Men's Basketball
Buckeye Basketball Preview - Buckeyes Enter Preseason as Big Ten Favorite
By John Porentas
Thad Matta at the Big Ten media day in Chicago.
Photo by Jim Davidson"Quite honestly I don't know how this team is going to be. I think it would be foolish to speculate on what they're going to be able to do." ---OSU Head Basketball Coach Thad Matta.
The much-anticipate unveiling of the 2006-2007 OSU basketball team and the "Thad Five" will take place this Wednesday when the Buckeyes take on Findlay in an exhibition game at 7:00 PM at the Jerome Schottenstein Center.
The Buckeyes have been ranked as high as number four in the nation in the preseason polls and magazines, and are consensus preseason top-10. This weekend they were picked as the preseason favorite to win the Big Ten conference by the Big Ten media.
The Oden File
Much of the notoriety of course stems from Matta's prize recruiting class headlined by center Greg Oden. Oden, however, will not be on the court on Wednesday. Oden is recovering from off-season wrist surgery that is expected to keep him out of the lineup until sometime around the first of the year.
"He's doing well," said Matta of Oden's recovery.
Greg Oden shoots left handed during practice.
Photo by Jim Davidson"From the standpoint of the wrist he's right on where they want him to be at this time. I think that his conditioning, those types of things, are in great shape. The big thing is we don't want to rush anything and bring him back before he's 100%. The target date is January 1. Obviously we'd take him if it was earlier, but by the same token I don't ever want to put a player in a position that could jeopardize his future," Matta said.
Oden recently had the screws removed from his injured right wrist. His wrist is currently immobilized in a cast, but Oden is scheduled to begin moving the wrist on Thursday of this week.
"On Thursday we'll begin the moving process," said OSU Head Coach Thad Matta at the Big Ten media luncheon on Sunday.
"He hasn't moved it for two weeks, so it will be a little bit tied up. We're not going to rush him. We'd like to have him, but we're not going to take any chances," Matta said.
Oden continues to run the floor with the Buckeyes in practice sessions and take part in non-contact drills. He's also developing considerable skills with his left hand while his right is healing.
"The left looks good," said Matta.
"I think he could get fouled and go to the free throw line and shoot left handed. I think in the end this could be a blessing for Greg. It's forced him to develop a left-hand jump hook, a left-hand shot. For the last four months he's done everything left handed and I think that's going to help him," Matta said.
The Rest of the Newcomers
Mike Conley Matta's recruiting class includes Oden (7-1, 225), point guard Mike Conley (6-1, 175), guard/forward David Lighty (6-5, 225), guard Daequan Cook (6-5, 210) and forward Othello Hunter (6-9, 225). That group is touted by some as the top recruiting class in the country and will have to mature quickly if the Buckeyes are going to live up to their preseason billing. Just four upperclassman scholarship players return to the Buckeyes roster, leaving Matta with a short bench that will require his freshmen to perform early.
"There's no question guys are going to get thrown into the fire early," said Matta.
"Guys are going to have to develop quickly, and I think that's put a great sense of urgency on us starting this summer with what the guys have done on their own and into our practices. Every second of every practice is going to be vitally important to this club."
Daequan Cook The freshmen have the challenge of learning the defense, the offense, and developing chemistry, but according to Matta and his upper classmen, the technical parts of the game are not the toughest thing they will have to come to grips with if they are to be effective Division I players.
"The intensity," said OSU returning forward/center Matt Terwilliger of the biggest adjustment facing the freshman class.
"Mentally and physically just to know that you have to be on top of your thinking, listening all the time and then we just run at a different speed than anything that you've ever seen in high school," Terwilliger said.
Matta said much the same thing yesterday in Chicago.
"There are so many things that we need to get better at and the first thing is the intensity," said Matta.
"I'm anxious to play but I'm also apprehensive, anxious to see how we do and can we withstand the intensity."
With just nine scholarship players on the roster, and only eight until Oden's return, Matta will be juggling players early in the season and his young players will be pressed into action. The Buckeyes will be seriously challenged by a non-conference schedule that includes the likes of North Carolina, Florida and Cincinnati.
Position by Position Breakdown
Jamar Butler Point Guard - This should be a position of strength for the Buckeyes. Junior Jamar Butler (6-2, 200) returns after a very solid sophomore season in which he averaged 10.1 points per game while dishing out 144 assists against just 57 turnovers. Butler shot 41.4 per cent from three point range and was a defensive force. Joining Butler at the point will be Conley who will bring speed and exceptional athleticism and ball skills to the floor. The left-handed Conley is an accomplished passer and can score. Matta will play both Butler and Conley together at times this year, moving Butler to the scoring guard position when Conley is on the floor.
"He (Conley) is going to be on the floor a lot," said Butler. "Conley is going to be playing a lot because of how tough he is. I've been working at the two spot a little bit, learning to play some two spot. I think I'm going to play a lot with him," Butler said.
Matta is extremely high on Conley.
"Michael has been great," Matta said yesterday.
"This summer putting on the weight that he did and the strength that he did is good. I think he's the perfect guard for how we play. We thought that when we were recruiting him.
"I love coaching him because you tell him once and he's got it down. He understand what it takes to win. What I've seen in two weeks of practice is that Michael is getting a feel for how to run a basketball team. We've done a lot of work with him to understand that and he's been very receptive."
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Power Forward - The Buckeyes are sorely lacking in players to fill the power forward and center positions, especially while Oden is out in the early going. Freshman Othello Hunter and returning junior Matt Terwilliger (6-8, 230) will be the only players available to Matta at those two positions until Oden returns. The two are about the same size, so will probably share duties at both positions. One thing is certain, that Matta wants more rebounding production from the strong forward position this year than he got last year. Hunter has the body and athleticism to be a strong rebounder, and Terwilliger should be more effective from the power forward spot rather than at center where he did not match up well due to a size disadvantage.
"I was looking to play the four this year, and I knew he was coming in and I was used to playing behind Terence anyway," said Terwilliger of his role with the Buckeyes this year.
"I kind of came in as a four but I played some five because I'm willing to go to wherever they need me. I've been working on my four skills ever since last season was over."
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How They'll Play
Given the injury situation and short bench, this may well be a tale of two seasons for the Buckeyes, the one before Oden returns and the one after. Matta put it in a slightly different context on Sunday, but the meaning was the same.
"In essence we'll be two teams," said Matta. "We've made adjustments and I don't think we know exactly how it's going to turn out once he gets back, but it's hard, it really is," Matta said.
"Once we get him back it's going to be a quick learning curve for him to get readjusted and acclimated and I really I don't know if he'll ever be 100% this year. That's the unknown.
"I don't think he can come back and log 38 minutes. It's going to be a process to build (his minutes)," Matta said.
OSU faces some rugged non-conference games early in the year and will play them without Oden while depending on four other freshmen who will certainly have growing pains early in the year, particularly against the likes of North Carolina, Florida, and other strong competition on the preseason schedule.
"We have a tremendous challenge ahead because we're so young with just four returning players," said Matta.
"It's a unique situation because we have so many new guys coming in and we have a real short time before we play. Therefore we have to evaluate quickly what guys can do and what they can't do and continue to progress at a rapid place, but the big thing we don't want to do is sacrifice any of the fundamentals and the teaching that goes along with that trying to put the cart before the horse if you will," Matta said.
"You want them to get the feel of college basketball. We have four guys on the team that have never played with a shot clock before. One of the challenges that we have is molding them and getting them to think along the lines that we want them to think, and that is trusting the system and learning the system before they can trust it. I think that's where the crash-course comes of our practices."
The development of the freshmen will be critical as will the return of Oden from his injury. Until Oden returns, OSU will likely be a perimeter oriented team, counting on Butler, Lewis and the shooting of Harris to carry them offensively. Don't be surprised if early on in the season OSU uses four perimeter players much like they did last year with Terence Dials on the baseline.
Without Oden neither Terwilliger nor Hunter will match up well with bigger post players, particularly defensively, but the Buckeyes might be able to offset that liability with strong play outside. The combination of Conley at point, Butler at shooting guard along with Lewis and Harris at the wings could be important in the early going. When Oden returns, however, that all changes. When Oden returns, the Buckeyes will be able to play both Hunter and Terwilliger at the power forward spot, something that will certainly help them with rebounding and most likely defensively as well. With or without Oden, Matta will must rely on nearly everyone on his roster to contribute.
"I do know this. We're going to need every guy we've got to play and serve a role and purpose on our team," said Matta. "We have a lot of players who are going to have to give us at least 20 minutes this season."
"Early on I don't honestly have a feel for what kind of team we're going to be. I don't have a real good feeling that we'll be real good. I don't have a bad feeling that we'll be bad, but I think that time is going to tell. I know this. We're going to be better at the end of the year than we were at the beginning of the year. Unfortunately we may have to take some bumps and bruises early to learn in that process."
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