Forget for a minute Ohio State's 70-68 exhibition loss to Findlay on Tuesday night.
Because in reality, the game doesn't mean anything in the win-loss column.
And two weeks prior to the game, the confidence was still extremely high coming from the Ohio State contingent at Big Ten media day.
The reality for this group is that they will be one of the more intriguing works in progress this season. Look, like Florida, the Buckeyes not only lost their studs in Greg Oden and Mike Conley Jr., (and I'll toss in their classmate Daequan Cook who bolted for the NBA draft), but they also lost seniors Ron Lewis and Ivan Harris, two critical wings to the national runner-ups. The last two losses are akin to Florida losing Chris Richard and Lee Humphrey, two vital pieces of that squad, even if they weren't the headline names.
But the Buckeyes replenished just as well, if not better, than the Gators with the arrival of 7-foot Kosta Koufos, Jon Diebler and P.J. Hill. Koufos started Tuesday night and scored 20 points, making 8 of 13 shots in 26 minutes. (My colleague Fran Fraschilla is so high on Koufos he sees him as a possible No. 1 pick. And when I said that to OSU coach Thad Matta, who had that nervous chuckle, knowing it was possible.) Diebler also started and scored nine points, making three 3s. Hill came off the bench for 20 minutes and had six assists and two turnovers.
"The hardest part is evaluating what you have every single day," Matta said at the media day. "How do they fit together? And we need to get them to understand the attention to detail. Even last year, with Greg, our young guys didn't know what they were getting into."
Matta said the fact that Oden and Conley played together for seven years -- throughout youth ball and high school -- made the transition to college so much easier. He said few people fully appreciated that point.
Clearly, the Buckeyes are going to need more out of Othello Hunter as a starting center than he gave them Tuesday night (no points, no shots, one board and one block and a steal in 13 minutes).
But if there is reason for optimism, and there is plenty on this squad (I do see the Buckeyes as a legit sleeper), then it rests with Koufos, Jamar Butler and David Lighty.
I have written before about the potential impact of Koufos, taking Oden's word for it when I saw him in September. Clearly, Koufos had a special summer in being named the MVP of the 18-and-under European Championships in Spain while playing for Greece.
But he's not Oden, and that's OK.
"His game is unbelievable," said Lighty at the league's media day. "He's a 7-footer and when you see him up close and personal, you can't believe how big he is. He can take you in with a post jump hook or take you outside and penetrate as well. Greg's impact was mainly defensively and he was a force on defense, but [Koufos] is so big he's going to help us out on the perimeter."
Butler said you'd never see Oden at the 3-point line and if you did then a player could pressure Oden since he wasn't going to shoot. That's not the case with Koufos.
"I'm waiting to see Kosta play on the road, in foul trouble [he had only two on Tuesday night], against different types of players," Matta said. "Greg's impact was more of intimidation, while Kosta is taller but he's not a shot blocker."
Lighty was one of the real hits of the summer on the U.S. Under-19 team coached by DePaul's Jerry Wainwright. Throughout the time in Serbia, Wainwright and assistant Bruiser Flint of Drexel praised Lighty's ability to make plays. Lighty didn't have his best game Tuesday, going 2 of 9 for just five points with two turnovers in 36 minutes.
If there is one of the biggest misnomers on this squad it is that the loss of Conley will be a brutal blow. Butler was the starting point guard on a Big Ten championship team two seasons ago. He was forced to move to shooting guard with the arrival of Conley. He did it but now he's back "at my natural position. It was kind of strange [last season]. I didn't have a clue. I was lost."
"It's not like Jamar won't know what he's doing," Lighty said. "He was the best point guard in the Big Ten [as a sophomore]."
Butler had a solid outing Tuesday, scoring 22 points, shooting 7 of 13 from the field and making five 3s. But he wasn't as much of a playmaker, dishing out three assists with two turnovers in 35 minutes.
Matta said he was hoping that Butler had a new appreciation for the other spots on the floor after playing shooting guard last season. He was hoping he would appreciate when and where to deliver the ball to a shooter.
"But I have great confidence in his ability and what he can do for this team," Matta said.
Maybe what is most important to Matta is ensuring that he doesn't tweak his back again. The coach has had two back surgeries since the national title game in April. He said he has used stools with wheels to help him scoot around practice.
"The hardest adjustment for me is being aware of everything I do," Matta said. "I was walking on campus, and a girl smoking a cigarette was passing me. I was huffing and puffing to keep up. I'm coming around, but I've got to continue to strengthen my core and my back."
Final nugget
• Stanford coach Trent Johnson said Tuesday that sophomore center Brook Lopez has been doing everything he was supposed to on the court and in the classroom since being allowed to rejoin the team last Friday.
Lopez missed nine practices after he was suspended for academic issues. He's already academically ineligible for the first quarter but is slated to be back by mid-December. Johnson said that as long as Lopez does well academically, then he'll be good to go for the Pac-10 season.
Meanwhile, I had to ask Johnson what was up with the Siena road game on Nov. 17. Was it a two-for-one? What was he thinking? Johnson said it's a straight home-and-home series because he wanted to give Taj Finger a close-to-home game for the Mt. Kisco, N.Y., native. Siena played at Stanford last season.
The Siena game is after a road game at Northwestern (Nov. 15), so it's not as if the Cardinal is making a solo trip for the Saints. Still, a true road game in Albany is an interesting move by Johnson. Siena has a shot to win the MAAC, so this could turn out to be a solid power-rating game for the Cardinal if they win the game.
Andy Katz
