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2018-2019 Ohio State Men's Basketball (Official Thread)

so that makes a home game versus cuse, away games versus creighton and cincy, and a neutral game (chicago) versus ucla. espn and cbs released their post-nba decision top 25s today. cuse is 16th per espn and 22nd per cbs. ucla is unranked per espn but 18th per cbs. cincy is 26th per cbs. that's a solid non-conference schedule, but the strength will depend a lot on the other opponents not being complete airballs. regardless, going no worse than 1-3 against the aforementioned teams should be the expectation.
 
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They were fortunate the Challenge organizers threw them a bone this year, but they are robbing Peter to pay Paul. Likely will get back to back road games in the Challenge in the near future to restore balance.

Don't let being at the bottom of the B1G for the last 8 years in scheduling fool you, it is not an ideal nonconference schedule. Starting with 2010-11, they are still dead last in the B1G in terms of participation in 2- or 3-game nonconference regular season tournaments at neutral sites, and fill the home schedule with cupcakes instead. They are likely to remain worst in the B1G in sheer quantity of home cupcake games that aren't returned in any way over these 8 seasons. They have to play an extra road game in the future to make up for this, making it harder to get a future nonconference home game for a season TBD. All in all, I would give them a "D" grade for this schedule.
 
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your thoughts, @LitlBuck ?
Well, I am certainly glad that since we have to play 'Cuse that it is at home and not at their place. I just read that Battle is coming back for them so it will not make that game any easier. I am sort of glad that we are playing them at home because we will not need all the help that we can get. We just do not match up well right now against that zone defense. I would have rather played NC State at their place. I also did not want any part of Virginia Tech.

Regarding the rest of the schedule, I have no problems. We get Bucknell at home which should be a decent game and we will probably get a couple cupcakes at home which this young team will need. I like playing Cincy at their place this year because we have a decent chance of beating them since they have lost their entire frontline from this past season. We have them at home the following season and they will be tougher at that time. Creighton will be a good game at their place but it is definitely winnable. I know that UCLA is not currently ranked but that will be a tough game even at a neutral site.

I do not understand all the whining because you have to play these "classic" games and schedule wise it is difficult to get everyone to come to your place to play them. I am sure that quite a bit of that is laid out in the contract between the conferences.
 
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So litl, in other words you feel that OSU should be last in the Big Ten in nonconference reg season tournament appearances and first in cupcake home games? Let's be honest, that is exactly what OSU does. When other B1G teams play in marquee tournaments with 2-3 games, OSU is playing a nobody at the Schott instead. You also get an extra game or two by playing in an exempt tournament. I do not feel 4 decent nonconference games is enough when you have a potential of 12 games in nonconference. 4 real teams and 8 home cupcakes is a subpar nonconference schedule. Bucknell is ass, to point to them to justify it is stupid. To me, participating in a tournament is the first thing you do to build a nonconference schedule, and to exclude it year after year to schedule a cupcake instead is ridiculous.
 
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So litl, in other words you feel that OSU should be last in the Big Ten in nonconference reg season tournament appearances and first in cupcake home games? Let's be honest, that is exactly what OSU does. When other B1G teams play in marquee tournaments with 2-3 games, OSU is playing a nobody at the Schott instead. You also get an extra game or two by playing in an exempt tournament. I do not feel 4 decent nonconference games is enough when you have a potential of 12 games in nonconference. 4 real teams and 8 home cupcakes is a subpar nonconference schedule. Bucknell is ass, to point to them to justify it is stupid. To me, participating in a tournament is the first thing you do to build a nonconference schedule, and to exclude it year after year to schedule a cupcake instead is ridiculous.
DZ, I know you are much more knowledgeable than myself when it comes to the "world" of college basketball but I do not understand why you keep complaining about Ohio State's schedule. Especially the one coming up. You really want to see this pretty young team play in some major tournaments and get waxed. That would be really good for their confidence and certainly would help lure recruits to Ohio State. I just do not know who you want Ohio State to play and where. Also, please remember that this is Holtman's second season so he probably is trying to formulate exactly what he wants to do here. Give him some time with regard to his scheduling.

Also, Bucknell did play in the NCAA tournament last season so it is not like we are playing a JV team.

Think what you want but I think that playing a young team in a couple big preseason tournaments would be pretty stupid when you already have Syracuse, UCLA, Creighton, and Cincinnati already on your schedule. Plus, you really do not know the rest of the schedule. Also, please notice that I did not include the Big Ten schedule which is now 20 games. You really want a young team to have their balls busted before you get into Big Ten play. Also, why you are at it, name all of these Big Ten teams, except for maybe Sparty, said play in these big preseason tournaments.
 
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I am not here to take sides on this argument bc u both make valid points to support your views. The one thing I will say: as a fan..... I would much rather them play somebody good and lose and be better down the line than continue to play the soft non-con they have had in recent years so that Matta could pad his 20+ win seasons. Maybe the home atmosphere changes a bit in the Schott if you bring in a quality opponent here and there....all I'm sayin'.
 
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I would much rather them play somebody good and lose and be better down the line than continue to play the soft non-con they have had in recent years so that Matta could pad his 20+ win seasons.
I do not know if that is always true. Just because you play somebody good and lose does not necessarily make you a better team. In fact, it might just do the opposite.

Also, regarding getting a good team to come to Columbus also usually means that you are going to have to make a return visit to that opponent so it is not always easy to schedule a quality opponent for home games.
 
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I do not know if that is always true. Just because you play somebody good and lose does not necessarily make you a better team. In fact, it might just do the opposite.

Also, regarding getting a good team to come to Columbus also usually means that you are going to have to make a return visit to that opponent so it is not always easy to schedule a quality opponent for home games.

Maybe "better" is the wrong word. More "prepared" for the BIG 10 season might be the better way to say it. Teams under Matta in his last few years seemed very unprepared come conference play bc of the weak non-con schedule they had just completed.

And as far as your 2nd point: I am totally on board with a home and home if it brings a quality game to Columbus.
 
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Maybe "better" is the wrong word. More "prepared" for the BIG 10 season might be the better way to say it. Teams under Matta in his last few years seemed very unprepared come conference play bc of the weak non-con schedule they had just completed.

And as far as your 2nd point: I am totally on board with a home and home if it brings a quality game to Columbus.
Matta is gone so we need to get over that and remember that this is only Holtman's second season and we need to give him some time to get his schedule in order. I am sure that he has some type of plan.

With regard to your second point, I am on board with that also but this team is very young right now and I do not want them to get blasted before we even get into Big Ten play. Maybe in future seasons we will see that type of scheduling.
 
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I don't buy the confidence argument whatsoever. These kids are on scholarship at OSU for a reason, excellence in playing basketball. They all get tested and exposed sooner or later.

My main issue with these schedules is not playing in an exempt tournament most of the time over a span of several seasons when B1G rivals like UM and UW do it literally every year. In my mind it is strongly preferable to have 2 or 3 games against quality competition at a neutral site instead of an 8th home cupcake, and it is unbecoming for a major college program like OSU to continue to chicken out of nonconference tournaments.

They have 4 good to very good opponents. Cuse will be top-25 for sure. UCLA is maybe a likely top-25. UC and Creighton are more unpredictable considering they each lost their 2 best players at least, I am guessing they will both be bubble teams but they could surprise either way. If you look at the OOC sched as an opportunity to build your resume, it looks to me like there could be only 2 surefire high quality win chances, and they should be trying to get more than that over a span of 12-13 games.
 
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I don't really know what this debate is about. 4-5 tough OOC games is absolutely the norm for most high majors. Especially now that the B1G is going to 20 conference games, it'd be pretty foolish to expect many B1G programs to spend 50% or more of their OOC playing other high majors. Everyone plays "cupcakes." EVERYONE.

That said, I do hope we schedule some good OOC home games every season and I do hope when we schedule mid-majors we're not scheduling many bottom-of-the-RPI fluff teams.
 
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while i do wish that our schedule included an opening tournament, i do think a slightly softer schedule may fit this particular roster. if i expected the upcoming team to have the talent/experience of the 06/07, 10/11, 11/12, 12/13, or even 09/10 team, i would be disappointed with the upcoming schedule, at least as it currently stands. i think losing tate and especially kbd will have a greater impact than many fans are predicting. i have serious concerns about scoring at the wing and about scoring when kaleb isn't on the court. though i do give ho1tmann a lot of credit for last season's turnaround, by no means whatsoever were we going to be in the same stratosphere without the big ten conference player of the year. kbd's productivity on both ends of the court rivals anyone we've had for a very long time.

all of that being stated, considering that we don't get home games against indiana, ttun, and what should be a tournament nebraska team, i don't at all like that cuse is so far our only good non-conference game. if either cincy, ucla, or creighton were instead at the schott, i'd be much happier.
 
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Agreed. I think we have a pretty tough schedule next season, actually, but part of what makes it tough--and disappointing--is it would seem that we're playing a majority of the probable Tournament teams on the road. Would've really liked a few more opportunities to pick up good wins on our home court. Of course, we don't know which of our opponents will be better (or worse) than expected next season.
 
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C.J. WALKER, KEYSHAWN WOODS MAKING POSITIVE EARLY IMPRESSIONS ON OHIO STATE'S VETERANS

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Chris Holtmann's first full offseason as Ohio State's head coach has been one full of intrigue, as he has seen major roster turnover after his first campaign.

The Buckeyes are set to welcome in six fresh faces to the program in 2018-19 after losing the likes of Keita Bates-Diop, Jae'Sean Tate, Kam Williams and Andrew Dakich to graduation.

While the four members of the 2018 recruiting class won't arrive on campus until later in the year, two of the newcomers are already participating in open gyms and making an impression on their new teammates.

Wake Forest grad transfer Keyshawn Woods and Florida State transfer C.J. Walker have already been in the gym with their veteran Ohio State teammates this summer and the Buckeyes are excited about what they are seeing.

Woods, who will be eligible to play right away as a grad transfer, brings shotmaking ability along with an unselfish attitude, according to junior center Micah Potter.

"Keyshawn does everything right. He could have a contested shot, and he will make the extra pass. He could drive the lane, help-side defense will come over, and he will kick the ball out," Potter said June 6. "I don't know if I have played with a guy that is that unselfish. (But) if it's an open shot he is going to take it, which he should."

When he takes the open shot, it has a tendency of going in.

Woods is a career 42.5 percent three-point shooter and a solid 47.4 percent from the floor as a guard. His new backcourt mate C.J. Jackson said Wednesday that Woods' playmaking ability is something that can make Ohio State more versatile in 2018-19. Jackson should know, as they played each other multiple times in high school, with their schools separated by just a 20 minute car ride in the Charlotte, N.C. area.

"He is a player that just knows how to play the game. There's not too many people like that, and I knew that from before," Jackson said. "He can defend multiple positions, so that will help us this year."

Entire article: https://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio...ive-early-impressions-on-ohio-states-veterans
 
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