2011-12 BIG Basketball Preview: Ohio St.

As a freshman Jared Sullinger was a man
among boys. It's scary to think what he
can accomplish in his sophomore year.

Coach: Thad Matta – 190-57 (.769)
Lost:  G/F David Lighty, G Jon Diebler, F Dallas Lauderdale
Returning: F Jared Sullinger (So), G William Buford (Sr), G Aaron Craft (So), F DeShaun Thomas (So), G Jordan Sibert (So)
New faces: C  Amir Williams(77), PG Shannon Scott(53), SF Sam Thompson(50), PF Trey McDonald

Preview: To say the Big Ten is Ohio St.’s to lose would be an understatement.  Just like every other contender, the Buckeyes lost several contributing players. The key is what’s returning. Unanimously selected as the pre-season Big Ten POY, Jared Sullinger hopes to improve upon last season’s dominant performance.  Sullinger made 55% of his twos while posting an excellent 65.1 free throw rate (FT attempts divided by FG attempts).  Add to that his incredible rebounding ability and you have the number one candidate for national player of the year.  The only aspect he really needs to improve is his midrange game and the early rumors out of Columbus say he’s lost several pounds with an emphasis on playing away from the basket more. Scary.  I’m sure I wasn’t the only person surprised with the news of William Buford returning this season.  Buford is another excellent shooter (44% on 3’s last year) who plays good defense and can run the point in a pinch.  He’s a great compliment to Sullinger.  Point guard Aaron Craft enters his sophomore year as perhaps the most hated player in the conference. His on-ball defense can be described as a real invasion of personal space, harassing players into silly mistakes.  DeShaun Thomas could have declared for the NBA draft also but probably wanted to come back just to show he can be a significant contributor as he only played in about 30% of total minutes last year.  He’s long and athletic so expect That Matta to be able to use him just fine.  If all of this wasn’t enough reason for optimism, Ohio State also brings in one of the nation’s top recruiting classes. Amir Williams and Shannon Scott could start right away while Sam Thompson and Trey McDonald could be key reserves. Ohio State is sitting pretty and I'm expecting a deep Tournament run.
Shot in the dark at the starting the 5:
PG Aaron Craft
SG William Buford
F DeShaun Thomas
F Jared Sullinger
C Amir Williams

Purdue vs. Ohio State Rd 2

	PURDUE (6)	Pts		RB		A		Stls		Fg%		3pt%		FT%
PG	Chad Austin	17.0		3.6		3.1		1.2		0.416		0.359		0.768
G	Kenny Lowe	10.1		2.4		1.7		0.8		0.442		0.398		0.863
F	Cuonzo Martin	13.1		3.8		2.0		0.6		0.472		0.451		0.777
F	Carl Landry	17.4		7.1		1.2		1.0		0.602		0.232		0.714
C	Brad Miller	12.0		6.7		2.5		2.0		0.572		0.259		0.754
B:	G Willie Deane	14.4		3.6		2.4		1.4		0.426		0.355		0.763
	F Robbie Hummel	11.9		6.1		2.6		1.2		0.489		0.464		0.882
	F Brian Cardinal	12.0		5.7		2.1		2.0		0.461		0.365		0.761

Austin: Strong guard that was the go-to guy on this team.  Liked to post up his man and could blow by him.  His clutch basket at the buzzer to beat IU in Bloomington has immortalized him.  Honors: 1st team All Big Ten 1997, 1998

Lowe: This was a guy whose first two years were spent just being the fifth man on the floor.  His last two years were plagued by injuries but he somehow single handedly carried them his senior year.  Pretty much erased other team's best player as a defender.  Honors: Defensive Player of the Year 2003, 2004

Martin: This is a 6'6" guy with no real position.  He played center when Glenn Robinson was on the team and after he left he moved to "scorer".  His senior year averaged over 18 a game and became the Big Ten's all time leading 3 point shooter.  He's a nice compliment to Austin.  Honors: 1st team All Big Ten 1995

Landry: JUCO transfer whose time in W. Laf may best be remembered as being one of two players who could actually play.  Averaged 19 a game and was a heck of a rebounder.  Honors: 1st team All Big Ten 2007

Miller: A much better NBA player than college.  Skills include great passing, good shooting, and was pretty careful with the ball.  However he was not a game changer, something this Purdue squad needs to advance far in the tournament.  

Bench: Willie Deane led the Big Ten in scoring his senior year.  When he was hot, he was HOT but when he wasn't he did little to affect the game in other areas.  Robbie Hummel was a 1st team all-conf as a freshman and fills up the stat sheet.  Brian Cardinal or "the janitor" is the hustle machine.

Strengths: FT shooting, 3pt shooting, defense 

Purdue has no individual who can really take over instead having several guys who have "moments" therefore relying on intense defense to force turnovers and create fast break opportunities.  Cuonzo Martin is a career 45% shooter from 3 and everyone else save Landry will venture out there as well.  No weaknesses on the line so save your fouls.

Weaknesses: Lack of dominating scorer, depth

No Big Dog on this team so points may be hard to come by.  If Martin is double teamed will Austin be able to create enough opportunities to keep Purdue in the game?  Hummel is a solid player but you don't really want to rely on him for big minutes.  Cardinal is a solid player but in crunch time he can take some maddening shots.

	OHIO STATE (3)	Pts		RB		A		Stls		Fg%		3pt%		FT%
G	Scoonie Penn	15.4		3.8		4.0		2.1		0.415		0.345		0.754
G	Michael Redd	19.6		6.2		2.5		1.6		0.447		0.318		0.648
G	Ron Lewis	13.2		4.1		2.0		0.9		0.418		0.330		0.796
C	Terence Dials	11.9		6.6		0.7		0.7		0.558		0.000		0.648
C	Greg Oden	15.7		9.6		0.7		0.6		0.616		0.000		0.628
B:	G Mike Conley	11.3		3.4		6.1		2.2		0.518		0.304		0.694
	G Brian Brown	10.7		3.5		2.9		1.0		0.467		0.378		0.723
	C Ken Johnson	8.3		5.8		0.5		0.3		0.539		0.000		0.629

Penn: Dynamite in the backcourt.  Not a big passer but was actually better than Redd in college.

Honors: 1st team All Big Ten 1999, 2000; Player of the Year 2000

Redd: Redd could score but actually was a better passer in college.  He was not the player you see today in the NBA.  However, when teamed with Penn this backcourt went nuts.  Took Ohio State to the Elite 8 in 2000.  Honors: 1st team All Big Ten 2000

Lewis: This G/F is a nice compliment to the big men.  He can rebound a little, play a little defense, and shoot the three.  The team's best FT shooter.

Dials: A lumbering giant who didn't have a lot of skills offensively but was just so big teams couldn't stop him.  Honors: 1st team All Big Ten 2006; Player of the Year 2006

Oden: We know a lot about this guy.  Polished in the lane, very good rebounder, but Ohio State will count on him to be an enforcer since they are lacking a stopper on the perimeter.  Honors: 1st team All Big Ten 2007; Defensive Player of the Year 2007

Bench: Mike Conley, another freshman NBA lottery pick, is an impressive substitute to have on the bench, guard Brian Brown won 1st team honors in 2002 largely due to his offensive efficiency, and center Ken Johnson gives OSU three 7 footers that won first team honors.  Johnson is the most one dimensional of the three, leading the conference in blocks at least two times.

Strenghts: Size, size, size, and familiarity on the perimeter

This team is HUGE.  Oden, Dials, Johnson will clog the lane making life hell for opponent's big men.  After having spent 3 years as teammates in Columbus, Penn and Redd start together in our tournament, a trait several teams wish they had.

Weaknesses: Free throw shooting, three point shooting

This team's free throw shooting stinks.  Only two guys are over 70%.  If the game is close OSU could be in a bit of trouble.  Also, there are no real threats from three.  When OSU is playing the giants and the outside shot isn't falling the lane is going to be very crowded.

What to Expect:

A boring, low scoring game with several shot clock buzzers ringing in your ears.  Ohio State and Purdue both will stress slowing it down.  Ohio State will have trouble running with the bigs so they will be forced to work it down low.  Purdue will be sending double teams left and right trying to confuse Ohio State while Lowe works his magic on Penn or Redd.  Expect both teams to work inside out and in Ohio State's case inside again.

Matchup to watch:  Carl Landry vs Greg Oden

Seeing as how this matchup really happened, it will be fun to watch again.  Landry will get his points but Oden will get his boards.  Which stat is more important will be determined by  how everyone else plays. 

Fifteen Yr Big Ten All-Stars

Ryan and I have decided to create an all-star lineup for each of the Big Ten teams over the past fifteen seasons.  After talking it through, we also decided that we should have a tournament with the teams.  The voters will choose which team advances to the next round.  Seeding is determined by the number of Big Ten titles each team won over the time frame.  The teams that didn't win any titles were just assigned a seed based on our view of how talented the roster is.  The tournament theoretically takes place in Chicago's United Center.

Without further ado, the first game of the Big Ten tournament features a play-in game with 11th seeded Northwestern against 10th seeded Penn State.

	Northwestern	Pts		RB		Assts		Stls		Fg%		3pt%		FT%
PG	Geno Carlisle	15.8		2.7		3.3		0.8		0.393		0.368		0.766
SG	Jitim Young	13.0		4.6		2.0		1.8		0.471		0.305		0.626
SF	Vedran Vukusic	14.1		3.5		2.1		1.1		0.478		0.375		0.755
PF	Kevin Coble	14.2		5.3		1.7		1.5		0.484		0.390		0.778
C	Evan Eschmeyer	18.4		9.6		2.2		0.8		0.601		0.000		0.675
Bench	G Cedric Neloms	14.1		4.7		0.9		0.7		0.461		0.231		0.731
	F/C  Tavaras Hardy	9.5		5.4		1.9		0.8		0.448		0.208		0.579
	G TJ Parker	10.0		2.5		3.0		1.3		0.428		0.333		0.708

Carlisle: Lightening in a bottle, knows how to get to the basket. Transferred to Cal after 2 yrs.

Honors: 1st team All-Big Ten 1996

Young: The best player NWU has had in recent memory.  Guard that knows how to rebound.

Honors: 1st team All-Big Ten 2004

Vukusic: Solid outside shooter, but like most Euro players is a little soft.

Coble: Currently starting for the Wildcats.  This is a guy to keep your eye on b/c he can score from anywhere.

Eschmeyer: The only NBA talent on this team.  Dominated down low but his teams were unsuccessful due to atrocious guard play.  Honors: 1st team All-Big Ten 1997, 1998, 1999

Bench: Parker is super quick and plays sneaky good defense but his shooting was never good, Cedric Neloms led the Big Ten in FTs his Senior year, and Tavares Hardy is another solid big man.

Strengths: Post presence, quickness on the perimeter.  

With Kevin O'Neill running the show, the Wildcats will push the pace and hope for some easy opportunities.  When those opportunities don't present themselves the Wildcats have Eschmeyer to lean on in half court sets.

Weaknesses: Outside shooting. Overall athleticism.

Coble and Vukusic are both good outside shooters but the guards are not.  This may seem a little backwards in that the little guys prefer to shoot from the lane whereas the big guys want the ball outside.  This will cause a problem in creating 2nd opportunities--something the Wildcats need to be successful.

	Penn St.	Pts		RB		Assts		Stls		Fg%		3pt%		FT%
G	Dan Earl	12.6		2.7		4.1		1.6		0.467		0.383		0.788
G	Joe Crispin	15.6		2.9		3.8		1.0		0.381		0.348		0.885
G/F	Geary Claxton	15.1		7.4		1.6		1.0		0.443		0.330		0.650
F	John Amaechi	15.6		8.9		1.3				0.518				0.694
F	Calvin Booth	11.9		6.7		0.8		0.6		0.497		0.100		0.729
Bench	G Titus Ivory	15.9		3.8		3.4		1.7		0.441		0.358		0.836
	G Pete Lisicky	15.9		2.9		2.9		1.0		0.408		0.374		0.888
	F Jan Jagla	10.2		6.9		1.1		0.8		0.414		0.257		0.699

Earl: Solid PG skills.  Good passer, good defender, good shooter.  Nothing outstanding, just solid all-around.

Crispin: Don't let his FG% fool you.  This guy is a shooter.  His numbers suffered from being the best player on a bad team. Honors: 1st Team All-Big Ten 2001

Claxton: Very good rebounder for a guard. Matchup nightmare.  Would have been all 1st team Big Ten if not for a knee injury halfway through his senior season.

Amaechi: A giant on the boards.  Solid shooter from medium range and a solid defensive player. Honors: 1st Team All-Big Ten 1995

Booth: Another NBA bound big man.  Who knew?  Big, round body that other teams will have trouble pushing around.  Not that great of an athlete but good rebounder and FT shooter.  Honors: Defensive POY 1998.

Bench: Ivory and Lisicky are two more little guards that can shoot the lights out when they're hot.  Jagla is a solid bench contributor.

Strengths:  Penn State will definitely light up some scoreboards with their phalanx of distance shooting guards.  Geary Claxton will prove to be a formidable matchup problem for any Big 10 team with his unique size and skills; Claxton sports a true NBA guard body.  The Big Men create a formidable tag team.

Weaknesses:  Penn State basketball has been the weakest program by far since the Nittany Lions entered the Big 10 in 1993.  The team may have a horde of shooters but gaining rebounds and second chances will be highly difficult with their small bench.  An early exit seems inevitable, yet will anybody really care in Happy Valley?