For those who know me on here I'm currently at Arizona for grad school after doing undergrad at Ohio State.

I've watched almost every Buckeye game and almost every Wildcat game except the Colorado lo..win. Normally I wouldn't be selfish enough to start this thread but I want to give the rest of you my unique insight of watching both teams play.

GUARDS
Mark Lyons, Nick Johnson, Kevin Parrom, Jordan Mayes VS Aaron Craft, Shannon Scott, Lenzelle Smith, and Sam Thompson

Arizona: Lyons is the point guard but more often than not its Nick Johnson handles it more, but Arizona's offense is predicated on a lot of individual talent and motion and not as much team oriented offense. Lyons is a streaky player who a lot of us should remember from his Xavier days who can put the ball on the floor and get to the rim. Johnson is a better shooting and a more well rounded Sam Thompson, and athletic freak not afraid to take or make big shots. Parrom is more of a Will Buford guard/SF hybrid who is a pretty good shooter but nothing noteworthy. Mayes can shoot the 3 but I don't know how much playing time he'll get.

What Ohio State needs to do: Use Craft and Scott to neutralize Lyons and Johnson. You can't stop Lyons from scoring but we can force him into a lot of tough contested shots. Johnson is capable of taking advantage of a defensive lapse so you can't relax on him.

Advantage: Ohio State

FORWARDS/CENTERS

Kaleb "Zeus" Tarczewski, Brandon Ashley, Grant Jerrett, Angelo Chol VS Amir Williams, Deshaun Thomas, Evan Ravenel, Trey McDonald

Arizona: Zeus is a 7 foot inside presence who needs to refine his offensive efficiency around the rim. He's a good but not great rebounder and doesn't use his size as well as other big men. Can disappear at times on both sides, susceptible to being mediocre on help defense. Ashley and Jerrett and both highly touted freshmen who can take advantage of Deshaun guarding him. Both have range out to the 3 point line although not in any sort of consistent way. Ashley is the more dangerous penetrator but Jerrett's game is more polished. Chol can rebound and that's pretty much it (and he's athletic). Rebounding is the key with this group and could be the key to the game.

What Ohio State needs to do: rebound, rebound, rebound. Arizona has more size and second chance points may determine the outcome of a close game. I'm not sure Arizona has a player to guard Deshaun (they may put Hill on him) but Jerrett and Ashley have the size and athleticism to make him work very hard for his points.

Advantage: Arizona with Deshaun being the difference maker.

Prediction: Arizona will play Ohio State big and tough, something that could give us trouble. Although Zeus is a 7 footer I don't think he'll be as troublesome as Jerrett and Ashley. If Craft and Scott effectively neutralize or outplay Lyons/Johnson, it could be a trip to the Elite 8 for OSU. Deshaun will also be a key but I mean that's not really anything new.

GO BUCKS

Thanks for the analysis, I hadn't seen much of Arizona at all. I think you need to add Ross to the Forward/Center comparison.

lhslep134;1415423 wrote:For those who know me on here I'm currently at Arizona for grad school after doing undergrad at Ohio State.

I've watched almost every Buckeye game and almost every Wildcat game except the Colorado lo..win. Normally I wouldn't be selfish enough to start this thread but I want to give the rest of you my unique insight of watching both teams play.

GUARDS
Mark Lyons, Nick Johnson, Kevin Parrom, Jordan Mayes VS Aaron Craft, Shannon Scott, Lenzelle Smith, and Sam Thompson

Arizona: Lyons is the point guard but more often than not its Nick Johnson handles it more, but Arizona's offense is predicated on a lot of individual talent and motion and not as much team oriented offense. Lyons is a streaky player who a lot of us should remember from his Xavier days who can put the ball on the floor and get to the rim. Johnson is a better shooting and a more well rounded Sam Thompson, and athletic freak not afraid to take or make big shots. Parrom is more of a Will Buford guard/SF hybrid who is a pretty good shooter but nothing noteworthy. Mayes can shoot the 3 but I don't know how much playing time he'll get.

What Ohio State needs to do: Use Craft and Scott to neutralize Lyons and Johnson. You can't stop Lyons from scoring but we can force him into a lot of tough contested shots. Johnson is capable of taking advantage of a defensive lapse so you can't relax on him.

Advantage: Ohio State

FORWARDS/CENTERS

Kaleb "Zeus" Tarczewski, Brandon Ashley, Grant Jerrett, Angelo Chol VS Amir Williams, Deshaun Thomas, Evan Ravenel, Trey McDonald

Arizona: Zeus is a 7 foot inside presence who needs to refine his offensive efficiency around the rim. He's a good but not great rebounder and doesn't use his size as well as other big men. Can disappear at times on both sides, susceptible to being mediocre on help defense. Ashley and Jerrett and both highly touted freshmen who can take advantage of Deshaun guarding him. Both have range out to the 3 point line although not in any sort of consistent way. Ashley is the more dangerous penetrator but Jerrett's game is more polished. Chol can rebound and that's pretty much it (and he's athletic). Rebounding is the key with this group and could be the key to the game.

What Ohio State needs to do: rebound, rebound, rebound. Arizona has more size and second chance points may determine the outcome of a close game. I'm not sure Arizona has a player to guard Deshaun (they may put Hill on him) but Jerrett and Ashley have the size and athleticism to make him work very hard for his points.

Advantage: Arizona with Deshaun being the difference maker.

Prediction: Arizona will play Ohio State big and tough, something that could give us trouble. Although Zeus is a 7 footer I don't think he'll be as troublesome as Jerrett and Ashley. If Craft and Scott effectively neutralize or outplay Lyons/Johnson, it could be a trip to the Elite 8 for OSU. Deshaun will also be a key but I mean that's not really anything new.

GO BUCKS

So size wise are they a lot like msu? I always hate playing msu with all the size down low but we actually played really well against their big lineup this year.

I forgot Solomon Hill and Laquinton Ross, that's what happens when you don't have a computer.

Solomon: imagine a hybrid glue guy of Buford/Lighty. Not quite as good on D as Lighty and not quite as good of a shooter as Buford but he's much more well rounded than either. Could be the key for Arizona because he can play the 2, 3, or 4 in a small ball lineup.

Ross' impact: He's a huge cog if we can't get scoring from other players. IMO Ross' playing time will be determined by foul trouble and Matta's response to Miller's lineups.

The Hill/Jerrett matchup against Deshaun could very well decide the game.

Arizona would likely have been OSU's biggest test to the Final 4, even assuming New Mexico (which would have obviated Arizona), Gonzaga and Wisky kept their seeds.

No question this will be a tough game.

Midstate01;1415432 wrote:So size wise are they a lot like msu? I always hate playing msu with all the size down low but we actually played really well against their big lineup this year.

Yeah they're big. Still a perimeter oriented offense though, and Zeus doesn't appear to be the type of post defender Izzo's had. I've seen great D from Zeus and abolutely awful D

How do you even watch this game? That'd be hard. And who do you want to win more? Assuming Ohio State, since you did your undergrad there.

And because you wrote GO BUCKS lol. That should have been the key clue. Haha.

reclegend22;1415439 wrote:How do you even watch this game? That'd be hard. And who do you want to win more? Assuming Ohio State, since you did your undergrad there.

Undergrad trumps grad school. Hell, local team trumps grad school.

Excellent analysis, liberty, thank you :thumbup:

Yeah, I cracked the case. Thanks.

reclegend22;1415439 wrote:How do you even watch this game? That'd be hard. And who do you want to win more? Assuming Ohio State, since you did your undergrad there.

This would be an interesting question if I wasn't born with scarlet and gray blood. I'd still venture to say, like others said, that its definitely undergrad school

How far will we get into the game before Lyons throws a punch or an elbow at Craft?

I think Arizona takes it.......

bigger issue, I'm going to have to talk my professor into cancelling my Thursday night class. Or just not go

se-alum;1415455 wrote:How far will we get into the game before Lyons throws a punch or an elbow at Craft?

I think this is a let down game for Lyons and Arizona in general. They are riding pretty high after a couple of easy wins. Belmont wasn't really a world beater (even though some thought that was a 1st round upset game). Harvard is definitely worse than Belmont, the fact that Harvard got out of the 1st round was pretty amazing and just goes to show how over rated New Mexico was.

I think Craft and Scott will wreak havoc on Arizona's back court and that'll be enough to disrupt their offensive rhythm.

Most of the talking heads at ESPN seem to be picking OSU. But from reading a couple of articles from out west and looking at different boards it seems as if Arizona fully expects to win. I don't think they will necessarily have the "underdog" mentality which makes them less dangerous.

Iowa State scared me more just because a team that shoots as often from 3 as they do is scary if they get hot (like what happened when they erased the 13 point lead).

While Arizona does still shoot a decent amount of 3's, it isn't as pronounced as Iowa State.

lhslep134;1415434 wrote:I forgot Solomon Hill and Laquinton Ross, that's what happens when you don't have a computer.

It is? How'd you post?

reclegend22;1415439 wrote:How do you even watch this game? That'd be hard. And who do you want to win more? Assuming Ohio State, since you did your undergrad there.

LMAO, not everyone is a bandwagoner.

Manhattan Buckeye;1415441 wrote:Undergrad trumps grad school. Hell, local team trumps grad school.

Life time allegiance and family fandom trumps where you happened to go to Grad School as well. He would be a giant POS if he was an OSU fan his whole life and bc of law school he changed colors.

Commander of Awesome;1415493 wrote:LMAO, not everyone is a bandwagoner.

LOL, pretty tough concept for people to understand. Brace yourself for the usual suspects to join in on this convo.

like_that;1415495 wrote:LOL, pretty tough concept for people to understand. Brace yourself for the usual suspects to join in on this convo.

Really can't wait for the "But why do you care who someone roots for!!!! QQ QQ QQ " posts from lotz, ewok, HB, auto, and a few others. /sarcasm

Commander of Awesome;1415496 wrote:Really can't wait for the "But why do you care who someone roots for!!!! QQ QQ QQ " posts from lotz, ewok, HB, auto, and a few others. /sarcasm

*4 days later*

Cut it out.

/Justin

Commander of Awesome;1415492 wrote:It is? How'd you post?

iPhone it's a b*tch but I wanted to give you guys insight from someone who watched Zona

Commander of Awesome;1415493 wrote:LMAO, not everyone is a bandwagoner.

Hmm, I just assumed everyone cheered for Arizona after 1997. I stopped liking them after UCONN won, though, so I lost track.

The real question is who will he root for if Zona/OSU meets Florida in the championship game!!!!

Iliketurtles;1415517 wrote:The real question is who will he root for if Zona/OSU meets Florida in the championship game!!!!

Real question indeed...Ohio State without a doubt, Arizona most likely but its hard to replace a sense of secondary fandom since childhood with secondary fandom for my grad school. Without getting into the whole debate, I would really have to think about Arizona/Florida if only because, and I'm probably being too honest, I'm still working on developing Wildcat pride.