BB, my take.

[OSU-DNA]

I thought to start, a player by player evaluation, and then some team observations.

-Eaton, a much improved player. Significantly improved in protecting the ball, better shot selection. Only the occassional drive into the middle for a trap which was a real issue the last two years. Post game interviews with Byron show he really understands the issues. If he could refrain from the drop dead stupid foul he would be on the court for 40 minutes. Last night, he played his best defensive game and was out there over 30 minutes. Lack of quick shot release on the 3 pointer limits him in crunch time. By far the best ball handler on the team.
-Dove, an incredible change in his offensive game. While he will hit the 3 from time to time, please move that inside to a 10-12 footer and he would get more points. I wish our young players would learn from his defensive effort. When he drives and keeps his head towards the basket we have potential points, if he does a spin move on the way in we have a turnover or a miss.
-Harris, if we could find the formula we would have solid production nightly. Ball handling is still very poor and hard to see this changing mid-way through his JR. season. Defense intensity last night was great, bring that to the court each night, and on the road and we will get wins. Does not seem capable of generating his own shot.
-Anderson, streak shooter for now. Coaches obviously saw something in the UT defense that resulted in him being down low for offensive rebounds, this kept us in the game early. Lots of upside, needs a Tony Allen to teach him D. One of the few people who can catch and shoot. Needs substantial help from the free throw line.
-Thomas, could have the most upside of anyone on the team. Needs to get under control from the beginning of the game. Do not start him, guaranteed 2 fouls within 4 minutes. Let him come off the bench after seeing the opponent for the first 4 minutes. Find a full time trainer, add the muscle.
-Obi, ready to start. General feel for the game has gone up significantly. Needs more shots, second best driver on the team, can get to the foul line. Shows ability to guard small or big.
-Adams, solid physical presence. Nice distraction on the offensive end, teach him to set screens and we score points. Still struggling on defense, but coming.
-Nick, minutes for breathers for Eaton and Obi. Will be hard pressed against fast paced teams. Should be willing to make some hard fouls while E&O are out.
-Brown, not big enough for a 4 and well behind others capable of playing a 3.
-Moses, needs to be in games.
-Hatch, a senior, limited time played. Easily guarded.

Team:
Young team, but nearly all top BB teams are young. Top Freshmen make their prescence felt quickly. Are starting 5, 1 Senior, 2 Juniors, 2 Freshmen. Top 3off the bench, 1 Sophomore, 2 Freshmen.

Things I would like to see differently:
-Use Eaton like UT used Augustin

[Verb]

Good post. I agree with all of it. I see improvement each game, and am not willing to throw this team or its coaches under the bus.

[OSU-DNA]

Well that's what happens when you get distracted, start posting before giving options.

In any case:
-Use Eaton like UT uses Augustin. Clear out a full side, let Eaton go one on one against their guard. I believe he would be on the free throw line consistently.
-Up tempo the game. I hate seeing us waste 8-9 seconds bringing the ball across the half court line. This lets the opponent rest during our possession, make them expend energy the entire time we have the ball, it will make a difference later in the game.
-Bring Thomas off the bench rather than starting him. Let him get a feel for the game, and perhaps we can kill a few of those early fouls and get more playing time and scoring out of him.
-Consider starting Obi, or at least get him in the flow much earlier as a relief for Anderson and Harris. His ability to drive should get us to the foul line much earlier.
-Move Thomas to forward and keep Adams at Center when resting Dove. We need the big folks in the game.
-Use a zone. UT, KU and many others are extremely effective at rotating defenses, a change up would be great for us as well and perhaps protect our folks in trouble.

While the officiating was terrible last night, it was probably terrible on both sides. The number of walks not called had to hit an all time high. Eaton was fouled a couple of times and no calls were made, Harris clobbered across the middle no call, Dove got away with at least a 3 step. BUT, we were at home, just think what this would have been like in Austin. Sean to my knowledge has not received a T. He needs to be in some faces and make them aware this his territory and he will go after them.

[JonforOSU]

Nice assessment. If we have to lose, I like to see us go down fighting like we did last nite. I can tell you this, if Obi wasn't in a slump, we'd have some more wins. I think him and Harris feed off of each other and compliment each's style of play. Terril is a catch and shoot and Obi can create if need be.

The one thing that cost us the game, was turnovers at crucial times. We had huge possessions that would have either gave us the lead or tied the game and ended up turning it over on the clock.

I loved the defensive effort. Anytime you can hold the 12th team under their average, there's hope. Well, now we'll have to snag some on the road for sure, but definitely can't give up home court advantage again.

[BigBadBen]

Im not throwing anyone under a bus, but like I have said in the past, I supported Sean getting the job, but unfortunately, it doesnt look like the right hire. I want him to succeed, but I dont have faith that will happen.



One of the things that really gets me is a play that we seem to run many times a game. Its a play I dont remember seeing a lot in the past.

Whoever the shortest guy on the court is, dribbles the ball to the corner, then drives the base line. Meanwhile, the other 4 guys go out beyond the 3 point line. As this happens, 3-4 defenders (much taller mind you) surround our ball handler and trap him under the goal.

This play results in either:
a- pathetic shot attempt that is either blocked or hits the bottom of the back board.
b- steal
c- out of bounds


Now, this has to be a set play because it happens entirely too many times to just be a coincidence. So, to me, thats coaching.

If its not a set play, just a screw up, the coach should sit the guys butt and let him think about the objective of the game.

So there again, coaching.

[wickerbill]

I can't stand the play where everybody gets outside the three point line and throws it around until the shot clock gets close to 0 and then someone jacks up a desperation three. It's like a basketball version of hot potato. We were even doing it out of timeouts last night so it must be on purpose, right? I just can't stand the lack of discipline on offense and how content they are to just shoot threes and not drive it. Even when we drive it, we don't pick good situations or matchips to do it in.

[CaliforniaCowboy]

Eddie liked to play 8... in our 8, we have FOUR freshmen and one Soph that missed the conference (toughest) part of last year....


Sean is doing a phenominal job!!

I can't really believe that we played UT that close with that lineup. If we had our leading scorer at 100% for the BU and ISU games we would have won those as well.

This team has tremendous upside but it cannot maintain when Thomas and Eaton have to sit the bench. Without our PG and our Post man, we've got nobody to replace them.

We're getting there... next year is going to be really, really exciting... (heck, I 'm looking forward to the rest of this season, and I couldn't say that in October).


I don't think that coach K or Bobby or anybody else could do any better with 4 freshmen and 1 soph in the starting 8.