Back when Wisc was ranked #1 and Ohio St #2 I said that neither team would make it past the third game of the NCAA's. Wisc is gone and I haven't changed my mind on Ohio St. Let's take a close look at the first game between these two teams. I couldn't remember whether Odom played in that game or not. He did and had a pretty good game, 24 points and 15 boards. Lofton's numbers looked pretty good but not a typical Lofton game. Although he was 10 of 20, he was only 3-11 from the 3 and 0 for 1 from the foul line. That 1 was real big. In fact if he had hit it Tenn would probably have won the game. Ohio St came down and hit a 3 to win the game by 2. What happens if Lofton hits the 2 free throws? Also Ohio St was 18-20 from the foul line while Tenn was only 5-11. Could we say a little home cooking might be involved. Ohio St is a 69% free throw shooting team but shot twice as many as Tenn hitting 90% while Tenn who is a 65% team shot only 45%. Out scored Tenn at the foul line by 13. Tenn's inside game is much better than it was two months ago. The young players are much better than they were then. Lofton very seldom has two bad games in a row and regardless of his numbers, he had a bad game against Va. Put all this together on a neutral floor and I believe Tenn has the best of it. Both su and with the points.
Tenn/Ohio St
- Thread starter gsp
- Start date
I only have two futures in the NCAA tournament and Tennessee is my longshot at 90/1. Havent hedged yet and still might not.
let me say I agree with your analysis and not trying to nit pick here, but total fouls in the game were Ohio St 10 and Tenn 15, not sure that qualifies as home cooking
GL
GL
Nah, no home cooking in that one. Ohio State never sends teams to the line. If you look at all past box scores of OSU games......opponants rarely score a large percentage of their points at the line.
It's not worth arguing. At NC, State shot 13 free throws to 34 for the opposition. In their loss at Wisc they shot 18 to Wisc 29. At Fla they were about even but against Iowa St at home Ohio St shot 15 to Iowa St's 2. Of course at Fla, fouling wouldn't have helped. They were blown out from the start. Seems there's a little difference between at home and on the road. They won't get the calls in SA that they got at home. If you start making excuses for a team you are in trouble. Last night I never saw Miss play as bad as they did against Clem and it wasn't Clem's fault. Missed layups and unforced turnovers kept Clem in it until they got their confidence and the rest was history. Cost me some money but Miss was terrible last night. No fault of anyone but theirs. Can Ohio St make Tenn look bad. Maybe, but I doubt it.
Check kenpom's website........hopefully you know what that is.
Ohio State ranks 335th out of 336 teams in free throw point distribution. Teams get their points in the following percentages from the Buckeyes:
13.4% from the line
52.9% 2 point shots
33.6% from 3
Trust me.....I know my team. Ohio State rarely fouls and sends people to the line. Oden has fouled out ONCE....and that was against Xavier.
I guess I could explain your argument by saying that if Ohio State starts letting teams go to the line, they lose.......simply because it is out of the norm.
I dont see Tennessee as the physical type of team that will bang and get to the line......so they will have to do it from 3 point shots and mroe importantly getting more possessions, which they can do by winning the turnover battle decisively and crashing the offensive boards.
Ohio State ranks 335th out of 336 teams in free throw point distribution. Teams get their points in the following percentages from the Buckeyes:
13.4% from the line
52.9% 2 point shots
33.6% from 3
Trust me.....I know my team. Ohio State rarely fouls and sends people to the line. Oden has fouled out ONCE....and that was against Xavier.
I guess I could explain your argument by saying that if Ohio State starts letting teams go to the line, they lose.......simply because it is out of the norm.
I dont see Tennessee as the physical type of team that will bang and get to the line......so they will have to do it from 3 point shots and mroe importantly getting more possessions, which they can do by winning the turnover battle decisively and crashing the offensive boards.
