Men's Basketball
The-Ozone Postgame Note and Quotebook
By John Porentas

Ivan Harris
Photo by Jim Davidson

No Oden? No Problem: Greg Oden sat down with foul problems very early in the first half against Georgetown, and when he did, the smart money was betting that it would be the end of the Buckeyes. The smart money would have been wrong, because when Oden went to the bench every other Buckeye on the roster stepped up and did what they needed to do.

"I think everybody had to step up their game. Greg is a big key to our offense and also to our defense. We all stuck together and everybody had to step up," said OSU senior forward Ivan Harris.

"It was just team ball, team defense, and that was the key for this team," said Harris.

"We know how to do what we need to do when Greg's out of the game," added Ron Lewis.

"We've been doing it since he's been back. Our confidence doesn't drop. We just keep going and keep playing the way we usually do."

Despite OSU's success in the first half point guard Mike Conley still would have preferred to have him in the game.

"We do better when he's on the court," said Conley. "Whenever he's out there he's a dominant post player."

For Oden, the first half was pure misery.

"It was real tough in the first half, just sitting there, because I wanted to contribute," he said.

The Big D: One of the keys for Ohio State against Georgetown was their ability to defense Big East Player of the Year Jeff Green. The Buckeyes were able to limit Green to just five shots from the field and nine points.

"He's a tough player to guard," said Ivan Harris who spent some time trying to check Green in the game.

"There was a lot of talk that Green was an excellent player so I knew I had to step up my game defense wise and that's what I tried to do," Harris said.

The other player who guarded Green was David Lighty.

David Lighty
Photo by Jim Davidson

"We just tried to get him out of the flow of his game, just tried to make things as difficult as possible," explained Lighty.

" I just tried to front him on defense and not let him touch the ball as much as possible. He only had five shots so that's disrupting him. The more shots he gets off the more points he probably scores."

According to Ron Lewis, Lighty's effort was a huge factor in the game.

"It was crucial," said Lewis.

"He limited him to a single-digit game. He plays great defense, but he's been doing that the whole year, coming in and stepping up when his name is called."

The defensive effort on Green was critical, but the Buckeyes were also able to cope with Georgetown's version of the Princeton offense, and offense that gave them fits last year when the Hoyas put them out of the NCAA tournament in the second round. This time around, however, the Buckeyes had six days to get ready for that offense, and during that time the OSU coaching staff was able to school the Buckeyes on the keys to stopping the Hoyas.

"They did a tremendous job of taking to heart everything we wanted to do," said Matta.

"Last year we gave up 16 layups in the game. I know we gave up a couple today but not as many. That fueled our offense," Matta said.

Matt Terwilliger
Photo by Jim Davidson

The Buckeyes also had seen that offense in the Big Ten this season. The Northwestern Wildcats run it, and the Buckeyes were able to draw on that experience as well in preparing for Georgetown.

"Playing against Northwestern during the season helped us," said Matt Terwilliger.

"They don't have quite the athletes that Georgetown has obviously but they run that Princeton style offense and we just drilled on it. It's a good thing we had a week to prepare for it. We were fortunate. They just drilled that stuff into our head," Terwilliger said.

"They were talking about how last year they got 16 layups on us because it wasn't the first back cut, it was the second they were getting us on so we were really cautious about that," said Terwilliger.

Speaking of Terwilliger, it was he and Othello Hunter who did a great job defending Hibert when Oden was out of the game, but even Terwilliger didn't expect to get into the game as early as he did.

"It's a little bit of a frustration," he said. "I guess sometimes that's just the way it happens. I just come out to the game ready to go every day."

One to Go: Just two team are left playing basketball now, and one of them will be crowned the national champion on Monday.

"We've got one more left. I'm looking forward to playing on Monday," said Ivan Harris.

"It really hasn't hit me all the way yet," said David Lighty.

"It's so exciting right now to be saying that I'm playing for a national championship. A lot of people in the world don't get to say that," Lighty said.

According to Thad Matta, he won't have to say much to get his team focused.

"They know what the magnitude of the game is, so I don't have to talk about it," Matta said.

"What we have to do is get ourselves prepared to play, get some rest and go out and make plays."

According to Ron Lewis, just getting to the game is not enough.

"It's great," said Lewis of OSU's win over Georgetown, "but we're trying not to celebrate as much. We love the win and all, but we want to get that main victory on Monday.

"We set out to win the game, we set out to win the championship," he said.

The Shoe Fit Both Big Feet: Greg Oden had foul trouble against Georgetown, but so did Georgetown center Roy Hibert. Hibert played with four fouls late in the game, but according to the Buckeyes, he wasn't quite the same player after he picked up the fourth foul.

"Absolutely," said Ron Lewis.

"He wasn't being as aggressive trying to block shots or as aggressive on Greg. He was getting two feet in the paint and laying it right over him," Lewis said.

Hibert's play may have changed, but the Buckeyes said their play was same whether he was in the game or not.

The Flying Leap: Greg Oden attempted a dunk in the second half that was spectacular despite the fact that he missed after being fouled. What possessed Oden to make that attempt?

Greg Oden
Photo by Jim Davidson

"I was out for 17 minutes," in the first half said Oden.

"I wanted to get back out there and just tear the rim down, you know," said a smiling Oden.

The dunk was impressive to say the least, even to those who were on the floor with Oden at the time.

"Man! I had a good view of it too, I was right on the block," said David Lighty.

"I didn't even think he was going to try and dunk it. He might have done it at practice maybe once or twice but I wasn't expecting that.

"When he caught the ball he looked at (Georgetown's Jeff) Green, then looked at the hoop and just kept rising and tried to dunk it.

"He landed on Green a little bit. It's a good thing nobody got hurt."

Cinderella Number One: Ohio State ended the season the number one ranked team in the country, yet was the lowest one seed in the tournament. They also have been installed as a solid underdog against Florida in the national championship game. Jamar Butler says that doesn't bother him or his teammates.

Jamar Butler
Photo by Jim Davidson

"A lot of people picked Georgetown to win this game. Everybody picked against us the last game. Everybody was doubting us. We came out and got a win against a great team. I think that says a lot about our team," said Butler.

Butler and the Buckeyes may have been one of the few who believed, but they certainly were the most important. The "no-respect" role has developed somewhat of a bunker mentality for the Buckeyes, and that, according to Butler, has brought them together.

"This is the closest team I've ever been on in my life. We're just having fun right now," said Butler.

The amount of mutual admiration on the Buckeye team is almost overwhelming. It's a common trait on teams that assume the Cinderella role.

"Mike Conley, I love that guy. He steps up in these situations," said Ivan Harris.

Here's David Lighty's take on Ron Lewis.

"Ron's been himself through the whole tournament, being our leader and stepping up and doing things that we need to get the win, hitting big shots and big free throws down the line, trying to help us to finish our mission," said Lighty.

And Lighty on Greg Oden.

"Greg is such an easy player to play with because he doesn't demand the ball or want the ball on every possession or anything like that."

Then there's Thad Matta on David Lighty.

"Another great, solid performance. David is a tough kid, he's a winner. He's just a smorgasbord. He looks at the situation and says 'What do I have to do and gets the job done.'"

Maybe there's no respect outside their circle, but plenty of mutual respect within it. That can carry a team a long, long way.

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