Ohio State Basketball Official Thread

• Mulva

  

  Laley23;1690757 wrote:They are not great. But, what have they done to make everyone think they suck?

  They start 4 white guys.
• Laley23

  

  Mulva;1690760 wrote:They start 4 white guys.

  That made me lol.
  
  But this team is better than last year, IMO. As long as they continue to run the offense through Aaron White, and have the guards be the second option, they will be more consistent. They obviosuly lost Marble, but I think that has forced them to be a more disciplined team on offense.
  
  My my fiancée went to Iowa, and while she couldn't give 2 shots about any of their sports, I've watched a lot more of their games the last 2 years than anyone else probably, and I've been pretty impressed this year. I definitely see them making the tourney, and being higher than a play in game, which I equate to quality.
• centralbucksfan

  OSU vs Illinois today. Home game for the Bucks coming off a home loss to Iowa. Is this a must win game? I'd certainly like to believe they come out and play with some sense of urgency after the Iowa loss. I think this game is going to say a lot about where this team is headed.
• se-alum

  

  Finally running man to man!
• Terry_Tate

  

  Ohio State switches to man to man and they start dominating Illinois. Just made them run the shot clock out. Seems like Matta is admitting he's been 100% wrong, lol.
• se-alum

  

  Matta lookin' kinda silly for playing zone up to this point. OSU dominating on the defensive end right now.
• centralbucksfan

  Thank gawd Thad!! Good to see Matta going to the MM defense! This is exactly what it gives a team..energy and aggressiveness. Its a mental thing. That damn zone makes teams play so passive on both ends. I don't mind the zone if its mixed in to change things up on occasion. But this team is obviously capable of playing man defense and with a deeper bench, they can sustain it.
• Automatik

  

  Yes, good to see the change. Fuck primarily running zone.
• Heretic

  

  Seeing man D was a godsend. Amazingly, all the wide open 3s (yeah, they were long 3s, but if you're a legit good shooter, I highly doubt 3 feet behind the arc while wide open is some really tough feat) suddenly stopped coming and the team looked more energetic on both ends.
  
  Now keep it up and use the zone as it should be: a change-of-pace D for when it looks like an opponent is making plays against your man.
• Terry_Tate

  

  Russell is such a fucking stud. His man to man D isn't very good but damn can he score.
• Ironman92

  

  The Russell show is good
  
  25 in the 1st half
• Terry_Tate

  

  Marc Loving. Hell of a way to finish it.
• Ironman92

  

  Lol....awesome last 4 min
• se-alum

  

  I didn't know loving had the aggressiveness in him for that play!
• Midstate01

  

  Well that was a fun last 6 minutes. Osu had an awful stretch in that half too. This game very far from over though.
• Terry_Tate

  

  se-alum;1693578 wrote:I didn't know loving had the aggressiveness in him for that play!

  I almost typed the exact same thing. Did not see that coming at all.
• Terry_Tate

  

  And their man to man D needs some work still but they look so much better playing in it that I can't believe Matta ever used zone. The whole energy level is so much better.
• The Answer

  Impressive shooting by Russell in the first. So glad to see them continuing to play man D it looks so much better then the soft zone they were using
• se-alum

  

  Terry_Tate;1693582 wrote:And their man to man D needs some work still but they look so much better playing in it that I can't believe Matta ever used zone. The whole energy level is so much better.

  They have guys that aren't so good at it, but Scott and Thompson are so good at it, that it takes some of the pressure off the other guys.
• se-alum

  

  Amir Williams has the weakest hands of anyone I've ever seen play basketball, and I've coached biddy ball.
• Terry_Tate

  

  Really is just amazing how bad Amir Williams can be.
• se-alum

  

  It has to be a foul when you put both arms out and clear defenders before the ball is ever shot.
• se-alum

  

  This Hollins kid can't get a fouled called on him, as hard as he's trying.
• Terry_Tate

  

  How do you miss that double dribble call? It was plain as day.
• Terry_Tate

  

  Looked to me like the Minnesota guy kicked it. Thought the balls rotation changed.