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Falb7

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The Buckeyes are going to be a vastly improved team this year. While Evan Turner was outstanding and the biggest reason for the team's success last year, the '10-'11 Bucks have significantly more depth. Last season, you would see Thad play all 5, maybe 6 players at the absolute most in his rotation with Buford, Diebler, Turner, Lauderdale, Lighty and Mad Dog Madsen.

This year you can easily go 8 with the three outstanding freshmen who look like seasoned veterans. Sullinger is a post presence inside who can take the rebounding load off of Lauderdale and who has outstanding finishing ability in deep. Aaron Craft is a crafty (pardon the pun) PG who has shooting ability, outstanding handles, and can make players around him significantly better for extended periods of time, such as Diebler and Lighty, who are inferior ballhandlers. DeShaun Thomas is a 6'7 SF who had a small impact against Florida but showed great promise in the season opener with deep shooting and a scoring knack that may make some people miss ET a little less.

David Lighty. I've been harshly critical of him in the past but I must admit he has taken a gigantic step in his game as it appears the extra year thanks to his 2008 broken foot is going to do him a great amount of good. He has an improved shooting touch, has maintained his excellent defense, and has worked on his touch inside the paint which was always a weak spot of his. He may have even worked himself into a draft slot in 2011.

When you talk about Buford, Craft, Diebler, Lighty, Lauderdale, Sullinger, and Thomas you may not have a ton more depth in terms of the number of players but you have significantly better well-rounded talent across the board. Last year, you had one dimensional mostly role players surrounding one star. This team has Final 4 potential and after last night's win it will be interesting to see how it propels them forward into the tough Big 10.
 
They got worked on the boards by a team with no real size advantage. I'm still not sold on them.
 
They got worked on the boards by a team with no real size advantage. I'm still not sold on them.

Matta's zone has always been a problem for rebounding. They never seem to box out correctly as nobody has a specific assignment for boxing out. This has happened since Matta has been coach.
 
OSU won 64-45 tonight. Michigan State lost by 3 against UConn. OSU will be at least #2. If Duke loses to Kansas State tonight OSU will be #1. lol
 
They got worked on the boards by a team with no real size advantage. I'm still not sold on them.

How about after 11 games in?

OSU is up 48-24 at the half against NC Ashville. They are not a top tier team but they are not a sloush either. They have beat some good teams and lost to Purdue by a few and to North Carolina by one point just a week and a half ago. OSU is stomping them without much from Sullinger other than quite a few boards so far.

Is Ohio State really as good as they seem or are all these teams just really, really bad?
 
Just imagine if Turner stayed another year...
 
I'm excited to have Aaron Craft around for the next 4 years, going to be a great floor general. I would think Sibert and Thomas might stick around for another year at least also.
 
Just imagine if Turner stayed another year...

I was thinking about that watching the game tonight. I'm wondering if they would be as good as they are? That sounds kind of funny, but Turner had to have the ball. This team now is very unselfish. They pass better than any team I've seen. Sullinger is as good as it gets with the pass. They all can shoot. I don't know, but if Turner was on the team, someone would have to sit as the 6th man. Who? Lauderdale would start as Matta wants the bigs in there for the big ten. That leaves Lighty, Buford, Diebler and then Turner. Who doesn't start on that team? It's fun thinking about it, but I'm just not sure we are any better if Turner stayed.

Anyway; Craft is one who is surprising. I don't believe anyone saw him coming in as a key player for OSU "this year", but he certainly is.

With the new class coming in next year and that BIG guy on his way as well, along with the five or six freshman who will be here for at least the next two years, this OSU team is going to be a beast for awhile.
 
They may win quite a few more in a row, but teams in the big ten can win at home on any given night. They probably do a hiccup when playing away. One thing is for sure though, nothing short of the NCAA Title Game will suffice. Well, they get that far they had better not lose it.
 
Yeah, once you get into Big Ten play some losses will come.
 
A bigger game tonight on the BTN at 8pm. Oakland vs OSU. They supposedly have a player on the team that's good enough now to star in the NBA. I can't remember his name and don't know anything about him.
 
A bigger game tonight on the BTN at 8pm. Oakland vs OSU. They supposedly have a player on the team that's good enough now to star in the NBA. I can't remember his name and don't know anything about him.

You are thinking of Keith Benson. He wouldn't star in the NBA right now, but he is one of the better center/power forward prospects out there. He will be the best challenge for Sullinger in the paint so far this season.
 

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