#1 Ohio State 67, #2 Georgetown 60 (Final)

[Fungo Squiggly]

I may have to change my mind. This just in from the post game presser.

Hibbert says -

"It's gonna be like Samson and Delilah - and I'm Samson. It's gonna be like Jonah and the whale - and I'm the whale. It's gonna be like Cain and Abel, and I'm able. It's gonna be like Soddom and Gonorrhea - and I'm Gonorrhea. I'm gonna beat on Greg Oden like God beat on Job. I'm gonna do to him like David did to Bathsheba. I'm gonna turn him into a pillar of salt. Locusts, boils and frogs is just gonna be the start of it. What Nebuchadnezzar done to Shadrack, Meshack and Abednego got nothin' on what I'm gonna do to Greg Oden. He wants to play with me he better bring the jawbone of an ass. And when I'm done with him I am going to have my way with the Ammonites and Edomites. I am the whore of Babylon and I take no prisoners!!!"


Or words to that effect.

It's even funnier if you imagine it being spoken by Mike Tyson.

 

[OSUBuckeye4Life]

LOL @ them putting the fu*kup on the highlight.......

http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/...dex?id=2812374

Go under "College Hoops" and then "Digger, Vitale Preview Final Four Matchups"

 

[NOTREDAMECHIEF]

Congrat's and Good Luck!

 

[Zurp]

I know that the key to the game is something about whoever scores more, or whatever. I haven't been able to figure that one out. But I think that a secondary key to the game is which big man gets in foul trouble. I agree with whoever said "let the big guys play big," or something. But the referees have been calling cheap fouls that probably even embarass the foulee. So if Oden can play within the refs' version of the rules, and Georgetown's guys can't, Ohio State is winning big. But, the other way around, and Ohio State is in deep doo-doo.

 

[Best Buckeye]

I know that the key to the game is something about whoever scores more, or whatever. I haven't been able to figure that one out. But I think that a secondary key to the game is which big man gets in foul trouble. I agree with whoever said "let the big guys play big," or something. But the referees have been calling cheap fouls that probably even embarass the foulee. So if Oden can play within the refs' version of the rules, and Georgetown's guys can't, Ohio State is winning big. But, the other way around, and Ohio State is in deep doo-doo.

But both digger and Dickie picked tOSU (slightly)

 

[LitlBuck]

At least most of our guys will not be intimidated by their height since we played them last year and I am sure Conley and Cook don't get intimidated by anything. Plus I am sure that these guys have gone against Oden or Hunter in practice which will give them some idea of what they're facing.

In addition, the Hoyas offense should not really bother us that much because we have gone up against similar offenses during the season in Northwestern and PSU.

It will be very interesting to see how the officials call this game because I don't think there are many college officials out there who have officiated in a college game where there have been two guys like Oden and Hibbert.

On a sidenote,
I think UNC lost the game yesterday because they felt the pressure of being UNC in the final minutes.JMO

 

[Dryden]

In addition, the Hoyas offense should not really bother us that much because we have gone up against similar offenses during the season in Northwestern and PSU.

You have to be kidding?! *beep beep* ... back up the truck! Did you just compare the two worst teams in the Big Ten to a Final Four squad out of the Big East?

News flash: It ain't the offense -- it's the personnel.

North Carolina has (or had, prior to about 7:00 PM EDT, yesterday) one of the better defenses in the nation and had previously been brilliant at filling lanes and preventing the backdoor cuts for dunks and layups. After watching G-Town hang nearly a hundred on them, you'd think UNC had never seen that before in their lives.

 

[LitlBuck]

You have to be kidding?! *beep beep* ... back up the truck! Did you just compare the two worst teams in the Big Ten to a Final Four squad out of the Big East?

News flash: It ain't the offense -- it's the personnel.

North Carolina has (or had, prior to about 7:00 PM EDT, yesterday) one of the better defenses in the nation and had previously been brilliant at filling lanes and preventing the backdoor cuts for dunks and layups. After watching G-Town hang nearly a hundred on them, you'd think UNC had never seen that before in their lives.

All I was trying to say was that we have played against the "Princeton" offense this season. I know that the personnel is totally different but that offense can confuse you if you have not played against it previously.

 

[Dryden]

All I was trying to say was that we have played against the "Princeton" offense this season. I know that the personnel is totally different but that offense can confuse you if you have not played against it previously.

Still disagree. Offensive philosophies in basketball are highly overrated. IMHO, the Princeton offense holds all the mystique of the Triangle offense, which is to say, prepare all you want, you can't defend Jordan or Kobe.

 

[zincfinger]

I really hope Oden can get it through his head this week about staying out of foul trouble. I want to see him playing 30+ minutes (of regulation), and to not have to be shuffling back and forth because of fouls.

Him against Hibbert should be pretty cool though. I think Oden is the better player, but Hibbert has more experiance. It is going to matter how each of them go into it, because anything can happen.

If it's true that huge centers tend to get the short-end of the officiating stick as sort of an offset to their physical advantage, then you'd expect that Oden should get his fairest officiating of the season when actually giving up a couple of inches for the first time.

I don't completely buy the argument that Hibbert is more experienced than Oden. It's true that he has one more year of college basketball experience than Oden has, but Hibbert had basically no meaningful basketball experience when he entered Georgetown, and you could see early last year that he was almost completely lost out there. He's progressed a lot, and it's true that HS and AAU experience isn't the same as college experience, but I'd still regard Hibbert as being at least as raw as Oden. If it was just those two matching up down low, I'd be pretty confident in OSU's side of it, but Oden's probably going to have to worry about Green more than Hibbert will have to worry about Harris, Hunter, or Terwilliger.

 

[buckeyeinfla]

bucks needs to start in the zone,,,gtown is not a great 3 point shooting team...they need to contain green...paging david lighty

 

[crazybuckfan40]

I wouldnt be suprised to see quite a bit of Hunter in this game and quite a bit of zone from us...

GTown will run out two guys that are 6'8' and then Hibbert...

The key could be us containing Summers and Green. Neither is really going to beat us from 3 point range and if we pack it in a little and not allow the cuts for the layups and play disciplined defense, we should be in good shape.

I havent watched GTown enough to know if they play man or zone as their main D, but if they play zone we are going to need to be able to hit from the outside, b/c they have the big bodies on the backside to defend Oden and Lewis and Conley might have trouble getting all the way to the hoop and the midrange game is going to need to be there for us as well...

Harris could be key as well, b/c if he is able to defend either Green or Summers or rebound in the zone, he could stretch the D pulling those big guys away from the basket...

GTown will bring some guys off the bench, but they only played 8 guys against UNC and they only gave them 7 total points...

Oden should be able to hold Hibbert below his average and alter some shot of Green and Summers in the paint...

A combo of Conley/Butler should be able to hold down Wallace and Sapp and not let them score a whole lot.

It is really going to come down to how well we are able to keep GTown off the offensive glass and second chance points and defending Summers and Greeen and we need to hit midrange to outside jumpers...

 

[wadc45]

I havent watched GTown enough to know if they play man or zone as their main D, but if they play zone we are going to need to be able to hit from the outside, b/c they have the big bodies on the backside to defend Oden and Lewis and Conley might have trouble getting all the way to the hoop and the midrange game is going to need to be there for us as well...

I expect a lot of zone from the Hoyas...they will try to make our guys shoot over their long/athletic wings.

I don't see them stopping our dribble penetration at all...that is an area they struggled with against Oregon, Villanova and Pitt. Conley, Butler and Lewis should be huge for us in this game.

 

[craigblitz]

I am excited about this match-up. G'Town is playing some terrific basketball. They are a GREAT team. If and it is a HUGE if, Connley can continue getting into the lane and drawing fouls and layups we should be able to win this game. But the G'town will be the land of giants in there so we will see. Of course if Lewis or Butler decide to play lights out then scrap everything I just said :-). Regardlesss, I am looking forward to a great game.

 

[zBuckeye10z]

I don't see Oden winning the battle in this one. Hibbert has the experience doing the little things that draw fouls and keep him from drawing them. We use our quickness to win this one from the perimeter.

I respectfully disagree with you here on this one. I do see Oden winning the big man battle down low this game. Sure Hibbert has 2-3 inches on Oden but don't you tell me that Oden is more athletic. I mean the guy can shoot lights out (from his position) with both hands. He has a shitload of low post moves (with both hands-strong) and Oden just brings that special awareness out on the floor when the Bucks are playing anybody. I just see Oden pushing Hibbert around, stat wise.