Ohio State 55, North Carolina 66 (Final)

[BengalsAndBucks]

There is a lot to talk about, and I'll probably chime in later, but I am looking at the box score right now and this just blows my mind-

0 bench points. Not a single person who didn't start the game scored. There is no way we can win games like that, especially against the number 2 team in the country.

 

[BuckGuy27]

I have no idea what happened with Koufos tonight. 1 for 10 and absolutely no production on defense. I heard Stokes and Keels say on the radio on Sunday that the scouts' knock on Koufos was when he struggles, everything goes down hill from there and that was evident tonight. By the way we played offense tonight, we've shown that Koufos is our only offensive threat inside because when he was out and Hunter, Lauderdale and Terwilliger were in, they were just setting screens and making space for guard penetration. This has to change if we want to have success later in the season,especially when Koufos is off. I know Hunter can score. Good thing it is early though.

 

[Buckeyefan_6]

I was very encouraged by the bucks tonight. They could have folded against the #2 team in the country, but they hung in there and didn?t get blown out. What I really like is how good this team is right now-and thinking about how good they could be towards the end of this year...

Also I'm not writing this season off by any means-it should be a good year, but man it's hard for me to not look forward a little bit to next year. :)

Of course I know we will miss Butler, but if they all stay (no early departures) this group with a year under their belts will be special

 

[OCBucksFan]

Well, I don't know how stupid this is going to sound but I am going to let fly and probably be mocked for saying it:

Ok, there's no Greg Oden, there's no Mike Conley Jr, but that's not a bad thing. I loved those guys when they were here, and they greatly improved the team, but they were one and done college basketball players, Matta has the great base here to build a program. I don't see anyone on this team who isn't a senior leaving at the end of the year, so the experience they have will carry on. Sure, we may not win a National title this year, but we have a great base to start building towards one, to become a North Carolina or a Duke, a college basketball powerhouse.

Part of me wants to be critical of some of the dumb shots we take when we are in a shooting draught, or why hasn't the bench made shots? But then I sit back and I try to think of the overall picture, we may not be the best team in the country, but as I look at these great programs I realize they had to start from somewhere, they had a great coach, he got players who for the most part stayed and they built something special. Look at UCLA, they have lost like three players in the last two years, they have built a long lasting program.

I don't want to see our basketball program as "This year we'll see who's showing off for NBA scouts before he leaves." I would prefer to see it as kids coming here to be part of something special, and that's what this class looks more like than anything we had last year. Last year was a great class, but I think we all knew that Oden was done after his first year, not matter how much we wanted to believe he would stay, you knew there was little reason for a talent of that calibre to stay.

Anyways, here's to a great year, tonight showed a lot of potential, Thad will work with that and hopefully we see something special in March.

 

[OHSportsFan]

There is a lot to talk about, and I'll probably chime in later, but I am looking at the box score right now and this just blows my mind-

0 bench points. Not a single person who didn't start the game scored. There is no way we can win games like that, especially against the number 2 team in the country.

I agree we will need better bench play, look at how short our bench was tonight.

Turner- 12 min (mainly in first half)
Terwilliger- 11
Lauderdale- 7

No Hill, no Wallace. Matta was very very selective tonight. I don't like how many minutes the starters are racking up. Matta either has no trust in anyone off the bench for even a semi-long stretch of time, or he got caught up in the game and simply did not think to look at his bench. I don't know what happened, but I didn't like that aspect of the game.

 

[buckeyemania11]

another tough game coming up saturday @ Butler

 

[daveeb]

Well fought game on both sides. The biggest thing that hurt us was shot selection. We held North Carolina to under 70. That is a good thing.

 

[OHSportsFan]

another tough game coming up saturday @ Butler

ESPNU

 

[billmac91]

You know, we hung in there with a pretty decent team shooting 25% from the field. I was impressed by Lauderdale (guy has no fear), and Diebler finally got off. Ya, Koufos struggled and Butler was missing tonight, but they showed some heart and definately showed they will challenge for the Big 10.

Hunter and Koufos really could not have played worse in the second half offensively, and there rebounding was weak as well. I love their zone defense, but it seems like they need to throw something else in there every now and then to keep the offense guessing, and also have something to fall back on when they're struggling to rebound.

The weakside boards were not there tonight at all. They need to work on that rotation.

One last negative thing here, is they seem to rush themselves a bit too much. I understand when they want to go up-temp, even in half-court sets though, they just seem to play too fast. Especially David Lighty, he just needs to stay calm and finish plays. Hegets around the hoop after a nice move, and just expects contact, or a shot-blocker, and misses badly. Just stay under control and finish the play. I think these guys just need to remeber how talented they are, and not be intimidated by other players/jerseys.

This team is going to be fine, and they'll be good by the end of the year.

As a side note, I know how bad Kosta played tonight, and he needed blows, but Matt Terwilliger was brutal. Bad shots, again terrible positioning in the zone defense, and poor help defense. They even tried switching his spot in the zone with no success. I just can't figure put why he thinks its ok to let it loose from beyond the ark, and why he's caught out of position so ofetn on defense.

I swear to God, Thad may go Woody on him before the Big 10 season even starts.

 

[crazybuckfan40]

No reason to not feel positive after this game...Yeah it is a loss and a loss sucks...

The thing is much like the the ATM game UNC was getting a lot of bounces, we were missing layups, open shots, and turning the ball over...

With that said I really think our struggles right now are more against UNC and ATM being strong teams...We are going to struggle with teams that are strong, because we are going to have trouble rebounding and they seem to be able to force us out an extra couple feet to start our offense, they push our big guys up the lane, where they can't operate on the block, they fight thru screens and we don't use them to get open, and they can get easier looks by being able to get themselves better positioning...

KK struggled last year in high school with Dallas, when Dallas would push him up the lane...But he will get use to the physical nature of these bigger guys...I would like to see them get more pick and pop going on with him and force his guy to step out side more ...

It was great to see Diebler get off finally...He really takes a mass amount of shots, but really they all seem to be good looks, other than the one he got blocked early in the second half...

Butler is going to need Hill to spell him some...His legs aren't going to be able to take it every night...

Lighty was pressing some tonight, but no one on this team is going to take this lose harder than him and he is going to use it to his benefit and continue to improve...

Bench - I really think that we need to start seeing those guys more and more...Hill, Twig, Wallace, Turner, Dallas, and Madsen need to step up and provide minutes and some points...

Turner did some good things once again tonight, but needs to finish the open looks...THat will come...Also needs to look to go to the hole more, as that will open up shots for Diebler, Lighty, and Butler...


Overall lots of positives to take from tonight...We are a very young team, have some big time scorers on this team, they just need to get to that point on a consistent basis, but like I have said we are going to have many ups and downs, but as the season continues to go the time that we are up will be more than we are down...

Honestly tho for the last thoughts of this post, I have never seen a team with such great shooters go so cold for 2 games like we did against ATM and UNC...

 

[MililaniBuckeye]

Zero bench points, shooting like Helen Keller with sunglasses on, and yet we still led the #2 team in the country at half stayed within 6 points inside 4:00, and lost by only 11. This team is going to make a shit-load of noise by the time the regular season is over...

 

[PlanetFrnd]

Just watched the game on my west coast DVR delay, so here are my thoughts:

Despite another bad overall shooting night I was very encouraged by some things, other things not so much:

Butler destroyed Frasor - now I know Butler missed alot of runners and shots in the paint, but he absolutely blew past Frasor. I also know Frasor is no Lawson, but last year, no one in college basketball was as fast as Lawson except Conley and Acie Law... Frasor was a PG for UNC before Lawson and is still a decent talent... Butler looks MUCH quicker than he has in the past and looks like he'll be a good PG this year.

Hunter and Lauderdale are very solid in the middle on D. Neither will be scorers, but thats just not their roles this year. IMO Lauderdale should have wrestled PsychoT until they both fouled out. It would have been a decent use of fouls... Hunter is as athletic as anyone else in the country in the middle. That being said, our big men had NO idea on positioning tonight. Offense or defense.

Turner and Koufos are scared and/or soft right now. Trust me, no one is a bigger fan of either of them than I am. I think Turner and Koufos have a world of skill, but neither could finish around the basket today - in fact, Turner was absent from the game.

Diebler played well tonight, he looked like the scorer we all expect him to be... I think he and Koufos need to be MUCH more aggresive... alot of turnovers were created by indecision, not wrong decision (as the cliche goes)

Lighty is a man out there. He shot terribly and was still an impact player... that being said...

I think the shots will fall, but the guys have stopped moving the ball well. One thing is for sure - zone isn't the answer to defending the Buckeyes, and the secret is out. Pressure and guarding the passing lanes gets the job done because they (read:Koufos) are best when the ball is moving briskly (like the 'Cuse game). When they are unable to get 4-7 passes in a possession (barring the random early 3 or layup) the offensive opp's just arent there.

I didnt hate this game, great first half when the shots were falling... shooting droughts like the 2nd half (or the whole A&M game) just can't be overcome.

I think this team will be OK. In fact, I'm not worried at all. We just lost to the #1a team in the country, and were competetive despite terrible shooting in the 2nd half.

 

[PlanetFrnd]

Zero bench points, shooting like Helen Keller with sunglasses on, and yet we still led the #2 team in the country at half stayed within 6 points inside 4:00, and lost by only 11. This team is going to make a shit-load of noise by the time the regular season is over...

Dammit, Mili just summed my post in about 10% of the words... go ahead, read mine anyways

 

[BrutusBobcat]

What I thought was interesting is how night-and-day different this game was than last year's OSU-UNC matchup in terms of tempo. The game in Chapel Hill was a track meet, athlete on athlete. This year was all about half court defense, rebounding (or lack thereof), and the one similarity to last year -- our inability to get points in the lane. Passing this year was shaky at times, but this year's team can play some serious defense.

Speaking of defense, big DL needs to get mean on both the boards and D. I agree about getting him tied up with Hansborough. At some point in the season, we'll come across another dominant big man, and it will be very useful to be able to rotate defenders. Hunter showed some flashes of becoming a headline player with his blocks and some of his rebounds. His positioning still needs to improve, but he definitely is learning to use his strength and his hops to make things happen.

Butler is there. Pencil him in for All B10 at PG, and keep the ink pen handy.

Lighty is starting to remind me of J.J. Sullinger. He's playing with a lot of energy on both ends, attacking the basket and playing aggressive defense.

Diebler finally showed up, and showed everyone why he had the stats he did in high school. He shot fearlessly, got some shooters luck at the end of the half, and gave the Tarheels something to worry about while they were shutting down Koufos. His dunk was a bit of an eye opener, and showed that he's more than a guy chucking up threes. On the near-dunk where he hit the floor, he showed some toughness by getting up, getting back on D and staying in. His game is only going to get better.

I think tonight may also have been a real education for KK. He tried a lot of things to get his game going -- moving outside to shoot, taking his man off the dribble and driving, posting, screening -- nothing worked. The usual mismatches that he's used to taking advantage of weren't there, or were neutralized by UNC's game plan. Some of it was simply a matter of good shots that didn't fall. For the first time at this level, he's seen a weakness in his game as to how he matches up with a more physical player, and he'll learn from that.

All in all, given that this is a team that a month ago lost an exhibition game, I think the fact that they could hang in there with a more talented, more experienced, top 2 team is remarkable. After that loss, I had circled this game in my mind as a potential disaster. Instead, it has one thing in common with last year's game -- it is an important measuring stick and building block for a team that is going to be much, much better in a few months, never mind over the next several seasons.

 

[BengalsAndBucks]

While it would have been nice to win this one, can't be upset with the effort that we put forth, and I feel like this game is really going to help KK in understanding what he is going to have to deal with against Wisky, MSU, and IU in B10 season when it counts.

Diebler finally finding his shot was a very good thing. Hopefully this shooting can continue, UNC was very good on defense and Diebler still played pretty well. Also played pretty well on the defensive end.

Butler looked very good tonight offensively and defensively. He just couldn't get any of those runners to fall, but he will. He absolutely abused Frasor, NC was getting great weakside rotation on the drive and thats why we couldn't finish, although it really felt like we were trying to hard to put the ball away.

Koufos, I realize that he's going to struggle offensively, especially against a big physical player like Hansborough, but can you please box somebody out? There is absolutely no excuse for the tallest player on the court to only have 3 rebounds. There was one play where Koufos was out at around the 17' mark, and he threw a bad pass. He then stood there for a second sulking before turning around and getting back on D. While he sulked, Hansborough was able to run from under the basket to get an easy layup on the other end. I dont want to rip on him, and I realize that he will have much better games offensively, but I just don't see the effort on D right now. Clearly, all of our rebounding woes aren't on him, but like I said 3 rebounds for the tallest player on the court? We need him to play better defensively and offensively to beat IU, Wisky, MSU, etc.

Hunter played very well on the defensive end, but where was he on offense? We need him to get the ball in the post, but moreso we need him to be able to crash the offensive boards and finish. 5 offensive rebounds in this game and only 5 points? That ratio needs to get a lot higher if we want to win the B10.

Lighty- played great defense, as expected, but would have been nice to see him create some on the offensive end. He just isn't the slasher I envisioned him being right now. Sure it wasn't his best game, but even so I still feel like he is having trouble creating his own shots...

Turner- that being said, I feel like Turner is really the only player on our team who can create his own shot. When we were in the middle of our 11 minute scoreless streak, Matta put Turner in and he drove a couple of times. He couldn't finish, but who could tonight? Butler can drive pretty well, but I really feel like Turner is the only player who we can give the ball to and say "take it to the hole." Hopefully it starts falling for him.

Twiggy- his usual, decent defense and no offense. Its good that he can steal some minutes but would be great if we could actually get some offensive production out of him, from the post or outside even. He comes in and the only thing the defense has to worry about is him getting dunk putbacks, other than that you might as well not guard him right now.

Lauderdale- great defense when he was in, he pretty much dominated Hansborough, would nice to see him with some kind of offensive game, but have you seen his shot form? Don't know how Thad allows him to continue like that, its not like he is shooting well with the form, might as well change it now and allow him to struggle with good form rather than struggle with bad form. But again, great defense and can't complain about his minutes.

Well that covers all 8 guys who played, kind of disconcerting that Thad is so uncomfortable with our backups that Butler and Lighty both played 40 minutes.

Ellington abused the weak corner today, we started to rotate over but it just wasn't effective. Teams with a pure shooter like that can kill us every game like that.

Didn't want to harp on this, but it should be mentioned- the refereeing was atrocious. Everytime we went for a layup I felt like we got slammed on the body, and got no calls at all. And is it just me, or does Hansborough hold the defender away with his off arm EVERY SINGLE TIME he goes up with ball? Cause it definitely felt that way.

Seems like the same story every game- poor rebounding, live and die by the 3, solid defense. Would really like to see us box someone out, but eventually somewhere we will get a break, right?

2 major causes for concern right now- 0 points from the bench, and the second crazy cold streak.

But again, we were right there with the #2 team in the country with 4:00 to go despite not having a basket for 11 minutes in the middle of the second half. There is a lot to be excited about come February.