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Ohio State vs #14 Wisconsin (official game thread)

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It's going to be an uphill battle in OSU's effort to earn an NCAA tournament bid. I assumed the Buckeyes were in solid standing until I took a peek at your remaining schedule......and it's flat out BRUTAL
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That game might be winnable if all the players walk off the team or at least White and Gordon. Also, the Big 10 did not do us any favors by pushing the Wisconsin game up to Sunday because we have to go to the cell phone:sad: House on Tuesday.

Oh, don't count your victory just yet. We have had a week's rest and give Thad some time to prepare and we might just be all right come Sunday.
 
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Dispatch

Ohio State men's basketball
Unfilled seats might prompt policy change

Saturday, February 23, 2008 3:03 AM
By Bob Baptist


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

The Ohio State men's basketball game against Wisconsin on Sunday will be the Buckeyes' fifth consecutive sellout of 19,049 in Value City Arena.
You might think otherwise if you saw the glaring hole of unoccupied seats in the west end of the lower bowl for their last home game, Feb. 10 against Indiana.
Students bought the seats before the season. Rarely have they been filled. But "Indiana was the worst," said Bill Jones, assistant athletic director for ticketing and premium seating.
Indiana was No. 14 and only the second ranked team to play in the arena this season. The Buckeyes are fighting for a spot in the NCAA Tournament. Fans were encouraged to wear white clothes, and given white towels to wave, to create a "white-out" effect for national television.
"It's really frustrating to us," Jones said. "(Students) want us to do this and this and this and this (for them), and when we do it, they don't show."

Continued......
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Dispatch

February 22, 2008

Gloves off for Wisconsin

The Buckeyes were put on the mat two weeks ago by Indiana center D.J. White. They will face more than one lumberjack Sunday against Wisconsin.
The Badgers will play tag team with 6-foot-11 Brian Butch and Greg Stiemsma. Forwards Marcus Landry and Joe Krabbenhoft are no wallflowers, either. Stiemsma set the screen Wednesday that separated the shoulder of Illinois? Brian Randle and ended his college career.
Coach Thad Matta said today that the Buckeyes? 49-48 win over Wisconsin last season in Value City was more like a football game.
?I think I got tackled a couple times in that game,? David Lighty said. ?I?ve got to put my pads on and get ready for the game Sunday.?
With that in mind, Ohio State scrimmaged this week without calling fouls, Kosta Koufos said. Pretty much anything went.
?There?s been some cases we?ve gone up to the rim and Dallas (Lauderdale) or myself will like knock (the other) off his feet and they won?t call a foul. We?re like, `OK, just go with it,?? Koufos said.
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Best Buckeye;1099276; said:
A whole week without a men' s game really is hard for me. How do I get thru the summer?
Oh well, we need this game badly IMO. so let me start out by saying ;
LET'S GO BUCKEYES
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I agree about being tough, but lets hope that it allowed our guys to get a little rest and little practice time which they needed...
 
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Bucky Katt;1098365; said:
OSU will probably start with some sort of full-court press, but not a particularly aggressive one. It doesn't seem to cause a lot of turnovers, just kill an extra 3-5 seconds off of the shot clock. If Wisky can get through it for a couple easy baskets, OSU will fall back out of it and just settle into the 3-2 zone. It is not a particularly aggressive zone, either. Very little ball-pressure when a guy is outside of his range. (Sometimes very little ball-pressure when he is in his range, too. :p) OSU only forces 12.5 turnovers per game.
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The first part sounds similar to what Illinois employed against Wisconsin defensively. It wasn't particularly effective either. Actually UW exploited the Illni for several easy buckets which essentially killed their momentum. Hughes and the Badgers don't struggle against full court pressure persay. He's pretty skilled at running and gunning growing up on the New York asphalt.

However the second part is concerning because perimeter oriented zones are what's been the cryptonite for the swing offense, as LitlBuck alluded to. I'd prefer a matchup against a 3-2 zone over a 1-3-1, but neither is condusive to maximum offensive success for UW. Can the Badgers score adequately against the Buckeyes regardless? Probably. But they'll have to execute better in the other areas which Ryan stresses, i.e.: ball security (should come to fruition based on your comment) and foul differential; if they want to gain an advantage over the Buckeyes.

LitlBuck said:
Oh, don't count your victory just yet
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I never did. This is the Badgers last reasonably loseable game the rest of the season. I'm not particularly worried about Sparty at home. Bo owns Izzo. If we beat the Buckeyes we likely have a share of the Big Ten Title secured......so this game has major implications for Wisconsin as well.

Hey, I need some outsider perspectives on an issue with Wisconsin. Does anybody else think it's ridiculous that the Badgers are projected to have the same seed as Purdue in the NCAA tourney when:

1. We are ranked 18 spots higher in the RPI (12th v. 30th).
2. We are 8-2 rd/neutral v. 7-5 for Purdue
3. We don't have any bad losses whereas Purdue lost to Wofford at home and Iowa State on a neutral court.
4. We have 2 less losses

I realize we lost to Purdue twice, but Wisconsin beat Indiana on the road who beat Purdue. Duke just lost to Miami and Wake Forest. Should they be ranked behind those teams? You rely too much on head to head to determine the caliber of teams and you end up resorting to circular logic. Styles make fights and matchups make basketball games. Head to head should only be used as a tiebreaker between two teams with similar resumes, with a seasons worth of evidence to draw upon, IMO.
 
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Bernini;1099586; said:
TI never did. This is the Badgers last reasonably loseable game the rest of the season. I'm not particularly worried about Sparty at home. Bo owns Izzo. If we beat the Buckeyes we likely have a share of the Big Ten Title secured......so this game has major implications for Wisconsin as well.

Hey, I need some outsider perspectives on an issue with Wisconsin. Does anybody else think it's ridiculous that the Badgers are projected to have the same seed as Purdue in the NCAA tourney when:

1. We are ranked 18 spots higher in the RPI (12th v. 30th).
2. We are 8-2 rd/neutral v. 7-5 for Purdue
3. We don't have any bad losses whereas Purdue lost to Wofford at home and Iowa State on a neutral court.
4. We have 2 less losses.
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I think you have to remember that those 2 bad Purdue losses came early in the season and a have a lot of young guys in their starting lineup. If you guys lost to Purdue twice this season, you should not be complaining if you get a similar seed as Purdue and no matter who won against Indiana... I know you not to say scoreboard.

I would not care if you share the Big 10 title as long as it does not come at the expense of an Ohio State lost to the Badgers. I sure as hell don't want Indiana to win it out right.
 
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Steve19;1099541; said:
How often have we had students whining and whining on BP about seats being reserved for the folks that paid to build the Schott?
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I think they should give the public a better shot at tickets. When Ohio State used to play at St. John and it was during the breaks, the athletic department would sell the tickets to the general public and the place went almost sellout and the crowd would be very raucous. I think if they would lower the price for the upper bowl tickets that go unsold to the students you would see a much better turnout. The general public does not buy tickets not to use them or resell them.
 
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CPD

OHIO STATE MEN'S BASKETBALL



Badgers an irksome pain during Matta's reign



Sunday, February 24, 2008 Doug Lesmerises

Plain Dealer Reporter
Columbus- Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan believes Ohio State is lying in wait for his Badgers today.
"They know this is the time they've got to make their push," he told reporters in Madison, Wis., this week. "And what's better than having a ranked team coming into your place? They're licking their chops for sure."
Maybe more like licking their wounds. And the Buckeyes could probably find another team they'd rather face - with their NCAA Tournament hopes still in doubt - than their biggest nemesis of the last four years.
@StoryAd
Since Thad Matta took over at Ohio State for the 2004-05 season, the Buckeyes and Badgers are each 49-20 in Big Ten regular-season and conference-tournament play, more than five games better than everyone else. But with a 3-5 record against Wisconsin, Matta has had less success against the Badgers than any other team, often because Ryan's experienced grinders have managed to bog down the better Buckeyes athletes.
"I think I got tackled a couple times in that game last year," OSU sophomore David Lighty said.
He was talking about Ohio State's 49-48 win in Columbus on Feb. 25, 2007, which had been the nation's last No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup before Memphis and Tennessee went at it Saturday night.
"That wasn't a basketball game, that was a football game," Matta said. "That was unlike anything I'd ever seen before, just the physicality of that game."




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Dispatch
Ohio State men's basketball
Buckeyes focus on team concept
Spirited practices foster camaraderie, trust
Sunday, February 24, 2008 3:43 AM
By Bob Baptist


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Given twice as much time as he usually has between games, Ohio State coach Thad Matta used the time last week to break down some of what might be causing his players to break down. He broke some practices into what he calls "four-minute wars" and pitted players against each other in games.
"Designed to create camaraderie among teammates, (trust among) teammates and (to) build up your competitive nature," freshman Kosta Koufos said.
Matta also gave the players four goals:
"Toughness, competitiveness, next-play mentality and just sticking together," sophomore David Lighty said. "Four different aspects we always have to have with us on the court."
Will the fours add up to the 40 minutes of basketball for which Matta has been waiting almost four months? That might be what it will take for the Buckeyes (17-9, 8-5 Big Ten) to beat Wisconsin today in Value City Arena and reverse their momentum in their bid for a spot in the NCAA Tournament.



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