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2012 Final Four: tOSU -0.5 vs Kansas (ov/un 136.5) Sat 9:05 ET, CBS

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DZ83CK;2132825; said:
The NCAA has released the names of the officials who will be officiating at some point in the Final Four. Valentine, Hightower and Kitts are nowhere to be found!

From Jeff Goodman twitter:
Final Four officials: Adams, Ayers, DeRosa, Eades, Harris, Jones, Luckie, Shows, Stuart, Whitehead
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Posted this in another thread but it is interesting to note that none of the three guys you mentioned officiated any of the regional finals. Someone must be finally catching on. You also forgot Jim Burr:!
 
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Geography has a lot to do with where basketball officials get sent. (Pet peeve time: it drives me nuts when people use the 'Big Ten officials' line in connection with mens basketball since the Big Ten shares a lot of the same refs with the Big East and Big XII). I wonder if the high number of Big East vs Big Ten matchups this year was partly responsible for their absence?

Anyhow I expect Hightower and Valentine will be on full display in all their glory tonight at MSG for the NIT semis.

And for what it's worth, I'd actually have preferred Hightower or Valentine's histrionics over what I just witnessed in about half of the NCAA tourny games.
 
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Scouting Kansas: Style of play

"They are excellent in transition. They have two guards who are dynamic in terms of finishing. They run half-court offense and run it fast. The one difference from a year ago is they don't play as much high-low as they used to. They'll ball-screen you and drive you to the middle of the floor. They're a great passing team with a lot of lobs. The big guys really finish at the rim."

"They are great in transition. Tyshawn Taylor flies up the court. In the half court, they have two legit big men and then run high-low motion. They try and pound the ball inside. You have to make a choice whether to guard them one-on-one or double-team them. You can double off someone -- and it used to be Elijah Johnson -- but he's been much better lately so that's tough to do right now."

"They are tough and hard-nosed. They score off their defense better than just about anyone. They are inside-out oriented and are limited with their 3-point shooting. If they make 3's, they are tough to beat. They get more than 50 percent of their scoring from Thomas Robinson and Tyshawn Taylor."
Offensive strength

"They are a great dribble-drive team. They get the ball to the middle of the floor and into the paint. They create easy opportunities for their bigs and mix in enough 3-point shooting that you have to stop them. When Tyshawn is making 3's, it's a major problem."

"They play fast and they're crisp offensively. Robinson and [Jeff] Withey can both score on the block, but what's really tough is trying to deal with Tyshawn off ball-screens. They are great late in the shot clock."

"They play inside-out and can score with Robinson in the post or with Taylor and dribble penetration. He really makes them go and is really the only one -- well, he and Elijah -- that can create anything for themselves or their teammates."

Key player

"It's Taylor. He's the heart and soul of the team. At the end of the game, he's going to be the one who takes the shot. Look at the Missouri game where they were down, look at the Kansas State game when they were down. He drives the train and sets everyone else up for everything."

"Elijah Johnson. He's the X-factor. He can go 1 for 8 from 5 for 8. You know what you're getting from Robinson, Taylor and Withey, but you have no idea with Johnson."

"Withey. Defensively, that allows them to gamble and take chances. He protects the rim and changes the game defensively. He can dominate a game without scoring a point. He ignites the fast break by blocking shots, which leads to easy buckets."

Primary weakness

Cont....
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http://www.cbssports.com/collegebas...hey-robinson-away-from-rim-slow-the-game-down

Scouting Ohio State: Style of play

"They're a half-court execution team on offense. They run a lot of plays, and they don't particularly play real fast. Obviously, [Jared] Sullinger is a big part of what they're doing on offense, getting him the ball. Defensively, they're a solid man-to-man, half-court team. A scouting report-oriented defense."

"They want to play fast. They don't overwhelm you in transition because Sullinger isn't blazing fast. But [William] Buford and [Deshaun] Thomas will shoot fast in transition, and [Aaron] Craft likes to get to the basket in transition. In the half-court, they're very methodical about what they do. They'll set one screen, and if their guys are open, they're going to shoot. They look down low at the end, or it's Craft usually trying to make a play off a ball screen."

"They're a hybrid team. They have a couple of big strong bodies in [Evan] Ravenel and Sullinger, back-to-the-basket guys. Can throw it down to him. It's an old-school, traditional feel. But they can play a little more up-tempo, with Buford and Thomas running the wings. That's one of the reasons it makes them a tough matchup, because they can play slow and up-tempo."
Offensive strength

"Tremendous passing team. Tremendous. And all their players make the right pass and the right play. They take good shots and execute their offense. It's Aaron Craft. He orchestrates the whole show, gets everyone involved."

"Everybody on the court is a weapon. Their best weapon is Sullinger on the block. If you double-team him, someone is capable of making a shot. And if you don't, he'll score. Those guys have gained confidence with the tournament going on. Lenzelle [Smith Jr.] stepped up [vs. Syracuse], and Craft willed them to victory the game before. They're not dead-eye shooters, but if you leave them open, they'll hurt you."

"They can put the ball inside and have a back to the basket player. Sullinger is a legit 6-8, 6-9, but where he runs into problems is when he gets too antsy to score. He starts jumping into guys and look for calls. Their strength is when they go inside-outside: They bring the ball down, run ball-screens, high-low, get a touch for Sullinger, kick out, Thomas and Buford slashing. I doubt they'll be able to get a lot of transition stuff against Kansas. It will have to be their half-court offense, running through Sullinger."
Key player

"Everybody has their different opinion. But if you don't have Sullinger in that lineup, it's a mediocre lineup. He does so much; he's such a load on the block. You have to make the decision to trap him or not, but he's such a good passer out of the trap. Sullinger is the most important key."

"If Buford can play with confidence, they're tough to beat. It's been big for him that other guys have stepped up. Thomas has been their mainstay workhorse, using the right-shoulder floaters with his left hand. Those are tough shots. People have hung around with them because they have stopped Buford. If you can stop one person, it would be Sullinger, but that's not easy to do. To have your best chance to win, it would be Buford."

"I think it's Buford. That was our focus. Craft is consistent; he is what he is. He plays tough defense, might make a shot, makes good passes. Sullinger is pretty consistent with what you're going to get out of him. I really think it's Buford and how he shoots the 3-ball. If he loosens them up, spreads the defense out, it opens driving lanes for Thomas and post touches for Sullinger."

cont..
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http://www.cbssports.com/collegebas...te-to-start-confront-sullinger-confound-craft
 
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bart-scott-can-t-wait-o.gif
 
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Another vid of the send off, primarily taken from a camera inside the motorcoach.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yxhtr0guffI&feature=relmfu"]Bucks are Final Four Bound ... Enjoy the Ride - YouTube[/ame]
 
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Glad ours is the late game. Looking forward to UK-UL first, rooting like hell for the Cardinals (better potential match up IMO), and getting really pumped for the Buckeyes. :groove: :box: :pissed: :drunks:
 
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