Buckeyes playing best hoops of their season

[Lebowski]

Beat the shit out of Illinois.

En fuego from beyond the arc. Foster and Butler may the equator look chilly. They combine for 11-14 from three-point land. I honestly don't know if I have ever seen 3-point shooting like this.

Dials played strong as well, getting the better of Augustine. (who, btw, has been at Illinois for like 17 years)

Matta has this team peaking at the right time. They have a great shot at winning the Big Ten and look like a dangerous team come March.

(oh, and thinking the incoming frosh Conley starts over Butler next year is lunacy. Butler is playing unreal right now.)

[mswerb]

Today was the first time I sat down and watches Buckeyes hoops this year, and thet look pretty solid. I like the 3 point bombs launched at any given possesion.

[mswerb]

Today was the first time I sat down and watched Buckeyes hoops this year, and thet look pretty solid. I like the 3 point bombs launched at any given possesion.

[mswerb]

Today was the first time I sat down and watched Buckeyes hoops this year, and they look pretty solid. I like the 3 point bombs launched at any given possesion.

[Lebowski]

ok, i get the point

[consigliere]

I caught most of the game....and came away very impressed.

I may actually disagree with you LeBow on the peaking part....they may be peaking a bit too early. I can't see them keeping this up for a whole month and a half. I won't complain though. Nice to see the Bucks as a Top 10-20 b-ball school again. Thad is the man.

[Lebowski]

You may be right Consig.

I guess I meant peaking for the Big Ten tourney. It would be great to see them win the conference...which is highly underrated IMO.

You gotta love Matta come tourney time. He always has his squads ready; what he did with Xavier a few years back was awesome.

[furls]

The Big Ten is actually getting alot of national attention this year. I think most have it ranked in the top 3 (with the ACC and Big East). Right now, with a 17 or 19 ranking depending on whose poll you look at, the Buckeyes are pretty badly UNDERRATED. Frankly this homer believes the Buckeyes should be in the 5-10 range.

The offense is unbelievable, and I am not just talking about the threes. Butler has done a great job recently in making things happen off the dribble. I would just like to see some better play from Sylvester, but that is just "nitpicky". The interior defense is still suspect, but to be honest with you I have not seen much interior defense in the NCAA this year.

I think the real benchmark for where OSU is right now is on 2/22 in East Lansing. I am very interested in seeing how this Buckeye team reacts in a hostile environment especially after the heart breaker the Bucks took at home to the spartans a few weeks ago.

I personally see the Bucks finishing the year 5-1 (4-2 or 6-0) would not shock me. The game that concerns me is that MSU game, but I would not be shocked if they dropped another along the way. I think 5-1 with should win the Bucks the Big 10 and garner them a number one seed for the Big Ten tournament. From there I think 2-1 is not unreasonable nor unlikely. That would make the Bucks 25-5 coming out of one of the best conferences in the NCAA and that should guarentee them a 2 or 3 seed.

Should the Bucks get the 2-3 seed, I think they should be able to make a strong run. With a team that has as little post season experience as they have, I think getting a way from a number 1 seed early is key, not because they cannot play with a Duke, UConn, but because every game they can play before meeting the "elite" will help them establish confidence and shooting threes is all about confidence!

Look at their three loses this year, they were in all of those games. Hell, they should've won two of them (they lead the hoosiers by 17, and they were in control of the MSU game as well). I am telling you, these guys are better than people give them credit for and the depth of this team will give everyone headaches. On any given night, the buckeyes have 5-6 guys that can blow up on you for 20 points. That is a luxury that NO OTHER TEAM IN THE NCAA has.



Mike

Oh yeah, someone might want to start guarding Je'kel Foster.

[swerb]

Great ball game yesterday! Caught the majority of it ... including Foster's five threes to start the game. Any chance he gets in the Big Ten MVP mix?

Butler has been amazing, taking care of the ball, and scoring as of late. Conley waits, watches, and spells next year ... thats a no-brainer.

And Dials ... great game yesterday. Hard to watch that and think that theres not a spot somewhere for him in the NBA.