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Ohio State 74, Illinois 58 (final)

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"The Butler did it!"

Never been more true. I think Matta sat down with Jamar over the last week or two and let him know that it was his time. The freshmen have their feet wet now and its time Jamar took over and made plays for his teammates. Outstanding effort tonight.

Great effort by Twigs also.
 
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Nice win, fellas! A couple thoughts, though.....

1. Where the hell are the wing players! 13 points total from Lighty/Turner/Diebler will not win many games. And all three (in general, not just tonight) need to take better care of the ball, Turner in particular. 5 more turnovers tonight. He is still playing waaaay too fast at this point. Traveling, trying to beat 3 men off the dribble, charges....still waiting for the game to really slow down for him. He's got the skills, just needs to mature a bit. A little disappointed in Lighty's contributions lately. Just so inconsistent offensively. I'd really like to see him utilize the mid-range game a little more. He knocks down the 12-14 footers, so pull up and shoot it, damnit!

2. Hunter was great tonight. Knocking in the occasional jumper and cleaning up on the offensive glass. That's exactly what is needed out of him.

3. Why in the hell did Illinois ignore Pruitt in the 2nd half? Dude was killing OSU early. Adjustment to the zone to cut off the short corner? Big dude's conditioning? Dunno, but he became a non-factor. Doesn't strike me as a particularly bright fellow, but a pretty good big man.

4. Zone defense looked pretty darn good tonight. Still need to work at beating cutters to the spot. Especially the big men. Seems like it should help keep Butler fresh. Anything that will give his legs a boost has to be a good thing. I was shocked when Hill came into the game.

5. Rebounding. Still some frustrating moments, but all in all, it felt like a better performance on the boards than previously. I'll be interested to see what the actual margin was in the box score tomorrow. EDIT - The ESPN box has it at Illinois 33, OSU 32. I'll take that.

All in all, a pretty good start to B10 play. :oh:
 
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Bucky Katt;1048910; said:
Nice win, fellas! A couple thoughts, though.....

1. Where the hell are the wing players! 13 points total from Lighty/Turner/Diebler will not win many games. And all three need to take better care of the ball. Turner is still playing waaaay too fast at this point. Traveling, trying to beat 3 men off the dribble, charges....still waiting for the game to really slow down for him. He's got the skills, just needs to mature a bit. A little disappointed in Lighty's contributions lately. Just so inconsistent offensively. I'd really like to see him utilize the mid-range game a little more. He knocks down the 12-14 footers, so pull up and shoot it, damnit!

2. Hunter was great tonight. Knocking in the occasional jumper and cleaning up on the offensive glass. That's exactly what is needed out of him.

3. Why in the hell did Illinois ignore Pruitt in the 2nd half? Dude was killing OSU early. Adjustment to the zone to cut off the short corner? Big dude's conditioning? Dunno, but he became a non-factor. Doesn't strike me as a particularly bright fellow, but a pretty good big man.

4. Zone defense looked pretty darn good tonight. Still need to work at beating cutters to the spot. Especially the big men. Seems like it should help keep Butler fresh. Anything that will give his legs a boost has to be a good thing. I was shocked when Hill came into the game.

5. Rebounding. Still some frustrating moments, but all in all, it felt like a better performance on the boards than previously. I'll be interested to see what the actual margin was in the box score tomorrow.

All in all, a pretty good start to B10 play. :oh:
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Our zone does result in poor rebounding sometimes, but it's worth the rushed shots shots, and effort needed to get a good look. They do give up an occassional lay-up and lots of offensive rebounds, but this defense will keep us in a majority of our games this year.

The other thing I really like about this defense is it has the ability to be carried over year-to-year which helps when we have swinging door of players. I think the zone will continue to get better as Matta continues to teach it and learns even more of the nuiances.

It's awesome having Diebler and Turner out at the point with their long arms, and also having them help on the glass. Again, we do give up lots of boards but our field goal percentage defense has to be good, and it will continue to get better.
 
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billmac91;1048928; said:
Our zone does result in poor rebounding sometimes, but it's worth the rushed shots shots, and effort needed to get a good look. They do give up an occassional lay-up and lots of offensive rebounds, but this defense will keep us in a majority of our games this year.

The other thing I really like about this defense is it has the ability to be carried over year-to-year which helps when we have swinging door of players. I think the zone will continue to get better as Matta continues to teach it and learns even more of the nuiances.

It's awesome having Diebler and Turner out at the point with their long arms, and also having them help on the glass. Again, we do give up lots of boards but our field goal percentage defense has to be good, and it will continue to get better.
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I know the zone is a part of it, but I'd still like to see the guys at least looking for someone to box-out every now and again. :p

Another thought. 5-6 minutes left in the game and 10+ point lead. Watching the possessions, you would have thought it was Illinois up by 10. OSU is jacking 3's with 30 on the shot clock and is Illinois running it down to single digits if they can even manage to get the shot off. Go figure.
 
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Bucky Katt;1048956; said:
I know the zone is a part of it, but I'd still like to see the guys at least looking for someone to box-out every now and again. :p

Another thought. 5-6 minutes left in the game and 10+ point lead. Watching the possessions, you would have thought it was Illinois up by 10. OSU is jacking 3's with 30 on the shot clock and is Illinois running it down to single digits if they can even manage to get the shot off. Go figure.
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You obviously can't argue with success, but I also would often yell at the TV: "Why are you shooting? Its early in the.... nice shot." lol
 
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billmac91;1048928; said:
Our zone does result in poor rebounding sometimes, but it's worth the rushed shots shots, and effort needed to get a good look. They do give up an occassional lay-up and lots of offensive rebounds, but this defense will keep us in a majority of our games this year.

The other thing I really like about this defense is it has the ability to be carried over year-to-year which helps when we have swinging door of players. I think the zone will continue to get better as Matta continues to teach it and learns even more of the nuiances.

It's awesome having Diebler and Turner out at the point with their long arms, and also having them help on the glass. Again, we do give up lots of boards but our field goal percentage defense has to be good, and it will continue to get better.
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I would contend the zone has been improving the last few weeks but I noticed some things tonight. When Diebler is out top the zone needs to collapse more causing the open shot. It appears Diebler is a step slow to guard the other teams PG-SG and when Turner is in the game the open looks are much more forced. Now it could just be timing or it could be ability, but I've noticed this the past few games. The problem is that offensively we're better with Diebler in the game than with Turner. I would rather see Lighty out high and Diebler on the backside or wing more often but during the matchup zone the players often switch through so that the ball gets rotated back and the other team sometimes gets the mismatch. I hope teams dont realize this and take full advantage further into the season. Either way Koufos, Hunter, Twigs and Lauderdale have to provide excellent help on the penetration and clear out the lanes better for rebounding as the season wears on.
 
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link

Butler scores 32 in Ohio State 74-58 win over Illinois

By David Mercer
ASSOCIATED PRESS


7:27 p.m. January 3, 2008

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. ? Jamar Butler scored 32 points to lead Ohio State to a 74-58 win over Illinois Thursday in the Big Ten opener for both teams.

Butler accounted for almost half of his team's offense in the first half, then scored 15 straight points early in the second, when the Buckeyes (10-3, 1-0) pulled away from the Illini. The senior guard, who averaged 14.2 points coming into the game, was 4-for-7 from 3-point range.

Forward Othello Hunter added 15 points for Ohio State. Illinois held 7-foot center Kosta Koufos, the Buckeyes' leading score coming into the game, to eight points.

cont'd...
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