OSU Preview

[Brett Pappas]

Well after losing our last three games I have come to the conclusion
that Jon Breiner has to be the reason. So with that said, Jon has been
given a one game leave of absence from doing the previews. 

Oklahoma State comes to the Shoe on Sunday as part of a made for TV
series which saw the Bearcats start last season on the road suffering a
69-62 loss. OSU comes into this game with an impressive set of rankings
(9th in the AP Poll, 11th in the Coaches Poll and 4th in the RPI ) which
makes the game all that more important to the Bearcats if they hope to
turn things around for the NCAA tournament.

OSU has a few familiar faces from last year's game such as Victor
Williams, Andre Williams and Ivan McFarlin. Victor Williams led the team
in scoring last year and is still the go to guy this year when the game
is on the line but he is getting help from a new face this year in
junior transfer Tony Allen who currently leads the Cowboys with 16.2
points per game.

The two teams have a lot in common, both coaches stress defense and both
have had to make due with smaller lineups. OSU will play a three guard
lineup with two forwards that each stand 6'8". At one forward spot Andre
Williams is a guy who will get his share of blocked shots but he tends
to hunt for them and will often be out of position to rebound
effectively.

At the other forward spot is Ivan McFarlin who is a warrior that will
attack the glass and muscle it inside for easy baskets. I would expect
to see CBC on him doing whatever it takes to keep him out of the paint.

My Keys to the Game:
1.	Attack the glass at both ends. We need Maxiell to take control
of the boards and this is a team he should be able to do it against. I
would also like to see a player like Stokes crashing the glass on
offense to extend some possessions.
2.	Play smart defense. This may sound obvious but it will be more
important for our guards to stay in front of their man rather than
trying to force things. OSU doesn't take a lot of threes but all three
guards will knock it down at high percentage when they have enough room.
3.	Finally, create easy baskets. We can do this two ways, one off
of rebounds on the offensive end and the other in transition. 

Will Tony Bobbitt play? My guess would be yes, and based on the way OSU
plays defense I think Bobbitt could make a big difference. The advantage
of having a guy like Tony is that he is one of the few players we have
that can score despite his man playing good defense

I would also like to see Chadd Moore play more than 5-10 minutes but he
will need to play solid defense for that to happen. He doesn't need to
be a defensive stopper but he does need to keep his man in front of him
in and fight through screens. Look for Stokes to continue to drive the
ball to the basket as I suspect that he would get a few more calls at
home that he wasn't able to get at Louisville. It's hard to pick a
winner here but I do think that both teams are so similar that home
court should put the score in our favor. I'll take last years score and
just reverse them.

UC 69 - OSU 62

--Brett