thedynasty1998 wrote: You cannot honestly say you don't believe in guys wearing down over the course of a season? For the expert that you claim to be, that just can't be true. A college basketball season is a grind. We are not just talking about game minutes, you have to factor in practices, lifting weights, traveling, nights in hotel rooms and schooling.

As for not making a run in March. Why can't they? They will be a heavy favorite in their first game. So the second game of the first week should be their first true challenge. They make it though and then have a chance to win a game and make it to the Sweet 16 which I would consider a solid tourney run since most would consider OSU to be a top 15 team (therefore if the voters are correct they should be around in the sweet 16).

Then you win in an "upset" in a game when everyone is hitting their shots and you are now in the Elite 8. That's a great run for this OSU team, and not something that is totally unrealistic by any means.

For as stubborn you are in your opinion of everything OSU, I don't understand why you would say "Odds are, OSU won't make a run".


Maybe your definition of a "run" is different than mine. I'd be happy if OSU makes it to the second week of the tourney and would be thrilled with a weekend game that second week.

centralbucksfan wrote:

bulldog8 wrote:
Oh, and just to prove myself wrong and show i'm not completely biased towards my side of this debate, I calculated what OSU is averaging in the first half versus the second half of their 22 games thus far this season. On average, they score 37.2 points in the first half and 37.7 points in the second half. Therefore, it doesn't appear that they are tiring out too much towards the end of the game like I previously indicated. It will, however, be interesting to see if this trend changes at all as the season wears on

I am not so sure that would even be accurate IF OSU was scoring less in second half to be honest. So many other variables could affect this, such as foul trouble, coaches adjustments at half, halftime scores, etc, etc.
And no offense, but chances are, your going to be on here in March, when OSU does lose, claiming you were right...because it "looked" like they were worn down. When in fact, you nor anyone except the players/coaches will truely know this...even if they will. Odds are, OSU isn't going to make a run, as they are not as good as you think they are. As I said, they have a fine team that on any given day, could beat anyone. But to expect them to shoot and play very well, for 4-6 straight games, is not being realistic. Their margin of error is less then others that have better teams. The lack size and physicality on the front line will probably be their downfall IMO. If OSU doesn't shoot well, they are in trouble as thats their strength and they don't have an option to go to the post for easy buckets.
Saying a team looks "tired" is an easy assumption. But its also only going to be an opinion at best.
Could it happen? Certainly. But again, I personally don't buy into 18-21yrs olds getting that tired playing 2 games per week, with 2/3 days in between. We are talking about elite athletes who are conditioned year around.
Does a bench help? Absolutely it does. When you have one or more of your starters not playing well/shooting well...to have another option is a thing of beauty. If your a team that likes to press, then obviously you do need fresh legs in the last 5 min when exerting that much energy. But other then that...I don't guy into being worn down. As I said, I have no doubt, because of the lack of depth, that Matta isn't pushing too hard, if at all during practices at this point in the season. Just my two cents.

BTW, Simmons had been dealing with a nerve/eye issue the past few weeks. Thus the reason he hasn't been seeing the floor much.

thedynasty1998 wrote: Fair enough, I guess we have different definitions of a run. I'd say a Sweet 16 appearance is a solid year, and Elite 8 is a great year for this OSU team. Final 4 would be remarkable and I think highly unlikely.

And yes, you are correct in that I didn't think OSU would make the tournament. I said that when Turner wasn't back yet and I didn't think he'd come back and be as good as he was right away. I was wrong. Right after I said that they beat Purdue on the road and played WVU tough, so this team is better than I originally thought they were.

It's already been a pretty good season in my opinion based on this year was basicaly a gap year. No one expected too much from this team after losing Mullens and Koufos and with the excitement of next year's class.