Legit shot at final 4?

[JCOSU86]

I hope I'm wrong, but I don't have much confidence in a team that relies on one guy so much.

 

[Class'13]

If I fill out one bracket, am I putting tOSU in the Final 4? No.

Would I be surprised to see tOSU in the National Championship game? No.

Anything can happen with Evan Turner on your team.

 

[starBUCKS]

They can run it with any athletic team. Teams with outside shooting and/or size is where they could struggle. Evan Turner doesn't get injured, and they're in the top 5 right now. So, I don't think it's too far fetched to expect a solid post season run. Diebler is the key player IMO for a run, if he gets hot, this team can go far.

 

[PlanetFrnd]

This team reminds me of the Scoonie/Redd team. ET is a bit of a blend of both, but the outside game + Ken Johnson got that team to the final four. I like this team's guards/wings better, and ET is every bit the player Redd was. I understand that this team doesnt have a Scoonie, but that team didn't have a Buford. Singleton/Lighty are about the same, and then there's Diebs. We get the right teams, the boys can get there. We face a team with a bunch of rangy athletic big men (Cuse, for example), its going to be problems... but tourney success often relies on good D and good guard play. We got that.

 

[LitlBuck]

Where is everybody bad send me did not have any bench or a low post scoring threat after what we showed the Hoosiers last night

 

[JCOSU86]

Where is everybody bad send me did not have any bench or a low post scoring threat after what we showed the Hoosiers last night

Not sure what you mean.

The fact that Matta has only played 6 guys for the last few games, even in routs, doesn't bode well either. I could see Turner putting this team on his back and taking it far, but I'm not getting my hopes up.

 

[LitlBuck]

Not sure what you mean.

The fact that Matta has only played 6 guys for the last few games, even in routs, doesn't bode well either. I could see Turner putting this team on his back and taking it far, but I'm not getting my hopes up.

We played 8 guys, while actually 11, last night and got double-digit scoring from our low post duo of Madsen and Lauderdale

That statement was made in jest. As I posted yesterday, the farthest that I can't see this team going is maybe the Elite Eight and that's only with some good matchup. Now, if Turner was 6'11" and was as good as he is currently I could see the Final Four but there are just too many really quality teams this year for us to go that deep IMO

 

[Steve19]

Where is everybody bad send me did not have any bench or a low post scoring threat after what we showed the Hoosiers last night

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ke5Mr5eCF2U]YouTube - Authentic Frontier Gibberish[/ame]

Rarig!

 

[zincfinger]

I think Ohio State this year resembles the Marquette team that Dwayne Wade took to the final four whenever that was, 2003 or so.

Personally, I think this team resembles the '98-'99 OSU team that made it to the Final 4, in some respects. Some talented perimeter players, and a post player who isn't especially impactful on offense, but is impactful on defense. I don't think Lauderdale is quite the defensive presence that Ken Johnson was, but he's pretty good. On the other hand, I think this year's team's perimeter play is potentially better than the '98 squad's perimeter play, if one or two guys heat up the way Scoonie Penn did. Now I don't know what constitutes a legit shot; obviously it is much more likely this team doesn't make it to the Final 4 than that they do. But that was true in '98 as well, and is generally true of all but the truly exceptional teams. In '98, Redd and Johnson did their thing, Penn got hot, and a couple other solid players played solidly. Something similar is possible this year. You'd be a fool to consider it likely, but I think you're overly pessimistic if you don't find it conceivable.

 

[BuckTwenty]

Legit shot? Sure. Probability of it happening? Not great, but there's a chance. Definetly a contender to be in the final four.

I can definetly see this team riding a hot streak shooting to a historic final four appearance. Potential match-ups obviously factor in, but this team has a lot going for it that make it a match-up nightmare for some really good teams. It's a hard team to trap, you have to double and triple team Evan at your own risk (great shooters in Diebler & Buford, Evan can shake multiple defenders), can switch between man and zone defense easily (and has a really good zone most of the time), can press you on D, loves to run and can use it to pull away/make a big comeback quickly, has experienced players on the bench (Hill, Simmons, Madsen), and can really shoot the ball outside of the paint.

Barring major injuries, foul trouble, or a "bracket of death", this team has the potential to go far into the tourny.

 

[PlanetFrnd]

[quote='BusNative;165846;4]This team reminds me of the Scoonie/Redd team. ET is a bit of a blend of both, but the outside game + Ken Johnson got that team to the final four. I like this team's guards/wings better, and ET is every bit the player Redd was. I understand that this team doesnt have a Scoonie, but that team didn't have a Buford. Singleton/Lighty are about the same, and then there's Diebs. We get the right teams, the boys can get there. We face a team with a bunch of rangy athletic big men (Cuse, for example), its going to be problems... but tourney success often relies on good D and good guard play. We got that.[/quote]

Personally, I think this team resembles the '98-'99 OSU team that made it to the Final 4, in some respects. Some talented perimeter players, and a post player who isn't especially impactful on offense, but is impactful on defense. I don't think Lauderdale is quite the defensive presence that Ken Johnson was, but he's pretty good. On the other hand, I think this year's team's perimeter play is potentially better than the '98 squad's perimeter play, if one or two guys heat up the way Scoonie Penn did. Now I don't know what constitutes a legit shot; obviously it is much more likely this team doesn't make it to the Final 4 than that they do. But that was true in '98 as well, and is generally true of all but the truly exceptional teams. In '98, Redd and Johnson did their thing, Penn got hot, and a couple other solid players played solidly. Something similar is possible this year. You'd be a fool to consider it likely, but I think you're overly pessimistic if you don't find it conceivable.

Check.

The only thing I disagree with is that Dallas is not the defensive presence that KJ was... I mean, both lead the B10 in blocks... I'd argue its a wash. Of course, I might be picking nits right now...

 

[zincfinger]

[quote='BusNative;165863;8]Check.

The only thing I disagree with is that Dallas is not the defensive presence that KJ was... I mean, both lead the B10 in blocks... I'd argue its a wash. Of course, I might be picking nits right now...[/quote]Maybe (and sorry to rip off your point; not sure how I missed that). Sometimes these memories get a little inflated in one's mind, but the way I remember it, Ken Johnson really elevated his game in the latter part of the season, going from a very good defensive player, to a flat out dominator. To the point where opponents simply couldn't get off any decent shots from within 5-10 feet of the basket. A similar effort from Lauderdale could be a big key - and to Lauderdale's advantage, he's probably more adept at banging with physically powerful post men than Johnson was. But Johnson's elevation of his defensive game, and Penn being on a red-hot perimeter shooting streak, are the things I most remember from the '99 run. If Lauderdale and a perimeter player, likely Diebler, could do something similar, I think this year's bunch is at least as dangerous as the '98-'99 squad was in March.

edit: And on the point of Ken Johnson's defensive improvement, he had just a slightly higher blocks per game average over the course of the '98-'99 season than Lauderdale has had this year (2.7 vs. 2.5). But in the '99-'00 season Johnson averaged just under a whopping 5.4 blocked shots per game. And while I don't have the stats in front of me, I think he was playing at close to that level in the '99 tourney.

 

[OHSportsFan]

Maybe (and sorry to rip off your point; not sure how I missed that). Sometimes these memories get a little inflated in one's mind, but the way I remember it, Ken Johnson really elevated his game in the latter part of the season, going from a very good defensive player, to a flat out dominator. To the point where opponents simply couldn't get off any decent shots from within 5-10 feet of the basket. A similar effort from Lauderdale could be a big key - and to Lauderdale's advantage, he's probably more adept at banging with physically powerful post men than Johnson was. But Johnson's elevation of his defensive game, and Penn being on a red-hot perimeter shooting streak, are the things I most remember from the '99 run. If Lauderdale and a perimeter player, likely Diebler, could do something similar, I think this year's bunch is at least as dangerous as the '98-'99 squad was in March.

edit: And on the point of Ken Johnson's defensive improvement, he had just a slightly higher blocks per game average over the course of the '98-'99 season than Lauderdale has had this year (2.7 vs. 2.5). But in the '99-'00 season Johnson averaged just under a whopping 5.4 blocked shots per game. And while I don't have the stats in front of me, I think he was playing at close to that level in the '99 tourney.

Ken Johnson:

'98-'99 36 games played
11-13-1998 to 1-16-1999- 18 games (5 BigTen), 440 minutes (24.4/game), 47 blocks (2.61/game)
1-19-1999 to 3-27-1999- 18 games (13 BigTen), 511 minutes (28.4/game), 53 blocks (2.94/game)

NCAA Tournament- 5 games, 152 minutes (30.4/game), 21 blocks (4.2/game)

 

[zincfinger]

Ken Johnson:

'98-'99 36 games played
11-13-1998 to 1-16-1999- 18 games (5 BigTen), 440 minutes (24.4/game), 47 blocks (2.61/game)
1-19-1999 to 3-27-1999- 18 games (13 BigTen), 511 minutes (28.4/game), 53 blocks (2.94/game)

NCAA Tournament- 5 games, 152 minutes (30.4/game), 21 blocks (4.2/game)

Thanks for providing the substance, OSF. That's one hell of a tourney performance by Ken Johnson. And it was one hell of a '99-'00 season for KJ as well; too bad Scoonie couldn't keep his streak of red-hot perimeter shooting going, or that team could have made another deep run.

 

[Coqui]

Does the Big10 suck that much that everyone is this down on a team that might win the conference? Going with that, we represented very well against the ACC. Does this mean the ACC sucks as well?

I admit I don't follow basketball near as much as I should, but there's a lot of negativity in this thread for what I thought was a much tougher conference this year.