MEANBRUTUS.COM ARCHIVES
2007-08-27
Opening with a yawner of a schedule a good thing
So if you haven't noticed, Ohio State doesn't really have the toughest of schedules to open the 2007 season. In fact, the power of suggestion is clearly in play. The first four opponents' first initial spells out Y-A-W-N (Youngstown State, Akron, Washington, Northwestern). But I would say that is just what this team needs.
Returning 11 starters from last year's 12-1 team that got spanked in the national championship game is OK, not great. It would normally allow for an 8-4 season. I think this year would have been the same if not for the schedule. I won't say that it still won't be an 8-4 type year, but the potential for more is there.
The starting QB's play will go a long way toward getting this team to a possible 10-win season. Either Todd Boeckman or Rob Schoenhoft will have to prove to The Vest -- and quickly -- that they can be trusted to make the right decisions, help take pressure of the running game and be a general leader. If the starter doesn't allow Tress to trust them, the running game will stagnate and Beanie Wells will be reduced to a bigger version of, dare I say, Little Ross. Having to back into the line because the Big Uglies in fron t of him couldn't handle the nine guys the defense put in the box. Think back to the 2001 season when Craig Krenzel somehow directed OSU to a win in Ann Arbor completing only three passes. The Bucks won't be so lucky this time around if The Vest doesn't take the training wheels off the starting QB.
If OSU can get by Washington (I'm counting it as their first loss mostly because I've barely recovered from the last time OSU traveled to Seattle and took a 40-7 beatdown), the schedule is favorable. Although, I'm not really happy about back-to-back road night games against Purdue and Minnesota.
The success of the season will come down to the last month. At State Penn, Bucky the Badger visits Camp Randall East, er, the Horseshoe, an improved Illinois team comes here and of course TSUN up in Ann Arbor. The Vest won't have too much pressure on him this year, but if he slips and lets his team go 7-5 or 6-6, the nut jobs that call themselves fans in Columbus will get restless quickly.
In summary, 8-4 should be the line in the sand. Anything better than that and the team overachieved....remember the defense that is supposed to be the strength gave up 80 points in the last two games last season. Anything less than 8-4 and The Vest will feel a little tighter on Mr. Tressel. -- Scott Clifton
2007-03-11
Big Ten tourney champs, top seed in South regional
For as much as I nit pick all the little things the Buckeyes do wrong, they did a lot of things right today in winning the rubber match against Wisconsin 66-49 to win the Big Ten conference tournament. Maybe they should try to schedule more games on back-to-back nights?
The 2-3 matchup zone they played against the Badgers worked to perfection. At least two times in the first half, Wisky couldn't even get a shot off! Although, Oden couldn't get one off the entire first half thanks to a combination of Matta resting him, foul trouble and no one throwing him the ball. How can a guy like Oden get 17 points and 19 rebounds one day and go 0-fer in the first half the next day.
Anyway, a 30-3 record including a conference regular-season and tournament crowns earned the Buckeyes the top seed in the South regional of the NCAA tournament. I was surprised at first to see they were moved out of the midwest, but the two teams with higher overall seeds in the Big Dance (Florida and North Carolina) both hammered them earlier in the season. So I understand what the selection committee was thinking. And for what it's worth, I like OSU's chances in the South bracket.
Anytime you're a one seed and you see Memphis as the two seed in your bracket you should be ecstatic. Plus, the three and four seeds don't exactly scare the hell out of you. None of those teams matchup particularly well with Oden, as long as the Buckeyes don't forget about him. I still think Lewis and Deaquan Cook both need to come off the bench with Othello Hunter starting next to Oden. Jamal Butler and Ivan Harris are good enough outside shooters to occupy defenses and Hunter brings another inside presense that is non-existent when a cherry-picker like Lewis is in the game.
The selection committee had some fun putting Xavier, Thad Matta's former school, in an 8-9 matchup setting up a potential second-round game with the Bucks. The Musketeers are probably looking forward to the chance to take it to their former coach. Good luck with that! One Xavier alum that I spoke to thinks Oden might have a 40-point, 30-rebound performance against his alma mater. That won't happen because Lewis and Cook will shoot too much, but Oden should have his way inside if Xavier can upset BYU in the first round.
Let the madness begin! Scott Clifton
2007-03-10
OSU 63, Purdue 52
The way most of this team approaches running an offense -- read: I'm going to shoot a scud missile at the rim as soon as I get my hands on the ball -- will be the death of this team. Not every opponent in March is going to be unable to throw a big body at Greg Oden like the Boilermakers. And when that happens and the rest of the team shoots 6-for-30 in the first half, the Buckeyes can rest assured that they won't be up by one at the half.
I was impressed with the emphasis OSU put on winning the second chance opportunities after they were outrebounded by 20 yesterday against TSUN. Oden alone had nine offensive rebounds and continues to dominate more and more as the year goes on. His 17-point, 19-rebound performance is a sign that Buckeye fans better enjoy him while they can. If he continues to improve the rest of this postseason, I don't see much chance of him returning next season.
Thad Matta still gives this team way too much freedom with their shot selections. At the end of the first half, as Ron Lewis was near the end of a 2-for-10 shooting performance, CBS went to a commercial and caught Jamal Butler shaking his head like 'What in the hell is that guy doing throwing up all those bricks?' It was priceless, and an example of why the lacking chemistry on this team will be it's downfall in the NCAA tournament. Mike Conley and Oden can't do it all even though they are forced to try.
I will say that Othello Hunter has grown into quite the role player, but he needs to be on the floor at the same time as Oden. Get Lewis over on the bench where he belongs, and go with a lineup of Conley, Butler, Harris, Hunter and Oden. Let Butler and Harris handle the 3-point shooting and Hunter and Oden can play catch in a high-low configuration. Conley will just do what he does -- get freaky.
Because Matta is in love with Lewis, this is what will happen against Wisconsin in the Big Ten tournament final: OSU's lack of real offense combined with the tired legs of their jump shooters will expose them for what they really are -- an good team with no discipline outside of Conley and Oden. It's a shame that Matta doesn't have enough guts to tell Lewis that he will sit beside him as long as he refuses to rebound on the defensive end and makes horrible decision on the offensive end. Until that happens, this team will never live up to the lofty expectations most everyone has for a team with a player like Oden. -- Scott Clifton
2007-03-09
OSU 72, TSUN 63
>Normally, I would have been afraid of playing TSUN for a third time this season and second time in the past seven days, but this come on...it's TSUN.
This is a program that hasn't been to the NCAA tournament in the past eight seasons, soon to be nine. Tommy Amaker's bunch perenially underachieves. How does a team with four seniors not make a better run at a NCAA tournament berth out a relatively weak conference like the Big Ten? Maybe the TSUN brass are asking the same questions and Amaker's days are numbered now.
I will say that the Wolverines came out with a lot more energy against OSU than they did against their first-round opponent Minnesota. In the first half, TSUN looked like a team that knew they had to upset the No. 1 team in the country to have any shot of earning a trip to the Big Dance. But energy alone doesn't do it for you against good teams like OSU. And I blame Amaker for not being able to recruit more talent. Case in point, TSUN senior forward Brent Petway came to Ann Arbor with crazy leaping ability and tons of potential. Four years later, all I can say is he can still jump out of the gym.
I think Amaker's done because of his inability to recruit. If he is going to compete with Thad Matta on the recruiting trail TSUN doesn't stand a chance.
Speaking of Matta, I've read some things about him lately that don't look too kindly on his coaching ability. I don't necessarily disagree with that, but it depends on what you define coaching as. Because as far as X's and O's, Matta might as well be John Cooper. As far as a movtivator and recruiter, Matta is as good as it gets. And how good of a X's and O's guy do you have be when you recruit the nation's best players every year? Your job at practice is to just roll the ball out on the floor and say 'Go play!' Oh, and having an assistant coach like John Groce doesn't hurt either. I like to think of Groce as Matta's version of Karl Rove -- the brains behind the figure head.
As for the OSU players against TSUN, Mike Conley and Greg Oden were their usual freaky selves. Ron Lewis played as under control as he can get, and when OSU goes through an entire game with only five turnovers, Lewis either didn't play or was making good decisions every once in a while. Ivan Harris disappears for long stretches and that worries me. As OSU enters the tournament, they will face more and more zone defeneses as teams focus on stopping Oden. Harris' only real value to this team is as a three-point specialist. I know he's played better defense this year and he cured his allergic reactions to rebounds, but come on. Like Steve Lavin said on the ESPN telecast, 'Harris is like a hired gun.'
I love the Buckeyes' draw in the Big Ten tourney. Next up is Purdue and then either Wisconsin or the winner of Illinois and Indiana. I know Wisky wants another shot at OSU, but the Big Ten tourney final is so late, the result might not matter to the selection committee who would have to give OSU a number one seed.
2007-03-04
Big Ten tourney next test for baby Bucks
So the Buckeyes steamrolled through their conference slate, finishing 15-1 with its only blemish a 3-point loss to Wisconsin on the road in early January.
Thad Matta's boys should be commended, if only slightly due to the Big Ten's weak RPI rating, for doing what they have done. 27-3 with a bunch of freshman really running the show? Pretty strong stuff considering guys like senior Ron Lewis just wanted to throw scud missiles at the rim every trip down the floor. But I digress.
The real test will begin this weekend in Chicago at the Big Ten tourney. We'll get to see how the young Buckeyes handle the pressure of being the top seed in a one-and-done situation. Not that most of these players haven't been on a highly-seeded team in a basketball tournament, but those were against boys. This is the big time.
OSU will open up with the winner of the TSUN-Minnesota game on Friday at Noon. To play the Wolverines for the second time in five days will be a tough task, but after that the draw seems favorable. Either Iowa or Purdue would be the Bucks' opponent in the semifinals, and OSU went 3-0 against those teams this season.
I'd really like to see OSU use this tournament to build some chemistry offensively. Greg Oden keeps saying things like they still have a lot to accomplish, well how about the freshman not being afraid to get in the upperclassmen's faces when they start settling for shots that they could have anytime? If this is Oden's only time suiting up in the NCAA tournament as a Buckeye, I'd like to see him get rewarded for what he's done for this team. And the last thing I would want if I were on this team was to see Lewis or Daequan Cook just jacking up off-balance shots from everywhere and anywhere when advancing in the NCAA tournament is at stake.
I'm as excited as the next guy to see how far this team goes into March Madness. But the madness starts Friday (for OSU) in Chicago and it will be the only barometer we get as to how this team will handle tournament pressure. -- Scott Clifton
2007-02-28
Smith better sign all the autographs he can
Troy Smith better make his money while he can. The Heisman trophy winner has looked fat and out of shape since winning college football's most coveted individual prize. I've heard people complaining about how much he is charging for his autograph (allegedly upwards of $140). Don't poeple see what's going on?
Smith is, and should be, afraid of what's going to happen to a barely 6-foot tall quarterback in the NFL. So he's trying to strike while th iron is hot. Granted, in this town the iron will always be hot for a Heisman trophy winner, but Smith is just taking advantage of the market.
I, for one, can't blame him. Because he's going to in the market for clipboards and baseball caps sooner than he will be in the market for pigskins signed by the NFL commissioner. -- Scott Clifton
2007-02-17
Buckeyes' youth struggles with focus
Watching Ohio State go from looking like the No. 2 team in the nation to the No. 2 team in the gym against Big Ten cellar dweller Penn State last Wednesday night made me think about just how young the Buckeyes really are.
OSU is lead by two freshmen -- point guard Mike Conley and center Greg Oden. The next best player (Daequan Cook) is also a freshman. After that, the only leadership comes from junior guard Jamar Butler, and he's still adjusting to moving from the point guard slot last year to the shooting guard this season. Seniors Ron Lewis and Ivan Harris are not leadership material. Lewis has never seen a shot he didn't think he could take and Harris is a quiet player that has played well this year, but has been a role player for most of his career at OSU.
The talking heads on TV all seem to think Wisconsin is still the team to beat in the Big Ten. Why? Experience.I tend to agree. Good young teams can race out to a 20-point lead. Great teams can put another team away when they have a 20-point lead. The Buckeyes are definitely good. They still have to learn how to be great.
Thad Matta could go a long way in making this team great by stop relying on his rotation system. All he has to do is put the players out on the court that are willing to play defense, run the offense and play team basketball.