Buford is a shooter, plain and simple. He is in a shooters slump, something most shooters go through. He is now pressing and forcing things. Its all in his head. He will come out of it. Better that its happening right now then in the thick of the Big Ten. HOpefully by the time the Big Ten gets rolling, he will be just fine.
What I like though, is that a guy like Jeremy Simmons has picked up the slack. He has played very well, shot very well. He is much more comfortable off the ball, shoots the ball much better off the ball. Simmons can really stroke it. Good weapon off the bench.
But yes, OSU will need Buford and I have confidence he will come around.

112in84 wrote: This guy has really gotten worse, he also has some really bad baody language. Hopefully Thad can real him in or he is the type of kid that will be a cancer to the team.

Bad body language? I was at the game, behind the bench. Buford was just fine, cheering his team on, complimenting others when they thru him a good pass, etc, etc.
All these guys get along great. They have fun. Thats easy to see.
Don't start something thats not there.

IMO, the mechanics of Buford's shot, look to be off right now. Mainly his balance. It looks like he is falling backward on alot of his shots, causing them to come up short. I think that has alot to do w/ taking bad shots though.

se-alum wrote: IMO, the mechanics of Buford's shot, look to be off right now. Mainly his balance. It looks like he is falling backward on alot of his shots, causing them to come up short. I think that has alot to do w/ taking bad shots though.

Right on the money. Last nite, he passed up some open shots right off the pass to him. Then he would put the ball on the floor, driving into the defense, then take a fadaway shot. Well, thats a tough shot for anyone. Buford is actually pretty good at it...but right now when he is not shooting well, he needs to take the easier shots. He is frustrated, and you could see him "pressing" last nite.
Again, its very correctable. Anyone who has played basketball, knows that shooters can struggle like this and its all in their head most of the time.

Struggles like this really impacted Diebler and the Buckeyes two years ago. Let's hope that Buford can get it going in the for the Big 10 season.

CBF, you make a great point. That's the same thing I was seeing when watching the game. As a shooter, he has to know that he's never as open as when he first gets the ball. Well he gets the pass and always wants to shoot off of one dribble. I don't know why he's not comfortable with the catch and shoot, but he isn't.

I think his stroke looks to be fine, he's just off. Will he come out of this slump? I hope so. I think he has the most fluid looking shot on the OSU team and he has to keep shooting.

There was one point in the game where he missed a shot and got down on himself and he looked over to the bench, and it looked like one of the coaches said, "Keep shooting" and he shook his head yes. That's all he can do. He has to become a viable scoring threat for OSU.

On a side note, he is not an NBA player, and I don't think he ever will be. I thought he would improve this year, but he really hasn't.

Prescott wrote: Struggles like this really impacted Diebler and the Buckeyes two years ago. Let's hope that Buford can get it going in the for the Big 10 season.

Two years ago, there wasn't anyone else who could take up the slack. Now, Turner is good enough to carry OSU, Deibler is there, and Simmons off the bench has been very good.
I believe for OSU to be as good as they can, they need Buford(and he will come on), but OSU has other options now that they didn't have before.
They played a VERY athletic, very good defensive team last nite, OSU didn't shoot well at all overall, yet still scored 77. Two years ago, they would have been lucky to get 60. Very different team right now.

Very different team right now.

Yea, it is a different team and Turner could carry them for awhile. I am not counting on Diebler or Simmons to shoot as well as they did last night. Buford can score off of the bounce and OSU needs that.

Prescott wrote: Very different team right now.

Yea, it is a different team and Turner could carry them for awhile. I am not counting on Diebler or Simmons too shoot as well as they did last night. Buford can score off of the bounce and OSU needs that.

Turner can carry them for more then a while. He basically did it all of last year and is better this year. Not counting on Diebler? Why not? He shot over 40% from 3's on the season last year, second in scoring, one of the top shooters in the Big Ten. I think he is dependable. Will he score 20+ like last nite? No. But he is what he is, a double figure scorer on average.
And yes, OSU will need Buford at some point. He'll turn it around.

Prescott wrote: Very different team right now.

Yea, it is a different team and Turner could carry them for awhile. I am not counting on Diebler or Simmons too shoot as well as they did last night. Buford can score off of the bounce and OSU needs that.

How can you not count on Diebler? Check his 3 % last season and then you can obviously see what he is doing this year. He can consistently get you 10-15 a game with 20+ nights sprinkled in.

devil1197 wrote:

Prescott wrote: Very different team right now.

Yea, it is a different team and Turner could carry them for awhile. I am not counting on Diebler or Simmons too shoot as well as they did last night. Buford can score off of the bounce and OSU needs that.

How can you not count on Diebler? Check his 3 % last season and then you can obviously see what he is doing this year. He can consistently get you 10-15 a game with 20+ nights sprinkled in.

That's where I disagree. Diebler averaged 12 or whatever last year, but that doesn't mean you can count on him for 12 every single night. One game he'll drop 20, the next night it might be 6. The consistency is his problem.

But hopefully that's of the past and he can be relied upon to get you 13 points at least on any given night.

thedynasty1998 wrote:

devil1197 wrote:

Prescott wrote: Very different team right now.

Yea, it is a different team and Turner could carry them for awhile. I am not counting on Diebler or Simmons too shoot as well as they did last night. Buford can score off of the bounce and OSU needs that.

How can you not count on Diebler? Check his 3 % last season and then you can obviously see what he is doing this year. He can consistently get you 10-15 a game with 20+ nights sprinkled in.

That's where I disagree. Diebler averaged 12 or whatever last year, but that doesn't mean you can count on him for 12 every single night. One game he'll drop 20, the next night it might be 6. The consistency is his problem.

But hopefully that's of the past and he can be relied upon to get you 13 points at least on any given night.

Sorry, but when you play 30 games, and average double figures...that means, more times then not, you will get double figures. Thats what an "average" is and means.
This year, Diebler has scored in double figures every game but one. He has scored no less then 14pts, but that one game. HE is avg. 16pts per game. He is shooting 49% from 3 right now. He is off to a GREAT start.

Sorry, but when you play 30 games, and average double figures...that means, more times then not, you will get double figures.

No it doesn't. An average is an accumulation of points divided by games played. If a player scores 20 then 0,he is averaging double figures, but he isn't consistent.(obviously)

Diebler has been great this year, but his history indicates that he is hot and cold player. Maybe, he has matured to the point that he will be consistent. Only time will tell.

Well let's see, this is this year and last year was ummm last year.

6 out of 7 games with 14 or more points along with two 20+ games. Shooting 49% from deep.

I am pretty sure THIS year, and against 3 ranked, Diebler has been tremendously consistent scoring point.

No doubt he is playing well this year.

But what I said wasn't disputing his average, I was saying he's not consistent. And I base that off of the two years past. I hope he's turned the corner. There's no doubt he can shoot the ball as well as anyone in the country, but he has to consistently be aggressive when looking for his shot.

thedynasty1998 wrote: No doubt he is playing well this year.

But what I said wasn't disputing his average, I was saying he's not consistent. And I base that off of the two years past. I hope he's turned the corner. There's no doubt he can shoot the ball as well as anyone in the country, but he has to consistently be aggressive when looking for his shot.

And he is aggressive. The way he is playing right now he is OSU's 2nd best player. Buford has looked terrible in big games this season and quite frankly needs to be shown the bench to start the next couple games. Diebler is stepping into a leadership role along with Turner and Lighty which is great to see. He isn't afraid to shot the ball, its going to be a good season for Diebler.

I agree with you. But there were times last year when he lacked that confidence. I said that I knew he was going to have a big night last night when he started 2-4 from 3, because I know that means he will shoot with confidence.

And no doubt he's OSU's second best player so far this year.

I think he's always been a leader. He seems like a good kid and is always doing/saying the right things.

devil1197 wrote: Well let's see, this is this year and last year was ummm last year.

6 out of 7 games with 14 or more points along with two 20+ games. Shooting 49% from deep.

I am pretty sure THIS year, and against 3 ranked, Diebler has been tremendously consistent scoring point.

Are you really going to count games versus Alcorn State, Lipscomb, etc....??
Diebler is playing great. Let's see how consistent he stays when the Big 10 season starts.

Prescott wrote:

devil1197 wrote: Well let's see, this is this year and last year was ummm last year.

6 out of 7 games with 14 or more points along with two 20+ games. Shooting 49% from deep.

I am pretty sure THIS year, and against 3 ranked, Diebler has been tremendously consistent scoring point.

Are you really going to count games versus Alcorn State, Lipscomb, etc....??
Diebler is playing great. Let's see how consistent he stays when the Big 10 season starts.

Why wouldn't you count those games? They're the games on the schedule and have been mixed in there with games against 3 ranked opponents so far. Every team has cupcakes on the schedule.

Prescott wrote:

devil1197 wrote: Well let's see, this is this year and last year was ummm last year.

6 out of 7 games with 14 or more points along with two 20+ games. Shooting 49% from deep.

I am pretty sure THIS year, and against 3 ranked, Diebler has been tremendously consistent scoring point.

Are you really going to count games versus Alcorn State, Lipscomb, etc....??
Diebler is playing great. Let's see how consistent he stays when the Big 10 season starts.

No offense, but if you expect a guy who lives and dies by the 3, which is his role on OSU, to do what he is doing every game, then you don't watch much basketball. Perimeter players are going to have their spurts, and their sputters. Its the nature of only being able to play from the outside. Look at Buford right now. As i have said and pointed in, in reality, he is no different then Diebler except that he is able to step in the 15ft area and be good off of one or two dribbles. Well, right now, Buford is in a shooters slump. It is what it is when you live and die. They may hit a couple in a row, then miss 3/4 in a row.
But bottom line is, they both have proved they can shoot the rock, the defense has to play them honest, which again, opens up things for Turner to do what he does.

Why wouldn't you count those games? They're the games on the schedule and have been mixed in there with games against 3 ranked opponents so far

Because those opponents aren't indicative of the kind of defense OSU will face in the Big 10.

Perimeter players are going to have their spurts, and their sputters.

More spurts than sputters equals consistency. Time will tell.

Someone must have told Buford to lay off the shooting. Only 5 attempts today but 6 assists.

And Diebler still consistent 15 point, 5 boards, 5 assists so far. 4-6 from deep.

Buford- 5-11 shooting, 3-6 in 3 point shooting, 10 assists and 16 points.

Not a bad game.

TolCentralCath wrote: Buford- 5-11 shooting, 3-6 in 3 point shooting, 10 assists and 16 points.

Not a bad game.

Buford look much more comfortable today. He didn't force too much today. His stroke looks fine. When he was not fading away, going straight up, he knocked down his shots. But he did take a couple fading away or leaning...those he missed badly. But overall, he had a very nice game.