Last night had to be one of the single worst displays of college basketball I have seen by an Ohio State team in years. That is, of course, an exaggeration, but I’m sure many of you would agree with me on that point.
What is probably not well agreed with is that there are a large number of things the Buckeyes did right in that game. It’s extraordinarally difficult to keep up with a talented team like Kentucky while shooting an atrocious 32.8%. That drops to just under 31% if you don’t count three pointers, emphasizing the difficulty OSU had shooting the ball. It’s pretty rare that excluding your three point shooting drops your shooting percentage.
Let me stress a point. While Kentucky’s defense was very good (11 blocks is ridiculously good) it was not Kentucky’s defense that beat us. If you take William Buford’s 2-16 shooting away, OSU shot 40.5% overall and 41.3% inside the three point arc. As much as I hate to seem like I’m laying blame (I’m not, there’s no blame to lay), it could not be any more obvious why the Bucks struggled in this game.
Wildcat fans, of course, will argue that William Buford’s shooting was so low because of their spectacular defense. In this case, that is not true. The vast majority of Buford’s misses were fairly open looks, with only a few coming with a hand in his face – including that last second desperation shot that just missed. I’m sure that shot is tearing Buford up inside. It shouldn’t be. Tough shots like that sometimes fall and sometimes don’t. It may not be the outcome we wanted, but it doesn’t change the fact that we played tough to end the season.
And make no mistake about it, this Ohio State team played very tough. This Buckeye team lost to a very talented Kentucky program by 2 points, and had a last second game winner miss by mere inches. I’m not big on moral victories, but it’s worth noting that Kentucky had to play a spectacular game of basketball simply to be in that game. If Buford, or Lighty, or Sullinger, hits just two of their shots during the course, we’re breathing a sigh of relief and looking ahead to the Tarheels. The Bucks missed multiple easy layups, and several open mid-range jumpers (that we normally hit). There’s no doubt who beat the Buckeyes last night, and it certainly wasn’t the team that’s playing North Carolina on Sunday.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not taking anything away from Kentucky’s victory. As I said, Kentucky had to play fantastic basketball against the Bucks to be in it in the first place. They won the game and deserve to move on. I’m merely noting how good this Buckeye team was that it could so nearly survive the Sweet 16 despite their worst night of basketball all season long.
I’ve seen a number of people comment that Thad Matta was outcoached in this game. Don’t listen to these people. Matta’s coaching was one of the few things that kept us in the game to the end – that and Aaron Craft’s hard work. Many have argued that he should have called a timeout to set up a last play. I don’t agree with that. He had time to set up a last play when Kentucky was setting up their’s, and to be perfectly honest, the last play was pretty straight forward.
“Get the ball to one of our shooters and try to hit a three.”
You don’t need much time to draw that up. Buford got a good look at the basket, Kentucky was surprised by OSU’s speed down the court and didn’t contest the shot as well as they could have if we had let them setup in the halfcourt. Remember, the Buckeyes have shown themselves to be quite talented at the last second three pointer this year, particularly when we have had to hurry down the court at the end of the half to put up a quick one. It’s just too bad that the pressure wasn’t on in those cases. Maybe with a bit more practice under pressure, Buford hits that shot.
Ultimately, you have to say that this was a special basketball team. They made the Sweet 16, something the Buckeyes have only done a handful of times in the last 20 years. They won an outright Big Ten Regular Season and Tournament Title, also a fairly rare feat in its own right. They won 24 straight games, the first time in 50 years that has been done by an OSU team. They earned the top #1 seed in the NCAA tournament. No matter how the season ended, this team was going to be remembered for a long time to come.
You’re probably asking where the good news is. Well, here it comes.
- Jared Sullinger has stated unequivically that he will be returning next season, and will be working to convince William Buford to do the same. Very rarely do players say that after the last game of the season and not follow through.
- William Buford stated that Sullinger didn’t need to convince him, he was coming back no matter what. This comes as a bit of a surprise considering how high his draft stock is right now. If he does this, which I fully believe he will, I’ll be very proud of Buford for sticking through and earning his degree.
- The Buckeyes will have a number of great players with a year of experience in the Matta program under their belt. Jordan “Three-bert” Sibert is set to take over where Jon “Three-bler” Diebler left off, and while he won’t likely shoot as well as Jon did in his last season, Sibert should fill the role well. Lenzelle Smith should be ready to go and help Aaron Craft lead the team, and J.D. Weatherspoon might finally get a chance to demonstrate what he can do.
- Ohio State will be pulling in yet another spectacular class of freshman. A couple great centers, another spectacular point guard, and a pair of excellent small forwards will help round out next year’s team.
- And don’t forget 6-8 Forward Evan Ravenel, our transfer that has been waiting in the wings. We’ve heard nothing but good things about him from practice, especially that he’s been working the boys hard.
There’s a lot of good news looking ahead to next year. Yes, it’s unfortunate that Diebler, Lighty, Lauderdale, and even Eddie Days, have to move on. I, for one, will miss them all greatly, and I have a hard time deciding which one I’ll miss the most. All four of them wore the Scarlet and Gray well and contributed to this team to the best of their ability. I can’t give them higher praise than that.
I know that I’m already excited for November and December. Yes, I’m even looking past football season a little and dreaming about what this next basketball team is going to be able to do. That’s unusual for me, being that OSU fooball is love 1A (basketball is 1B).
We’re going to continue our coverage of the great season the men’s team has just completed, along with a more in-depth look at next season’s prospects. Make sure to keep checking back for more!
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