January 24, Evanston, Ill. - The Buckeyes visited the less friendly confines of Welsh Ryan Arena in Evanston last night and in a 59-50 victory, found quite a different Northwestern team from a week ago in Columbus. A lot of ink has been written about the Buckeyes great recruiting class, but on this night it appeared that Coach Matta had not yet come up with a game plan that blends the special talents of his star center with his talented teammates.
Confused by Northwestern’s System
First, the Buckeyes were unable to solve the 1-3-1 zone the Cats use most of the time. There were few instances where their guards were able to break down the defense for easy shots by Oden and others. Most of Oden’s points came from offensive rebounds, though he did have a couple of nice shots from the 8 to 10 foot range. Cook and Lighty saw very limited minutes. Conley did not demonstrate his talents as an effective point guard. Lewis, a good three point shooter, seems to have been a forgotten element in their offense. Senior Harris had some good production on the offensive end and Butler hit some key threes in the second half, but the rest of this talented group did a lot of standing and watching. In summary, this is not a group that plays team basketball on either end of the court. Northwestern had many open shots on the perimeter, but they were unable to exploit these opportunities with consistency.
From a fan who has seen a lot of Big Ten games over the years, one has to say: “What is all of the hype about with this Buckeye team?” They are a long way from being a team in the mold of the great past Big Ten Champions- Illinois, Michigan State, and who can forget the great Buckeye team featuring Lucas and company in the 1960’s. Right now they are much like the current and recent Michigan teams, much talent, but not consistently dominant or impressive. Will Matta get a chance to mold this group into a great team? There lots of “ifs” before that question will be answered.
Carmody’s Thin Bench
While Coach Carmody’s plan for this game was impressive, he continues to have a bit of a problem in managing his very thin bench. When a team plays 40 minutes of team defense, small breaks for key players is very important for strong finishes. The Cats obviously were extremely tired towards the end of this game and the strong legs that make a difference on both ends of the court were missing in a number of starters. A little better rotation could solve that problem and perhaps make a difference in the stretch run at the end of a game.
The big question is whether Matta will have blended this talented group into a force by tournament time. That will be his test as an effective bench coach. Based on this game, there is a lot of homework still to be done.
