Men's Basketball Tidbits 2008-'09 Season

[LitlBuck]

Good to read that they are practicing man-to-man defense but it doesn't look like it is going to be our primary defense for a while. Against the lesser opponents we will be fine playing a zone but I don't like the zone against teams with good three-point shooters posted also really hurts our rebounding.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

CPD

Shooting threes: Ohio State basketball


Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Three reasons Ohio State will win the Big Ten

1. B.J. Mullens: The freshman center is a more aggressive and accomplished inside offensive player right now than Greg Oden or Kosta Koufos was at this stage. He's not a defensive presence like Oden, but if he learns the college game quickly, he could be a load to stop in the second half of the season.
2. Defensive wings: David Lighty, Evan Turner, Jon Diebler, William Buford, and Walter Offutt give Thad Matta an array of long swingmen to sic on teams in his zone.

Continued.............

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

Men's basketball: OSU Insider

Wednesday, November 26, 2008 2:59 AM

Jon Diebler

Thad Matta

B.J. Mullens


Coming up: Samford
Where: Value City Arena
When: Noon Saturday
TV: Big Ten Network
Radio: WBNS-AM (1460)
The week that was

Well, by now even those with scarlet-tinted glasses who cried foul when the Buckeyes weren't voted into any preseason top 25s might admit this team is not worthy. As coach Thad Matta so perfectly put it after the opening win over Delaware State on Thursday, "We've got a long way to go." If that seemed like typical coach-speak after a 28-point victory, it was prophetic after the Buckeyes came close Monday night to losing at home to a mid-major for the first time in 14 years -- and the same mid-major, Bowling Green, that beat them in St. John Arena in 1994.
The week ahead

Matta said after the opener he doesn't want his young players to be tentative. He wants them to "jump in ... and away we go." The Buckeyes have one more game in the kiddie pool, against Samford on Saturday, before, ready or not, there they go next week, to Miami to play the No. 22 Hurricanes and to Indianapolis to play No. 8 Notre Dame. Some things had better start coming together, and quickly.

Continued........

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

Happy Thanksgiving!

After a day off yesterday, the Buckeyes got back to work today in preparation for their game against Samford on Saturday.
Coach Thad Matta isn?t giving them Thanksgiving off. He will, however, treat them to turkey at his home.
?Then I?m going to sleep,? center Dallas Lauderdale said.
Lauderdale is from Solon and could have gotten home for the day if the players had been off. But he said he isn?t inconvenienced.
?My parents expected me not to be home for Thanksgiving,? he said. ?I told them I wasn?t home last year for Thanksgiving; we spent it in New York playing Syracuse and Texas A&M.
?It?s part of college basketball. You go with the flow.?
How many turkeys does it take to feed the team?
?I don?t know,? Lauderdale said. ?Last year we had it at the hotel and they had turkeys coming and coming.?



Posted by Bob Baptist on November 26, 2008 7:00 PM | Permalink

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Bucknuts.com (Free)

Scrooge Matta Brings 'Em In On Turkey Day.................By Jeff Rapp.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

OSU men's basketball: Matta's class in session
Young Buckeyes have much to learn
Saturday, November 29, 2008 3:04 AM
By Bob Baptist



THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

• "It's now just getting that consistency, every play, every possession, every game." -- Ohio State men's basketball coach Thad Matta, on Dec. 1, 2006
• "The biggest thing we need is consistency on both ends of the floor." -- Matta, on Nov. 30, 2007
• "What we've got to strive for is consistency." -- Matta, on Nov. 24, 2008

The ball went out of bounds during an Ohio State men's basketball practice this week and an argument ensued as to which side had possession. A freshman whom coach Thad Matta declined to identify protested the call to such an extent that Matta called him aside for a moment.
"Do you really think I care whose ball it is?" Matta asked him. "We're trying to run certain things here. That's all I care about.
"And he kind of looked at me like, 'Ah, I never thought about that,' " Matta said. "But that's part of learning what practice is all about."

Continued..............

 

[MaxBuck]

Given how effectively the Buckeyes have played zone D the past two seasons, I'm not sure whether I care to see them play man again. Matta is a wizard of a defensive coach.

 

[LitlBuck]

Given how effectively the Buckeyes have played zone D the past two seasons, I'm not sure whether I care to see them play man again. Matta is a wizard of a defensive coach.

The zone defense over the best two seasons has killed us defensively on the boards. It would be interesting to see how many offensive rebounds other teams have had during that time frame. The sooner we can get away from it the faster we will be a better rebounding team.

 

[osugrad21]

Dispatch

Men's basketball: OSU Insider

Monday, December 1, 2008 3:04 AM




Hoops & Scoops

• Coming up: University of Miami and Notre Dame
• Where: Miami and Indianapolis
• When: 7 p.m. Tuesday and 4 p.m. Saturday
• TV: ESPN and ESPNU
• Radio: WBNS-AM (1460), WBNS-FM (97.1)

The week that was

Turkey for the team at coach Thad Matta's home on Thanksgiving was followed by a turkey of a team in Value City Arena on Saturday. Samford was brought in to give the Buckeyes a look at the Princeton offense Northwestern runs. Not even Northwestern struggles to score this badly. Samford had six points at halftime and 22 at the end. Bulldogs coach Jimmy Tillette called his offense a "weapon of mass destruction."

The week ahead


Cont...

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Link

Men's Basketball

Buckeyes Hope to Measure Up Against Stepped-Up Competition
By John Porentas

Delaware State, Bowling Green and Samford are going to seem like an eternity ago for the Buckeyes, because this week they exit cupcake city and see some real Division I basketball competition.
The Buckeyes venture to Miami, Florida on Tuesday to take on the No. 21/22 Miami Hurricanes in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, then take the short drive over to Indianapolis this weekend where they will face No. 7 Notre Dame this Saturday.
There is a similarity between this year's schedule and last year's. Last season OSU opened with two exhibition games (one a loss to Findlay) and tune ups against Wisconsin-Green Bay and Columbia before taking on No. 21 Syracuse and Texas A. & M. Last year's young team got past the Orange before taking a real thumping at the hands of A. & M.

Continued...........​

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Link

Men's Basketball
Fun Returns to OSU Basketball
By Tony Gerdeman

Basketball is fun again.​

Not that it wasn?t fun at times in the past, but this season it?s just a little different.
The 2006 season had its moments. The Buckeyes did, after all, make it to the championship game. But it started slow without Greg Oden and didn?t really pick up like it could have while he was working his way back into shape.
The Tournament run was unbelievable, as was the season, but in the back of everybody?s minds was the fact that this was likely going to be Oden?s only season in Columbus. Because of that, some fans couldn?t invest themselves as heavily as maybe they would have in the past. It?s hard to dive in head first when you don?t know how deep the pool is.
Last season was okay as well, as it finished with an NIT championship. But for most of the season, the phrase most commonly associated with the team was ?what if?. What if Greg Oden was still there? What if Mike Conley was still there? What if Ohio State could actually get some of their McDonald?s All Americans to stick around for awhile? It?s hard to attach yourself to a team when you?re still clinging to those who are gone.

Continued.............

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

OSU men's basketball: A bolt from the bench
Gutsy play of freshmen Mullens, Crater has helped stoke teammates' fire
Saturday, December 6, 2008 3:05 AM
By Bob Baptist


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH


When B.J. Mullens tipped in a rebound four nights ago to reduce to one point what had been a deficit of 14 against the University of Miami, he started yelling.
So did Jon Diebler.
"That got me pumped up just to see B.J. do that," Diebler said. "We feed off each other."
The 7-foot Mullens and 6-1 point guard Anthony Crater are the Mutt and Jeff of Ohio State's freshman basketball class. They play their fifth college games today when the Buckeyes face No. 7 Notre Dame in the Hall of Fame Showcase doubleheader in Indianapolis. Indiana and No. 5 Gonzaga meet in the other game.
Mullens and Crater come off the bench. But neither takes a back seat when it comes to the moxie that was demanded Tuesday night for a young band of Buckeyes to rally past a ranked and more-seasoned Miami team on the road.

Continued.............

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

CPD

OSU MEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
An unusual experience: Maturing OSU players


Saturday, December 06, 2008 Doug Lesmerises
Plain Dealer Reporter


Columbus -- You know that thing that players gain by playing and learning? Experience? And that thing players do as they gain it and get older? Improve?
Sort of foreign concepts around the Ohio State men's basketball program, which is why Buckeyes coach Thad Matta had to explain Friday what's happening to OSU sophomores like guard Jon Diebler.
"The problem is you've forgotten, because most of our freshmen never returned as sophomores," Matta said, joking about losing four freshmen to the NBA the previous two years, "so you don't see the progress that they normally make. You could have been saying the same thing about a lot of guys."

Continued............

 

[mross34]

I know it's early but tOSU is currently ranked #6 in the Sagarin ranking and #4 in the Pomeroy Ratings.

 

[jimotis4heisman]

ive been out of town for a week. fill me in.