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Ohio State 91, Wis.-Green Bay 68 (Final)

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Dispatch

Men's basketball: OSU springs surprises in season-opening win

Tuesday, November 13, 2007 3:48 AM
By Bob Baptist


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
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James D. DeCamp Dispatch
Jamar Butler puts up a shot between Terry Evans, left, and Rahmon Fletcher.




Coach Thad Matta wasn't sandbagging when he said Ohio State ran about 5 percent of its offense in its two exhibition games. He left out the part about running only half its defense, though.
Springing a 3-2 zone on Wisconsin-Green Bay and running offense more adroitly than they did in their two exhibition games, the Buckeyes opened the season with a 91-68 victory over the Phoenix last night in Value City Arena in the first round of the NIT Season Tip-Off.



Cont...
 
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I saw some better BB last night, more intensity from the older players. D looked better. And maybe all of this was due to Matta playing the starters more. The freshman all needed to catch up. KK played lots better offense.
As I suspected earlier in the year Deibler looks to take a while to find his shots and make them. He appears to be trying to play more within the team and thats good too. It shows he is trying to make the transition to college ball. I think that once the game slows down for him he will be fine.
Overall I was satisfied with the progress I saw and if that continues then we will be a force.
 
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Tidbit from the Dispatch article:

"It was a game-time decision," point guard Jamar Butler said of the zone, which he said the Buckeyes had not practiced. "We came in for our pregame speech and coach Matta said we're going to play a little zone tonight. We just went out and stuck with it and it worked."
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It was pretty soft early on, but as the game went along, they did a much better job closing out on the shooters and having the proper rotations. Early on, the corner man was being left wide open because the back of the zone wasn't rotating out to cover him, but it was much better as the game went along.
 
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Guess we're all feeling a bit touchy this week?
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Sorry, it's a bit annoying to research something for someone else because they are too lazy or impatient to look it up themselves.

I really hope your original question was merged into this thread, b/c the time, opponent and station were all in the title atop the browser screen.
 
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Last weekend both sucked and blew at the same time. This helps...kinda.

There is a lot of potential on this team. There looks to be the makings of both a solid front court and back court. Somewhat raw, but by March I'd be willing to lay good cash that this will be a very good basketball team.
 
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crazybuckfan40 said:
Nice showing tonight...

We still have lots of work to do, but tonight was a good start...
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Agree with the majority of your points. I just hope that last night was not a one-time deal as far as defensive intensity. This team is going to need to bring that every night.

It looks like Lighty and Butler are going to do more slashing than just standing and looking for open shots...
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Butler and Lightly shut lights out last night from the outside. While I have confidence in Butler's outside shooting, I want to see more of David before I pass judgment on his three-point shooting. There is no doubt he is a slasher.
I think eventually Diebler is going to get going, but like I have said he seems to struggle trying to get open and find his spots...
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I think Diebler is having problems finding his role in the offense. I wonder if he is having trouble adjusting to not having the ball very much. Again, I will wait and see but from when I saw last year and I just can't believe his outside shots are not falling.

Hunter, Twig, and KK are going to give us very good shooting from the outside with our big guys, which should open up the paint even more for guys driving...
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Agree with KK but I don't want Hunter and Twig roaming too far outside. They are needed closer to the basket for rebounding purposes.

It looks like at this point Matta only has confidence in 7 guys to see the floor...
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Agree. I would like to see Turner show more on offense.

But I really think that Lauderdale is going to see his minutes increased if he gets in games and does what he did tonight...He is a great rebounder and huge presence in the middle on D...He doesnt have much of an offensive game which I think is keeping him off the floor, but his defense will allow him to see the floor more...
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Possibly but who do we substitute him for? I think when we gain into the really big games Matta he will not see the floor as much as you would like because of his offense.

I could go on, but I will spare you guys...:biggrin:
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I think we all know that:biggrin:
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It is amazing what more effort will do for a team......that was the sole difference between Findlay and this game.....the talent is there. They are learning how hard you have to play at this level. It will be interesting to see if they can come back tonight with the same intensity and effort. It is a good challenge for a young team.
 
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