Ohio State 55, North Carolina 66 (Final)

[osugrad21]

The entire PG situation bothers me...Conley was so steady and in control. I just don't get that vibe yet. In the 2nd half when the team needed to be settled down and reset, it didn't happen...

The rebounding was bad, but it also wasn't helped by the long rebounds from the clanking jumpers.

 

[BengalsAndBucks]

Turner never really seemed to assert himself last night in the minutes he got. I think those two need to be a little more selfish at times.

Said this before, he may be our best offensive creator, wish one of his drives would have fallen and he could have gotten some confidence.

I was going to hit on this a little, but at a different angle...I really do believe we have done well with the zone, but I wouldnt mind a switch or two at times to man, to let Lighty and Butler use pressure to try and create some to's and get out in transistion...Maybe a switch up on the defensive end might help us on the offensive end at times, since most of these guys are worrying aobut defense, rightfully so...But with a switch to man, I think it would let them play more freely without thinking so much...

Especially if we were to switch to man when we put in Turner and Lauderdale for a few minutes. That would be three phenomonal on-ball defenders in Lighty, Butler, and Turner, and 2 good post defenders in DL and Hunter. It also might provide some offensive spark off some turnovers, cause when KK and Diebler are out we dont have a whole lot on the offensive end.

The Butler three point attempt when we had a 3 on 1 break made me scratch my head.....not exactly the type of play you expect from a senior.

Most likely a case of trying to do to much........

He does that a fair bit though, and normally has some success at it. Maybe not the smartest shot, but not his worst decision last night.


The thing that really killed me was not the complete lack of offensive rebounding, because we actually did as well in that regard as we have all season. The problem was that we missed every single putback we had. I rewatched the game last night and I counted 4 or 5 times when a guy had an open putback attempt and they just flat out missed it, and then UNC got the rebound from there. Watching the game, it almost seemed like the kind of nervousness that you see from freshmen playing on the road against big crowds for the first time. I wonder if we were nervous playing in front of a home crowd the likes of which they have never seen?

Which brings me to a point no one has mentioned yet- The Schott was rocking last night.

 

[BuckTwenty]

Saw BJ Mullens and a couple of players from Canal Winchester, 4 players from Westerville South, and Buckeye great Jimmy Jackson behind the Bucks' bench. When I was a little, I used to pretend I was JJ and practice hitting fade-away jumpers. Must say seeing him again was pretty darn cool.

Diebs finally finds his shot, on a NBA three, no less. I'm glad he found it, because this would have been an embarressing game had he not. You could tell he was gaining confidence not by the shots he was taking but by the way he was dribbling around the court there in the 2nd half, trying to make plays by himself. 5-14 from three isn't scorching, but I'll take it. I'd have liked to see Lighty getting some better looks at 3, because he looked like he was feeling it early.

Rebounding is the biggest thing we have to work on right now. This team seems as though it will struggle with shooting from time to time, but combining that with terrible rebound fundamentals (boxing out, following your shot, not letting the ball hit the floor after a missed shot) is a game-losing combination. If you're not hitting your shots and not able to rebound those misses and your opponents' misses, you might as well put the 2nd and 3rd stringers out there ala Texas A&M again and get them some experience.

 

[crazybuckfan40]

The Butler three point attempt when we had a 3 on 1 break made me scratch my head.....not exactly the type of play you expect from a senior.

Most likely a case of trying to do to much........

I agree, it was not like it wasnt a shot that he couldnt easily of knocked down, and it was a type of play where he was going for the kill so to speak, but this team needs to learn to make the easy play at times, and like you say that is just a case of trying to do to much...

 

[OmahaBeef]

Which brings me to a point no one has mentioned yet- The Schott was rocking last night.

The intensity in the student section went down a bit (okay, a lot) after we got down by 9 points or so, but it was a blast. It was the loudest I've heard the shot. One thing I thought helped was making the student section general admission. It seemed much louder (and consistently louder) last night than I had heard it before. Also, the pregame stuff was pretty cool. For those who weren't there, a camera follow the team as the left the locker room until they ran onto the court. I thought that really got the crowd pumped up. Then when they were announcing the teams, they turned off the lights and had the student section wave glow sticks which were distributed before the game. It made for a pretty cool effect. Anyone know if they plan on doing any/all of this for remaining games? I loved it.

 

[buckeyes_rock]

He does that a fair bit though, and normally has some success at it. Maybe not the smartest shot, but not his worst decision last night.

I agree. People were really ripping him on that shot, but honestly, when you're 3 on 1 and you pull up...he's probably thinking that if he hits it the place goes crazy and if he misses, his two teammates ought to be in position to get the rebound putback. Just didn't work out that way last night. Not the best decision maybe, but not the worst.

I think we're a little spoiled as fans because we had one heck of college PG last season. Personally, I think Butler is a solid player trying to lead a group of young guys and maybe trying a little too hard sometimes. But once the other guys get more comfortable, things will get better.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

The student section was probably the best I have seen at the schott, at least by watching on TV.....they made noise and they impacted the game. We need more of those types of crowds.

I agree, it was not like it wasnt a shot that he couldnt easily of knocked down, and it was a type of play where he was going for the kill so to speak, but this team needs to learn to make the easy play at times, and like you say that is just a case of trying to do to much...

I have seen him knock it down, but for some reason, I felt it was a bad decision......one crisp pass to Diebler and its a basket.......there were a ton of those plays......the missed rebound by Lighty and Butler that led to an easy dunk for UNC......the missed tip in by Hunter.........the horrible pass by KK into the post......on and on and on.......I could see the frustration on the face of Coach Matta. Yet, I felt like they played very hard, just not very smart at times. The youth killed us in the end. :(

The entire PG situation bothers me...Conley was so steady and in control. I just don't get that vibe yet. In the 2nd half when the team needed to be settled down and reset, it didn't happen...

The rebounding was bad, but it also wasn't helped by the long rebounds from the clanking jumpers.

I agree about the PG position, but we are stuck with it. Their is no answer on the bench.

 

[crazybuckfan40]

The entire PG situation bothers me...Conley was so steady and in control. I just don't get that vibe yet. In the 2nd half when the team needed to be settled down and reset, it didn't happen...

The rebounding was bad, but it also wasn't helped by the long rebounds from the clanking jumpers.

I don't think we looked out of control in the second half...Yeah we took some bad shots, forced shots, but I don't think that was due to Butler...I thought that he tryed to pick and choose his shots, forced a couple when things werent going right, but overall I thought his shots were needed, I mean KK wasnt able to score, Lighty wasnt helping out for a long stretch and his drives to the hoop were out of control, and Diebler was on and off, and during our stretch he was off...

Like was said earlier Butler needs to look to pass some out of his drives when guys are open, but I still feel alot of this has to be feeling each other out...

The 'Cuse game really showed Butler's overall skill as a game manager...There were times when people were saying Butler needs to shoot more, but he managed the game, guys played well in that game, and when a young team starts pressing like against UNC they turn to the senior leader, and that just happens to be Butler, whether or not he is the point or not, he is the most capable scorer and creater...His shots just were not falling...

The other thing that might look bad as well is the fact that the shots that we are taking are really only spread out over 5 guys, with Diebler, Butler, KK and Lighty taking the majority of them...I mean usually you would see a guy with 22 shots and be like what....But where else were the shots going to come from?

 

[The Traitor]

As a bit of follow up, I thought I would share some of post-game coverage the local media is doing down here in the Chapel Hill area. They are mildly concerned that the Tarheels had a poor offensive performance, for them at least, especially during the first half. The main focus has been that UNC proved they could put together a strong defensive effort (and you get the sense when people talk about it that it seems like they needed that defense). I'm not sure how much of Ohio State's shooting woes were directly attributable to anything the 'Heels did as much as it was just the shots bouncing badly at the rim. I didn't watch the game live so I'm basing this off of the game descriptions I read.

 

[osugrad21]

I don't think we looked out of control in the second half...Yeah we took some bad shots, forced shots, but I don't think that was due to Butler...

Absolutely not...but although he is not completely responsible for the forced shots, he is responsible as the senior leader and floor general to slow it down...we are on the same page...especially when you say:

Like was said earlier Butler needs to look to pass some out of his drives when guys are open, but I still feel alot of this has to be feeling each other out...

they turn to the senior leader, and that just happens to be Butler

 

[crazybuckfan40]

Absolutely not...but although he is not completely responsible for the forced shots, he is responsible as the senior leader and floor general to slow it down...we are on the same page...especially when you say:

Yeah I just think it is a slight disagreement...I just believe that in the second half Butler looked like he wasnt managing the game due to him having to try to put some points up for us...

Went over to the UNC scout board and found some very interesting stats, and different things...Nice reading if anyone is interested...

Basically some stats that said we missed lots of open looks, didnt take enough advantage of the things they were giving us, and basically us doing the same thing on offense quite a bit...

I like the high screen with this team if we are going to us it right, but KK is not popping off the screen, Twig, Hunter, Dallas, arent screening very well, and Hunter slips way too many screens...Think teams are picking up on that and not falling for it...

Would honestly like to get rid of the double screen play up top, because we don't use the screens and we don't hit anyone with the screens...

I will keep saying it but we are right there, we have talent, athleticism, players that understand the game, and can present mismatches for every team in the country...It is just a matter of how long till we put it all together...

 

[jimotis4heisman]

first no one has mentioned the intro. whoever came up with that :clap: that was big time "lights off" the tar heels looked around like wtf. (though actually the lights didnt get shut off, the blinders covered the pods. way cool.

actually, thats all im going to say. i am not opening this can of worms tonight.

 

[crazybuckfan40]

first no one has mentioned the intro. whoever came up with that :clap: that was big time "lights off" the tar heels looked around like wtf. (though actually the lights didnt get shut off, the blinders covered the pods. way cool.

actually, thats all im going to say. i am not opening this can of worms tonight.

I was going to touch on this and start my first post off with basketball is at a top level here and Columbus and isnt going anywhere soon...But got caught up with the actual game talk itself and forgot all about it...

That was one of the things that the schott bought before the season, due to the fact that lights can't be turned on and off or they would take like 15 minutes to light back up, the team wanted this and the schott got it done for them...Also they bought curtains for anyone that has been to a hockey or women's game to block off the top section for their games to make it look like the arena if fuller than what it is...

But overall the atmosphere was great last night, the organization of the cheers, and they kept trying to make the team pick it up with getting into the game and were ready to explode at any minute, but the team just couldnt put the ball in the hole...

Herbie was hitting on how great the atmosphere was and I think it is great that they have finally got this thing turned around and I think it will be like this for the rest of the year and on into games later in the season other than some of the smaller games we play...

But Jo plz weigh in I would like to hear your thoughts...I have been waiting on them...

 

[MaxBuck]

Maybe not the smartest shot, but not his worst decision last night.

Nothing at all wrong with Butler's decision. It was a very intelligent decision, as pretty much all of Jamar's are. Great look that JB knocks down maybe 75% of the time.

Buckeyes were simply fatigued after playing hard, with few substitutions, against a great defensive team. No real secret as to why shots weren't falling. Tarholes are simply a far superior squad.

 

[crazybuckfan40]

Nothing at all wrong with Butler's decision. It was a very intelligent decision, as pretty much all of Jamar's are. Great look that JB knocks down maybe 75% of the time.

Buckeyes were simply fatigued after playing hard, with few substitutions, against a great defensive team. No real secret as to why shots weren't falling. Tarholes are simply a far superior squad.

We will have to agree to disagree about that last statement...