Elite Eight Observations

[BrutusBobcat]

Like a lot of people on here, I watched all four of the Elite Eight games this weekend, and was taking mental notes on where those teams are versus Ohio State. We'd all like to see the Buckeyes get back to that level or above, and most realistic fans knew that ceiling was too high this year.

Interestingly enough, this young Buckeye team does quite a few things as well or better than the top teams in the country. It is also missing a few pieces.

First, here's what I think the keys are to the top teams in the country, other than the fact that they tend to score more points than their opponents:

- Ball movement. I saw some sweet passing this weekend, from all teams and all positions, 1-5. The best teams don't expect the PG to make all of the assists; they expect to pass inside-outside, penetrate and pop out, penetrate and dish inside, lobs, long passes on breaks...you name it, we saw it.

- Rebounding. Damn. After a season of watching OSU, I'd forgotten that players position, block out and fight for boards. Lots of inside players were tapping the ball out to the perimeter when they couldn't pull the board down themselves.

- Mobile big men. Suton, Hansbrough and Griffin were the highlights, but I saw lots of C/PF players moving well with and without the ball.

- Athletes with size. Even the SGs, PGs and SFs for some of these schools are beefy. No scrawny Siena types once you get to the top.

- Shot selection. The questionable ones were notable because they were rare. Time and time again, I saw the extra pass to the open guy for the good and correct shot.

- Ballhandling at all five spots. At one point, Hansbrough brought the ball across the timeline against the press. Can you imagine OSU doing that with Dallas or BJ? Not likely. All of these teams had guys who could handle the ball and move with it.

- Lack of a "three point specialist". All of the teams at this level had multiple threats from three, but didn't have that one guy who can only shoot threes and is a liability everywhere else. The shooters have a complete game.

- Veteran-dominated starting fives. Watching the Elite Eight games, I was very confused. I thought that great players were mandated to leave after one or two seasons, yet over and over again I saw highly skilled juniors and seniors leading their teams.

- Usable Depth.

So, where does all of that leave us? Ohio State has beaten one of the Final Four teams, though I don't think any of us would imagine that this is a Final Four quality squad. Here's what I see as the assets:

- Defense. With David Lighty, OSU plays as well on defense as any team in the country not coached by Tom Izzo. This should be an even greater strength next year.

- Talent. Evan Turner, William Buford and David Lighty are Final Four quality talents. In terms of potential, John Diebler can be as good a three point shooter as anyone in the country, Dallas can be as good a defensive center as anyone in the country and Walter Offutt can become a valuable depth player next year.

- Veterans. Lighty in his fourth year and Turner, Diebler and Lauderdale in their third, means that youth is no longer an excuse. No one will be brand new to the program, either.

- Size. For a young squad, OSU fields a fairly big team. The downside is that we need to see them get more physical.

The weaknesses, we all know, so this is something of a rehash.

- Turnovers. Ball movement is only a virtue when you throw it to your own teammates. Turnovers killed this team at times.

- Rebounding. Losing a rebound is exactly the same as turning the ball over. With better rebounding and fewer turnovers, this team could get to the Sweet Sixteen and have a puncher's chance at the Elite Eight.

- Ballhandling. See turnovers.

- Shot selection. This was mostly good, but I am putting it here because I think that Evan Turner needs to find an open man more often when a D collapses on him. Even when you're a great player, sometimes another guy has a better shot, especially when three defenders are hanging off of you.

- Mobile big men. He's in the "Buckeye Alumni" section.

- Depth. See "2010 Recruiting".

In conclusion, I'm cautiously optimistic about 09-10. This team could definitely finish in the top 2 in the Big Ten and make a Sweet Sixteen/Elite Eight run. A lot of good pieces are there, and it should be a solid season and an improvement over this one (which was an improvement over last season).

I'm wildly optimistic about 2010-2011. That Freshman class will add a lot of depth, and the team will be loaded with juniors and seniors, though we're still hunting for a PG. Presuming that Matta's Magic holds and he brings in a stud, we could be looking at a great three year run.

[Jake]

The biggest thing I noticed were the backcourts. We were pretty strong at the 3-5 positions, even without Lighty, but we had a 3 playing out of position at the 2 and neither of our 1s even begin to compare to Lawson, Price, Lucas, or Reynolds.

PJ Hill gives great effort, but compared the FF players at his position the talent level just isn't the same. Those teams don't rely on the PG solely for assists, but their PGs are driving/scoring threats and they don't kill their teams with bad assist/turnover ratios.

If this year's team had Mike Conley and Jamar Butler in the backcourt, I think we could've been playing over the weekend.

[brodybuck21]

Originally Posted by Jake

The biggest thing I noticed were the backcourts. We were pretty strong at the 3-5 positions, even without Lighty, but we had a 3 playing out of position at the 2 and neither of our 1s even begin to compare to Lawson, Price, Lucas, or Reynolds.

PJ Hill gives great effort, but compared the FF players at his position the talent level just isn't the same. Those teams don't rely on the PG solely for assists, but their PGs are driving/scoring threats and they don't kill their teams with bad assist/turnover ratios.

If this year's team had Mike Conley and Jamar Butler in the backcourt, I think we could've been playing over the weekend.

+1

[DaytonBuck]

great guard play for all the winning teams and a lot of upper class men talent