Observations from the Wisconsin Game

[Oh8ch]

1. The bad news -

We played without intensity and discipline for large stretches of the game. For the most part we were 'out-coached'.
Nobody should lose a basketball game to Chris friggin' Rock.

2. The good news -

Despite the above we could easily have broken their stupid winning streak. We were clearly the more talented team on the court.
We did not go away even when down double digits very late.

3. Nobody should be so lucky as to lead their team to victory by setting a personal best while having their bitchin' blonde gf sing the National Anthem AND play the Sousaphone. (If she can play the Sousaphone you KNOW what other 'instruments' she can play.)

4. I konw Tony Stockman has a lot of supporters on this board - and I have nothing against the kid - but I wont miss him. His net contribution in many games is marginal and in games like tonight (and others) he is an absolute liability. Missed shots are one thing. Misses of forced shots by a fifth year player are another. He will help us pull a big upset at some point, but he will cost us too.

5. I loved the way Fuss played tonight. He was the most consitently aggressive player on the court and the more his teammates flailed the more he stepped up. I was hoping both Lydell and Fuss would have big senior season. Looks like I may go one for two.

6. Bo Ryan can coach. We took a lot of forced shots early and missed a lot of open shots late and that was not unrelated to the D we faced. I didn't think Je'Kel Foster was capable of playing sloppy basketball but Ryan proved me wrong. Ryan went after Dials from the opening tip and he got him. Dials foul trouble could easily have been the difference in that game.

7. Our lack of anyone who can step in for Dials will continue to nag us throughout the season. But I must say Marinchick is doing a better job than I had dreamed possible. Unfortunately that still leaves him short of being effective. BTW - has anybody seen Matt Terwilliger? He sure looked promising early. Such is the nature of Frosh.

8. I had no expectation of winning in Wisconsin - with or without their leading scorer. But I should have been wrong. My guess is there will be some tough practices this week. This team could and should have won this game.

9. 40 points in the second half at Wisconsin is a lot. These kids can play, Matta just isn't through with them yet.

10. I love HDTV - especially when the camera is showing a bitchin' blonde play the Sousaphone.

 

[vrbryant]

1. What's-her-face Shroomie was very much the sexy. I can say without hesitation that I'd like to sous her phone.

2. I've been hollering all year for Syl to start, but I've decided that so long as he's getting 20+ min. a night, I like him off the bench just fine.

3. Matt Marinchick is... well, he's... ...he's not good.

4. I won't miss Stock either.

5. We're much tougher on the road this year than the past couple.

6. It's so fucking shitty that we can't go to the tourney. Super, super gay.

 

[tsteele316]

i agree about stockman. many people loved him especially early, but tonight showed what is more typical from him. when a team commits to shutting him down he preses and struggles instead of working to find a way to get his teammates scoringopportunities.

they need some beef dow low majorly. hopefully brayden bell can help next year. also ivan harris as the 4 man needs to get in the mix down low. its great that he can make 3's, but its not that effective if he doesnt have a down low game to keep defenders honest.

matta go a taste of what obriend dealt with for the majority of last season, but this was an anomely for mattas team, while it was a constant for OB.

fuss has done better than most expected, good for him.

sylvester, aka matthew lillard, is too eratic in his play. he'll give you 5 good minutes followed by 7 bad.

 

[coastalbuck]

Oh8ch, points 6 and 7 are dead on. Supurb job of coaching to take us out of our game so completely. All in all I'm not too dissapointed. Really good college teams are not forced to play the opponents style, we will get there one of these days. :osu:

 

[daddyphatsacs]

I will agree with the majority when it comes to Stockman. The kid forces too many shots, and at the end of the game he gave them an easy offensive rebound after they missed 2 foul shots, by not boxing out. If we pulled down the board, we had a shot to tie it up (wasn't it a 3 point deficit, or was it 4?), anyhow it was unacceptable.

For those calling for Butler to start over Fuss, I have to disagree. Fuss is playing with emotion and pretty well in general, Butler still has a way to go.

Dials is an absolute force, it would be great to find someone to compliment him.

Sylvester is really coming on, the kid suprises me with his athletism. I feel that he should be a starter.

Does anyone else notice how often Sullinger comes close to goaltending when he goes up to block shots. It seems like the last 3 games he has been trying to swat the ball when it is on it's way in the bucket. I do like his ability to drive to the hole, I would like to see it more often.

The Buckeyes very well could have won that game last night, but clearly demonstrated that they are still a ways away from being what Matta expects. I'll take 12-3 any day of the week.

To echo what VrByrant says, it certainly is a crock of shit that they can't play in the big dance.

 

[BuckeyeSal1]

The officiating....

Didn't do anything to hurt Wisky's chances of holding on to their home winning streak. We are one quality big man away from being a 23-25 win team this year. I know I sound like a homer, but if we even had a Velamir type player instead of MM backing up TD we'd win 5 more games.

 

[VWBuck!]

I would have to say Butler is ready to start over Fuss-Cheatam and see how well he plays. I was able to play against Butler in High School and he is a very explosive player and has great quickness and see's the floor very well!....So why not see what he can do!

 

[daddyphatsacs]

. I was able to play against Butler in High School and he is a very explosive player and has great quickness and see's the floor very well!....So why not see what he can do!

That is what they said about BFC in high school too. Don't get wrong, Butler will be very good, but he's not ready yet. Ask me again in a month and I may have a different opinion.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

If only they had a solid back up for Dials, it kills them when he goes out.

 

[Bestbuck36]

The interior defense is a liability period. Either Dials draws fouls or Sylvester loses his man. Also the "switching" on defense has been giving other teams wide open shots the entire season now. That killed us against Illinois and Wisconsin.

If Matta shores up these two areas the Buckeyes will be very stout down the stretch. I know you have to ride the horses you have in the stable and thats not much for us down low but the scheme could be improved upon to save Dials I think. Maybe a 1-3-1 when the other team starts to attack TD, who knows other than Matta who is calling the shots.