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Men's Basketball Buckeye Tidbits 2006-2007 Season

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OSUBasketballJunkie

OSUBasketballJunkie

Never Forget 31-0
CPD

3/26/06

Matta will need patience next season


Sunday, March 26, 2006

Doug Lesmerises
Plain Dealer Reporter

When North Carolina's season ended last week with a second-round NCAA Tournament upset loss to George Mason - a game during which UNC coach Roy Williams picked up a folding chair on the sideline and slammed it to the floor in a rage - you had to wonder . . .

How hard could Ohio State coach Thad Matta slam a chair?

Because when the Buckeyes think about what they might look like next season with four freshmen expected to a play a lot of minutes, the Tar Heels offered the best glimpse at OSU's future. North Carolina played four freshmen in its top seven this season, including center Tyler Hansbrough, named the freshman of the year after averaging 18.9 points and 7.8 rebounds a game.

Coaching freshmen isn't the same job as coaching seniors, as the chair-slamming attests.

"There will probably be more film work involved," Matta said this week. "I think there will probably be more one-on-one time with the guys to get them more acclimated. But as far as exactly what we'll do and how we'll do it, I don't know."

Having gone through it, Williams understood the differences.

"An extremely talented club that is experienced, you push a lot more than they are comfortable with," Williams said. "A young club, you have to be patient, and you have to have some understanding that they have never been there before. We tried to be patient, but I think the team would say I pushed them a great deal too."

The Tar Heels were trying to defend their 2005 national title after losing the top seven players from that team. The Buckeyes will be trying to defend their 2006 Big Ten title after losing four senior starters. Unranked to start this season, the Tar Heels won 10 of their last 11 to end the regular season, then earned a No. 3 seed for the tournament and finished at 23-8.

"This team is not defending anything," Williams said while the Tar Heels were still alive. "The school is, but the school doesn't get to play. They don't let the buildings play."

North Carolina's class was not quite as highly ranked as the incoming OSU group, which is considered one of the top two classes in the country, along with the next Tar Heels' class. But the roles of the players are similar:

Hansbrough, maybe the best big-man recruit in his class, is the equivalent of Buckeye recruit Greg Oden, though Oden is even better.

Carolina started Bobby Frasor at point guard, and incoming Buckeye Mike Conley is a point guard who is candidate to start and share the court with current OSU point guard Jamar Butler.

And UNC wingmen Marcus Ginyard and Danny Green looked a lot like what the Buckeyes could see from Daequan Cook and David Lighty.

Overall, the Tar Heels' top four freshmen combined to average 39 points, 16 rebounds and six assists a game while averaging 23 minutes a game each.

So, what can Buckeyes fans expect next year?

"Coming in with guys who haven't played together, it definitely takes lot of patience," Ginyard said. "It takes you time to grow into your roles."

He thought the Tar Heels came together in the run-up to their first matchup with Duke - an 87-83 loss in early February, 19 games into the season.

"Halfway through the season, we were playing a lot better than we were at the beginning," Carolina's Green said. "But we didn't get to play together a lot. Some teams that played together, their chemistry is a lot stronger."

That's where the Buckeyes differ. Conley and Oden are high school teammates, and Cook plays on the same AAU team. The three of them have an understanding of each other that none of the Carolina players possessed.

"They're three best friends," Matta said. "I think these guys will have a better feel for each. They've played so many games together it's scary."

So, maybe Matta won't be forced into chair-slamming mode. And the season for the Buckeye freshmen might last longer than it did for the Carolina freshmen.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:

[email protected], 216-999-4479.
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TelegraphForum

3/29/06


Recruits will make OSU good, in time


Last weekend's state tournament provided what was at once an exciting glimpse, and the jarring reality, of Ohio State's basketball future.
Dayton Dunbar guard Daequan Cook and Cleveland Villa-Angela St. Joseph guard David Lighty (both in the 6-foot-4 to 6-5 range) enjoyed sterling Final Fours. Cook guided Dunbar to a Division II state title, while Lighty's team was Division III state runner-ups.

For the weekend, Cook averaged 24.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists and hit 20-of-37 shots (1-of-10 from behind the arc). Lighty averaged 26.0 points, 9.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists and hit 17-of-37 shots (5-of-10 from behind the arc). Both youngsters are very athletic, and can score above the rim when the opportunity presents itself. Yet each figures to make his niche on the perimeter. Both are also light and Lighty is extremely thin.

Cook and Lighty figure to find the physical college game challenging as freshmen, especially when meeting bulkier foes in the Big Ten.


Still, in Buckeyes coach Thad Matta's system, one guard spot might be open, depending on the status of holdover Sylvester Mayes.

Cook and Lighty are joining 7-foot center Greg Oden and 6-1 point guard Mike Conley Jr. in a heralded recruiting class. Oden will be a starter the day he steps on campus. Conley might get some minutes backing up Butler, a luxury Matta didn't have this season.

Even if all exceed expectations, it's tough to believe such a young team could exceed the accomplishments of this year's Buckeyes, led by seniors Terence Dials, Je'Kel Foster, J.J. Sullinger, and Matt Sylvester.

What the state tournament revealed is Cook and Lighty are excellent high school players, who could evolve into terrific college athletes down the line.

Neither is going to physically dominate the Big Ten any-time soon. Neither is in the league of a Clark Kellogg, Jimmy Jackson, LeBron James, O.J. Mayo or even Bill Walker.

The reality is neither Cook nor Lighty is better than returnees Jamar Butler or Ron Lewis, a couple of guys who were physically overmatched by Georgetown in the NCAA Tournament. In turn, Georgetown fell to an even bigger Florida team.

If you're looking for someone to take the Big Ten by storm, reports tell us that youngster is from Indiana. Oden, a 7-foot center, just wrapped up his third state championship with his teammate, Conley.

With Butler playing terrific defense on the point, and Oden protecting the rim, it's up to Lewis, Cook, Mayes, Lighty and Conley to fill in the cracks next year. That should be the beginning of an outstanding era in Ohio State basketball.

While Oden is probably a one-and-done player, for Cook and Lighty, the measuring stick extends beyond a year. The expectations should be tempered accordingly.
[email protected] 419-521-7238


Originally published March 29, 2006
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I don't buy the UNC comparisons. This year UNC had zero experience in the backcourt-all they did was play freshmen. OSU will be starting an all Big 10 caliber PG-Butler, and a 5th year senior-Lewis, in addition to the freshmen getting minutes. Secondly, comparing Hansbrough to Oden is ridiculous-even though their stats might be similar. Hansbrough is a very good player who deserves his accolades. Still, he is not the defensive presence that Oden is, and is not drawing comparisons to Bill Russell and Patrick Ewing. Further, OSU will look to Oden as it's #1 inside option, but will not be involving him in the offense to the extent that Hansbrough was for UNC.
 
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http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/si_blogs/ncaa_tourney/2006/

Buckeyes ranked #6 by CNNSI.com in a quick post-tourney blog:

1. Florida
2. North Carolina
3. UCLA
4. Memphis
5. Kansas
6. Ohio State: The Buckeyes' ranking all comes down to how much one believes in The Oden Factor. Will 7-foot freshman center Greg Oden carry the Buckeyes to a title, a la Carmelo Anthony, in what will probably be his only season in Columbus? Thad Matta's defending Big Ten regular-season champs will be rebuilt around the blue-chip recruiting class of Oden, his high-school teammate Mike Conley (a talented point guard), as well as shooting guard Daequan Cook and small forward David Lighty. Incumbent point Jamar Butler -- the most valuable returnee -- will help OSU's new wave handle the adjustment.

7. Georgetown
8. Texas
9. Texas A&M
10. Southern Illinois

ON THE FRINGE: Boston College, Duke, Wisconsin, Wichita State, Pittsburgh, Hofstra, Tennessee, LSU, UConn, Washington, Arizona, Villanova.
 
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Dispatch

4/5/06

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Put Ohio State near the top of 2007 Final Four hopefuls

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

Mark Bradley
ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION


It’s 12 months until the Final Four is played again, and even though early exits to the NBA make projecting a pre-pre-preseason top five problematic, that’s no reason not to try.

1. North Carolina

Assumption: That Tyler Hansbrough will stay in school, as he has said he will. Should that happen, this season’s passel of gifted Tar Heels freshmen, the whirlwind Hansbrough chief among them, will be augmented by a backcourt of point guard Tywon Lawson and shooting guard Wayne Ellington.

2. Ohio State

Greg Oden is the most heralded big man to enter college basketball since Patrick Ewing. And Ohio State’s recruiting class — the Thad Five, as it’s known — has been likened favorably to Michigan’s fabled Fab Five. And coach Thad Matta just proved he could win the Big Ten even without these prized recruits.

3. Florida

Assumption: That either Joakim Noah or Al Horford will turn pro but not both. With one of the talented big men still on campus, the Gators will be the choice to dominate the Southeastern Conference and make another deep run in the NCAA Tournament.

4. UCLA

Assumption: That guards Jordan Farmar and Arron Afflalo will stay in school. That would make next season’s Bruins simply a more seasoned version of this year’s resurgent team. And once a program as proud as UCLA gets it rolling, the rest of the Pac-10 — indeed, the rest of the nation — had better watch out.

5. Kansas
The Jayhawks closed fast behind a slew of good young players, most notably guards Mario Chalmers and Russell Robinson and forward Brandon Rush. But Kansas has developed the unenviable knack of losing to lesser lights in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. That has to cease.
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NOTREDAMECHIEF said:
Did Sylvester Mayes do well this year?
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He started off playing fairly well in the non-conference, but then he found himself in the doghouse midway thorugh the big ten and only played in one game the rest of the year and that was mop up time against Purdue when we were way up.

There has been talk of him transferring somwhere.

I find it funny how when they are talking about next years team they always forget to mention Ron Lewis and sometimes Butler and they never mention Harris or Twig who are going to give us some nice pop off the bench.

Lewis could easily put up 20 in any game if he is getting the minutes, and he was clearly the best 6th man this year but he had to start a couple games.
 
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Andy Katz at ESPN has us #6 for next year:

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=2397667&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab2pos1


Hmm, wonder who the Buckeyes are adding next season? Some guy named Greg Oden and a few of his friends who could form one of the best freshman classes in recent memory. Still, they're not coming to a program in need of an overhaul. The Buckeyes won the Big Ten regular-season title and were a No. 2 seed. The Buckeyes lose seniors Terence Dials and Je'Kel Foster, but scorers Nos. 3 and 4 -- Ron Lewis and Jamar Butler -- return. We're asking a lot of the freshman class to put the Buckeyes this high, but why not?
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