As Ohio State basketball fans fill out their brackets, they no doubt are staring at a loaded Midwest field that is headed by No. 1 overall seed Kansas. They look around and a peaking Georgetown squad that the 3-seed in the Midwest. ACC co-champ Maryland is the 4, Big Ten co-champ and 2009 national runner-up Michigan State is the 5. Highly athletic teams Tennessee and Oklahoma State are the 6 and 7, respectively.
They realize their beloved Buckeyes are basically a six-man team with little depth or margin for error. They see a lack of bodies to plug in along the frontline and nary a speedster point guard, unless you count the seldom-used P.J. Hill, who is not a playmaker.
I see all that, too. But I also see an Ohio State squad that is mighty dangerous right now and that grew exponentially from its run to the Big Ten Tournament title.
In last weekend’s festivities in Indianapolis, the Buckeyes got to experience to joy of winning in dramatic fashion at the buzzer vs. Michigan, the intensity of slogging through a double-overtime affair against Illinois and the confidence boost of crushing Minnesota in the championship.
At 27-7 and pegged with a 2-seed, the Buckeyes are among the hottest teams in the country. Recent events also confirm a notion I’ve had for a while now: Watch out for this team in the Big Dance.
Sure, there are legitimate concerns. However, the Buckeyes have a qualified superstar in Evan Turner and have that too-hot-to-touch feel since he has returned from a frightening injury, sporting an 15-3 record since Jan. 6 with No. 21 on the floor (upright and not flat on his back, that is).
So in keeping with the positive outlook, I offer the following reasons why the Buckeyes appear to be setting themselves up for a fun gallop through the postseason:
Options All Around – Yes, the OSU roster is about as deep as a small rain puddle, but the five who start can all hurt a defense, even a good defense.
The 6-7 Turner, of course, led the way during the regular season at 19.5 points per game but he gets lots of help with Will Buford (13.9 ppg), Jon Diebler (12.5) and David Lighty (12.3) also sporting averages well into double figures. Plus, Dallas Lauderdale and his freakishly long arms are becoming a weapon on both ends of the court. He leads the Big Ten in blocked shots and contributes 7.3 ppg, some of his hoops now coming at opportune times.
In the late-season win over then-No. 11 MSU, Turner struggled with flu-like symptoms and got off to a rocky shooting start. However, Buford came through with 17 points, Lighty added 13 and Diebler recorded a dozen on four three-pointers, including the dagger that put the Buckeyes up 68-62. That shot came off an assist from Turner, who still managed 20 points, 10 rebounds and six dimes.
Even centers Lauderdale and Kyle Madsen combined for 12 points and nine boards, proving just days after a tough 60-57 home loss to Purdue that the Buckeyes actually are capable of spreading the wealth.
It continued as the Buckeyes captured the Big Ten Tournament title as Turner was stellar and Lighty and Buford joined him on the all-tournament team. Diebler was 11 for 25 from long range in those three games and the 6-9 Madsen played perhaps the best basketball of his career.
Virtually all of the nation’s top teams have two or even three legitimate threats, but not four. Ohio State is the exception.
Respectable Board Work – Last season, rebounding was the dirty little secret in that the Buckeyes couldn’t finish off enough defensive possessions by securing the carom. Matta called for his young team to play variations of zone, which led to low shooting percentages by foes but a frustrating number of offensive rebounds allowed.
The seasonlong issue bit hardest in the stinging double-overtime loss to Siena in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. In that game, 7-foot center B.J. Mullens was exposed as a rebounding imposter and the smaller Saints ran down missed shots in the paint all evening.
So far this campaign, the Buckeyes have managed to quell insecurities fans developed in watching this team attempt to rebound.
In fact, Ohio State has an overall edge on the boards this season including a margin of +1.1 per game in Big Ten play. That’s a very good sign for a team that has played against the likes of Wisconsin, Purdue, Illinois, Syracuse, West Virginia and North Carolina – granted a down UNC squad but a lengthy one all the same.
In the one-and-only matchup with Michigan State, traditionally a demon on the boards under coach Tom Izzo, OSU yanked down 38 rebounds to MSU’s 32. A 6-5 guard, Buford matched Turner with 10 boards, Lighty grabbed nine and Lauderdale had eight.
Solid Resume – The Buckeyes are just 4-4 against ranked teams this season but they also have shown they can play with anybody.
They took down a Cal team that won the regular-season Pac-10 title, manhandled Florida State in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, won on the courts of their closest Big Ten competitors (Purdue and Michigan State), and avenged earlier losses at Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan in convincing fashion. The loss at West Virginia was more like a one-possession game and there is no shame in losing at Butler, a top-15 team, especially considering it was the team’s first contest after the Turner injury. The slip-up against the Tar Heels was by four points way back in mid-November.
The Experts Like ’Em – With no real black marks in the dossier, with an All-American centerpiece and with their impressive showing since the calendar flipped, the Buckeyes are becoming some kind of media darling.
Several national analysts such as Jay Bilas, Seth Davis and Bill Raftery are singing high praise for Matta’s crew and are labeling the Buckeyes as a superpower. ESPN’s Digger Phelps is among the analysts to pick the Buckeyes to win it all.
What difference does that make? Well, perception is not reality in college basketball – afterall, there is an actual tournament in place to determine a champion – but a little extra love can go a long way.
The voters, for example, seem pretty sold on Ohio State. Even with a home loss to Purdue the team did no budge in The Associated Press poll and moved up three notches in the coaches poll to sit at No. 9 in both. It followed that the NCAA Tournament committee followed suit and awarded the Buckeyes a high seed and geographic consideration. Even with the Midwest field looming, that respect could pay off as Buckeyes fans can now chase this team.
And remember, there isn’t a North Carolina or UConn or Oklahoma or UCLA or Arizona dancing this year. The field is wide open. The Buckeyes actually enter the fray as one of the big-name players after titans Kansas and Kentucky. And if they slip up …
ET The Kid – That’s how Turner refers to himself on Twitter. The rest of the nation simply calls him the best all-around player in the country. If Turner can back up that reputation with sensational play in the NCAA Tournament he will become CBS’ most marketable player and the one performer referees are going to be most afraid to tweet into foul trouble.
It’s still a little difficult to imagine even Turner capturing the fancy of the country the way Magic Johnson did in 1979, Danny Manning did in 1988 and Carmelo Anthony did in 2003. However, Turner’s ability to load up the box score and wow crowds is comparable.
In Turner, the Buckeyes have the ultimate postseason crutch, someone who can overcome rough patches of games almost by himself. Ohio State is going to need major contributions from its other starters to go far, but Turner can keep the team in solid position with his outstanding takeover ability and is going to be a hard man to stop when a tournament game is on the line.
As badly as matters went against Siena last year, the Buckeyes would have won if any of the three officials would have had the stones to call a foul at the end of regulation as Turner was clobbered going to the basket. The refs didn’t get the memo that he was an elite player last year and there didn’t seem to be any outrage about the no-call.
This year is different. The Buckeyes have a superstar – and no one is going to be looking away when he is trying to make a play.