A blast from the (recent) past:

True, that wasn't in the championship game, but still: that was almost the greatest thing ever.

In an alternate universe, Oden made that dunk. The game was called on account of awesome, and Greg Oden was awarded the national championship. He gave it to Ohio State out of the goodness of his heart. Today, in that alternate universe, there is no war, no hunger, no Wolverines. There's a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage. And tonight in that alternate universe, Greg Oden, with the greatest beard ever, is preparing to lead the Buckeyes to their second consecutive national championship.

Enjoy the game tonight, but never forget what might have been.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Ohio State won the oh so prestigious NIT championship with a 92-85 shootout victory over UMass to stake their claim as the country's best team that's not actually one of the country's best teams.

Realistically, the Buckeyes are probably around the 30th or so best team in the country, but all this championship means is that the Buckeyes were the team most screwed over by San Diego's WAC Tournament Championship.  I doubt anybody thinks that the likes of Coppin State, UMBC, or Siena Oral Roberts are legitimately better teams than Ohio State, they just so happened to win when it counted, and the Buckeyes didn't.  Oh well, I guess this means that there are no excuses for missing the Big Dance next year.

Did we see a breakthrough game for Kosta Koufos?  As the game hit its stretch run, it turned into a battle of can-you-top-this between the 7'0" Greek star and the scrappy Minutemen.  The man seemed to hit his stride offensively, showing the best of both his face-up offensive style and athletic presence down low.  Assuming he stays one more year (still a tossup at this point), it's hard to imagine anybody benefiting more from the presence of a true big man than the Greek star.  Mullens' presence in the paint will allow Koufos to play much more to his strengths like we all saw tonight, and he could legitimately average 17-20 points per game assuming he progresses as expected.  A Koufos/Mullens/Lauderdale rotation in the frontcourt would almost undoubtedly create matchup nightmares for coaches throughout the Big 10 all season long.  So, consider this Around The Oval's official plea that one Konstantine Koufos hangs around for one more year.  He will benefit, the scouts will notice, and the Buckeyes will flourish.

As for the rest of the squad, I have no doubt that everybody will be able to make the necessary strides to contend for a conference title again next year.  Evan Turner is a star in the making -- given he learns to play much more under control, Dallas Lauderdale will be a defensive force that should easily replace Othello Hunter, and David Lighty will continue to improve and be a solid contributor.

Finally, no championship-related Buckeye basketball post would be complete without a special mention to Jamar Butler.  It was an up and down season for the team's captain and point guard, but he's been far and away my favorite player in the Thad Matta era.  This championship was won in typical Butler fashion: 19 points, eight assists, lots of clutch three pointers, and nobody really watching or caring all that much.  He's the school's all-time assists leader, and will perhaps go down as the most underrated feature player in school history.  

Thank you Jamar, and to the rest of the seniors as well.

Final, OSU 81 - Ole Miss 69 - Life is good now, and will be forever! Things didn't go so well in the second half, but considering how well the first half went, that wasn't unexpected. Ole Miss shot better, the defense slipped up a few times, but the team got the win. And now it's on to the (NIT) championship! Woo! Here we come, (NIT) championship game! Woo!

1:32, OSU 75 - Ole Miss 68 - Butler's limping and Ole Miss refuses to, well, miss. I am not having fun.

4:18, OSU 73 - Ole Miss 62 - This lead feels much less secure now. Full attention returned to the game.

5:09, OSU 73 - Ole Miss 58 - NBA-range three from Jamar Butler, just because he can. And yes, I'm only half paying attention to the game now. My current interest is How Many Five Year Olds Could You Take in a Fight?

10:40, OSU 59 - Ole Miss 45 - Nice finger roll by Kosta Koufos. Between a bunch of fouls and a few timeouts, this game has started to drag. Can we just call this now? Is that cool with everyone?

12:49, OSU 56 - Ole Miss 41 - Ole Miss keeps knocking down threes. This gets less and less funny by the second. They don't know it's a show, they think it's a damn fight!

14:55, OSU 53 - Ole Miss 35 - The burglar in that Brinks Home Security commercial kinda sucks. You'd think he'd try to pick a lock or find an unlocked window, but no, straight to the smashing. Poor form, robber dude.

18:24, OSU 49 - Ole Miss 22 - Ole Miss player dribbling off his foot for the second time this game, a couple alcohol-related jokes (which I thought we'd miss without Brent Musburger), and a series of nice passes ended with an Othello Hunter dunk. It's been a good fifteen seconds.

Halftime, OSU 44 - Ole Miss 20 - Buckeyes are rolling. They're rebounding well, they're forcing turnovers, they're knocking down shots (though not beyond the three-point line, oddly enough). Good times.

4:00, OSU 39 - Ole Miss 18 - We all assume Anthony Crater will be handed the starting point guard job next year, but the things Evan Turner does with the ball are very impressive. Nice passes, nice fakes, nice moves. If he can control his turnovers, I wouldn't have a problem with him getting time at the 1. Think of the match-up problems for other teams.

5:25, OSU 37 - Ole Miss 18 - Raftery fears carnivorous elephants. I'm with ya, Billy.

6:33, OSU 35 - Ole Miss 18 - WOW! I thought Butler just threw an alley-oop into the stands, but Othello Hunter jumped waaaaaaaaay up there, grabbed it, and slammed it down. Neat.

7:12, OSU 31 - Ole Miss 18 - Ron Franklin just called UMass "an aroused ballclub" and said he wouldn't want to meet them in the championship. When you put it like that, I wouldn't either.

11:30, OSU 22 - Ole Miss 8 - 14-0 run by the Buckeyes. Everything's going well for these guys. The defense is forcing mistakes, the offense is hitting shots, the guys are grabbing boards. Gotta be honest, it kinda feels like a "Oh, we are having fun, nothing is ever going to go wrong" montage. Someone's going to accidentally hang out with a drug dealer and get arrested before halftime. But we'll all learn a valuable lesson. So it's a toss-up.

13:26, OSU 15 - Ole Miss 8 - My roommate noticed this, and if I haven't passed it along already, you've missed out, because it's uncanny: Jamar Butler shoots so much better when he's going to his left. Coming off a screen or just dribbling that way, it makes no difference. It seems like he never misses a three when he's moving left.

14:44, OSU 8 - Ole Miss 8 - Ole Miss just turned four steals into four points. The commentators are talking about how great a shooter Diebler is. I am not enjoying this.

9:33 - Doug Gottleib picked the Buckeyes. Ominous. He also suggested Ole Miss "watch out for Diebler." I hope he's right, but that's just shoddy research.

9:12 - Nice work, Gators. They just loss to UMass. Sideline dude Allen Hopkins just mentioned the word "emotion" or a form thereof three times in one sentence. Guys, emotions are out. Stoicism is in.

And yeah, that means no Erin Andrews. On the plus side, we do get Bill Raftery. So it's not all bad. Why can't more people do the broadcaster exchanging that ESPN and CBS swing come tournament time? Couldn't we trade someone, anyone from ABC or CBS to Fox come BCS time? I'm not sure Fox has the pieces to swing that trade, though. They must be hoping to rebuild their broadcast teams through the draft.

9:05 - Here we are, ladies and gents, and we're watching Florida do their best to spoil this rematch we've all been hoping for/dreading.

The Rutgers-UConn women's game will be on ESPN opposite the Buckeyes. So, um, there's that.

Tonight, at 9:00 on ESPN2, the Buckeyes take on Ole Miss in an NIT Final Four game. True, it's just the NIT, but it's also the Final Four. That calls for a liveblog, right? No? Well too bad, we're doing it anyway, barring another power outage like last night's, which plunged most of the campus area into darkness and sent thousands of college students out onto their porches and into the bars for impromptu parties.

Anyway, swing by here around 9:00, and feel free to join in with me as we make SEC jokes and hope against hope for Erin Andrews to work the game.

As disappointing as it was to see the Ohio State Buckeyes get left out of the NCAA tournament, I find it awfully difficult to argue with their omission, even from the partial perspective of a fan.

The Buckeyes were given every single opportunity to prove that they could compete with the upper-echelon of college basketball (or at least the Big Ten), and during the all-important home stretch of the season, they laid a big fat egg.  Including the Big Ten Tournament loss to MSU, the Buckeyes final nine games consisted of seven "make or break your tournament hopes" types of games.  Seven!  Through the first four of those games -- a home and home with the Hoosiers, home against Wisconsin, and at Minnesota -- the Bucks succeeded in making a name for themselves exactly zero times (And, of course, they also lost to lowly Michigan during that stretch).  When those wins finally did come around against Purdue and Michigan State, it seemed like too little too late.  

Yet, the Buckeyes were miraculously given yet another chance when every single other bubble team around the country began dropping like flies.  Hope was reborn!  Of course, however, the Buckeyes returned their normal buckle-under-the-pressure selves when it counted the most in the conference tournament.  Quite frankly, this team got every chance in the world to squeak in and then some, and they blew it.  The Buckeyes have no one to blame but themselves.  It's almost sad these days to see mediocre big-conference teams like Ohio State be given opportunity after opportunity to make the tournament, while much more talented mid-majors get eliminated from the discussion one upset into the season.

I don't feel snubbed, and hopefully nobody else does either.  The bottom line is that the Buckeyes weren't one of the 32 best teams not to win their conference tournament, and it wasn't all that close.

At least we still get to see Kenny George.

End of Game, OSU 69 - IU 72 - And with Jamar Butler's eighth essentially meaningless point at the end, the game draws to a close. It was par for the course, pretty much. The team looked good at times, but inconsistency on the offensive end and lapses on the defensive end doomed them. NIT, here we come!

1:04, OSU 56 - IU 61 - Okay, either the Buckeyes hit some big shots here down the stretch, or they fade like usual. The team (supposedly) has plenty of gunners, and it's time for them to hit some shots.

4:24, OSU 49 - IU 54 - I have no idea why I feel this way, but I feel very strongly that Dan Dakich would be at home in a film noir movie as a gangster. Ideally he would have a fedora and a tommygun, and would say "see?" after everything he says.

6:18, OSU 46 - IU 49 - The Buckeyes just turned a 3-on-1 into a turnover. I don't know what's worse: that they blew that, or that I wasn't that surprised.

8:00, OSU 43 - IU 49 - It is now official: I know too much about both Thad Matta's back and Eddie George's, uh, Li'l Heisman. Of course, there are entirely different standards of acceptable amounts of information for those two body parts.

10:21, OSU 41 - IU 44 - I think Terwilliger just scored for IU. If we traded him during the TV timeout, I hope we got more than a draft pick for him. I want what's left of Kelvin Sampson's phone card and a cellular plan featuring three-way calling to be named later.

12:32, OSU 35 - IU 39 - Not only did the crowd think Lighty should have been called for something right there, Lighty agreed. Fortunately, the refs thought otherwise.

I object to these Sheraton commercials. The appropriate reaction to seeing a Michigan fan drop a piece of luggage is not to pick it up for him, but to "accidentally" step on it. Never let them think we're going soft.

13:05, OSU 35 - IU 39 - THREEBLER! I've loved Diebler all along, I've always said he's awesome.

15:05, OSU 32 - IU 34 - Eric Gordon's potential and-one notwithstanding, I'm impressed here. The Buckeyes have been aggressive on the offensive and defensive ends, and it's paid off. They almost look like a different team.

15:50, OSU 28 - IU 32 - Musberger just suggested that IU coach Dan Dakich should yell at the refs like Bobby Knight. I've always wondered if yelling at refs actually made them call the game for you. If I were a ref, every close call would go against Bobby Knight, just out of spite. But maybe he's more intimidating in person, I don't know.

17:00 left in the 2nd half, OSU 21 - IU 30 - David Lighty loves to drive, jump with no plan, and pass desperately. He also apparently loves to strip guys going up for layups on fast breaks. That was pretty awesome.

Halftime, OSU 21 - IU 30 - Honestly, it could have been worse. If the Hoosiers could hit their threes, they'd be up big. If the Buckeyes can start hitting theirs, this will be competitive. If not, it's over.

:33, OSU 21 - IU 30 - Big block by Koufos, dunk by Turner, drawn charge by Diebler. If you ignore all the missed threes in between those events, that was a real nice run of play by the Buckeyes.

3:18, OSU 15 - IU 27 - A nice block by Koufos on D.J. White. Every now and then, Koufos looks like a legit big man.

I hate the Big Ten Poetry Slam commercial. I seriously doubt I'm alone in this.

6:00, OSU 13 - IU 23 - The good thing about the zone defense is that it's causing IU to take a lot of threes. And they are missing a lot of threes. That's the only reason the Buckeyes aren't getting slaughtered now.

7:00, OSU 13 - IU 23 - IT'S NOT PRESIDENT'S DAY ANYMORE, SATURN. ENOUGH WITH THE COMMERCIALS.

The Buckeyes may already be driving me crazy.

8:40, OSU 11 - IU 20 - Any Erin Andrews report without a shot of Erin Andrews is a waste. I'd rather watch Erin than the game right now.

11:06, OSU 7 - IU 18 - And the Buckeyes are 2-of-12 right now. This could get ugly pretty quick. Who's up for a Mythbusters liveblog?

12:04, OSU 7 - IU 14 - Lavin just informed us that IU has 8 offensive rebounds already. That is a bad sign.

13:34, OSU 6 - IU 12 - Jon Diebler almost killed Matt Terwilliger with an airball just now. Bad Jon.

14:20, OSU 6 - IU 10 - If Indiana could hit their threes, they'd be killing the Buckeyes now. They're getting open looks, but just missing them.

15:57, OSU 4 - IU 10 - A KFC ad just inspired me to try and bring back the word "rad." Who's with me?

16:36 left in the 1st half, OSU 3 - IU 7 - And you're looking live at Casa del Sean. I am joined by a tray of microwave fettucine alfredo and some irrational optimism. Crushing depression will join us later. So far the Hoosiers have missed a couple shots, but so have the Buckeyes. Hoosiers just picked up an easy bucket off of an offensive rebound, and the Buckeyes called a timeout, presumably so Thad can yell at Koufos.

Just a heads-up, I'm planning on liveblogging tonight's OSU-IU game (7:00 on ESPN). Why? I think it will be a fascinating window into my descent into madness as a team with all the pieces needed to win the Big Ten manages to drop yet another game in frustrating fashion. There's also the possibility that the Buckeyes will pull everything together and manage the upset, which also holds appeal for the eternally optimistic fan inside of me.

So consider this an open thread for the game, and keep in mind that, so long as I get out of work on time (knocking furiously on wood), I'll be here at 7:00 with unfunny jokes about OSU basketball, Kelvin Sampson, and Erin Andrews.

1. Indiana
   
2. Wisconsin
   
3. Michigan State
   
4. Minnesota
   
5. Ohio State
   
6. Purdue
   
7. Illinois
   
8. Iowa
   
9. Penn State
   
10. Michigan
    
11. Northwestern

I want to use this space to plead with uber-recruit Terrelle Pryor to pick the Buckeyes over Michigan (or, failing that, to pick anyone over Michigan), but that might be a tad unseemly. Besides, there's basketball to discuss. I haven't given the team its due so far, in part because I'm busy, in part because the Big Ten Network has made it difficult for me to see many of the games, and in part because I just didn't understand the team so far. The team just didn't really have an identity, and that makes them tough to relate to and understand. They weren't an up-tempo, high-scoring team, but neither were they a slow, defensive juggernaut. There wasn't really any player whose ability reached out and grabbed me the way Mike Conley and Greg Oden did. They were mostly a bunch of young guys trying to figure out how they were going to make things work, and that wasn't really much fun. Maybe if they'd broken it down into a montage with some upbeat music, where the guys start out fighting and not playing well, but by the end they're having fund and beating everyone, it would be different, but alas, life is not a Disney movie. All we got were several second-half collapses, along with several games providing reasons to hope.

Today, there's still not much of an identity for the team. Sometimes, they knock down shots, play agressive, trapping defense, and look like a good team. Other times, they can't hit the broad side of a barn with a barn-seeking basketball rocket, and teams effortlessly shred the defense for easy buckets. This isn't surprising, this is a young team. Maybe that's their identity: a bunch of mostly young guys that can play with anyone, but lose to anyone. But we have a large enough body of work to draw some conclusions, and I have the time now to make said conclusions. So here's what we know (or what I think we know) about this year's basketball team.

(A note, all tempo-free stats are coming from Basketball State, the stats side of Mid Majority. It all used to be free, but now it's not. I recently signed up, I'm enjoying it so far, but it's early. I'll pass along my thoughts if I find it especially worthwhile or worthless. The rest of the stats come from the university, the Big Ten, or the NCAA. Those are free, but aren't tempo-free, which is less good.)

Jamar Butler is good, maybe better than you realize.
He's averaging 1.22 points per weighted shot (PPWS primer here), a pretty good number. Considering that he's the focal point of the offense, and the number one priority for defenses, it gets a bit more impressive (aside: Indiana's Eric Gordon has been even more impressive, averaging 1.31 PPWS, living up to his uber-recruit hype, at least in terms of scoring. If only he didn't turn the ball over so often. . .). He's making 43.1% of his threes, good for fifth in the Big Ten. But he's always been a good shooter. This year, he's also doing a good job of getting his teammates involved, averaging 6.3 assists per game, tops in the Big Ten. He's second in the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.76. And, to top it all off, he's tops in the country in free throw percentage, at 95.6%. Butler's the team's MVP, and it isn't close. I was worried coming into the season about how he could handle being a leader and having to distribute while still scoring, but he's done a very good job of it.

Don't be surprised to see Evan Turner and Jon Diebler reenact last season's David Lighty-Daequan Cook switcheroo.
Early on, last season, the team relied on Cook's scoring, and he shot well enough to make up for his poor shot selection and defense. But as his shots stopped falling and Lighty grew acclimated to the college game, Lighty gradually took more and more of Cook's minutes. Diebler started the season as the fifth starter along with Butler, Lighty, Othello Hunter, and Kosta Koufos. His defense has been okay, but his shooting has seldom been better than average, and it's certainly never been anywhere near the "holy crap!" level of his high school days. But who else was there for Matta to start in his place? Diebler was the best option early on. Gradually, Turner has improved his game, and lately he and Diebler have been splitting time more or less evenly. Turner's big problem has been turnovers: he's always given the ball away too much to make up for his other contributions. I expect that will become less of an issue as he gains experience, and if the Tennessee game was a taste of things to come, I think the team will put up with two and a half turnovers a game. Turner might be the most athletic player on the roster right now. He gets to the basket well, he shoots well (1.24 PPWS, best on the team), and he rebounded very well against Tennessee (against whom he put up a 21-point, 10-rebound double-double). I think it's a real possibility that Matta will go with the hot hand and take Turner's rebounding, athleticism, scoring, and occasional carelessness with the ball over Diebler's inconsistency. Diebler's averaging .86 PPWS; anything below 1.0 is not good, and .86 is "never shoot, ever, seriously" territory. I think Diebler will eventually find his stroke in college; you don't put up the numbers he put up in high school unless you're a good shooter. But until he does, I think Turner's the better option.

For all their trouble, the Buckeyes have played good defense.
I know, I didn't believe it, either. But they're giving up .87 points per possession, good for tops in the Big Ten. Currently, a mediocre offense and a killer schedule is what's holding the team back. This should be pretty encouraging for us as fans. A young team, against the seventh-toughest schedule in the country has been playing the best defense of any Big Ten team. Once the offense comes around (hopefully roughy tournament time), this should be a solid team. I'm hoping Thad sees this and takes note of the effectiveness of the zone defense. I love the 2-3 zone like a fat kid loves cake very much (sorry, almost violated my "Don't quote 50 Cent" New Year's resolution). If the players are disciplined, intelligent, and a good fit for their roles in the defense, I think it's better, at least at the college level, than man defense. Plus, I find it more fun to watch. So, stick with the zone, Thad.

This is an average team right now, but just wait.
Looking at the statistics, the team as a whole doesn't stand out anywhere besides defense. And, as I said at the beginning, they don't really have an identity. But sooner or later, they will. Maybe Turner will come into his own or Diebler's shots will start falling. Maybe Koufos will get tougher down low, to complement his shooting stroke. Or maybe it won't happen this year, and maybe it'll take a couple guys from next year's talented recruiting class to get the team over the hump. But it will happen. The players are too talented, and Matta's too good a coach, for this team to not be competing for the Big Ten title.

Last night, the Buckeyes became the second Big Ten basketball team in less than a week to lose an exhibition game to a Division II team (Michigan State started the trend, losing by 3 in 2OT against Grand Valley State), when the Findlay Oilers defeated OSU by a score of 70-68.  

The shocking upset arguably had less to do with the way that Findlay played and more to do with the inexperienced Buckeyes' satisfaction with playing below a level of mediocrity.  Greg Oden's replacement, Othello Hunter, did just about the exact opposite of what was expected out of him, totaling 1 point, 1 rebound, 1 block, and 1 steal in just 13 minutes due to foul trouble.  The bench didn't do much, either, with Eric Wallace, PJ Hill, Kyle Madsen, and Evan Turner going a combined 0-6 from the field.  Quite frankly, the only guys out there that looked like D-I caliber basketball players were Jamar Butler (7/13 FG, 22 Pts) and Kosta Koufos (20 points, 7 Rebounds).

Understandably, a lot of people are trying to find some good out of the situation, and while there is still promise, I feel that in the case of a loss as horrific as this one, the negative points need to be emphasized, because quite frankly, those clearly need the most attention.  The two instinctive reaction from Buckeye fans are that "it was only an exhibition game," and, "it will give the team a much-needed slap in the face," which are both true and viable points, but when I look at this game, I can only manage to see a loss to a Division II team that we have beaten two seasons in a row by an average of 26.5 points.  

The bottom line is that here we have a group of young men who are having their college paid for completely, just so they can play basketball.  Seven of them (if you count the walk-ons and redshirt freshman Kyle Madsen) have been a part of the team for more than one season, and if I'm pretty darn sure they went to a little game last year called the NCAA National Championship.  Even in the group young guys we have a high school All-American (Kosta Koufos) and perhaps the most celebrated high school basketball player in the state of Ohio...ever (Jon Diebler).  Yet they were all shown up by a few guys from Findlay that have never been good enough to even sniff D-I ball.

Pathetic.  Absolutely pathetic.

And shame on you, Coach Matta.  When all is said and done, Matta very well may be considered the greatest thing to ever happen to Ohio State basketball.  He has brought in an expectation of success and a plethora of talent.  Also, Matta has already managed to do the impossible in Columbus: He has singlehandedly made Ohio State a two sport school.  Instead of OSU being labled as a "Football School" with a decent to above average basketball program, Matta has managed to erase the individual sporting label, and the school is now a powerhouse in two sports, something that many schools cannot even imagine to handle.

Despite all of that success, Matta still slipped up last night.  Even though it was an exhibition, and even though the Findlay team probably played the game of its life, Matta enacted the cardinal sin of head coaches in any sport at any level, he failed to get his players to care about the sport that they supposedly live for.  And regardless of the talent brought in, if Matta can't get his team to want to play basketball, he won't last as a coach.  Fortunately, as we all have come to know by now, Matta is better than this, and he will come back better and stronger than any of the players ever will.  He's too good of a coach to let this loss shake him to the core.  You can bet your bottom dollar that Ohio State at least gives some sort of an effort in every game as long as Matta is on the bench.

But what does this loss say about the team for the rest of this season?  Hopefully, as everybody seems so quick to jump to, this slip-up was simply an aberration, and the team will challenge for a conference title.  Players will have their bad games, especially young players in the preseason.  But some fears will remain:

-If Othello Hunter can't stay on the court against D-II big men, what's going to happen when he has to guard the likes of Tyler Hansbrough, much less a big man on an average Big Ten team?  

-If the perimeter defense allows D-II players to shoot over 40% from beyond the arc (including a 50% clip in the second half), what will happen when they have to defend the likes of Drew Neitzel, much less an average shooting Big Ten team?

-If the Buckeyes can only manage to shoot 64.7% from the free throw line in an exhibition, what will happen when we need to sink those clutch free throws in the waning minutes come March?

-If Kosta Koufos is the only one with a pulse down low, what will happen when the college game catches up with him and he hits a slump of average play?

I really, really hope that the coaches and players take this loss like it's a kick in the crotch, because, quite frankly, they need it.  Performances like this, even when they are in exhibitions, are inexcusable.

Then again, it could be worse.  At least we didn't lose to Appalachian State.

(Yes, I will use that line every opportunity I get until the day I die).

Sorry for the lack of posting, guys.  Much like with Sean, I, too, have fallen into the pitfall that is a daily routine, and unfortunately, for some time, that routine did not include AtO.

Since Sean pretty much covered that whole football thing, I figured that the often times "forgotten" Buckeye sport that is about to tip-off its season warrants some sort of attention.

The Buckeye Men's Basketball team started off its exhibition season last night with a 88-59 victory over Ashland.  As is usually the case with these preseason games, the bench saw extended time, and the team's overall game was not as polished as it will be for the regular season opener come November 12 against Wisconsin-Green Bay.  The victory was a well-rounded one for the Bucks, as 11 of the 13 players on roster saw double-digit minutes.  Greg Oden's partner in crime last season, Othello Hunter, and all-world freshman Kosta Koufos each put up 15 point, 12 rebound performances.  Jamar Butler had 7 points and 7 assists, and David Lighty added another 13 points.  For the official game story and box score, make sure to check out The O-Zone's coverage.

With just over 10 days until the beginning of the Preseason NIT, here is my Buckeye Basketball season preview:

The Replacements:

David Lighty
Replacing: Ron Lewis
Perhaps the least heralded member of last year's team, David Lighty's role on the offensive end will increase an insurmountable amount this year.  Last year, he would be brought into the game almost exclusively for defensive purposes, usually being placed on the opposing team's most dangerous offensive weapon, and then becoming an afterthought offensively; however, this year, Lighty will have to perform on both ends of the court.  He will still have to be a lock-down defender, but he will now be expected to become a 10+ PPG type of player.  Last season, he showed the athleticism to drive to the hoop and create, and can knock down a perimeter jumper when left open, but was not always the most consistent performer.  With another year of development under Thad Matta, look for Lighty's game to take the next step this season as he becomes one of the most complete players in the Big Ten.  If not, the team will suffer dearly.

Jamar Butler
Replacing: Mike Conley Jr.
Of all of the starters that have to replace last season's playmakers, I feel the most confident with this one.  That is probably because Butler really isn't replacing Conley, he's just taking his spot back as a Point Guard.  In the 2005-06 season, Butler's control of the Buckeye offense made him arguably the best  player in the entire conference.  Then, when Mike Conley burst onto the scene, he took over the point guard spot, leaving Butler to jack up threes.  Now, Butler is back in control of the back court, and the offense should continue to thrive.  Essentially, with Butler, we get a smart passer, a smart player, and an excellent shooter who doesn't turn the ball over, and we lose Conley's explosiveness.  I feel good about this spot.  Very good.  It's just what happens when Butler is on the bench that worries me (see later).

Jon Diebler
Replacing: Daequan Cook
Diebler enters his freshman season as a Buckeye as the highest scorer in the history of Ohio High School Basketball.  At 6'7", Diebler possesses a rare mix of a deadly shot and a rebounding force.  Due to his size, Diebler's role will be much, much different than the one that Cook had as a Buckeye.  Sure, Diebler will probably jack up more than his fair share of three point attempts, but he will also have something that Cook didn't have: a remote form of an inside presence.  Unfortunately, Diebler cannot create his own shot as well as Cook could, which means that he will have to rely on his teammates to find him in open situations for him to be productive.

Kosta Koufos
Replacing: That one tall guy
Just about everything that could be said about this replacement has been said.  Koufos, an All-American out of high school, has to replace Greg Oden, the #1 pick in this year's NBA Draft.  It's a near-impossible replacement, because Oden very well may have been the single player that forever changed the fortunes of Ohio State basketball when he committed back in 2005; however, there are a few things working out in our favor that could benefit the team.  For one, Koufos does not have any sort of nagging injury that will keep him out for an extended period of time.  Secondly, his offensive game is more polished at this point in time than Oden's was as a freshman.  Thirdly, Koufos has a more experienced Othello Hunter, a more experienced Matt Terwilliger, and the additions of Vanderbilt transfer Kyle Madsen and freshman Dallas Lauderdale to help him out, three luxuries that Oden never had.

Key Players:

Mystery Man PJ Hill
Key Role: Spelling Butler
When Mike Conley and Daequan Cook jolted for the NBA, it left a glaring hole in the Buckeye back court; there was no real guard -- much less a point guard -- that could effectively back up Jamar Butler.  Then, last July, Thad Matta was given a lovely surprise when JUCO point guard PJ Hill committed to Ohio State just days before the cut-off for class of 2007 signees.  Outside of the Buckeye basketball family, nobody really knows anything about PJ Hill.  His recruiting pages were, for the most part, nonexistent, and Google searches yielded few results.  From what people have been able to figure out, Hill is a solid defender with cool hair, and according to the exhibition game's box score, his only field goal of the night was a three point shot, so that's always nice.  When Butler needs to rest and/or finds himself in foul trouble, it will be up to Hill to manage the offense, and quite frankly, nobody has any idea if he's capable.

Othello Hunter
Key Role: Being a strong defender and staying on the court
The offense will be fine.  Hunter needs not worry about that.  Diebler can hit shots, Koufos can score from anywhere, Lighty can attack the basket, and Butler can hit threes in his sleep.  The defense, especially in the post, will be questionable.  Sure, Koufos averaged around 4 blocks per game playing overseas this summer, but the defensive transition from high school to college takes a lot of time, sometime even a full season, for young players to adjust to.  Just look at Greg Oden, he was a dominating defender, but his inability to adjust to opposing offenses nearly cost Ohio State in the NCAA tournament.  Hunter, however, is primed for a breakout season.  He is in his fifth year of organized basketball, spending some time in JUCO before his first year at OSU, and in his second season, he looks more than capable of shouldering the load.  At times last season, Hunter would block big shots in games to fans reacting, "Did you just see that block Oden just made!?"  That means two things: 1) He was largely overshadowed by Greg, and 2) He is capable of playing defense like Greg.  Hunter's biggest issue last season was getting into foul trouble, so if he can stay on the floor this year, expect big things out of him.

The Rest of the Freshmen
Key Role: Play like college basketball players
It may sound simple enough, but Lauderdale, Evan Turner, Eric Wallace, and redshirt freshman Kyle Madsen will be playing their first bits of organized, competitive college basketball in their lives.  There will be ups and downs, and probably a lengthy adjustment period early on, but if they can all effectively contribute off the bench, it will take loads of pressure off of the other guys.

Overall Prediction

To say that this team will be as good as last year's squad would be unfair at this point.  There is no Greg Oden or Mike Conley on this team that can take over a game at any point.  However, what we do have, is a cohesive mix of experienced players and upstart freshmen that all appear to be ready to take the next step.  A Big Ten title may be out of reach, but anywhere from a 5-7 seed in the NCAA tournament should be considered a reasonable expectation.

Sorry for the disappearing act Friday and Monday, both days I accidentally closed the Firefox windows that held my posts, costing myself a couple hours of work with two clicks. I then ran out of time or motivation to retype the posts. But I'm back, and making sure to type everything into WordPad before posting it. You'd think I'd have learned that in my 15 months of sports blogging, but I guess I'm a slow learner.

Anyway, have you been wondering why Greg Oden has struggled in the NBA's Summer League? Turns out the problem may be his tonsils, which have apparently swelled up so much that they're obstructing his breathing. The Oregonian's Jason Quick (who has become one of my favorite beat writers in the time I've been reading about the Trailblazers) got a look at the offending lymphoid tissue and was slightly freaked out (HT: The Fanhouse):

It all becomes clear. Oden, already tired and short on practice due to media obligations, has to deal with the added issue of a tonsillar bottleneck, and struggles. If you look around the internets (and probably on TV), you'll see various pundits praising Oden for blaming his trouble on his tonsils or anything else. The guy admits they're a problem, but takes the blame for his struggle in the Summer League, and I have to admit that that's pretty good. Off the court, the guy has yet to take a misstep. He's always saying and doing the right thing. I'm starting the movement now: Greg Oden for President. He'll be eligible to run in 2024, giving us plenty of time to get the campaign going. We have Indiana, we have Ohio, we have Oregon. We're 47 states away from a Greg Oden sweep of the country. Let's get to work.