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Men's Basketball Tidbits 2008-'09 Season

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Matta wouldn't confirm a reported series with Memphis, but said he knows the Buckeyes will host Butler, Jacksonville and Samford at home. A visit to Miami in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge was already announced. And the Buckeyes are planning to host a four-team, round-robin event to start the season, somewhat like the BCA Classic they hosted two years ago.
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Starting to confirm some opponents for next year...So far I like what I see...

At Memphis and Miami are going to be good test for this team...Hopefully we get another big name or two at home to go along with Butler and the 4 team tourney(hopefully there will be a decent team in there or two)...
 
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crazybuckfan40;1158962; said:
Starting to confirm some opponents for next year...So far I like what I see...

At Memphis and Miami are going to be good test for this team...Hopefully we get another big name or two at home to go along with Butler and the 4 team tourney(hopefully there will be a decent team in there or two)...
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No Memphis--Dispatch

Seems I jumped the gun by assuming as fact what The (Memphis) Commercial Appeal reported last weekend, that Ohio State and Memphis would begin a home-and-home series next season in Memphis. The two-game set has been in the rumor mill since last summer.


Since then, two persons close to OSU coaches have told me the teams aren?t playing next season. Whether that changes when CBS gets involved in negotiating made-for-TV games, we can only wait to hear.


So, for the time being, the Buckeyes have Butler (home) and Miami (road, in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge) definitely on the schedule for next season, as well as two more games reported in The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer this morning: homers against Jacksonville and Samford, to which Ohio State will pay guarantees for one-and-done appearances in Value City Arena.
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Add Notre Dame to Miami and West Virginia

Regardless of the losses it had on its schedule, the strength of it helped Ohio State get as much consideration as it did from the NCAA Tournament selection committee last season. The Buckeyes? non-conference schedule ranked 13th-toughest in the Rating Percentage Index at the end of the regular season.

So with another young team in hand, coach Thad Matta will throw it to the wolves again. Along with playing Miami of the Atlantic Coast Conference and West Virginia of the Big East, Matta said today on WBNS-AM radio that the Buckeyes will play a second Big East team, Notre Dame, on Dec.6 in the first college basketball double-header in Lucas Oil Stadium, the new, retractable-roofed home of the NFL?s Indianapolis Colts.

Indiana and Gonzaga are expected to meet in the other game.

The OSU-Notre Dame matchup was rumored a couple of months ago, but The South Bend (Ind.) Tribune reported then that it had ?fizzled? because organizers were unable to find a suitable opponent for Indiana. Considering what has happened to the Hoosiers? roster since, any team in America would be suitable competition.
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Here is what?s known (or rumored) to date about Ohio State?s 2008-09 non-conference schedule:

- A four-team, three-day, round-robin tournament in Value City Arena to open the season;

- At Miami in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge, probably Dec. 2 or 3;

- Notre Dame in Indianapolis on Dec.6, the teams? first meeting since the visiting Irish stunned the No.4 Buckeyes in the 1999 season opener;

- At home against West Virginia on Dec.27, Mountaineers coach Bob Huggins? first crack at the Buckeyes after futilely trying to schedule them when he was the ?man in black? at Cincinnati;

- The third in a four-game series against Matta?s alma mater, Butler. The series concludes next season back at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

- Home games against Jacksonville (Fla.) and Samford (Ala.).

- Nothing doing with a previously rumored home-and-home against Memphis the next two seasons. Matta and Memphis coach John Calipari have talked, but that?s it. Matta said Butler, Miami, West Virginia and Notre Dame are the extent of the ?marquee? names among the ?08-09 non-conference opponents.
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Add Notre Dame to Miami and West Virginia (Hoops & Scoops: an OSU basketball blog)
 
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Raising the bar
Buckeyes' rigorous summer conditioning program focuses on competitive goals
Tuesday, July 1, 2008 By Bob Baptist
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

MBKSUMMERCONDITIONING_CRR1.jpg_07-01-08_C1_URAKI5I.jpg

CHRIS RUSSELL | Dispatch
Evan Turner goes through his weightlifting reps during an early-morning summer conditioning program in the Schottenstein Center.

Every day, if they care to look, the writing is on the wall for Ohio State men's basketball players.

A few feet from the barbells they hoist and the machines they sweat on in the bowels of the Schottenstein Center hangs a board listing five drills that measure a basketball player's skill: vertical jump, multi-step jump, lane agility time, three-quarter-court sprint time, 185-pound bench repetitions.

Next to each are the best performances by an OSU player at three positions -- point guard, wing and post -- as well as the overall bests by prospects at the NBA's annual pre-draft camp.

"They want to know who was the best," said Dave Richardson, the team's strength and conditioning coach. "They watch these guys on TV."

"You say, 'I can do that, too,' " junior David Lighty said, "and then they get drafted and that just gives you a lot more motivation to keep working hard so, hopefully, that will be you in that position one day."
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The Columbus Dispatch : Raising the bar
 
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That is a great article...Love to hear that Lighty is stepping up...

Turner is getting bigger...

We are going to see some big things out of the team this year...We might be young, and lack overall experience, but we will have a more competitive edge and we will be bigger/stronger/faster as a team all around at about every position...
 
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Butler will meet Northwestern, Ohio State
By David Woods
Posted: July 25, 2008

Butler will have a chance to extend its four-game winning streak against Big Ten basketball opponents.

The university has announced that the Bulldogs will meet Northwestern on Nov. 26, the day before Thanksgiving, at Hinkle Fieldhouse. In four meetings against Big Ten teams over the past two seasons, Butler defeated Indiana, Purdue, Michigan and Ohio State.

Butler will play at Ohio State on Dec. 13. The Bulldogs went 10-2 over the past two seasons against opponents from the six biggest conferences.
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Butler will meet Northwestern, Ohio State | IndyStar.com | The Indianapolis Star
 
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I'm really excited for the coming season the depth we're building with guys like Turner, Lauderdale, Diebler, Lighty. A team needs some vets to mix in with the one and done crowd and like this core. JD I think is a guy that can become deadly with some experience and confidence.
 
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I think we'll be improved. Even possibly MUCH IMPROVED. We will miss Butler at PG and KK inside tho. Hopefully our depth and overall talent is much improved. I'm not sure I'd say every position is improved tho. Like I said PG and PF will be question marks. Lighty will probably have to play 4 so that is a big dropoff in size ( but uptick in speed and I think he will offset his size deficit with D and tenacity ). C and the wing will be much better overall tho as BJM and Buford will add a LOT ( plus Dallas and the returning wings will improve greatly IMO ).

:osu:

crazybuckfan40;1196680; said:
That is a great article...Love to hear that Lighty is stepping up...

Turner is getting bigger...

We are going to see some big things out of the team this year...We might be young, and lack overall experience, but we will have a more competitive edge and we will be bigger/stronger/faster as a team all around at about every position...
Click to expand...
 
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Dispatch

Schedule update

I just saw that Jacksonville announced its schedule and will play at Ohio State on Dec.17. So here?s the rundown as we know it so far:
Date ........... Opponent
Nov. 24 ........ Bowling Green
Dec. 2 ......... at Miami, Fla. 7 p.m., ESPN
Dec. 6 ......... vs. Notre Dame in Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis
Dec. 13 ........ Butler
Dec. 17 ....... Jacksonville
Dec. 22 ....... North Carolina Asheville
Dec. 27 ....... West Virginia
TBA ............ Samford
TBA ............ Season-opening, multi-team tournament in Value City Arena
The complete schedule, including an 18-game Big Ten slate, is expected to be released before the end of August, whenever CBS, ESPN and the Big Ten Network finish dividing the games.
 
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They have scheduled a home game with Iona for December 20.

Dispatch

Complete updated schedule
Date ........... Opponent
TBA ............ Season-opening, multi-team tournament in Value City Arena
Nov. 24 ........ Bowling Green
Nov. 29 ........ Samford
Dec. 2 ......... at Miami, Fla. 7 p.m., ESPN
Dec. 6 ......... vs. Notre Dame in Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis
Dec. 13 ........ Butler
Dec. 17 ....... Jacksonville
Dec.20 ........ Iona
Dec. 22 ....... North Carolina Asheville
Dec. 27 ....... West Virginia
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