Ohio State at Minnesota Jan 3 at 12 noon

[billmac91]

That's one way to look at it. Another way is to see that Matta's preferred offensive approach is to have a point guard who penetrates and kicks. Conley was one of the best at this. Right now we have no such player (and Noopy wasn't looking like one either).

tough spot for Thad, as I'm sure he felt he had Mike for at least 3 years....probably even 4.

Who do we have coming in that can fill the void?? It'd be nice to plug in a guy who can get into the paint whenever he wants.

 

[Jake]

I do not see how the absence of one player can mean so much to a team. Lighty was not meant to bring that many points to the table as it was but I will admit that he did help out on the boards and did do a little bit of creating.

I still do not understand why Matta sticks with the zone defense.

We allowed only 62 ppg last season. We're allowing less than that this year. Defense hasn't been the problem, at least not until Lighty got hurt. We're allowing over 10 ppg more since his injury.

 

[crazybuckfan40]

Matta is going to lose 5 years of his life with this team...

 

[LitlBuck]

We allowed only 62 ppg last season. We're allowing less than that this year. Defense hasn't been the problem, at least not until Lighty got hurt. We're allowing over 10 ppg more since his injury.

All I am saying is that if the loss of one starter makes this team as bad as it is playing now we certainly do not have much depth. I know I am in the minority but one player cannot mean that much when it comes to basketball defense. If there was offense, I would tend to agree more but playing zone defense the loss of one man should not hurt the team that much.


Posted by Best Buckeye

We just watched the Bucks play like 5 young players .

We are not the only team in the country that is young. Look at Purdue last year. They were young and played extremely well. I am tired of hearing about how young we are. I have heard that for the last three years. When do we have a veteran team... never:(

In addition , we keep on talking about players who are no longer here. They are no longer here so they are not going to be able to help us. I mean players leave other programs and they seem to get over it why can't we. We have to play with the guys that we have.

 

[keeganbrick]

All I am saying is that if the loss of one starter makes this team as bad as it is playing now we certainly do not have much depth. I know I am in the minority but one player cannot mean that much when it comes to basketball defense. If there was offense, I would tend to agree more but playing zone defense the loss of one man should not hurt the team that much.

In this case, Lighty means a lot to what we do with our defense. For starters, Lighty was clearly our best defender and was the leader out there on D. The press also took a huge hit without him which is clearly evident over the last few games. On top of that, Buford was coming in with fresh legs, now he is playing 30+ minutes a game and getting worn down along with everyone else because of our lack of depth. Hopefully this team can hang on til Lighty comes back and get in the tourny and make a nice run.

 

[Best Buckeye]

We are not the only team in the country that is young. Look at Purdue last year. They were young and played extremely well. .

Of course we are not the only young team in the country but we are not playing as well as Pudue did last year either. I would venture an opinion that the team knows exactly how it is playing and that it needs to toughen up , as a team, and the only question left is how long it will take them to do that. With or without Lighty they will have to toughen up for certain. And they need to do that before Lighty returns.

 

[LitlBuck]

In this case, Lighty means a lot to what we do with our defense. For starters, Lighty was clearly our best defender and was the leader out there on D. The press also took a huge hit without him which is clearly evident over the last few games. On top of that, Buford was coming in with fresh legs, now he is playing 30+ minutes a game and getting worn down along with everyone else because of our lack of depth. Hopefully this team can hang on til Lighty comes back and get in the tourny and make a nice run.

I will agree with you regarding Buford being a lot fresher if he only had to play 20 minutes. I will also agree with you regarding the fact that our full-court defense takes a hit without David. However, I will disagree with you regarding our half-court defense. Zone defense is all about communicating amongst the five guys that around the floor. It is not one guy being a leader. All five of the guys need to be saying who they are taking and were someone from the opposing team is going so the other guy can pick him up. There are way too many holes in our zone and it is because of lack of communication and that does not come from just one guy.

 

[billmac91]

I will agree with you regarding Buford being a lot fresher if she only had to play 20 minutes. I will also agree with you regarding the fact that our full-court defense takes a hit without David. However, I will disagree with you regarding our half-court defense. Zone defense is all about communicating amongst the five guys that around the floor. It is not one guy being a leader. All five of the guys need to be saying who they are taking and were someone from the opposing team is going so the other guy can pick him up. There are way too many holes in our zone and it is because of lack of communication and that does not come from just one guy.

we don't have a substitute for what David brings to the defense. Our press is token without him b/c Mullens and Lauderdale aren't quick enough to play center court. When Buford plays in the press, it forces Evan to slide out to mid-court, taking away a great, long defender at the front of the press.

It's a trickle effect, and it's hurting badly.

Losing David has turned us into a half-court team.....and we don't excel in a half-court game. When we were pressing damn near 40 minutes a agme, even when the opposing team broke the press, it was still an up-tempo game. Lot's of breakouts and transition points. Getting dragged into these half-court games is like watching a slow death.

 

[DaytonBuck]

Losing Lighty hurts but I think these stats are pretty telling about the game.

Getting out rebounded 35 to 27 and giving up 13 offensive rebounds to Minnesota really hurt. The Gophers had 20 assists to our 8. We shot 34% to there 42%.

Turner is right that it's not Lighty it's on the team. You get out rebounded and you give up that many offensive rebounds on the road and you're going to be in trouble unless shooting a higher % than we did.

 

[Fungo Squiggly]

Senior PG Mike Conley sure would've been nice.

He'd still only be a junior.