Events Calendar
In This Section
Most Read Stories
NFL star Chris Spielman's wife loses cancer battle
Man found dead in North Akron home is identified
Dad accused of forcing son into field, killing him
Coventry man killed in crash at I-77 ramp
Poor machine maintenance blamed for fire at Akron business
College student mistaken for deer, shot to death
Indians add 7 players to 40-man roster
Man allegedly paid teens to spit in his face
Body with gunshot wounds found in Canton Township creek
Blogs:
Pets:
Sick Pets Get High-tech Health Care
The Heldenfiles:
Friday Night Notebook
Patrick McManamon:
The proposed new LeBron mural doesn't do it for me
Akron Zips:
Two blowouts, one night
Tribe Matters:
Seven players added to Tribe’s 40-man roster
Cleveland Browns:
Hey, somebody's gotta stick up for the Browns
Kent State Sports:
Singletary update
Cleveland Cavaliers:
Gameblog: Cavs at Indiana Pacers – Here’s to LBJ and Free Throws
Buckeye Blogging:
OSU – Michigan college football rivals meet in Baghdad
Varsity Letters:
Bowling season starts today
All Da King's Men:
Attention Haters, Palin And Hannity Together
Blog of Mass Destruction:
Muslim McCarthyism & Death Prayers
Akron Law Café:
Federal Judge Declares DOMA Unconstitutional
See Jane Style:
Vintage Chic
Car Chase:
TIME TO GET YOUR COLLECTOR CARS WINTERIZED
Let's Talk Real Estate:
Silverdome Potentially SOLD!
Ohio Travels with Betty:
Norma asks if Barkitecture is still at Stan Hywet.
Sound Check:
Steely Dan Plays "The Royal Scam" at E.J. Thomas Hall
HRLite House:
Colloquium at University of Akron
Akron Gamer:
Nintendo's Mario endures even as games come and go
With Turner and others returning, team won't have to fall back on freshmen
By Rusty Miller
Associated Press
Published on Saturday, Oct 17, 2009
COLUMBUS: Evan Turner thought long and hard about jumping early to the NBA after last season. Truth be told, there are still times he wonders whether he made the right decision to stay at Ohio State.
''When I'm doing homework at night, I think, 'I could be in the NBA right now,' '' he said with a laugh during the Buckeyes media day this week.
Turner came back, just as almost all of his teammates did, to make Ohio State a veteran group. All five starters return, and that doesn't count David Lighty, last year's captain and floor leader, who played seven games before breaking a bone in his foot and missing the rest of the season.
The only missing piece is substitute B.J. Mullens, who became the third consecutive freshman center at Ohio State to jump to the NBA and to be taken in the first round of the draft.
The Buckeyes are coming off a 22-11 mark that included a tie for fourth in the Big Ten and a first-round exit from the NCAA tournament.
Turner is excited about the possibilities.
''This is fun. I'm getting better every single day. I'm hanging out with my friends,'' he said. ''I'm enjoying myself — besides the homework part — I never think twice about [the NBA].''
Turner, a 6-foot-7 junior, was first-team all-conference after averaging 17 points, seven rebounds and four assists a game while shooting 51 percent from the field.
Returning players
Among the other returnees are last year's Big Ten freshman of the year, 6-foot-5 William Buford (13 ppg), 6-foot-8 center Dallas Lauderdale (70 percent from the field, almost 70 blocked shots), 6-foot-6 Jon Diebler (94 3-pointers, 11.4 ppg), 6-foot-2 guard Jeremie Simmons (45 3-pointers) and energy guy P.J. Hill (who became a starter down the stretch).
Lauderdale broke a finger on his right hand this week and will miss the next four to six weeks. That will open a door for 7-foot transfer Zisis Sarikopoulos, a gifted player for his native Greece's U19 World Championship Team.
''I know how important it is for me to step up now and be able to fill in for Dallas,'' Sarikopoulos said. ''Whether that's rebounding, blocking shots, scoring — I'm going to put the double effort into that.''
After three straight years of having to blend at least two newcomers into the starting lineup, coach Thad Matta has no freshmen on the roster.
Matta is leaning toward making Turner his point guard, a tack that paid dividends as the Buckeyes won five of their last seven regular-season games.
''Honestly, we'll use Evan just about everywhere,'' Matta said. ''Last year, when Dave [Lighty] went down, [Evan] would be your hybrid point-forward — whatever those announcers call those guys — because we played him all over. He's a guy who can do a lot of different things.''
With Lighty returning, Matta hopes to return to man-to-man defense after a year of playing an attacking, pressing zone.
A team with depth
It was painful for Lighty to watch from the sidelines last year, but he's fully healed and ready to go. He said the Buckeyes have so much depth that no one will be able to single out Turner, Buford, Diebler or anyone else.
''It's going to be hard [for a team] to say, 'We have to stop this one player and we can beat Ohio State,' '' he said. ''Because we have so many weapons that we can go to.''
It's also important to note that none of those weapons are newcomers to the college game. This is the most experienced team Matta (127-46 in his five seasons) has had in Columbus.
A team-building tour of Canada in late August has fueled the fire of optimism.
''We have so much potential on this team that it just sort of gets everybody excited,'' Diebler said. ''We've been through the battles. Let's put it all together and see where it takes us because we know we have great players and great guys on this team.''
COLUMBUS: Evan Turner thought long and hard about jumping early to the NBA after last season. Truth be told, there are still times he wonders whether he made the right decision to stay at Ohio State.
''When I'm doing homework at night, I think, 'I could be in the NBA right now,' '' he said with a laugh during the Buckeyes media day this week.
Turner came back, just as almost all of his teammates did, to make Ohio State a veteran group. All five starters return, and that doesn't count David Lighty, last year's captain and floor leader, who played seven games before breaking a bone in his foot and missing the rest of the season.
The only missing piece is substitute B.J. Mullens, who became the third consecutive freshman center at Ohio State to jump to the NBA and to be taken in the first round of the draft.
The Buckeyes are coming off a 22-11 mark that included a tie for fourth in the Big Ten and a first-round exit from the NCAA tournament.
Turner is excited about the possibilities.
''This is fun. I'm getting better every single day. I'm hanging out with my friends,'' he said. ''I'm enjoying myself — besides the homework part — I never think twice about [the NBA].''
Turner, a 6-foot-7 junior, was first-team all-conference after averaging 17 points, seven rebounds and four assists a game while shooting 51 percent from the field.
Returning players
Among the other returnees are last year's Big Ten freshman of the year, 6-foot-5 William Buford (13 ppg), 6-foot-8 center Dallas Lauderdale (70 percent from the field, almost 70 blocked shots), 6-foot-6 Jon Diebler (94 3-pointers, 11.4 ppg), 6-foot-2 guard Jeremie Simmons (45 3-pointers) and energy guy P.J. Hill (who became a starter down the stretch).
Lauderdale broke a finger on his right hand this week and will miss the next four to six weeks. That will open a door for 7-foot transfer Zisis Sarikopoulos, a gifted player for his native Greece's U19 World Championship Team.
''I know how important it is for me to step up now and be able to fill in for Dallas,'' Sarikopoulos said. ''Whether that's rebounding, blocking shots, scoring — I'm going to put the double effort into that.''
After three straight years of having to blend at least two newcomers into the starting lineup, coach Thad Matta has no freshmen on the roster.
Matta is leaning toward making Turner his point guard, a tack that paid dividends as the Buckeyes won five of their last seven regular-season games.
''Honestly, we'll use Evan just about everywhere,'' Matta said. ''Last year, when Dave [Lighty] went down, [Evan] would be your hybrid point-forward — whatever those announcers call those guys — because we played him all over. He's a guy who can do a lot of different things.''
With Lighty returning, Matta hopes to return to man-to-man defense after a year of playing an attacking, pressing zone.
A team with depth
It was painful for Lighty to watch from the sidelines last year, but he's fully healed and ready to go. He said the Buckeyes have so much depth that no one will be able to single out Turner, Buford, Diebler or anyone else.
''It's going to be hard [for a team] to say, 'We have to stop this one player and we can beat Ohio State,' '' he said. ''Because we have so many weapons that we can go to.''
It's also important to note that none of those weapons are newcomers to the college game. This is the most experienced team Matta (127-46 in his five seasons) has had in Columbus.
A team-building tour of Canada in late August has fueled the fire of optimism.
''We have so much potential on this team that it just sort of gets everybody excited,'' Diebler said. ''We've been through the battles. Let's put it all together and see where it takes us because we know we have great players and great guys on this team.''
Comments
Click here to post your comments
Naples, FL
Posted 08:23 AM, 10/17/2009
If Jon Diebler steps it up and becomes the 3 point marksman everyone expected, this team could go a long way. Lauderdale was far more dominant than Mullens in the second half and was really coming into his own. should be a fun year for Buckeye BB.
