|
Photo: Morry Gash/AP
Against one of the largest frontcourts they've faced all season, Ohio State played their way through an incredibly slow start and showed their experience in eliminating the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, marching on to the Sweet 16 next week. They are going to St. Louis because their star Evan Turner returned to form and carried them through the first half, sharpshooter Jon Diebler is having some of his best games all year in this tournament, and David Lighty continues to be the veteran leader and defensive glove of this squad.
Icicles on the rims: Ohio State's a team that shoots it at about 49%, so it was shocking to see them come out shooting so frigid after a 41% game against UCSB. The Buckeyes hit just 1 of their first 8 shots over the first 7:46 of the game and did not score until the 17:03 mark. Fortunately for them, Tech was having their own issues and were only up 10-2. Georgia Tech started in full court pressure after seeing that it had pestered Evan Turner to a point in the previous game, and the Bucks responded by turning it over four times in the first four minutes.
A versatile team: After that 10-2 deficit, the Bucks deployed pressure of their own and started forcing Yellow Jacket turnovers. OSU also started in zone after playing predominantly man-to-man during the season. Keeping Tech guessing, they later switched back to man and alternated throughout the game. Thad Matta is a master of constantly switching defenses. His team mastered the 2-3 zone with Greg Oden in the middle all the way to the National Championship game three years ago. Without a dominant force in the middle like Oden to protect from fouls, Matta has since switched back to mostly man, which plays to his long, athletic perimeter defenders' strengths. Offensively, the Bucks are tough to stop in transition, but they also have plenty of experience executing in the halfcourt with four guys being able to create their own shot. Ohio State is one of those teams without a glaring weakness in style, and their one supposed weakness (handling big men) was addressed today against a likely top five draft pick in Derrick Favors and another solid player in Gani Lawal.
Difference in discipline: The ACC's Yellow Jackets are a young team that features three McDonald's All-Americans, and they had beaten the likes of Duke and Maryland this season. But, their flaws are those of a young team still searching for their identity, including poor shot selection, excessive fouling, and too many turnovers. Favors, who is averaging 13 points and 9 rebounds this season, did not record a single point or rebound in the first half after picking up two personal fouls in six minutes and sitting for the remainder of the first. Both of these fouls occurred battling underneath the basket, primarily with Dallas Lauderdale, who played a strong game despite his 4 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 blocks perhaps not showing it.
The Villain gets his swagger back: Evan Turner, many people's selection for player of the year, bounced back well from his off game against the Gauchos. Turner was aggressive early, and while he did force things a bit as his nine turnovers will reveal, he found his way to rebounding his own misses and getting to the foul line, anything it took to get the job done. Turner took 15 of the Buckeyes' 26 shots in the first half, which is pretty startling for a team that shares the ball fairly well. Although with William Buford and Jon Diebler not hitting a single first half field goal, Turner saw what needed to be done. Sixteen of Turner's 24 came in the first half as his teammates rose to the occasion in the second half, but Turner nearly turned in his third triple double this season and the fourth in Buckeye history. Turner's 24 points, 9 rebounds, 9 assists, and 3 steals today showed why he deserves all the recognition that he's received over the past season for his hard work.
2nd half foul trouble: In the first half, it was Georgia Tech who fouled recklessly, fouling 12 times compared to 6 for Ohio State. But, Jon Diebler and David Lighty both committed careless fouls, their 2nd each, in the half's closing moments. While Derrick Favors picked up his third foul for shoving David Lighty on an offensive foul, Lighty quickly picked up his third foul. Diebler then followed that up with his third as well. Add in Lawal's three first half fouls, and that's four pretty key contributors in foul trouble between the teams. Lighty committed his fourth on a charge attempt, and he had to sit for about four minutes at the 7:35 mark in favor of Jeremie Simmons. Once again, Diebler followed Lighty up by committing his fourth on an incredibly tough block-charge call where it looked like he had drawn Favors's fifth personal with 1:47 remaining.
Three-bler!: I believe Jon Diebler has got to be catching NBA scouts' eyes with his two fantastic games this weekend. Diebler had 20 points for the second straight game, hitting 6-of-12 shots and 4-of-10 threes in this one, adding 2 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals. Seventeen of those 20 came in the second half where Diebler hit shot after key shot in transition as Georgia Tech attempted to apply full court pressure. Their trapping style and immense pressure on Turner freed up Diebler around the wing for open looks, ones he never does and never should pass up. It was not a bad weekend for the sharpshooting guard (43 points on 14-of-26 shooting and 11-of-22 from deep), who was recovering from the flu.
"The Glove": One guy who I feel often gets overlooked on this team is fourth year junior David Lighty. He's the most experienced player on the team, a four-year starter, and he was one of the key reasons the Buckeyes maintained being competitive at 3-3 in Turner's absence. He has the ability to score 20 points, but he knows that on most nights, that's not what OSU needs. Instead, he focuses his primary efforts on the defensive end. This afternoon, the 6'5" Lighty did a stellar job of defending Gani Lawal, who is 6'9", and is the Jackets' leading scorer. Drawing a pair of offensive fouls, Lighty was disciplined in his size disadvantage, using his body to fight around instead of fouling. A key to the Bucks being able to go with just one big man is Lighty's knack for guarding larger opposing power forwards. Offensively, Lighty scored 11 of his 18 in the second half, and he hit a bunch of key foul shots (6-of-7) even though he is just a 63% shooter on the season.
Making it interesting: Just as Ohio State looked to distance themselves with a lead of fifteen and just four minutes left, the Yellow Jackets had one last swarm in them with an 11-0 sting that got them to within just four points with 1:39 to go. From that point on, Lighty and Turner combined to hit 8-of-9 free throws and seal the game for the Buckeyes. One scary moment in the game's final minutes was when David Lighty tried to finish off a 2-on-1 break and Brian Oliver hit him high and hard, sending Lighty to the deck writhing in pain. Lighty quickly got up and made his free throws, however, and the Bucks never looked back. Dallas Lauderdale added a block with extra emphasis in the game's final moments, saying later that he was upset with the foul on Lighty and he wasn't about to let them score anymore.
Game ball goes to: Evan Turner, Jon Diebler, and David Lighty. Turner had to take 58% of the team's shots in the first half, but he pulled them through with strong moves around the basket. Turner neared a triple-double with 24 points, 9 rebounds, 9 assists, and 3 steals despite 9 turnovers from relentless pressure. Diebler continued his marksmanship with his second straight 20 point game, making 6-of-12 shots and throwing in 2 boards, 2 assists, and 2 steals. Lighty set the tone as always on defense against Lawal, four inches taller than him, and scored 18 of his own, making 6-of-7 free throws down the stretch.
Team Grade: B+
Ohio State turned it over 18 times and were outrebounded 31-28, including 13 offensive boards from Tech. But, they shot 49% and 16-for-25 in the second half (58%). OSU also made 17-of-23 free throws to ice the game. They held Favors and Lawal to just 21 points and 8 rebounds, well before their collective averages.
Next, the Buckeyes will face the sixth-seeded Tennessee Volunteers on Friday night in St. Louis. The Volunteers have beaten both Kansas and Kentucky this season, but the Bucks will have advantage in turnover margin, three point shooting, foul shooting, and defensive ability. Tennessee is deep and athletic, though, and the Bucks will have another decently-sized team to deal with up front, led by Wayne Chism. If they can get past Rocky Top, the Bucks will face the ninth seeded Northern Iowa Panthers or the fifth seeded Spartans, who may have lost Kalin Lucas to an Achilles' injury. The road to the Final Four is right in front of the Buckeyes. If they play their game, their journey will lead them back to Indianapolis.
Let's go Bucks!
Kirk
|
Bloguin is the revolutionary blog network specifically focused on helping bloggers get the most out of their websites. We're currently working on building a large network of online communities and hope to expand our blogging coverage to include a wide range of topics. 
The Bloguin Network allows advertisers to promote their products and services to our ever-growing number of visitors. We offer both site-specific ad placements as well as the ability to run a network-wide campaign. If you're interested in working with Bloguin to meet your advertising needs, please contact us.
The Bloguin Network is always looking to expand. We're specifically looking for blogs in the sports, entertainment, and video games field, but are open to adding any type of quality site. If you're a blogger and interested in joining our network, please fill out our application form.
The Bloguin Login gives you full access to everything our network has to offer. Your name and password will work for each and every one of our sites. Signing up is simple, and will allow you to post in all our forums, create member blogs, and access other cool features! What are you waiting for? Create an Account! 