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2017-2018 Ohio State Men's Basketball (24-7, 15-3, #2 Seed in B1G Tourney)

That kid looks pretty darn good for a walk-on. OSU has had scholarship guards that couldn't dribble like that. Best walk-on for OSU hoops since Funderburke, I'm calling it now.

Chris did have a pretty good walk-on turned scholarship starter play for him at Butler in Alex Barlow. It is a nice change for a walk-on at OSU to be a true possibility for a future scholarship player (based on merit) instead of walk-ons always being pigeon-holed as a glorified victory cigar. Looks like Chris is doing a good job of exploring all of the available options to build the team as well as possible, and I like it.
So the sky isn't falling? 8D
 
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http://scores.espn.com/mens-college...-wichita-state-shockers-top-summer-bpi-update

ESPN summer edition of the BPI has OSU rated as the 6th best team in the B1G - an optimistic projection - and #29 (!) in the country this season. Maybe with Ayala that would be possible, but this projection is without him. Excluding Ayala, that seems overly optimistic, especially for where they rate in the NCAA. They were 70th in Kenpom last year and lost their best big by far, I would say around 50 is a more likely but still somewhat optimistic projection.
 
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http://scores.espn.com/mens-college...-wichita-state-shockers-top-summer-bpi-update

ESPN summer edition of the BPI has OSU rated as the 6th best team in the B1G - an optimistic projection - and #29 (!) in the country this season. Maybe with Ayala that would be possible, but this projection is without him. Excluding Ayala, that seems overly optimistic, especially for where they rate in the NCAA. They were 70th in Kenpom last year and lost their best big by far, I would say around 50 is a more likely but still somewhat optimistic projection.

Bates Diop, Wesson, Jallow and Wright >>> Thompson, Loving, Lyle and Bell???
 
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Bates Diop, Wesson, Jallow and Wright >>> Thompson, Loving, Lyle and Bell???
KBD being back is big. The 3 freshmen, it's hard to know what they will bring exactly for this year - they bring some skill & quality depth at least. They will be somewhat worse at C. You have to say they are worse at PG, at least for now. Overall, I am surprised they rate OSU ~30 when ~70 seemed like a more realistic ranking.

Lyle and Loving to me weren't really difference-makers, at least most of the time. They were productive statistically, but I am thinking lesser scorers could be as effective or more effective in terms of their overall game.
 
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our ranking in and of itself renders the bpi a farce. sure, losing lyle and loving should yield some positives. however, losing 3 of the top 4 scorers from a near-.500 team rarely yields a top 30 team. young, jallow, and wesson are fine additions. kbd is a solid returner. nonetheless, i will be shocked if we become, in effect, an 8-seed after not even making the nit. if nothing else, sniffing the tournament means that kaleb will give us a nick ward-like presence.

i hope to eat my words. whatever optimism i have primarily rests in holtmann's reputation for developing a progressing and fundamentally sound team.
 
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The 2017-18 Big Ten schedule is somewhat promising and that we do not have to play a few of the big boys twice :biggrin:
Here's who Ohio State will play in the conference schedule:

* Home: Illinois, Maryland, Michigan State, Nebraska.

* Away: Minnesota, Northwestern, Purdue, Wisconsin.

* Home & Away: Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Penn State, Rutgers.

Two of those games will be played in December (one home, one away)
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Michigan State(at Ohio State), Minnesota, Maryland, Purdue and Northwestern are probably the best five teams in the league, and Ohio State only has to play each once. That said, the road-only draw was tough for the Buckeyes. Northwestern is having its home arena renovated this year, so that game will be played off-campus.

Getting two games each against Penn State, Rutgers, Iowa and Indiana is about as good as it can get for the Buckeyes as they look to stack up some conference wins.

It could have been a lot worse!
 
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