Ohio State vs North Carolina Nov 19th 2009

[Ttown]

Love the way this discussion is headed so greenies for all.
That Lauderdale will play has to be a given because he only needs one hand to block a shot with. I want to see the D that can stop Turner and Lighty from going inside and at the same time have a man on Will and Jon.

[LitlBuck]

Originally Posted by Ttown

Love the way this discussion is headed so greenies for all.
That Lauderdale will play has to be a given because he only needs one hand to block a shot with. I want to see the D that can stop Turner and Lighty from going inside and at the same time have a man on Will and Jon.

He likes to be called WB it will be interesting to see how much time Lighty spends on the perimeter. I don't think he will stray that far away from the basket because we will need him to get offensive rebounds if there are any

[NFBuck]

Originally Posted by Best Buckeye

Sure it's going to be a tough game, they all are but I can see that we have more returning starters than them and we just might sneak up on them. With Turner playing lights out and Lighty coming back along with Buford and Deibs we just might do it.
I can see us with a legitimate shot to win this game.

Absolutely, I was just responding more to the post saying we would probably be favored in this game. I just can't see that happening. UNC's one legit weakness may be that they don't have the typical UNC PG, but, PG is a major question mark for tOSU too. That team is loaded with McDonald's All-Americans. They are very deep and yes, they lost several starters, but the guys stepping in were key reserves on a team that went deep into the tourney. Zisis and Swatterdale are gonna have to step up to try to contain Ed Davis...he's gonna be a beast. UNC loads up on basketball talent like USC does in football. I think tOSU will have to play a helluva game if they're (UNC) on...

[wigmon]

If we are playing man, I assume it will be Lighty on Davis. Davis is more perimeter oriented than Thompson. UNC is probably going to be playing big this year, so I am going to guess we won't play hardly any man in this game. We'll probably try to trap to exploit their limited ball-handling and experience and the fall back into a zone to make them beat us from the perimeter.

[Ttown]

What about Henson ( I think thats right spelling).
Where does he fit into their scheme?

[LitlBuck]

Originally Posted by Ttown

What about Henson ( I think thats right spelling).
Where does he fit into their scheme?

I don't see them in their starting lineup. I would assume that he would be one of their first big man off of the bench.

[DZ83CK]

I think Henson will have to start, they just don't have enough quality guards on the team to not put two SF types in the starting lineup. Even though Henson has that rep of an SF/PF, he's their best bet to round out their lineup that would figure to have PG Drew, SF Ginyard, Davis and Thompson. They don't really have anyone coming back that should be considered a candidate for major minutes in the backcourt. Henson is by far their most well-regarded incoming recruit, so I'd say the odds are he's starting.

I want to clarify that I don't think OSU actually will be favored by the oddsmakers, I'm just saying I think that that OSU should be favored. It's a fine distinction, I know, but there are occasional differences between popular opinion and reality & I think this game is one of them. I keep going back to how young this UNC team will be. OSU fans should be very familiar with the pitfalls of having a lot of young guards (see 2007-08, 2008-09 teams), and last year you could see that none of the new players really started hitting their stride until a month or two into the season. Basically, if a guy's not a McD's AA, you can't count on him to produce right away as a true frosh, at least not against quality competition - I think that's clear from he past few seasons of watching OSU - and even if he's a Burger Boy, it's no guarantee that he'll be good enough to produce against the better teams early on in the season. This game is on Nov. 19th. It will be the 4th game of the careers of at least two of the guys in UNC's rotation, only 10 days after their first college game ever, 10 days after the first game for a team making wholesale changes to what had been an established lineup, their prior games (FIU, NC Central and Valpo) won't be anywhere close to OSU quality-wise, and their PG is not very well-rated and has had very limited collegiate game experience. UNC figures to have five players they reasonably can expect to hang their collective hat on at the beginning of the season - Ginyard, Henson, Davis, Thompson and Zeller, and the sixth guy that they might be able to lean on is their PG, but he's a real question-mark at this point.

OSU fans should be well-aware of the uphill battle teams face early in the season when they have to replace several key players from the prior season. Finally, the shoe is on the other foot. By the end of the year, UNC could be the better team, but I think they'll have more growing pains than most expect - the prevailing sentiment is that UNC is already the better team (preseason rankings have UNC in that 5-10 range and OSU around 15th), and I think that's wrong.

[Jake]

Wow, didn't know we had this matchup. Awesome. This could be the beginning of a very interesting season.

[leroyjenkins]

Originally Posted by Jake

Wow, didn't know we had this matchup. Awesome. This could be the beginning of a very interesting season.

And we follow this matchup with a good FSU squad on Dec 2nd! I love the high level of competition during the OOC games. It can only help us later. This is partly why I have become a bigger fan of Buckeye Basketball. We go out and play the Butlers', WVU's, UNC's, and FSU's!

[LitlBuck]

Originally Posted by Jake

Wow, didn't know we had this matchup. Awesome. This could be the beginning of a very interesting season.

that's because you have been up in the pigskin form too much

I want to clarify that I don't think OSU actually will be favored by the oddsmakers,

we won't be favored by the oddsmakers because North Carolina will always beat Ohio State in basketball

[bkochmc]

Originally Posted by LitlBuck

that's because you have been up in the pigskin form too much

we won't be favored by the oddsmakers because North Carolina will always beat Ohio State in basketball

*bkochmc bookmarks this post so he can remind LitlBuck of what he said when the Bucks beat the Tarheels in 20 days*

[calibuck]

I believe that OSU has a shot. NC's youth vs the experience on OSU's side could very well be the difference. Gotta say that NC's raw material is better than OSU's (no knock, just McD's AA's) at the git-go, and each program's system is good, and the coaching at both schools is top notch.

That being said, it means a bit more for OSU to come out of the gate smoking, while NC knows it has time. I'll just do a SWAG, and say that the D of OSU will be the tip point of the game. My only fear is that Lighty will upset the rhythm that the other Bucks developed (nothing bad here, just inserting another talented player) during his injury rahab, and it might take more than a couple of games to have them gel. Hope not.

Go Basketball Bucks

[LitlBuck]

Originally Posted by bkochmc

*bkochmc bookmarks this post so he can remind LitlBuck of what he said when the Bucks beat the Tarheels in 20 days*

What's your name, I was only stating what the oddsmakers always think so I am going to bookmark (how do you do that) this post and remind what's your name what the oddsmakers always think after Ohio State gives UNC a wax job.

Also, do you belong over in the Ohio State track thread

[LitlBuck]

Originally Posted by calibuck

I believe that OSU has a shot. NC's youth vs the experience on OSU's side could very well be the difference. Gotta say that NC's raw material is better than OSU's (no knock, just McD's AA's) at the git-go, and each program's system is good, and the coaching at both schools is top notch.

That being said, it means a bit more for OSU to come out of the gate smoking, while NC knows it has time. I'll just do a SWAG, and say that the D of OSU will be the tip point of the game. My only fear is that Lighty will upset the rhythm that the other Bucks developed (nothing bad here, just inserting another talented player) during his injury rahab, and it might take more than a couple of games to have them gel. Hope not.

Go Basketball Bucks

I know you mean well but I don't understand this statement at all

[Ttown]

I have to agree that our experience can give us a decided advantage over NC. Sure the People who think that UNC will always beat us based on history of our games will say that we don't stand a prayer but we have some talented players too and these guys won't even have played enough games to gel together yet.
JMO.