Ohio State vs Michigan State

[AutoModGod]

tonight at 7:00 PM on ESPN.

What I thought was going to be a surprising year for our Bucks has really turned with the Lighty injury and the Crater defection.

Hope we see a good game tonight.

Go Bucks!

[ScarletBlooded]

That Minnesota loss had us down for awhile, but we've done such an awesome job in non-conference play, at least up until we lost to West Virginia. The Bucks just need to keep their dominant edge in Big Ten play, which has inversed from last year with teams like Michigan and Minnesota rising and teams that were once dominant like Indiana and Wisconsin are stumbling a bit this year.

Though the Bucks have always had their share of trouble against the Big Ten's basketball powerhouse in the MSU Spartans.

[ScarletBlooded]

Michigan State's offense killed us in the first half, then their defense killed us in the second half. All in all, they had complete control of the game defeating the Buckeyes.

At least Buford showed up with 17 points but it just doesn't seem to compare against Kalin Lucas' 20.

We're 1-2 in conference play so far, our next game against Houston Baptist should put us back in the winning column again.

[AutoModGod]

The transfer of Crater really killed us last night.  Simmons got 2 first half fouls and all we have to back him up is PJ Hill.  Don't get me wrong, I like PJ's spunk, but when he is in the game, he can barely run the offense.  He really does not have Big Ten skills.

We need to come up with another option to PJ running the point.

Any ideas?
 

[ScarletBlooded]

The transfer of Crater really killed us last night.  Simmons got 2 first half fouls and all we have to back him up is PJ Hill.  Don't get me wrong, I like PJ's spunk, but when he is in the game, he can barely run the offense.  He really does not have Big Ten skills.

We need to come up with another option to PJ running the point.

Any ideas?
 

With the roster we have, we don't have much options. The only other point guards we have are Danny Peters and Walter Offutt who are usually useful in garbage time, whenever we have a big lead or a big defecit we can't get out of. I know Danny Peters is a definite reserve but I don't know much about Offutt so if P.J. Hill shows inconsistency again, I would roll the dice on Offutt just to see how he manages the floor general role when we're out of options.

My main problem about the team is inside prescence. One again we settled for jump shots while the Spartans penetrated through our D most of the time. We need Lauderdale and Mullens to be the imposing big men they are and lock down the paint on defense and post up for easy shots on offense. Evan Turner and Jon Deibler are doing great but they're our only two efficient scorers at the time being. Two men can only do so much.

[AutoModGod]

I wonder if Diebler and/or Turner can bring the ball up? 

We lost so much with Hill in there.  He is no offensive threat at all and he did nothing to try to get the ball down low to Mullens and Lauderdale.  He seemed tentative making the penetrating passes and was obviously more comfortable passing to the wings.  We need to have 5 guys out there when Simmons is on the bench that are a threat to score.

Our best hope may be for Simmons to stay out of foul trouble.   

I think lack of depth at center is the reason Thad never plays Lauderdale and Mullens at the same time too.  Madsen is serviceable for a few minutes here and there, but that is about it, filling in long term with one or both of those guys in foul trouble is not a very good option.