5

  nope.
• se-alum

  

  centralbucksfan;610055 wrote:Disagree about Diebler injury having little impact. Sullinger was played 1 on 1 vs SC because of Diebler for the most part. Last nite, Ashville doubled Sully every time he touched it....Lighty stepped up big obviously. The surrounding cast are the pieces to a very nice puzzle for this OSU team. IMO, currently they all fit perfectly. Without one, OSU would not be where they currently are IMO. Obviously, the loss of Sullinger would be HUGE. But the loss of Lighty, Craft, Dielber or Buford would also have a big time impact on this team. And I say TEAM because that is what they are. Its obvious they enjoy playing together, are completely unselfish like no Matta team I have seen to date. Thus far, I have enjoyed watching this team more so then even the Oden team. Still a LONG way to go. But this team has the makings of something special if they ALL stay healthy.

  No need to try to explain it to someone who obviously knows very little about the game of basketball.
• rydawg5

  if u really think deeb is equally important to osu as sullinger is u would be in the minority so dont talk shit when its ur opinion that resembles that of an uneducated person in regards to this sport.
• Jester

  

  Love when people get attacked on here for having different opinions.
• centralbucksfan

  rydawg5;610122 wrote:nope.

  
  Yup. Who else, besides Diebler, can consistantly stretch the defense and make them play honest? Lighty? Last nite was an enigma...he is a slasher? Buford? A bit shakey from three...but good inside 3 and a slasher as well. Without Diebler on the floor..we would see teams do what they did last nite vs Sully...double and triple team him.
  I don't think ANYONE is saying the other 4/5 guys are as valuable as Sully, they aren't. But OSU would have some difficult struggles without anyone of the others.
• se-alum

  

  rydawg5;610157 wrote:if u really think deeb is equally important to osu as sullinger is u would be in the minority so dont talk shit when its ur opinion that resembles that of an uneducated person in regards to this sport.

  I don't think anyone is saying Sullinger and Diebler are equal in impact, but to say a Diebler injury has little impact is just a matter of simply not knowing the sport.
• Hb31187

  

  They have other people who can spot up and shoot on the team, Lighty, Buford and Siebert all can stroke if need be. Hell even Craft has a pretty nice shot. Of the starters, Diebler easily is the least important to the team to me. Diebler is the worst defender of the starters, doesnt contribute on the boards at all, and cant create his own shot. He does his role very well (spot up and shoot 3's) But other people can spot up and shoot 3's all the while helping in other areas of the game much more than Diebler
• hoops23

  

  The most important player isn't even a question. The real question is who is the 2nd MIP?
  
  As for the question though, it's Jared Sullinger and by a WIDE margin. He opens up EVERYTHING. He's a 20/10 guy, gets the tough buckets, and takes so much pressure off everybody else offensively. Not to mention his rebounding and interior defense.
  
  David Lighty is the 2nd most important though. SR leadership, great athletic ability, can knock down any shot, and the best defender on the team.
• rydawg5

  se-alum;610424 wrote:I don't think anyone is saying Sullinger and Diebler are equal in impact, but to say a Diebler injury has little impact is just a matter of simply not knowing the sport.

  
  In terms of wins/losses I do think he would have little impact. IE - Tennessee game last year. Deeb had all the opportunities in the world to help us out and sucked balls. He is slower and if he isn't hot then he is a liability on the defensive side.
  
  He does knock them down very well and I hate having to take the side of "bashing" him, because I enjoy Deeb. But this is a silly discussion. He is easily #5 on the importance of this team.
  
  Since I've been involved with organized basketball since 1997 Id say I have some understanding of the sport and how the best player on your lineup is everything. When we lost our best guys to injury in high school EVERYTHING falls apart. The outside shooters weren't so open, the leadership wasn't there, and the confidence faded.
  
  IF we'd lose a ROLE player that DIDNT happen. We banded together and knew we still had the engine and heart of the team still there. Others filled in.
• rydawg5

  everyone still sticking to their guns with these opinions?
• devil1197

  Sullinger for offensive purposes. Without Sully, OSU doesn't get nearly as many open looks on the outside. He demands double teams and if they go man to man its over.
  
  Craft for defensive purposes. He creates chaos on the defensive end baseline to baseline. Charges, steals, tough shots he does it all on the defensive end. The best defender in the B10 and one of the best in the nation. He has held some of the best scorers in the B10 well under their averages, leads the B10 in steals, and his motor never stops.
  
  Lighty for leadership purposes. He has been in big games on numerous teams and knows what it takes to get to the big show. Leadership is key to big runs, especially when two of your more important players are freshman.
• vball10set

  Sullinger...not only for his ability to score, but for the way he passes and gets everyone involved--IMO, his absence would hurt the Buckeyes more than anyone else's would.
• thedynasty1998

  

  Funny that this is brought back up after the Northwestern game. I was watching the game and when they were struggling there were three guys that I looked to to make a play: Sullinger, Craft and Buford.
  
  Lighty and Diebler do not provide that leadership, on the court, that many people want to say they do. The leadership on this team comes from Sullinger and Craft and it's pretty clear. You are in a dog fight, on the road, in conference and who were the guys that showed up? It was perhaps the worst game I've ever seen Lighty play and Diebler was a non factor against a slow team.