Men's Basketball
Basketball Buckeyes Headed North of the Border, eh.
By Brandon CastelWhat's this?
Ohio State basketball in August?
And in Canada none the less.
Blasphemy!
It's football season in Columbus and Jim Tressel's Buckeyes are just over a week away from their season-opener against Navy, which means not much else is going to penetrate the minds of Ohio State fans at the moment.
That didn't stop Thad Matta and the OSU hoopsters from taking the court at St. John Arena Thursday for their 10 th and final practice before a trip north of the border for a three-game exhibition series in Windsor, Ontario.
Thad Matta
Photo by Jim Davidson"It's been tremendous for us. The 10 days that we've had I think we've utilized them well," Matta said. "You find yourself sometime standing in the gym saying, 'It's August 21 st and we're practicing.' We haven't gone for more than an hour and a half. We've tried to keep it light. It's more 'We want to win the war and not the battle' type of deal."
Typically, Matta's group would not open fall camp until October as their season does not officially tip off until Nov. 9 when they face Alcorn State – and not Isiah Thomas' Florida International team as originally reported – in the opening game of the 2K Sports Classic benefitting Coaches vs. Cancer.
Instead, the Buckeyes were allotted 10 extra practices this month as an NCAA exemption for teams participating in tournaments on foreign soil. The players used this bonus time together to prepare for the pair of games they will play Friday and Saturday evening against the University of Windsor, as well as their Monday afternoon meeting with Western Ontario, but captain David Lighty says he'd be lying if he said he didn't think the extra practices would be a huge benefit for the team heading into the 2009-10 season.
"It's almost like we're cheating," Lighty said with his patented smile.
"It is a good thing to get 10 practices under our belt just to see where we are at and things we might need to get ready for when real practices start in October."
In years past, 10 practices would barely have been enough time for the players to get to know each other by name, let alone garner any chemistry on the basketball court. In each of the past two seasons, Matta's Buckeyes have returned only four players with real game experience as they were forced to rely on freshmen and newcomers to fill the holes left behind by early departures.
"We usually had name tags at our practices the last three years," Matta said only half-jokingly.
Instead, this Buckeye team returns more experience across the board than the last three teams combined. Although (backup) center B.J. Mullens was taken in the first round of the NBA Draft, the rest of the group returns intact from a team that went 22-11 last season, and coach Matta has been impressed with the selfless play he saw out of his veteran group this week.
"We've shot the ball well and we've played unselfishly," he said.
"When guys go on their own and play for six months by themselves selfishness usually comes out, and they've done a great job of committing to basketball."
Evan Turner
Photo by Jim DavidsonWhile the Buckeyes were not able to add any newcomers to the roster this off-season, they could welcome as many as three new faces to the rotation this fall. After sitting out all of last season following his transfer from UAB, seven-footer Zisis Sarikopoulos is expected to replace Mullens as the backup to Dallas Lauderdale down low, and fellow transfer Nikola Kecman returns to the lineup following a knee injury last year that cut the native Serbian's first season in Columbus short after just one game.
The big change to the lineup, however, from the team that lost to Siena in the first round of last year's NCAA Tournament is Lighty. The lone holdover from the original "Thad Five" recruiting class was sidelined with a foot injury last December, so watching him run up and down the court this week without showing any lingering signs of the broken foot was a sight for sore eyes.
"It's been amazing having him back on the floor," Matta said. "As I've said, David Lighty is the best practice player I've ever had. The energy and the knowledge and the enthusiasm he brings to practice is off the charts. It's good to see him back in the flow, and the things that you forgot that he brought to this team (are) amazing to see again.
The junior out of Cleveland who received a medical redshirt for last season even threw down a reverse dunk on a breakaway in practice Thursday, and after practice he told reporters he felt as good as new heading into his first live competition in eight months.
"I am way past that part. I am my old self again so I am good," Lighty said.
"I always have energy. Practice is where you get better as a team and as an individual as well. When you get better as an individual, that's when you bring everything together."
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