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.

This Season

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, … [Read More]

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]

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]

School: Wichita State University
Location: Wichita, KS
Founded: 1895
School Type: Public
Student Population: 14,806 total, 11,763 undergrad
Stadium: Charles Koch Arena “The Roundhouse”
Seating: 10,506
Opened: 1955
Head Coach: Gregg Marshall
Experience: 6th year

After beating their doppelganger, University of Arizona, Ohio State moves on to play Missouri Valley Conference representative Wichita State Shockers. Like Ohio State, Wichita State finished 2nd in their conference. They enter this game on a 3 game winning streak, and have won 9 of their last 12 games.

The Shockers, seeded #9, currently sit at (29-8, 12-6). Their 1st round NCAA win was against Pitt 73-55 (no surprise), but then edged Everybody’s Number One, Gonzaga 76-70. The Shockers enter this game scoring 70 points per game, while giving up 61. The numbers are very similar to Ohio State’s averages of 70 and 59 per game. The Buckeyes are a 4-point favorite, so … [Read More]

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.

Everyone, from Buckeye faithful to NBA stars to Buckeye haters were weighing in on Craft and his afternoon. Tweets ranging … [Read More]

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

So, here we are, the Sweet Sixteen, the fourth consecutive year for Thad Matta and his teams to reach this level. The winner of this game continues on to the Elite Eight and play the winner of the Wichita State (#9 seed) / LaSalle (#13 seed) on March 30th. After sending Iowa State University home (barely), Ohio State moves on to the PAC 12 to play the Wildcats of University of Arizona. They are coached by Sean Miller, and if he sounds familiar to you, ht should. He spent the 2001 – 2004 seasons as an assistant coach to our very own Thad Matta at Xavier.

The Wildcats, ranked #21 and seeded #6, currently sit at (27-7, 12-6). … [Read More]

School: Iowa State University
Location: Ames, IA
Founded: 1858
School Type: Public, Land Grant
Student Population: 31,040 total, 25,553 undergrad
Stadium: Hilton Coliseum
Seating: 14,356
Opened: 1971
Head Coach: Fred Hoiberg
Experience: 3rd year

After easily dispatching Iona College in the round of 64, Ohio State moves on to the tougher challenge of  the Cyclones of Iowa State University. The Cyclones looked to be the far better club than Notre Dame on Friday. Iowa State shot 52% from the field, and 43% from 3-point range, so clearly they are proficient at putting the ball in the hoop efficiently.

The Cyclones,  seeded 10th, currently sit at (23-11, 11-7). This game will be similar to the Iona game in that ISU scores a lot of points (80 per game) yet freely gives up points (71 per game). This is quite the contrast to OSU’s defensive average of 58 ppg, while having … [Read More]

Sam Thompson put his full game on display tonight with a 20 point/10 rebound double-double to lead OSU in a rout of their 1st round opponent Iona, 95-70.

Ah, the ebbs and flows of NCAA tournament basketball. Ohio State went on a tear midway through the 1st half (from about the 17 minute mark to the 9 minute mark) expanding their lead from 6-5 to 27-8. Times were good and we settles in to watch the rout.  Except if you’re at all familiar with OSU basketball this year, it wasn’t about to last. Over the next seven minutes, the Gaels outscored the Bucks 25-10 to pull within 4 points, 37-33. Ohio State strung together the final 6 points to go into the break with a 43-33 lead.

Even though the Buckeyes shot well in the 1st half, 50% FG, 75% 3-pt, 80% Ft, it was the defense that powered this … [Read More]