Welcome to the Saturday Morning Funhouse from the gang at the BBN- the “best of” from the best in the biz
In case you missed it earlier this week, we dove deeper into the shootyhoops victory against Purdue and took a look at the play of each starter and the coaching mindset exhibited. Check out the coverage as you get ready for today’s MSU game:
- Our Honor Defend – Aaron Craft
- The Buckeye Blog – William Buford
- The Buckeye Battlecry- Lenzelle Smith
- OSU Silver Bullet – Deshuan Thomas
- Buckeye House Call – Jared Sullinger
- Men of the Scarlet and Gray – Coaches
Grant and Andrew got a bit offensive this week, first with a diagnosis of “Bert” Bielema’s personality and then with a look at how the 2012 offense hopes to compare to the 2011 edition:
Success in college football is dependant on coaches’ development of their players. On that count, and many others, Jim Bollman failed his charges, who don’t deserve to be punished for their coach’s ineptitude.
In the end, blue-chip talent came in and a sub-MAC product came out. But there’s good news. In art terms, the Buckeyes offense was the football equivalent of a Jackson Pollack. Now, the Buckeyes are staring at a blank canvas. Urban Meyer will have his chance to fill it in September. For now, the best we can do is to speculate.
It’s a bit of a moot point now, but Eric’s article yesterday wondering if Ohio State even had the scholarship numbers to fit in another athlete like Stefon Diggs was about as good of an examination of the Oversigning issue that Buckeye fans have seen:
Does that mean the Buckeyes have oversigned? By the definition that is supported by Oversigning.com, we have indeed. We currently stand at more scholarships than we are allowed to have for the following year after national signing day. That means that some players are going to have to be removed in some way in order to get the Buckeyes to the necessary 82 scholarships OSU has to be at by August.
Scott celebrated the big win over Wisconsin with maybe just a little bit of gloating. Look, it’d been a while since OSU had won in Madison… it was totally acceptable.
Bielema probably didn’t think the rims were being fair Saturday, when the Badgers shot a measly 5 for 27 from three point range. Wisconsin, who relies heavily on the three in its daily attempt to turn college basketball game into some type of snail race, was still within one point in the last few minutes until William Buford hit his biggest shot of the season. Buford only shot 4-15, but it was great to see him show some senior leadership during the game’s critical possession.
While we all miss Diebler, Ken used the Wisconsin game as evidence that Ohio State’s ability to produce offense without relying on life beyond the arc is actually a positive thing for this year’s team:
Let me start by saying that I’m not the biggest fan of the 3-point shot, unless Diebler is shooting them for OSU. Yes, I’m aware of eFG%, but to me unless you are really good at it, 3-pointers really become a liability.
And finally, as you get ready to join us for the Spartan Invasion of Columbus, check out Michael’s preview at Our Honor Defend. Come for the statistical breakdown, stay for the Chris Hanson references.
Sparty wins if: Payne and Nix combine to shut down Sullinger, Green does his usual thing and the MSU guards can hit a few outside jumpers. Michigan State likes to attack the basket, which is easier to do if the defense has to worry about your jump shooters. Wood and Green on the floor together could create problems because of their size and athletic ability against who will be guarding them, which I expect will have to be Thomas and Buford. Thad Matta may be forced to use more of Evan Ravenel and possibly even Amir Williams in spurts for this kind of team. Izzo is likely to try to take away Sully and make the other four win the game. Matta has to counter by limiting Green on the other end.
