Prudent Blogger

Philadelphia, PA After being absent from the national spotlight for decades, the Ohio State Buckeyes have advanced to the Final Four for the second time in the last six seasons, and with this success, they have firmly entrenched themselves as one of the countrys elite programs. But for this squad, simply getting this far is not enough.

Were not going down to New Orleans for a vacation, said forward Jared
Sullinger, who became the first player in three years to repeat as First Team
AP All-American. Its a business trip.

Taking care of business is exactly what Sullinger had in mind when he decided
to return to the Buckeyes for his sophomore season. After a fantastic freshman
campaign, many projected him to be a lottery pick in the NBA Draft, but
instead of leaving campus for the pros after one great season like many of his
contemporaries have done, he came back for a chance at the ultimate prize – a
championship.

In the 2010-11 campaign, Ohio State dominated wire-to-wire, going 32-2 in the
regular season and earning a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Its
championship hopes came to a screeching halt however in the Sweet 16, when it
suffered a disappointing loss to the fourth-seeded Kentucky Wildcats.

This season, despite falling short of expectations in the Big Ten (13-5) and
losing to Michigan State in the conference championship game, Ohio State is
playing some of its best basketball of the season at the best time, with wins
over Loyola Maryland, Gonzaga, Cincinnati, and top-seeded Syracuse in the East
Region to move on to the Big Easy to face fellow two-seed Kansas in the
National Semifinals.

Though Ohio State has played in a total of 10 Final Fours in its programs
history, only two of those appearances have come since 1968, and of all four
remaining teams, OSU has had the longest drought between championships,
winning its only title way back in 1960.

One of the biggest reasons for the Buckeyes turnaround is thanks to head
coach Thad Matta, who has led the team to at least a share of the Big Ten
title in five of his eight seasons and he guided the program to the National
Title Game game in 2007 before falling to defending champion Florida, 84-75.
Matta is surely seeking redemption this time around, and trusts that this
group of players is the right fit to do so.

I think the thing that makes me the most proud is these guys keep getting
better, said Matta. This team is still so young, and were still trying to
learn what gets them going. Ive kind of enjoyed that challenge because
theyve been receptive to what weve asked them to do.

Matta is no stranger to young teams. His 2007 Final Four squad was led by
super-freshmen and future NBA players Greg Oden, Mike Conley, Jr., and Daequan
Cook. Though that teams talent was never in question, its experience just
could not compete with that of a veteran Gator team.

But while Matta describes this seasons team as young, it is far from
inexperienced, as the entire starting five – sophomores Sullinger, Deshaun
Thomas, Aaron Craft, and Lenzelle Smith, Jr. and senior William Buford – have
all gone through the highs of dominating the regular season and the lows of
being upset in the tournament.

If this team wants to hoist its first NCAA Tournament trophy in 52 years, it
will need to keep up with its well rounded style of basketball. Its been
getting fantastic guard play from William Buford (14.4 ppg) all season, and
when he struggled against Syracuse in the Elite Eight by shooting just 3-of-12
from the floor, Smith Jr. stepped up his game by pouring in 18 points. In
addition to great offense from the perimeter, the Buckeyes also play fantastic
defense, led by Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Craft and his
school-record 88 steals this season.

Just as integral to Ohio States success is the production in the paint by its
fantastic forward duo of Sullinger (17.6 ppg, 9.1 rpg) and Thomas (16.1 ppg,
5.4 rpg). The importance of the front court play in Saturdays matchup against
Kansas cannot be overstated, as Sullinger and Thomas will need to keep up with
the Jayhawks twin towers Thomas Robinson (17.7 ppg, 11.8 rpg) and Jeff Withey
(9.2 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 3.5 bpg) for its best chance of winning.

Sullinger got into foul trouble early in the Syracuse game, relegating him to
the bench for the final 13 minutes of the first half. Surely, committing fouls
and riding the pine early against Kansas will be a recipe for disaster for the
Ohio State front court, but Sullinger believes the Buckeyes have the right
defensive mind set to win regardless of the scenario.

These guys have played without me before, so they know what they have to do,
said Sullinger. We just kept competing on the defense end [against Syracuse].
Im just so proud of these guys.

Regardless of the outcome this weekend, coach Matta knows that a trip back to
the Final Four is an extremely positive thing for the team and the university,
but having tested the waters once before, nothing would be sweeter than
cutting down the nets in New Orleans.

Im excited, said Matta. I think six years ago I probably didnt enjoy the
moment as much as I wanted to or needed to. But truth be told, I probably
wont enjoy this one either, and well get down there and try to play our best
basketball.

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