Buckeye Blogger Network
Thomas was pretty excited – you should be too.
I couldn’t believe an entire basketball season had passed us by and I hadn’t yet written a Buckeye Basketball Breakdown. It just goes to show you what the final year of a graduate studies program can do to your soul…and your free time. But those are similar really.
Given how the NCAA Tournament wrapped up, I wanted to take the opportunity to talk about what we saw this year from the Buckeyes, and what we might have to look forward to in the future.
I will be the first to admit that I was particularly worried about this team going into Big Ten play. Seeing the Buckeyes meltdown against Duke, struggle with Kansas at home, and generally perform lackadaisically in the first half of every game, I was quite pessimistic on the night of January 4th. I knew the team was growing, I could see their development, but I was extremely worried by what I had seen to that point.
And then the first Illinois game happened the very next day.
Surprisingly, my opinions of the team improved dramatically after that. They fought hard and picked up a pair of wins in that four game stretch, including a huge win against Michigan. They started to clue in to how to play proper basketball, but they were still missing something.
And then Wisconsin happened.
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Basketball season is officially over. Depending on your perspective on how you look at the season’s overall content, this year was either a huge overachieving success or a flaming disaster. It’s Wednesday night, let’s rumble!
Shocked
There really is no better word for the majority of Buckeye Nation’s overriding feeling on Saturday night after the final horn sounded. They were shocked, me included.
How could Wichita State seemingly blow the doors off of our beloved Buckeyes for the better part of 30 minutes and hang on to eliminate the West region’s number 2 seed? How could a Buckeye team that only two weeks ago in Chicago appeared to be finally hitting its stride look so terrible in a regional final with a trip to the Final Four on the line?
“Wichita beat Ohio State?!”
Like Janelle the week before, tBBC was representing loud and proud as Ohio State’s basketball team moved onward through the West Regional to Los Angeles’ Staples Center.
Starting Wednesday of last week, I was fortunate to get an “up close” look at the team as they prepared for and worked to earn a right to head to Atlanta for the championships. And while the weekend didn’t end with the Buckeye’s cutting down the nets, it was a memorable one for many reasons.
Satellite Office
Another Tuesday, another week, another month. Grab your coffee and let’s dive in.
Welcome to a special Ohio State men’s basketball edition. Now that, as far as we’re concerned, basketball season is on, it may be time for some reflection. This article is in two parts; first some commentary on the Ohio State – Wichita State game, then thoughts on the season in general.
Ohio State – Wichita State
Before I get too far into this, I want to acknowledge the beautifully conceived and executed game plan on the part of Gregg Marshall and his WSU team. They clearly identified OSU’s weaknesses and exploited them.
On to Part the First. I was in Ohio over Easter weekend getting some high quality family time, so I did not participate in the ingame live blog, which was probably good, all things considered. What follows are some comments/questions that arose around our television Saturday evening.
The 1st half was as big a clinker as I’ve seen this team have in some time. The offense seemed to me to be completely out of sorts and very passive, settling for jump shots. There seemed to be no ‘learning’ from the 2nd of the Arizona game where aggressive play created higher percentage FG opportunities. The 22 points in Saturday’s 1st half were “driven” by the 24% shooting, and a strange, awful appearance of ‘Bo Ball’. The Buckeyes were 2-10 from 3’s and only attempted 7 free throws. For 20 minutes, Ohio State managed to out-Wisconsin Wisconsin.
At this point, the game turned into Greek myth/tragedy, with the part of Sisyphus played by Ohio State. Six minutes into the game, OSU took the lead, held it for approximately one minute, and then was faced with a series of uphill climbs for the rest of the game. The Buckeyes just couldn’t get any scoring runs going. Since WSU did a good job of getting back on defense, OSU couldn’t get the breakaway baskets they needed and had to resort to a half-court offense, which frankly, isn’t the best.
The Season
In January I did a little piece on how I saw the basketball team, up to that point in the season. I harped on five issues, let’s revisit them to see what had changed in the last two and a half months. You may need to toggle between articles. Take your time.
1. This is not that good of a shooting team, particularly in key games
I didn’t think so then, I don’t think so now. Back then they were shooting 46.1%, good for 52nd nationally. The Buckeyes ended the season shooting 45.1%, good for 79th position.
2. This is an inconsistent team
I don’t believe this point has changed much either. Generally, OSU tended to start their games very slow, muddle through the first half’s, then play much more focused and with more energy in the second half.
3. This is a team with no legitimate post presence.
This became more obvious as the season progressed. The Buckeyes played their best ball when they went ‘small’. The formula that ‘Dr. Thad’ concocted was to start Amir Williams to win the opening tip then make substitutions at the first media time out.
4. This team is not fun to watch
They didn’t bore us to death, that’s for sure. This is one issue where I’ve changed my mind. As Thad settled on his starting lineup and substitution patterns, it seemed like the players began to gel as a true team. After the ‘Mauling in Madison’, I think the players stepped up to take responsibility for their actions and executing the game plan. And the results showed. If nothing else, this aspect can be taken as a huge win for the coaches and the players.
5. Coaching Impact
Just to be clear, this pertains to player development, not coaching strategies, etc. My bone of contention was that I had not seen significant, if any, improvement between sophomore and junior years of Craft, Smith Jr and Thomas. My position hasn’t changed on that. However, I saw significant improvement in sophomores Sam Thompson, LaQuinton Ross, and (at the very end of the season) a glimmer of hope this year Amir Williams. Now, if these three can show same improvements between their sophomore to junior year as they did this year, I’d say Thad & Staff have done a very good job.
Disappointed..?
Not really, no.
Thanks for one helluva ride..
My brother and I were discussing this over Sunday morning coffee when he made the observation that ‘ maybe Ohio State overachieved this year.’ The team lost 32 points per game (Sullinger/Buford) and the returning three starters (Thomas/Craft/Smith Jr) contributed 31 ppg. Losing half of your starters’ offensive output provided some challenges of where to find it.
This team may also have been ‘victimized’ by expectations that were set too high. The Buckeyes started out ranked #4 in the country. Why & how eludes me; clearly people should have known that ‘Sully’ and ‘Buf’ had moved on..
Finally, I had commented several times/several places during the course of the season that it would not have surprised me if OSU would lose 10 games during the regular season, due in great part to the above five issues (silly me). The fact that this team came together to finish the season having won 12 of their last 14 games, with an 11 game win streak tossed in, speaks volumes to how the players and coaches figured it out. This speaks very well for all of them.
Some weekend, eh? Grab your coffee and let’s get right to it.
Men’s Basketball
A week that started out fairly well, then crashed and burned. In the NCAA’s, they’ve managed to dust Iowa State 78-75, Arizona 73-70 and then fell flat against Wichita State 66-70. I don’t have much to add to the fine recaps, above, however you can bet that after some musing on my part, I’ll have something to say next week. It seemed that Thad was pushing the right buttons and the team responded in the first two games. On Saturday, things were pretty disjointed. I’d hoped the 2nd half effort against Arizona would carry into the WSU game, but alas, no. Although the offense gott significant points from senior junior DeShaun Thomas and LQR, that was it, unfortunately.
General Thoughts
I hate to do this, but let’s start with a definition: to dislike intensely or passionately; feel extreme aversion for or extreme hostility toward; detest: to hate the enemy. Read More
In the NCAA Tournament timing is everything. For the Buckeyes, they picked the wrong time to play their worst possible game and Wichita State picked the right time to play high level basketball. The final result……the Shockers advance to the Final Four for the first time since 1965 with a 70-66 victory over Ohio State.
The Buckeyes came out flat from the very beginning. They didn’t shoot well, they didn’t play good defense, and most importantly, they didn’t play like a team which led to a halftime deficit of 35-22 behind 8-33 shooting. The second half started out just like the horrific first half. The Shockers continued to hit shots and make plays and was able to hold a 20 point lead at one point in the second half. A big part of the Wichita State success was freshman Fred Van Fleet. He hit key shots down the stretch and finished the game with 12. Ohio State decided to start playing around the ten minute led by a full court press and LaQuinton Ross’ shooting. They were able to get the lead down to 4 but unfortunately for the Buckeyes it wasn’t enough.
The Positives:
1. Fight – After what was absolutely embarrassing first 30 minutes to the game, the Buckeyes showed they weren’t going away without a fight. The final 10 minutes of the game was all Ohio State but it just wasn’t enough.
2. The “Q” – LaQuinton Ross had a solid game scoring finishing with 19. He went 4-12 from the field and he was able to get to free throw line in which he hit 9-10.
The Negatives:
1. Poor Shooting – The Buckeyes shot absolutely horrendous from the field. Their dismal 31% barely topped their worst of the year when they shot 30% against Kansas. They settled for jump shots and didn’t really look to drive to the basket until they had fallen too far behind. In the first half of the game, they had Wichita State in the bonus early and never was able to get to the double bonus.
2. Foul Trouble – The Buckeyes averaged 15.8 fouls per game this year. They finished the game with 22 which included Smith Jr. fouling out, Thomas with 4 and Craft with 4.
3. Lack of Defense – Ohio State has made a living of creating turnovers and being able to score points off those turnovers. Tonight, they were only able to force 12 turnovers and didn’t score a single point off any of them.
Ohio State’s season comes to end with a final record of 29-8. In a season of ups and downs, the Buckeyes were able to make an exciting run at the end of the season but fell just short of their goal. They could have laid down in the middle of the season and they could have laid down tonight but they didn’t. They showed heart and they showed some pride. I speak for all of Buckeye Nation when I say that I am proud of how this team fought this year to get where they did with no “real stars”. We here at The Buckeye Battle Cry look forward to next year but it doesn’t mean we are done……be sure to check back often for all your Buckeye news.
The Buckeyes have advanced to their fourth straight Sweet 16 and look to continue hitting their stride in the city of angels tomorrow night against Arizona. Spring football practice has reconvened. The Big Ten has 4 of the 16 teams still vying for the Final Four. It’s Wednesday, let’s rumble!
He’s Crafty
The range of emotions regarding feelings toward Buckeye point guard Aaron Craft hit the highest of highs and the lowest of lows during Sunday’s 3rd round matchup with Iowa State. The nations best defender was on his game, went through a folly of errors, missed the front ends of two one-and-one free throw attempts, then made the games two biggest defensive plays, drove in for a layup and finally proceeded to drop a bomb to seal the deal.
“Smooth Criminal” Craft gets the last word on Georges Niang
School: University of Arizona
Location: Tucson, AZ
Founded: 1885
School Type: Public
Student Population: 39,236 total, 30,867 undergrad
Stadium: McKale Center
Seating: 14,545
Opened: 1973
Head Coach: Sean Miller
Experience: 4th year
