The Buckeye Battle Cry: Ohio State News and Commentary » Lenzelle Smith Jr.

Tuesday Thoughts: OSU Men’s Hoops Edition

Ken — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 16:00:55 +0000

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 … [Read More]

Monday Musings

Ken — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 12:03:46 +0000

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; … [Read More]

Pregame Glance – Kansas Jayhawks

WVaBuckeye — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 15:00:38 +0000

There is simply no amount of Listerine that can wash out the bad taste left in those returning players mouths having endured two losses to Kansas last season; one on December 10, 2011 (78-67) and one at the Final Four in New Orleans on March 31, 2012 (64-62). They will just have to take care of their home court where they have the 5th longest streak for wins against non-conference opponents sitting at 39. WVU was their last home loss in this regard in December of 2008 almost exactly four years ago. Tim Shoemaker did a great Tale of the Tape. Let’s take a look at this top ten battle.

Saturday, December 22 4:00pm on CBS

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School:	University of Kansas (KU)
Location:	Lawrence, Kansas
Founded:Motto	1865; I shall see this great sight, why the bush does not burn (Exodus 3:3)
Student Population:	29,462
School Type:	Public, Flagship, Space Grant
Division:	NCAA

Pregame Glance – Winthrop

WVaBuckeye — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 23:00:11 +0000

The Buckeyes take on 4-4 Winthrop University from the Big South conference in their next match-up and are on a roll since losing to Duke. The Eagles are on a little roll themselves having dispatched the other “Ohio” team as our least favorite buffoon from up north likes to say. The Eagles beat the Bobcats 50-49 with a late push and two final second free throws from their star player. Let’s take a look at the school from Rock Hill, SC.

… [Read More]

School:	Winthrop University
Location:	Rock Hill, South Carolina
Founded:	1886 – Veritas cum liberate “Truth with Liberty”
Student Population:	6,170
School Type:	Public
Division:	NCAA
Conference:	Big South
Stadium:	Winthrop Coliseum
Seating:	6,100
Built:	October 1982
Head Coach:	Pat Kelsey(Xavier 98) First Season as a head coach
Experience & Accomplishments	Before stepping away from basketball following the 2010-11 season, Kelsey was the associate head coach at his alma mater

That’s just the way it is Bulldogs, Buckeyes Win 90-72

Eric — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 19:01:23 +0000

Keith Hornsby led the UNC Asheville Bulldogs into Columbus but wasn’t able to do enough to keep the Buckeyes from running away with this one by a score of 90-72. Hornsby was an unstoppable shooting machine today, hitting a ridiculous 9-12 from the floor, 6-8 from three, for 26 points to go with 4 rebounds. That’s an incredible game from the young guard. He was joined in double digits by Jeremy Atkinson (11), and Will Weeks (10). The Buckeyes saw four players break double digits including: Sam Thompson (18), DeShaun Thomas (17), Lenzelle Smith (16), and Evan Ravenel (12).

Not surprisingly, the Buckeyes also ran away with the Bruce Hornsby puns – Keith Hornsby is the son of the famous grammy winning artist. That leads us to the musical selection for this recap.

No, seriously. Do yourself a favor and read through the LiveBlog transcript. The puns are gloriously horrible.… [Read More]

Next Four Games Crucial for Buckeyes’ Success

Tim Shoemaker — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 00:31:49 +0000

Many Buckeye basketball fans may just want to fast forward two weeks from Saturday.

Ohio State will host Kansas, the team that beat OSU not once, but twice last season and knocked the Buckeyes out of the NCAA tournament in the Final Four.

But, in fact, OSU can’t afford to fast forward, because between now and then it has four games it must use as a way to improve before the date with the Jayhawks.

Over the next two weeks, Ohio State has games against Long Beach State, Savannah State, UNC Ashville and Winthrop. Four games OSU should win easily, but it needs to get better before Dec. 22.

The Buckeyes were somewhat exposed in their 73-68 loss to Duke. That game made me think of three questions I would like to see answered in the next two weeks before the Kansas game.

1. Who will step up on this … [Read More]

Pre-Game Glance – Rhode Island

WVaBuckeye — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 21:00:31 +0000

The #4 Buckeyes are playing in the Naismith HOF Tip-off this weekend at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT. Coming off a fresh beating of Albany University, they square-off against a Rhode Island team that is 0-2 and facing an uphill climb in the Atlantic Ten this season. The Buckeyes spread the wealth very well in the first “official” game, after the cancellation of the Carrier Classic against Marquette, and took care of Albany relatively easy. Amazingly, the Great Danes followed that loss two days later with a 63-62 upset win at Washington on Tuesday evening. That tells us they may have been a better test than originally thought. Lets take a look at Rhode Island.

… [Read More]

School:	Rhode Island University
Location:	Kingston, RI
Founded:	1892, Motto – “Think BIG, We do”
Student Population:	19,095
School Type:	Public
Division:	NCAA
Conference:	Atlantic Ten Conference
Stadium:	The Ryan Center
Seating:	8,121
Built:	2002
Head

2012 Basketball Preview: Lenzelle Smith, Jr.

Eric — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 23:56:26 +0000

After a season spent riding the pine behind Aaron Craft and Jon Diebler, Lenzelle Smith came into his own as a starter last season for the Buckeyes. His transition to the 2 role on the team was a little rocky at first, but he settled in and managed to have several strong showings towards the end of the year. His place is now pretty well cemented, and he’s poised to have a true breakout year this season.

Hometown: Zion, Illinois
High School: Zion-Benton
Position: Guard (2)
Year: Junior
Height: 6-4
Weight: 205

High School Awards:

- Illinois Class 4A First Team(2010)
- High School Academic All-American (2010)
- First Team All-State (2009)

Lenzelle Smith was a three star athlete by scout.com out of Zion-Benton high school. He’s a left-handed player with a smooth shooting stoke and solid ability to distribute the ball. We regularly saw him in his first season … [Read More]