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C Byron 'B.J.' Mullens (Levanga Hokkaido Sapporo - Japan)

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Thad Matta sat in the booth with Tom Hamilton for an inning or two during the Indians game today. He mentioned a picture being taken of Oden, Koufos, and Mullens, with Oden being the smallest one in the picture.
 
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Dispatch

OSU men's basketball: Mullens gets early start on college life

Monday, June 16, 2008 3:14 AM
By Bob Baptist


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
mullens200.jpg
James D. DeCAMP | DISPATCH
B.J. Mullens, a former standout at Canal Winchester, is living with three freshman teammates at Ohio State.





B.J. Mullens traveled to Italy two months ago to play basketball. He was invited to visit Paris with another all-star team next week. Instead, the closest the 7-foot-1 Ohio State freshman will get to an Eiffel Tower is standing next to Greg Oden.
"I talked with coach (Thad) Matta and he said he didn't want me to leave," Mullens said. "He wants team chemistry, wants us to have a bond and wants us to get comfortable with each other."
Chemistry was a subject the OSU men's basketball team took too long to master last season. By the time it did, its NCAA Tournament hopes had gone up in smoke. The players salved their wounded pride by winning the National Invitation Tournament.
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From the above article, it is nice to see that all 4 freshmen will be enrolling early and sharing a dorm room together. The two junior college players will also be enrolling early. I guess Matta did not want Kosta to play for the Greek under 19 national team last summer but there was nothing he could do about it. He also wished that Lighty had stayed around all summer because both of those guys missed some classes and were not involved with the other guys in the strength and conditioning program. It will be good that all 6 of the new guys will be here together:osu: so that they can really get to know one another which will help team chemistry next year. It is very nice to see BJ make a sacrifice for the benefit of his teammates. Props to him.:)
 
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I backed Butler last summer because he had some shit going on, but I truly believe that he, Lighty, and KK not being there last summer hurt the team and the chemistry...

This year will hopefully be different..They will have about 5-6 months of playing together under their belt...
 
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I had thought that those guys going on these international tournaments was a good thing because they were getting valuable experience against great competition. You could see how well those guys were working at the end of the season. It's gonna be one of those unanswerable questions: how good could this team have been have we had all the guys together during the "off-season"? You would think, at the least, we would have made the Big Dance.

I did, however, like that Matta discouranged playing in the Worthington Summer League the last couple of years. Not worth the possible injury to ANY of those guys, especially when you don't have enough scholarship players to fill the full 13-man roster.
 
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Good for Matta for pulling him back from going to Paris. Not only does it save him from injuries and being away from the team, it helps in other ways (as already noted). Him being over there is chance enough for some scouts to offer money for him to stay, play in Europe and then head to the NBA.

With the recent tranfers and departs for the NBA, I would really like to see a team that sticks around for more than a year. In Mattas early years we didnt win National Titles, but we did have great chemistry and the boys were like a family because they stuck around.
 
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BuckTwenty;1186380; said:
I had thought that those guys going on these international tournaments was a good thing because they were getting valuable experience against great competition. You could see how well those guys were working at the end of the season. It's gonna be one of those unanswerable questions: how good could this team have been have we had all the guys together during the "off-season"? You would think, at the least, we would have made the Big Dance.

I did, however, like that Matta discouranged playing in the Worthington Summer League the last couple of years. Not worth the possible injury to ANY of those guys, especially when you don't have enough scholarship players to fill the full 13-man roster.
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The WSL never really did anything to help develop players. And all the years that I used to watch it, they played no defense that was just a run and gun type of game. I can remember all the good things that we were hearing when Jimmy Ratliff was still here and playing in the WSL and people said that he was becoming a real good player. That league is now worth the injury that one of the players might incur because of a stupid Showboat move.
 
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Mullens, Griffin top 2009 mock draft


by Jeff Goodman



Now that the 2008 NBA draft is in the books, this will be the most accurate mock draft for next year that you'll find anywhere.
Then again, there's really no such thing as an accurate mock draft, is there?1. B.J. Mullens, 7-1, 260, C, Fr., Ohio State ? His numbers won't be eye-popping, but you just aren't going to find many 7-footers with this kind of skill and athleticism.

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B.J. Mullens - 7'0 Center (Ohio State)
The top center prospect in the draft is once again a Buckeye. It won't take very long for B.J. Mullens to draw people's attention at Ohio State. He's a legit 7' footer that will amaze you with his leaping ability, soft hands, and how well he runs the floor. All that is keeping Mullens from being a lock as the number one pick is the effort he plays with. If Thad Matta can light a fire under him though, sky is the limit for how good he can be. There will be stretches where Mullens will flat out dominate, although there's no reason why he should do so every single night.
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