From: doel@bae.bellcore.com (Michael Doel)
Subject: Re: Ohio State preview (LONG)
Organization: Bell Communications Research
	<1992Oct7.221200.17616@cis.ohio-state.edu>
Distribution: rec
Date: 8 Oct 92 09:23:49

In article <1992Oct7.221200.17616@cis.ohio-state.edu> atchison@ozma.cis.ohio-state.edu (Mark Atchison) writes:

> In article <DOEL.92Oct7094429@bbq.bae.bellcore.com> doel@bae.bellcore.com (Michael Doel) writes:

> Most schools feel lucky to get 3 in the top 100.  We got 5 in the top 70!

The next few years should be exciting.


> >Guards
> I'll bet Etzler gets the majority of the time.  Definitely early, maybe all
> year.  He's a pretty good ballplayer -- we have been giving default 
> scholarships around here for a while (Eli Brewster, Kip Lomax, etc.).  He is
> extremely quick on offense, and should settle into a pretty good shooting 
> percentage with a little time.  I only saw Simpson play once in high school, 
> but he looked like he had a lot of maturing to do before he's ready to lead a
> div. I team.

Etzler may play early, but I think Ohio State's future lies with Simpson.
He's the highest rated recruit we got this year and is a two-time Mr.
Basketball in Ohio.  His biggest trouble will be in making the transition
from being the star to being the team player.  I have faith that Ayers
recognizes this & will be working with him on it from day one.  If Greg
deomonstrates patience in practice, I think he's got to be the one to play.
He's just too far ahead of Etzler in potential to do otherwise.


> >Funderburke is a bit thin...
> Just a bit, though.  Who uses big centers anymore (rhetorical)?  Smaller,
> quicker guys in the middle are all the rage.

Well, you might be right in the Big Ten anyway.  In previous years, it seems
like everyone needed a purdue-type of center.  The Steve Scheffler type who
was a tremendous space-eater to control the boards for you.  Now, the league
features Funderburke, Alan Henderson, and Juwan Howard as the premier post
players.  Funderburke can certainly match up physically with either of those
guys.  It's just when he plays the Montrosses of the world that he's in
danger of getting pushed around.


> I see Brandewie platooning more with Dudley than with Macon, Ratliff, and 
> Anderson.

Others have mentioned this too.

>            Let's hope Ratliff's summer numbers weren't a fluke -- we could
> definitely use lots of offensive potential on this team, 'cause they may be
> inconsistent on an individual basis.  More guys with the ability to put it in
> the hole makes it harder for everybody to be cold at once (nice circular
> logic, eh?).

Agreed.  As you mention, balanced scoring could be a problem this year.


> I hope these new coaches fit as well as the old ones seemed to.  And while
> were on the subject of coaches moving, why haven't we signed Randy to a
> 200 year contract, yet? :~)

I'd like to see him signed to an extension too.  Nonetheless, I don't think
we're in any danger of losing him to another school.  He's not likely to
leave for his alma mater (Miami of Ohio) like his predecessor because that
would be too much of a step down.  Also, he and Williams have quickly
revived Ohio State as one of the top coaching positions in the country.
As long as he has support in Columbus, theres' little reason for him to
leave.


> Somehow, I don't think our hoops fans are as fickle as our football fans.  Of
> course it's easy to say that when you're coming off the best 2-year run in
> the last 30 years, too.  We'll see, I guess.

Any team that's been as successful as OSU has over the last two years is
bound to develop a number of fair-weather fans.  These are the people who
may not understand the game as well & just expect a winner.  In retrospect,
I think Michigan's success last year will hurt Ohio State this year.  If
the Fab 5 had had a season with more valleys to go along with the peaks,
then there might not be as many expectations on Ohio State's stellar
recruiting class this year.  There will be some tough times for this year's
team & I just hope the fair-weather fans don't get impatient too quickly.


> Even worse: the addition of Penn State takes away one of our games against
> Northwestern, while *some* lucky schools get out of Michigan or Indiana!

We also lose a game against Minesotta which would have been a little easier
than most other schools.  Does anyone know who's dropped whom with the
addition of Penn State?


> I'd also add 1 additional key:

>     6) I think either Skelton or Davis will have to step forward offensively
> and average ~20 per game for the Bucks to do well.  With the exception
> of Funderburke, I expect the scoring of each individual to be very
> spotty.  Davis certainly has the potential, if he can get himself shots
> (hope for zones?), and Skelton has shown periods where he can light it
> up too (least notably an intrasquad scrimmage in Marion, OH his freshman
> year when he led all players with about 40).

You make a good point.  We all know that Funderburke starts the season as
OSU's primary offensive weapon.  We also know that Skelton and Davis have
shown the ability to light it up from outside when they get going.  Rather
than one of them averaging about twenty a game though, I think it will be
more likely for the pair of them to average between twenty and twenty-five
a game.  My guess is that they'll be splitting time reasonably evenly unless
one performs substantially above the other's level.

Besides the 2 spot and 5 spot though, Ohio State doesn't have a proven
scorer.  At least one or two other positions will have to develop a
consistent scorer if the Buckeyes are to do well.  With the influx of
Simpson, Macon, Watson, Anderson, and Ratliff (practically new to game
situations) though, I suspect we'll see at least one guy step forward.



> Cool preview, Mike.  Thanks!

no problem.

--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mike Doel				<doel@bae.bellcore.com>
444 Hoes Lane RRC 1B-209
Piscataway, NJ 08854

"For every complex problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat
 and wrong." - H.L. Mencken
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Newsgroups: rec.sport.basketball.college