http://msn.foxsports.com/collegebasketball/story/Duke-tops-preseason-top-25-college-basketball

5 Big 10 teams in the top 25 including Purdue MSU and OSU going 2 3 4.

OneBuckeye;518393 wrote:http://msn.foxsports.com/collegebasketball/story/Duke-tops-preseason-top-25-college-basketball

5 Big 10 teams in the top 25 including Purdue MSU and OSU going 2 3 4.

I'm not so sure Turner will be that easy to replace and I'll believe Sullinger is the real deal once he produces in a college game. I'm sure he'll do fine, but I'm not sure he's going to lead us to the final four as a freshman.

FatHobbit;518476 wrote:I'm not so sure Turner will be that easy to replace and I'll believe Sullinger is the real deal once he produces in a college game. I'm sure he'll do fine, but I'm not sure he's going to lead us to the final four as a freshman.

Sullinger is the last person I'll be worrying about. I don't think he wins the Naismith or anything like that, but he will be one of the top bigs in the Big 10. PG is a concern to me and Diebler's playing time is a concern.

thedynasty1998;518528 wrote:Sullinger is the last person I'll be worrying about. I don't think he wins the Naismith or anything like that, but he will be one of the top bigs in the Big 10. PG is a concern to me and Diebler's playing time is a concern.

Shocking.

thedynasty1998;518528 wrote:Sullinger is the last person I'll be worrying about. I don't think he wins the Naismith or anything like that, but he will be one of the top bigs in the Big 10. PG is a concern to me and Diebler's playing time is a concern.

lol starting already with Diebler. What a surprise. I got news for you...if you think things are going to change after 3yrs, then you just arn't very smart. You better learnt to accept the obvious.

And yes, PG is the concern, no question. Although Matta said he is not so concerned as he feels he can use a number of players.

BTW, Lighty is now 100% and it sounds as though Smith will be out until possibly December. Kecman will be out until midseason. Bummer about Smith. I felt he was going to be the surprise player of this frosh class.

OneBuckeye;518393 wrote:http://msn.foxsports.com/collegebasketball/story/Duke-tops-preseason-top-25-college-basketball

5 Big 10 teams in the top 25 including Purdue MSU and OSU going 2 3 4.

No way do I see OSU ranked this high. Not even in top 10 to start season. Maybe top 15. Purdue is deserving. I am not sure about MSU. They have had quite a bit of off the court issue's, have lost a couple of players as well. And how healthy is Lucas going to be after coming off of a serious injury? Purdue is definately a top 5 team.

HAHA. Figured everyone would like the Diebler comment. I will have plenty of time to criticize his soft play once the season starts, but I will be concerned if he gets over 30 minutes a game. Hopefully he was highly embarrassed from his last game of last year that he shows some toughness this year.

I did see this morning that Matta said he has confidence in Diebler, Craft and Buford to all play the point. It will be interesting to see how that plays out. I think OSU becomes a much more inside-out team this year, so there might not be as much pressure on the PG to make plays.

I think we will see the burford and Deibler 3 point shootout this year with Sullinger and Thomas providing some scoring on the inside. I see Deibler scoring 20+ a game this year.

thedynasty1998;518833 wrote:I did see this morning that Matta said he has confidence in Diebler, Craft and Buford to all play the point.

I've got no problem with Diebler, but nothing scares me more than watching a white boy dribble the ball up the court.

OneBuckeye;519035 wrote:I think we will see the burford and Deibler 3 point shootout this year with Sullinger and Thomas providing some scoring on the inside. I see Deibler scoring 20+ a game this year.

You are absolutely crazy! That's the most absurd thing I've ever heard, honestly. With my frustrations with him aside, let's look at this more realistically.

He may or may not get the same open looks he got last year with the absence of Turner. Sullinger is the only guy that might command a hard double, and if that's not happening Diebler won't get the open looks. He averaged 11.2 as a sophomore and 13 last year. You really think he's capable of improving that by 7 ppg?

I might be missing something here, but seriously what is selling people on Florida being a top 10 team? They were awful last season.

20 ppg? gtfo of here. He may and probably will be MUCH more consistent. But no way he averages 20 ppg. That would probably lead the Big Ten.

thedynasty1998;519068 wrote: He may or may not get the same open looks he got last year with the absence of Turner. Sullinger is the only guy that might command a hard double, and if that's not happening Diebler won't get the open looks. He averaged 11.2 as a sophomore and 13 last year. You really think he's capable of improving that by 7 ppg?

Deibler nor anyone else is going to get the looks they got last year with Turner on the floor. People don't realize just how good of a college player Turner was, and the attention he demanded from opponents. His presence alone loosened up defenses. No one could guard him one on one, help was always needed, thus leaving Deibler and Buford open for great looks.
I'd be satisfied if Deibler stayed around the 13pt mark. He isn't capable of creating his own shot. He is what he is, a 3pt shooter, period. Buford is the one I look for to be MORE consistant. A weakness with him. He tends to disappear for LONG periods of time. Vs Tenn, he started off great the first 10 min. Then was a non entity the rest of the game. For OSU to be really good, Buford HAS to elevate his game this year. He has the potential. He wont' be Turner by any means, but he is still good enough to be a difference maker.
I hope Sully lives up to the expectations being put on him. Personally, I am in a wait and see mode. Its going to be interesting to see how Matta plays Sully and Lauderdale. Together, or not?
Don't be shocked if D. Thomas ends up being the better frosh in terms of scoring. The guy can flat out score. He is a lefty, can shoot it well as well as get to the rim. At 6'7", 225lbs...with his skill...its going to be a tough match up for people.
Someone else getting good reviews from summer and fall is Sibert. Athletic, long and can shoot the ball.
PG is a question, no doubt about it. But with the returning starters OSU has, it may take pressure off of someone like Craft. I'd luv to see someone like Craft be able to handle that position rather then seeing guys rotated around. Lighty, Deibler, Buford are not PG's. They are better off in the open court, running the floor or spotting up for shots.
Going to be interesting to see how this all plays out. I look forward to watching it play out.

I think deibler will definately improve his average. I think he will get many more shots this year. I wouldn't mind lighty bringing the ball up, he isn't really a spot up shooter, I think he does better with the ball in his hands. Beuford is the better penetrator but he can shoot, so if craft can't handle it I would rather see lighty bringing the ball up the court.

OneBuckeye;519216 wrote:I think deibler will definately improve his average. I think he will get many more shots this year. I wouldn't mind lighty bringing the ball up, he isn't really a spot up shooter, I think he does better with the ball in his hands. Beuford is the better penetrator but he can shoot, so if craft can't handle it I would rather see lighty bringing the ball up the court.

Without Turner, how do you see Deibler getting more shots? HE can't create on his own. He needs screens to get open to get shots.
And no offense, besides Lighty driving to the basket, he is in fact a decent spot up shooter when he has his feet set. He isnt' that good shooting off the dribble except driving to the basket.
And Buford isn't that great of a penetrator except in the open court. He is a very good spot up shooter, decent shooter off the dribble and needs improvement on getting to the rim off the dribble.
Of the three of them, I do agree Lighty is the best option. But again, he isn't really a PG. I'd rather have him running the floor and getting to the rim.

I think diebler gets more shots off because he is going to force it more and he is going to take deeper shots. I don't think losing turner will affect diebler as much as people think. I think it will affect the PPG as a whole, but not diebler, because he will be looked at more to get the offense going this year when that person was turner last year.

OneBuckeye;519266 wrote:I think diebler gets more shots off because he is going to force it more and he is going to take deeper shots. I don't think losing turner will affect diebler as much as people think. I think it will affect the PPG as a whole, but not diebler, because he will be looked at more to get the offense going this year when that person was turner last year.

No he won't. If they are looking to Diebler to get the offense "going" OSU will be a .500 team. Diebler will get less open looks due to Turner absence and might see less playing time due to more overall depth on the team.

I just hope Diebler doesn't mislead fans again this year into thinking he's a solid player only to not show up to the biggest game of the year.

Lets put it this way, if Diebler is needing to score 20 a game for the Bucks to win, the season will be a HUGE let down.

FatHobbit;519060 wrote:I've got no problem with Diebler, but nothing scares me more than watching a white boy dribble the ball up the court.

Really I love watching Jason Kidd and Steve Nash do it.

I agree with Laley though. No way Diebler gets 20 PPG if he does it probably won't be a pretty season for OSU.

^ Jason Kidd is black.

Haha.

If Kanter is eligible, I can see UK sliding into the top 5 in some rankings. A lot more upside than many other teams.

The SEC East is going to be brutal because Georgia, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Kentucky and Florida are all NCAA caliber teams. Whereas I'd say Mississippi State and maybe Alabama are the only real NCAA contenders in the West. Arkansas is probably a year away.

GOONx19;519896 wrote:^ Jason Kidd is black.

He's half black and half white.

Azubuike24;519907 wrote:Haha.

The SEC East is going to be brutal because Georgia, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Kentucky and Florida are all NCAA caliber teams. Whereas I'd say Mississippi State and maybe Alabama are the only real NCAA contenders in the West. Arkansas is probably a year away.

Brutal? Come on, thats a stretch. Florida has hugely underacheived since their last title. Yes, they should be better. But been hearing that for the past few years. Gotta see it to believe it. Tenn is in shambles currently with NCAA investigations. Who knows how that will play out. Georgia?? You serious? They were 14-17 last year. Vandy is solid, but far from a world beater. UK should and will roll in the SEC East, with or without Kanter.

Kanter issue is big and could make or break UK season. They have no true center. I agree, he is the difference between being very good or just good. Still not sure they are top 5 even with him. Probably top 10.

centralbucksfan;520191 wrote:Brutal? Come on, thats a stretch. Florida has hugely underacheived since their last title. Yes, they should be better. But been hearing that for the past few years. Gotta see it to believe it. Tenn is in shambles currently with NCAA investigations. Who knows how that will play out. Georgia?? You serious? They were 14-17 last year. Vandy is solid, but far from a world beater. UK should and will roll in the SEC East, with or without Kanter.

Kanter issue is big and could make or break UK season. They have no true center. I agree, he is the difference between being very good or just good. Still not sure they are top 5 even with him. Probably top 10.

Yes, Georgia. In the top 40 or so in about every preseason rankings, and some have them in the top 20-25. They have 3 very good players with Leslie, Thompkins and Robinson. Yes, Tennessee is having current issues, but they aren't "in shambles." Their roster is actually very talented and I expect them to be verging on 25 wins yet again. Florida, despite their last few years of disappointment, have very high expectations. The wild cards are Vanderbilt and Kentucky. How quickly does Cal's new crop adapt and can he change coaching styles with a totally new group of players? Vanderbilt lost their veteran PG Jermaine Beal, which alone pushes them down in the East (I'd say comfortably 4th or 5th), and A.J. Ogilvy did go pro, but they return plenty of talent with Taylor, Jenkins and Tinsley, some good newcomes and 2 very solid interior bangers Tchiengang and Ezeli.

When you have 5 NCAA contenders out of 6 in one division, I'd say that's "brutal" in a relative sense. Call it what you want, but basically my point was that the East will again be much stronger than the West. Mississippi lost Holloway and Terrico White, Auburn was bad and graduated 3 starters, LSU was awful, and despite their nice class, they have some ineligible players and are going to be fighting an uphill battle all year. Alabama returns almost everyone and Anthony Grant is a good coach, so they will be improved off a decent year last year, and Mississippi State has the best trio in the conference, or close to it, with Sidney, Bost and Johnson. The wild card is Arkansas, who did lose Courtney Fortson, and are probably a year away, but could make some noise.

I would be very surprised if Georgia wasn't a tourney team this year. They aren't going to lose too many at home.