tBBC All-Time Tourney: # 4 1968 vs. #5 2011

The tBBC All-Time Tourney is back with another barn-burner as the number 4 seeded improbable 1968 Buckeyes take on the unforgettable 2011 squad.  JoeD and WVaBuckeye break down today’s match-up.

Ohio State’s true Cinderella — the 1967-68 Buckeyes got second life at the very end of the season thanks to some help from our friends up north. In early March, players had turned their uniforms in. They thought they had played their last game against Illinois. They still practiced, but without any expectations of playing again.

All Iowa needed to do in securing the only spot for the Big Ten in the 23 team post-season tournament was beat a Michigan team that was 5-8 in the conference.  After jumping out to a 22-8 lead, Michigan was able to hold on by one to force a one game playoff between the Hawkeyes and Buckeyes at the brand new Mackey Arena in boilermaker country.

Fred Taylor was so thankful  for the Wolverines’ effort, that he sent  soon to be fired Michigan coach Dave Strack a varsity O blanket to keep warm over the spring.

The Buckeyes would go on to beat the Hawkeyes and entered the tournament as a member of the Mideast regional in Lexington Kentucky. After a win over East Tennessee State, the Buckeyes would meet the heavily favored home Kentucky Wildcats and survive by one point. Wildcat Head Coach Adolph Rupp was so upset after the game, he refused to make an appearance at the post-game press conference. That’s when Guard Bruce Schnabel came up with a poem that rings wonderment in Ohio State fan’s ears.

“Some say we were good, some say we were lucky, all I know is we’re in L.A. and Rupp is still in Kentucky.”

Sadly the run would come to an end as the Buckeyes met a Buzzsaw in John Wooden’s UCLA Bruins. They’d finish 21-8 on the year in coach Taylor’s last Final Four run.

While it was an upset of Kentucky that got the 68 Buckeyes to the Final Four, it was an upsetting performance against the Wildcats that ended last year’s run to what seemed to be  a probable final four four appearance.

The All-Ohio starting five didn’t lose until the beginning of February. After 24 straight wins, the Buckeyes would drop 2 in February, and then go on a 9 game winning streak heading into the Sweet Sixteen. After being on the same page for all of the season, Ohio State fell apart in their first true test of the post-season.

Jon Diebler did all he could to fight through, hitting a game tying three with 21 seconds on the clock. But just :15 later, It was Brandon Knight with the dagger from about 15′ out that ended the season of arguably the most talented team in Ohio State history.

Today, it’s the team who exceeded expectations against the squad that just fell short of what it was destined to be.  What would happen if both teams hit the court?

We’ll share our thoughts with several comparisons of each team’s makeup. We’ll also be including our opinions of each comparison with who has the advantage and let the computers break this one down point by point! We hope you enjoy our tournament as we look forward to the outcome!

1968 Starters and Stats

1968 Team Stats

Bill Hosket in the Record Books

Bill was a three year starter for the Buckeyes and led the team in scoring and rebounding all three years.  He scored 1,441 points in his three years there which places him 18^th on the all time list. The 910 rebounds is the 4^th highest in the programs history and his average of 12.3 RPG are only second to Jerry Lucas. Bill played on the 1968 Olympic team and was Ohio State’s very first Academic All American in basketball.

2011 Starters and Stats

2011 Team Stats

Team in the Record Books

Several records fell to the wayside during this teams run in the 2010-11 season. David Lighty set a single game 3 point shooting % mark by going 7/7 against George Mason. Jon Diebler set a career mark with 3 consecutive years leading the team in 3 point shooting %. He hit 114 threes to put him second on the single season list behind himself from the previous season’s 116.  During that run he hit 10 against Penn State which was a new tOSU and Big Ten mark. He now holds the career attempts record for threes with an amazing 900.  His 50.2% from down town is the new single season % leader, and Will Buford now holds the #2 position at 44.2%. Will became one of twelve players to score 500+ in multiple seasons and Jerry Lucas and Michael Redd are the only two with three seasons.  Dallas Lauderdale makes the list with 213 career blocked shots and comes in at number 3 all time. Jared Sullinger broke Dennis Hopson’s record of free throws attempted in a single season with 267 as the previous mark was 264.  As a team the 587 assists is the new single season mark for a team and they passes the 1986-87 team for second place on points scored in a season with 2,854 behind 2006-07. A sharp shooting team behind Diebler and Lighty this team hit 14 consecutive against Wisconsin, a record shooting percentage of 42.3%, and a single game shooting percentage of 93.3% which is an NCAA mark. They are second on the OSU all time list for threes made in a season with 285, two short of the 2006-07 team.

Playmaker

When it comes to playmakers in Ohio State history, there is none more unique than David Lighty. As all Buckeye fans today have witnessed, he is one of the best all-around players to ever don the Scarlet and Gray. Whether it was finding the open man, covering the open man on defense, or driving to the lane – Lighty was the cog that made Ohio State so good. Opposing coaches not only raved about his leadership and ability, they wish they could have it.

What makes Lighty one of the best playmakers in school history is his ability to adjust on the fly, pick up where teammates left of, and lead not only by example, but through his teammates. He made everyone on last year’s squad better and without him, the program might not be in as good of shape as it is — that’s how powerful his impact was on teammates Aaron Craft, Jared Sullinger, and Deshaun Thomas.

The game was different in 1968, without a perimeter game. Everything was fed into the post, making former Olympian Bill Hosket’s play so imperative to success. Against East Tennessee State he had 20 rebounds in 68 and is third all-time in OSU tournament history in rebounds, despite just one appearance.  He had 21 points and 12 rebounds against Kentucky. Another look at that boxscore makes you realize that the play in the post every night was more important than just one play-maker for the ’68 team. You could make the argument that the combination of Dave Sorenson,  Bill Hosket and Steve Howell is the best in school history. Advantage is a Push

Post Presence

The post play match up is intriguing to say the least. Bill Hosket finished his career averaging a double/double and its an almost certainty that Jared Sullinger will do the same. Bill comes from an era of basketball with absolutely no three points shooting and Jared’s game at times depends on good perimeter shooting. The Big Ten is a tough and tumble conference and there’s no doubt these two players would handle themselves adequately. In a real match up, the defensive minded Hosket would have little trouble guarding Jared; however, he would have to keep one eye on Dallas Lauderdale. The early going would be tough as Dallas would have help on defense and on the offensive end of the floor his swatting arm would make things difficult for Bill. The ability to double down on Bill in the post on defense with no threat of long range shooting from Danny Meadors or Jody Finney would help the 2011 squad. Last years team is the career leader in assists because they were very good at the inside/outside game and would make things difficult on Hosket and center Dave Sorenson. Advantage to 2011

Ball Handler

Despite not having a point guard in 2011, the Ohio State Buckeyes did an amazing job of ball possession and working their offense through the post to create points. Nearly every time Jared Sullinger or Dallas Lauderdale kicked it outside, possession remained with the Buckeyes. That’s just a true testament to the team game that Ohio State played. In ways, David Lighty was very under-rated in this department. As the head guard, he did an excellent job of dishing the basketball off cleanly. As a freshman, Aaron Craft has to be credited as well. He took care of the basketball better than any diaper dandy not named Jared Sullinger last season.

What can be said about the ’11 team is almost a spitting image of the 1968 ball handlers. There isn’t a name that stand out in the bunch, but the combination of Denny Meadors, Mike Swain, Craig Barclay and Jody Finney did a great job of maintaining possession by going through the post first.  Considering 4/5 starters played center in high school it was quite amazingcoach Taylor was able to put together an offensive game-plan that would not only work, but win ballgames.  Advantage to 2011

Head Coach

Thad Matta is making a great argument for being the best coach of all time at tOSU. He’s putting together one of the best runs by a head coach and has brought in the players to make it happen. A tireless recruiter there appears to be very few players that tell him no. He has a good philosophy of the game and even during this current season has changed his MO for how deep to go on his bench. The man he is chasing is Fred Taylor. Coach Taylor set the standard for Ohio State Basketball. Beginning his career at tOSU in 1959 he went to work quickly and celebrated immediate success with his Hondo and Lucas led teams from 60-62 and enjoyed the most success of a head coach. Just short of 300 career wins he finished 297-158 and was 158 and 102 in the Big Ten with 7 big ten titles. He led this team to a playoff win for the Big Ten title and continued that success into the NCAA’s and won the consolation game by beating the Elvin Hayes led Houston team for third place. Ever the strategist, Coach Taylor was definitely old school and always put his teams in a good position to win. Advantage to 1968

Supporting Cast and Future Stars

There’s no arguing that there is a vast difference in cultures and in styles between these two teams. The 1968 was as tough as they come in that era of basketball and had a hard nosed coach. It possessed its own share of future stars as Denny Meadors and Dave Sorenson were eventual captains, although no other players on the 1968 squad ended up in the record books. Most players in that time finished with there college degree with the exception of Bill Hosket who left early for the Olympics and the NBA. Last years team has the distinction that maybe no other Ohio State team will ever have. They had three players that played on and was a huge part of three different teams that were very good, two of which are in this tournament. Jon Diebler, David Lighty and Will Buford played with Evan Turner and by the time last year rolled along with Jared Sullinger they had probably played in more games together than any other trio in Ohio State history.  The key to last years success was the play of two freshman coming off the bench in Aaron Craft and Deshaun Thomas. Most notably were the play of Craft at point guard on the defensive end and his uncanny knack of getting the ball where it needed to be. When all was said and done, as a non-starter he finished with 73 steals at number three all time and 177 assists which tied for number 5 all time. Both marks are second all time on the freshmen list. If you’d like to check out the statistics for non-starters for each team follow these links. Advantage to 2011

http://statsheet.com/mcb/teams/ohio-state?season=2010-2011

http://grfx.cstv.com/schools/osu/graphics/pdf/m-baskbl/1967-68.pdf

What the Computer Says

Whatifsports brings you their simulation of the ballgame. Here is a look at the boxscore, as 2011 was able to win both halves en route to a hard fought wins. Click here to view the full Box Score and Play By Play from the 92-83 win for the 2011 squad.

To The Polls

Who do you believe would win this 4 vs. 5 first round match-up? Let us know by voting in our poll on the side of the homepage! The Winner will move on to take to the next round!

Please leave a comment for which team you chose and help us decide the winner of our first mythical Champion in tBBC All Time Tourney.