NIT: #1 Ohio State vs. #3 Dayton, Wed. 9 pm at the Schott ( ESPN2)

[Tlangs]

St John probably had something to do with that atmosphere

ding...ding....ding....

we have a winner.

 

[OSUBucks22]

London Warren is the worst offensive guard in the history of organized basketball

What's worse is that BG decided to take Warren over the Brazelton kid that is lighting up the tourney for Western Kentucky... :crazy:

Can't lie... I'm disappointed with the outcome... I wish we would've showed in the second half like we did in the first... Credit the Bucks for making the necessary adjustments at the break... Poor defense by us and hot shooting for you guys in the second half made the difference...

I didn't like anything about the Koufos match-up going in and it proved to be what I thought... Didn't expect him to shoot 90%, but I knew it would be a tough guard for the Flyers...

I do have a question for everyone... Has Butler always extended his off arm on the dribble to create separation? I saw him do it at least 7 times last night and not get called which was frustrating to me... (And yes, I know that Roberts got away with A push-off on Lighty, but the key word is A)...

This was not our "Super Bowl" as some of you have suggested... Were we excited? Of course... Would the victory have meant more to us than it did to you? No doubt... We've been wanting to get you guys on the schedule for years (hang-up has always been that you don't want to play a return game at the Arena)... Many Dayton fans are also tOSU fans, so a lot of us were just excited to see our favorites go head to head for the first time in a long time...

 

[Tlangs]

Just got home from the game and damn that was fun. I'll admit. When the UD fans first made themselves heard it kind of stunned the rest of us. It took until the timeout at 7:42 left in the first half for Ohio State fans to take the arena back. The UD band started to play and our section had had enough. O-H-I-O around the arena drowned out the UD band for what seemed like a 5+ minute TV timeout. The UD fans never were able to get the crowd noise back on their side.

Thanks for making my point for me. The fact that this was a regional game created a lot of excitiment. If UD fans hadn't shown up in large numbers and cheered on their team, the Ohio State fans would have sat ond their hands and had the usual wine and cheese crowd we are acustomed to at Value City Arena.

The atmosphere at St. Johns on MOnday was electric....however, I think that everyone would agree that the "electric" atmsophere is the exception and not the rule at value city for whatever reason.

As for the game. Dayton doesn't have the depth to play the man to man pressure defense that they play. If Gregory would play more zone then I think that they'd be able to play their best players longer, and not have to go eight or nine deep with a seven deep team. Chris(t) Wright is not in basketball shape. He shot his wad early and didn't have anything left for the second half. Hell of an athlete though. UD kicked our asses on the boards in the first half, but, again, got tired and wasn't able to maintain that dominance. Overall, incredible game and the UD fans definitely represented very well. If they weren't there, then there would have been more Ohio State fans though. The Schott would've been sold out regardless of whether UD fans represented up or not.

I agree about the depth Issue. UD has a solid 7 man rotation but beyond that is hit or miss. UD has consistently struggling with finding that 3rd scorer all year. I love the pressure man to man but I don't think fatigue was the problem last night on defense. OSU finallly did a great job of ball movement. Earlier in the year they would just pass it once or twice and jack up a three. They really worked the ball around last night. It was great to see OSU play some "team ball" last night instead of just waiting around for Butler to bail out the offense.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

Ohio State 74, Dayton 63: Apple of their eyes
Four-guard lineup carries Buckeyes into NIT semis
Thursday, March 27, 2008 3:20 AM
By Bob Baptist


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

KYLE ROBERTSON DISPATCH
Ohio State's Othello Hunter, right, looks for an opening to the rim under the basket after pulling down an offensive rebound against Dayton in Value City Arena.



Coach Thad Matta's plan was to play to what he thought was his strong suit: the size advantage the Ohio State men's basketball team enjoyed over Dayton.
It wasn't until foul trouble cut the Buckeyes down to Dayton's size that Matta realized his true advantage. His small lineup was better than Dayton's.
"We picked them apart," Evan Turner said.
Back-to-back baskets by Turner to start the second half turned the score in the Buckeyes' favor and a four-guard lineup took it from there, leading Ohio State to a 74-63 victory last night in Value City Arena and into the semifinals of the National Invitation Tournament next week in New York.

Continued......

 

[Fungo Squiggly]

Thanks for making my point for me. The fact that this was a regional game created a lot of excitiment. If UD fans hadn't shown up in large numbers and cheered on their team, the Ohio State fans would have sat ond their hands and had the usual wine and cheese crowd we are acustomed to at Value City Arena.

I absolutely agree. To me, it really felt like the OSU fans fed off of the UD fans' noise and energy. If it was just a couple hundred SIU folks, I don't see the crowd being nearly as active, nor as large.

 

[IronBuckI]

Thanks for making my point for me. The fact that this was a regional game created a lot of excitiment. If UD fans hadn't shown up in large numbers and cheered on their team, the Ohio State fans would have sat ond their hands and had the usual wine and cheese crowd we are acustomed to at Value City Arena.

The atmosphere at St. Johns last week was electric....however, I think that everyone would agree that the "electric" atmsophere is the exception and not the rule at value city for whatever reason.

You're welcome. It actually did become more of a contest to shut them up than anything else. I was pretty disappointed with tOSU crowd for the first part of the game. UD's band kicked our band's ass too. It did seem that there weren't very many band members there for us though. I was in the band during the glory days of Damon Stringer and Jermaine Tate and it seemed a lot bigger and louder back then.

 

[OSUBucks22]

I absolutely agree. To me, it really felt like the OSU fans fed off of the UD fans' noise and energy. If it was just a couple hundred SIU folks, I don't see the crowd being nearly as active, nor as large.

Agreed... You guys really fed off of our fans once things got going... Made the atmosphere much more fun...

 

[Tlangs]

Dispatch

That is kind of what happened to West Virginia against Duke. The best thing that happened to them was their big men getting in foul trouble. It forced Huggins to play the smaller line up and the back up point guard had a "jason Kiddesque" performance to pull out the win.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

Bob Hunter commentary: Fans get rare chance to see Ohio matchup

Thursday, March 27, 2008 3:18 AM
By Bob Hunter


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

• 
  

It felt like a basketball holiday. Value City Arena had its most enthusiastic crowd of Ohio State's season, at a time the place is usually growing cobwebs the size of giraffes.
It was crazy in there, not St. John Arena-crazy the way it was Monday for an NIT game against California, but as crazy as it gets in a building that was designed for the corporate, sushi-on-a-stick crowd.
The place was full. It wasn't all-the-tickets-are-sold-but-3,000-fans-stayed-home-to-watch- American - Idol full. It was c ompletely full. There was a battle of the bands -- when was the last time an opponent's band played in Value City Arena --and organized and impromptu cheers on both sides.

Continued.....

 

[BuckSenator]

Things I didn't expect:

Matta going with the small line up to start the second half (Deibs, Turner, Lighty at the same time). It really set the tone to start the second half

Not to point this out or anything, but, I suggested this at the start of this thread, and I got told I was wrong, and that it wouldn't happen...

But I was right...
neener
neener

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Bucknuts.com (Free)

Buckeyes Ground Flyers, Earn Ticket To NYC....

Bucknuts.com$ (Dave Biddle)

Final Analysis: Ohio State 74, Dayton 63........

Bucknuts.com (Free)

Ohio State-Dayton Photo Gallery

Scout.com (Free)

Back To The Big Apple...........Adam Jardy

Rivals.com$ (Kevin Noon)

Big Apple bound Buckeyes

Rivals.com$ (Brandon Castel)

Playing Small Ball...........discussion of the 4 guard line-up.

Scout.com$ (Jeff Svoboda)

Extra Point: Oh, What A Night..........discussion of the atmosphere inside the arena.

 

[buckeyesin07]

The middle 20 minutes of the Cal Game and the second half tonight was the best defense OSU has played all year. Great second half by the Bucks.


Things I didn't expect:

Matta going with the small line up to start the second half (Deibs, Turner, Lighty at the same time). It really set the tone to start the second half

I was frustrated to watch Roberts miss those open jumper in the second half. He usually knocks those down.

Diebler had a great second half after riding the pine for almost the entire first half and not hitting a 3 in about 5 games.

Koufus shoots like 90% from the field.

I was hoping that Roberts would get some respect from the refs at some point and get some foul shots as well but it didn't happen. OSU played tough agressive defense and the refs let them bump and play physical.

OK, so OSU only won the game because the entire team played better defensively than it did all season, several of OSU's players played better offensively than they usually do, Dayton did not play up to its potential, and the refs screwed Dayton? Did I catch all of your excuses?

 

[MolGenBuckeye]

It did seem that there weren't very many band members there for us though. I was in the band during the glory days of Damon Stringer and Jermaine Tate and it seemed a lot bigger and louder back then.

It was definitely bigger. The only thing I could figure is because it's right after spring break, basketball band is over, and it was probably just whatever volunteers they could scrape together.

The O-H-I-O cheer you mentioned in your other post has to be the longest (and loudest) I've ever heard it go around in there. It definitely swung the crowd intensity in OSU's favor, and it was nice not to hear UD's band playing their one song for a while. :p

 

[LitlBuck]

Not to point this out or anything, but, I suggested this at the start of this thread, and I got told I was wrong, and that it wouldn't happen...

I think the only reason that they went with the smaller lineup was because Hunter had 4 fouls on him raid at the beginning of the second half.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

CPD

MEN'S NIT
OSU holds off Flyers to advance to semis

Thursday, March 27, 2008 Doug Lesmerises

Plain Dealer Reporter

Columbus -- Ohio State bas ketball fans love the NIT, apparently. If the Buckeyes are extended a bid to the NCAA Tournament next season, Thad Matta may have to turn it down. After all, there might be a title to defend.
With a 74-63 victory over Dayton on Wednesday night in front of a screaming sellout crowd of 19,049, Ohio State became the lone No. 1 seed to advance to the NIT semifinals in New York on Tuesday. And whaddya know, there's an SEC team waiting.
The Buckeyes will get No. 2 seed Mississippi, and then could face a (pseudo) championship rerun against Florida in the finals. The No. 2 seed Gators will face No. 2 seed Massachusetts in the other semi.

Continued.....