Question Chain : OSU Basketball

[NINJA BUCK13]

I've never seen or heard of anything like this but I'm going to give it a try to attempt to stir up some OSU basketball discussion. As this offseason drags on, seemingly forever, not getting any closer to the tip-off of the 2011-2012 OSU Basketball season, all we can do right now is watch replays of last season's squad on BTN and make predictions for this up-coming season.

There are a number of things that I'm curious to see how the Buckeye's finest forum members feel about. The following are some questions for the upcoming 2011 - 2012 season. If you answer a question from a post before yours, please post a question of your own to Buckeye Nation about the up-coming '11-'12 basketball season, thus hopefully creating a chain of 'Q' & 'A's about Thad Matta's deepest team ever. Maybe this will help us get through this long offseason..........

Q - What will the final win/loss record be?

Q - We know the top4 returning players will be in the rotation and most likely start (Craft, Buford, Thomas, Sully). Who will be the 5th starter?

Q - Who will make up the rest of the rotation and how deep on the bench will Thad go?

Q - Who will be the surprise emerging player of this season?

Q - Which freshman will have the biggest impact?

Q - Does anybody know what jersey #'s that any of the freshman will wear?

Q - Will William Buford become OSU's all-time leading scorer? (He would need to avg. about 16.5 PPG)

 

[Bill Lucas]

There are a lot of us who are very enthusiastic about Ohio State basketball but the fact is that this forum is going to take a backseat as it always does during football season. Especially when you factor in this seasons football off season.

 

[Onebuckfan]

I don.t wanna put the jinx on the Bball program..no news is good news:)

 

[NINJA BUCK13]

I think that the win/loss record will be 37-3 (17-1) with a loss in the Final Four. That's 1 non-conference loss, 1 conference loss, and a loss in the semi-finals in the tourney.:osu:

B1G Champs and B1G Tourney Champs.:osu:

I could see us winning it all but I'm guessing a loss in the Final Four. That will put Sully 2 steps closer to his title (Sweet 16 last year) and could be enough to sway him into coming back for his Jr. season to win a championship. There's just not many teams out there, if any, that will be better than OSU. We should cruise through the B1G.
_________________________________________________

Q - Who will be our leading scorer this season?
Sullinger?
Buford?
Thomas?
Other?
Dumb Question?

 

[DZ83CK]

Q - What will the final win/loss record be?
Too early to say for sure, but the only teams that seem to be better than OSU on paper are UNC and UK, and they aren't on the regular season schedule - they could take an unbeaten streak deeper into the year than they did last year
Q - We know the top4 returning players will be in the rotation and most likely start (Craft, Buford, Thomas, Sully). Who will be the 5th starter?
It is not likely that you could name all 5 starters accurately at this point - Sully and WB will start, because they are just better than everyone else on the team, but after that it really depends on what Matta wants/prefers. It appears there will be several players with a similar talent level, none of them appear to be locks to make All-Big Ten 1st, 2nd or 3rd team. OSU is replacing 3 starters, there will be open competition for those 3 spots and how the lineup shakes out depends on what Matta's preferences are and how much guys improve this summer (i.e., does he want a great ballhandling/stealing combo with SS and AC or a lineup with more length and size at the 2 and 3 spots? will he play a bigger frontcourt with JS primarily at the 4? is DT capable of guarding the 3 effectively? has Sibert improved such that he can fill Jon's role admirably?). AC and DT will make the rotation, and I expect Sibert to be much improved and make the rotation as well. Scott and Williams are very likely to make the rotation because they are good at playing the two most difficult positions to fill ... Ross has a decent chance but is at a position where OSU has more options.
Q - Who will make up the rest of the rotation and how deep on the bench will Thad go?
Rotation will include Jared, WB, AC, DT, Jordan, Shannon and Amir for sure. Beyond that, it depends on whether the rest of the guys prove capable of earning a role - we know Matta isn't inclined to hand minutes to guys just to get another body in the game, so nothing is guaranteed to any of those guys.
Q - Who will be the surprise emerging player of this season?
Jordan Sibert - I think he can be a solid replacement for Diebler and might play a lot more than people expect.
Q - Which freshman will have the biggest impact?
Shannon Scott - he has elite quickness, great handles, great at getting steals, high IQ, and he's a playmaker - you don't keep a guy like that out of the lineup when you've just lost two wings who played a ton of minutes and did a great job of handling the ball, making plays and not turning it over - ballhandling and pressuring the ball are too important to Matta for Scott to not have a big impact. Amir, he seems to struggle with his intensity level, so that's why I'm not picking him even though he plays at a position of greater need than Shannon. Ross, he turns the ball over too much for a guy at a position that's pretty well stocked on this team - Ross has a really bright future, but I don't think he will be a standout this year - kind of like how ET didn't really shine as a frosh due to turnover problems.
Q - Does anybody know what jersey #'s that any of the freshman will wear?
Keep checking the roster on the ohiostatebuckeyes.com website, they will update the roster sometime this summer with heights, weights and numbers ... I think they usually do it right after the incoming frosh report, but this may have been delayed by Amir's late arrival.
Q - Will William Buford become OSU's all-time leading scorer? (He would need to avg. about 16.5 PPG)
No.

 

[NINJA BUCK13]

DZ________I completely agree about Sibert becoming a key contributor this season. I really like his game. He appears to have a very good looking jump shot, he just had dozens of shots go in and out of the rim last season. Sibert shot a similar % as a freshman (about 30%) than Deibler did when he was a freshman so I'm not worried about that.

Sibert actually reminds me more of William Bufird than Deibler, and I beleive that's where he will ultimately contribute the most as a buckeye, as Buford's back-up this season and replacement after the season.

Also noticeably absent from your post was Sam Thompson. You didn't even mention Thompson, and I happen to beleive that he'll have a big impact this season, and possibly even beat out Sibert, Scott, & Williams for the final starting spot. Is that crazy talk DZ?

 

[Atlbuck3]

Just guess but as far as numbers go for freshmen
Scott #3 wore number 3 in all his all american games
Williams #25 twitter account is AW_25 however his is hard to guess because he said that he changed his number every year for high school for no reason at all just to do it.
QRoss #21 twitter name Qross21 and he stated many times how he liked the role evan turner played
Mcdonald 55 twitter name is osujuice55 or somehting like that
Thompson #25 and again twitter name..


Word from practice is ross' scoring ability has been impressive I look for him to have a huge impact as a scorer on the court. 6'8 with a 7+ wingspan he is a match up nightmare because he has a skill set of a 2 guard. Not to mention he did a good job guarding top 5 center for 2012 in Kaleb Tarcwebski in the hoop hall classic. I believe a unit of just the freshmen would cause mis matches for any team with an elite guard in scott, huge wing in ross and atheltic freak in thompson and an agile Mcdonald to run the floor and big of Williams to man the paint.

This team will go deep in the bench and hopefully deep int he tourney.

 

[NINJA BUCK13]

I heard that Q has actually grown to 6'9" but he's not talkin' about it because he was already getting teased for being a 6'8" SG, he doesn't want to be known as a 6'9" SG. Anybody else hear that about 2 or 3 weeks ago? LaQuinton seems like a very shy guy and he has trouble with public speaking. I think that's why he always dropin' twitter bombs. Shy guy.

As for the jersey numbers......
I would guess...

Scott - #3
Thompson - #25
Q Ross - #21
T-Mac - #55
Williams - #33?

 

[NINJA BUCK13]

Q - Other than Buford graduating, 12 of the 13 players on this years roster could return. It's not likely that all 12 do (NBA, transfer, academic, etc). Who of the 12 will not be on next year's roster, if any?

Q - Does Aaron Craft's game translate to the NBA down the road?

Q - Who is the best 'pro' prospect on the team?

 

[Atlbuck3]

I see Sullinger going pro, and if Thomas as a stellar season i can see him making the jump, but if he averages less than 15 i see him coming back. Possible transfers i would assume to be lenzelle and J.D lenzelle is in a bad position being that there are 2 people ahead of him on the depth chart for both his positions and both those people are a freshmen (Scott at pg Ross at Sg) and a sophomore (Craft at Pg and Sibert at sg) JD like lenzelle is a tweener (too amall for desired position his style is similar to dwight howard for his explosiveness)

Craft i see having a great college career but don't see the NBA scouts desiring him. His defense is elite however in the NBA the elite perimeter defenders the scouts want are in the 6'4-6'9 range because they can guard multiple positions craft at 6'2 or 6'3 can only guard an NBA pg while in college he can guard the 1-3. The NBA is alot bigger than people realize, Jason Kidd isnt as effective as he once was on offense but is an elite defender, guarding Kobe, Wade and at times LBJ in the playoffs. He's listed at 6'5.

The best pro prospect besides Sullinger and Buford might actually be scott, not because he is an Atlanta native and a clear bias on my part but NBAdraft.net has him going in the first round in their 2013 draft. I also have high hopes for Laquinton ross if he develops a consistent intense game. If he is able to extend his game and have the ability to guard the 1-4 with his size then scouts would love him.

 

[NINJA BUCK13]

Craft just reminds me of the guy that nobody gives him a chance but he ends up proving everybody wrong.

As for LaQuinton Ross, he really reminds me of a Tracy McGrady/Rashard Lewis type. I think his game is built more for the NBA than college, and the opposite way for Craft.

 

[DZ83CK]

DZ________I completely agree about Sibert becoming a key contributor this season. I really like his game. He appears to have a very good looking jump shot, he just had dozens of shots go in and out of the rim last season. Sibert shot a similar % as a freshman (about 30%) than Deibler did when he was a freshman so I'm not worried about that.

Sibert actually reminds me more of William Bufird than Deibler, and I beleive that's where he will ultimately contribute the most as a buckeye, as Buford's back-up this season and replacement after the season.

Also noticeably absent from your post was Sam Thompson. You didn't even mention Thompson, and I happen to beleive that he'll have a big impact this season, and possibly even beat out Sibert, Scott, & Williams for the final starting spot. Is that crazy talk DZ?

I'm sure you've noticed I've been off about judging PT for incoming freshmen before, but I just don't think Sam is going to play a lot this year. Sam has a lot of talent, but OSU is stacked at the 1-3 positions (you know Matta likes to stick with his best players), and he's a jack-of-all-trades master of none type who's got to add strength. The one thing that could get ST on the court is his quickness and length defensively, but again I wonder how his lack of bulk will hold him back - obviously it didn't hurt Durant, but he's a different animal.

 

[MaxBuck]

Defense and rebounding will get you far with Coach Matta. I'm keeping that in mind as we approach the 2011-12 season. It will be fascinating to see who in the freshman (and even sophomore) class gets the PT this season. Aside from Sully and Craft, it's a bit of a crapshoot. Buford is the only other given IMO.

 

[Atlbuck3]

Recent tweet

(Amir Williams) @AW_25 No somebody took it last year :( ..so I'm 23! RT @baileyreneexo: @AW_25 r u #1 at osu

I heard that Q has actually grown to 6'9" but he's not talkin' about it because he was already getting teased for being a 6'8" SG, he doesn't want to be known as a 6'9" SG. Anybody else hear that about 2 or 3 weeks ago? LaQuinton seems like a very shy guy and he has trouble with public speaking. I think that's why he always dropin' twitter bombs. Shy guy.

As for the jersey numbers......
I would guess...

Scott - #3
Thompson - #25
Q Ross - #21
T-Mac - #55
Williams - #33?

 

[buckhoopsterfan]

Although this isn't sent in stone, my son attended the Buckeye Camp, and the players signed his poster with the following numbers (besides Amir Williams, who wasn't there)

LaQuintion Ross... #10
Sam Thompson... # 12
Shannon Scott... #3
Evan Ravenel... #30 (His signature is hard to read though)
Trey MacDonald... #55

As for the jersey numbers......
I would guess...

Scott - #3
Thompson - #25
Q Ross - #21
T-Mac - #55
Williams - #33?[/QUOTE]