How For Real Is Ohio State Basketball?

How happy is THE University right now?  SEC Monkey?  Dead.  Terrelle Pryor?  Tattooed.  Men's Basketball?  Still undefeated.  Yet, the Sugar Bowl was heart-attack inducing.  Those tattoos resulted in a 5-game suspension to begin next year that all but assure an early departure for the NFL Draft.  And a 6-point deficit to Iowa at the half last week sure brought with it a lot of questions.  But, the monkey is dead.  Pryor was going to bolt for the paycheck anyway.  And Men's Basketball is the best team in the Big T--hold on.  Are they?

Let's start with the good.  If you don't think this list starts with Jared Sullinger, you're either crazy or Dallas Lauderdale's mom.  Sullinger is about as close to a lock for the Naismith as you can get this early in the season.  He's averaging 18.2 points and 10.1 rebounds and just dominates anyone smaller than him (and at 6'9"/280 that's a long list).  Ohio State is 6th in college basketball at 18.1 assists per game, which it ought to be considering they are 3rd in field goal percentage at 50.8.  They have a hybrid shooting guard/small forward in David Lighty that has improved every year of college in every aspect of his game.  They feature a true shooting guard in Jon Diebler who hits over 50% from beyond the arc.

And now the bad.  They are walking into the first or second toughest conference in the NCAA without a single notable win (if you're thinking about bringing up Florida, remember: that's the same Gators team that has now also dropped games to UCF and Jacksonville), and they almost take a loss to a Big Ten bottom feeder.  They possess an average to below average perimeter defense that has allowed their unimpressive opponents to shoot better than 40% from three 4 times.  With the exception of Aaron Craft, their bench is shallow.

A great test is on the horizon.  No one knows quite what to make of the Golden Gophers this year, but they are a potential nightmare matchup for the Buckeyes.  It starts with Sullinger.  He's as refined a post player as you'll find in college, and there's no shortage of announcers that will remind you his father has been coaching him since birth.  But, he's a classic always-bigger-than-everybody big man.  As a result, he struggles against size.  Luckily for Sullinger, there aren't many guys who can really lean into him.  But, Minnesota has three bigs in Ralph Sampson III, Colton Iverson, and Trevor Mbakwe who can block shots and throw around about 800 lbs. collectively.  Not to mention all three are juniors, meaning they have been coached well for two years, so the dad advantage is minimized.  On paper, Mbakwe is giving up an inch and 40 lbs., but watch how strong he plays.  And Sullinger does not pass exceptionally well out to the perimeter.  Once the ball is in, it's pretty much in.  Tubby Smith has size to collapse on Sullinger, and outside defenders that will pick off lazy passes.  Don't forget what Tubby Smith means to defense.  The Buckeyes will be forced to create shots, and the five easy passes per possession along the three-point line will not be so easy.

Offense provides its own problem.  I can't be sure what Ohio State's conditioning is currently, but if it's poor, it will be exposed.  David Lighty will be glued to Rodney Williams if Thad Matta has any sense.  Williams is an absolute athletic freak and has been featured more in the last four games.  Lighty is the only player capable of staying with him, and Lighty foul trouble could mean a big Williams night.  All this without mentioning the Gophers' leading scorer, Blake Hoffarber.  He can shoot as well as Diebler, but is strong enough not to be relegated to the outside.

Minnesota looked like the next big thing, until they didn't.  But, hopefully they will get up for this game.  Do I want OSU to stumble?  A bit.  But, mostly I'll be happy to see how good they really are.