-
New here? Register here now for access to all the forums, download game torrents, private messages, polls, Sportsbook, etc. Plus, stay connected and follow BP on Instagram @buckeyeplanet and Facebook.
LGHL Stats and eyes tell us the Ohio State men are one of the worst second-half teams in the Big Ten
- News
- 0 Replies
Stats and eyes tell us the Ohio State men are one of the worst second-half teams in the Big Ten
Connor Lemons via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
The Buckeyes have once again stumbled to the bottom of the Big Ten, in part because of their failure to adjust in the second half of games.
To put it frankly: this basketball season has been an abject disaster for Chris Holtmann and the Ohio State Buckeyes. After winning two of its first three Big Ten games of the year, Ohio State has won just one of its last eight, currently sitting in 13th place in the conference with a record of 3-8.
While mathematically the Buckeyes still have enough games remaining to get to 20 or more wins and compete for an NCAA Tournament bid, most anyone who has watched this team this year knows those odds are slim to none. Ohio State is currently ranked 120th in the nation in defensive efficiency, allowing 99.3 points per 100 possessions. The Buckeyes are also allowing their opponents to shoot 35.8% from three-point range, which is the second-worst mark in the Big Ten.
To put it in perspective, two of Ohio State’s three most efficient offensive showings in Big Ten play have been its last two games, against Illinois and Iowa. You would think that would amount to wins, but alas, the Buckeyes had two of their worst defensive outings of the season in those games as well, resulting in losses in both games. This team just isn’t capable of getting defensive stops when it needs them the worst, making it hard to win even on nights when the offense is clicking at a high level.
Another major issue for this team that has reared its head on more than one occasion this year? Second-half stumbles. Ohio State held a 12-point halftime lead against Penn State on the road, a one-point lead over Indiana on the road, and a two-point halftime lead over Iowa on the road. The Buckeyes lost all three games.
Entering Tuesday’s game, Ohio State had been outscored by 74 points in the second half of Big Ten games. That means through 11 games, the Buckeyes have (on average) been outscored by their opponents by 6.7 points in the second half of games this season. The only team that’s been worse is Michigan, which has been outscored by a whopping 113 points in the second half of games this year.
It’s not just losing games where you lead at halftime, either — regardless of this team’s status at halftime, they pretty consistently play much worse after coming out of the locker room.
Ohio State trailed by 11 at halftime against Northwestern — a steep hill to climb certainly, but that’s a deficit that teams overcome all the time and find a way to win. The Buckeyes proceeded to get out-classed, out-shot, and out-coached in the second half, and wound up losing by 25 in one of the most embarrassing performances from this team in the last decade.
Ohio State had a 13-point halftime lead over Rutgers on January 3rd after playing one of its most complete first halves of basketball all season. The Buckeyes shot 53% in the first half, knocked down NINE three-pointers, and assisted on 13 of its 17 made baskets. They followed that up by getting out-worked and out-hustled in the second half by Rutgers, allowing the Scarlet Knights to score 11 second-chance points on a whopping 10 offensive rebounds. Rutgers never caught up, but Ohio State’s 17-point lead was trimmed to just a single point in the second half. Ohio State would go on to win, 76-72.
As you can see, second halves are not this particular team’s forte, and it’s not only when they have a big lead. This isn’t a team that “blows second-half leads.” This is a team that is consistently outplayed in the second half of games, regardless of if they’re up, down, or tied at halftime.
The players themselves are certainly at fault for that — they’re the ones who have to continue to hit shots in the second half. They’re the ones who have to mentally keep up a wall in the second half, and not play differently just because they’re up 17 or 18 points. Far too often this season, Ohio State has sagged off of shooters or failed to switch quickly enough, resulting in open second-half looks for their opponents.
Mentally, they’re not valuing those possessions as much as they did in the first half, because they’re up 18. But when you string together several of those half-ass possessions, that 18-point lead quickly shrivels into a six-point lead, and then you look up and realize there’s still six minutes to go in the game. Gulp.
That’s also on the coaches, because at the end of the day, everything falls on the shoulders of the coaching staff, right? If the team doesn’t have the same fiery mentality in the second half of games that it does in the first half, that’s on the coaches for not motivating their players. That’s on the coaches for not making sure that their guys are playing with a sense of urgency, even when things are going well and they have a lead.
Chris Holtmann has said repeatedly that Ohio State needs to be able to “rely on its defense to close out games” which is true, but for the first two-thirds of the season, this team has been unable to do that. In losses to Penn State, Indiana, Michigan, and Iowa, Ohio State found itself in one or two-possession games with five minutes (or less) remaining. That’s exactly where you want to be — just a few stops away from winning the game. In each of those four games, the Buckeyes weren’t able to get the stops it needed and lost all four.
I don’t think this team’s conditioning is the issue — they don’t look any more tired than you’d expect any other college basketball team to look playing three games per week in February. I think this team’s second-half struggles are tied to two things:
A) Poorly coached on the defensive side of the ball
B) Failure to adjust to the other team’s adjustments in the second half of games
The numbers back it up. This is a bad second-half basketball team, and there’s enough meat on the bone now to recognize that’s part of the identity of the 2023-2024 Ohio State men’s basketball team. It’s going to continue to haunt them down the stretch, and will likely be a big reason we see massive changes with the program come April.
Continue reading...
Connor Lemons via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
The Buckeyes have once again stumbled to the bottom of the Big Ten, in part because of their failure to adjust in the second half of games.
To put it frankly: this basketball season has been an abject disaster for Chris Holtmann and the Ohio State Buckeyes. After winning two of its first three Big Ten games of the year, Ohio State has won just one of its last eight, currently sitting in 13th place in the conference with a record of 3-8.
While mathematically the Buckeyes still have enough games remaining to get to 20 or more wins and compete for an NCAA Tournament bid, most anyone who has watched this team this year knows those odds are slim to none. Ohio State is currently ranked 120th in the nation in defensive efficiency, allowing 99.3 points per 100 possessions. The Buckeyes are also allowing their opponents to shoot 35.8% from three-point range, which is the second-worst mark in the Big Ten.
To put it in perspective, two of Ohio State’s three most efficient offensive showings in Big Ten play have been its last two games, against Illinois and Iowa. You would think that would amount to wins, but alas, the Buckeyes had two of their worst defensive outings of the season in those games as well, resulting in losses in both games. This team just isn’t capable of getting defensive stops when it needs them the worst, making it hard to win even on nights when the offense is clicking at a high level.
Another major issue for this team that has reared its head on more than one occasion this year? Second-half stumbles. Ohio State held a 12-point halftime lead against Penn State on the road, a one-point lead over Indiana on the road, and a two-point halftime lead over Iowa on the road. The Buckeyes lost all three games.
Entering Tuesday’s game, Ohio State had been outscored by 74 points in the second half of Big Ten games. That means through 11 games, the Buckeyes have (on average) been outscored by their opponents by 6.7 points in the second half of games this season. The only team that’s been worse is Michigan, which has been outscored by a whopping 113 points in the second half of games this year.
It’s not just losing games where you lead at halftime, either — regardless of this team’s status at halftime, they pretty consistently play much worse after coming out of the locker room.
Ohio State trailed by 11 at halftime against Northwestern — a steep hill to climb certainly, but that’s a deficit that teams overcome all the time and find a way to win. The Buckeyes proceeded to get out-classed, out-shot, and out-coached in the second half, and wound up losing by 25 in one of the most embarrassing performances from this team in the last decade.
Ohio State had a 13-point halftime lead over Rutgers on January 3rd after playing one of its most complete first halves of basketball all season. The Buckeyes shot 53% in the first half, knocked down NINE three-pointers, and assisted on 13 of its 17 made baskets. They followed that up by getting out-worked and out-hustled in the second half by Rutgers, allowing the Scarlet Knights to score 11 second-chance points on a whopping 10 offensive rebounds. Rutgers never caught up, but Ohio State’s 17-point lead was trimmed to just a single point in the second half. Ohio State would go on to win, 76-72.
As you can see, second halves are not this particular team’s forte, and it’s not only when they have a big lead. This isn’t a team that “blows second-half leads.” This is a team that is consistently outplayed in the second half of games, regardless of if they’re up, down, or tied at halftime.
The players themselves are certainly at fault for that — they’re the ones who have to continue to hit shots in the second half. They’re the ones who have to mentally keep up a wall in the second half, and not play differently just because they’re up 17 or 18 points. Far too often this season, Ohio State has sagged off of shooters or failed to switch quickly enough, resulting in open second-half looks for their opponents.
Mentally, they’re not valuing those possessions as much as they did in the first half, because they’re up 18. But when you string together several of those half-ass possessions, that 18-point lead quickly shrivels into a six-point lead, and then you look up and realize there’s still six minutes to go in the game. Gulp.
That’s also on the coaches, because at the end of the day, everything falls on the shoulders of the coaching staff, right? If the team doesn’t have the same fiery mentality in the second half of games that it does in the first half, that’s on the coaches for not motivating their players. That’s on the coaches for not making sure that their guys are playing with a sense of urgency, even when things are going well and they have a lead.
Chris Holtmann has said repeatedly that Ohio State needs to be able to “rely on its defense to close out games” which is true, but for the first two-thirds of the season, this team has been unable to do that. In losses to Penn State, Indiana, Michigan, and Iowa, Ohio State found itself in one or two-possession games with five minutes (or less) remaining. That’s exactly where you want to be — just a few stops away from winning the game. In each of those four games, the Buckeyes weren’t able to get the stops it needed and lost all four.
I don’t think this team’s conditioning is the issue — they don’t look any more tired than you’d expect any other college basketball team to look playing three games per week in February. I think this team’s second-half struggles are tied to two things:
A) Poorly coached on the defensive side of the ball
B) Failure to adjust to the other team’s adjustments in the second half of games
The numbers back it up. This is a bad second-half basketball team, and there’s enough meat on the bone now to recognize that’s part of the identity of the 2023-2024 Ohio State men’s basketball team. It’s going to continue to haunt them down the stretch, and will likely be a big reason we see massive changes with the program come April.
Continue reading...
LGHL Ohio State men’s and women’s tennis are both dominating right now
- News
- 0 Replies
Ohio State men’s and women’s tennis are both dominating right now
Megan.Husslein via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
@OhioStateMTEN Twitter
The men are undefeated, while the women have only suffered one loss.
Perhaps no program for the Buckeyes is currently faring better than tennis. Both the men and the women are killing it right now, as the men are ranked No. 1 in the country and the women are No. 12.
Let’s take a bit of a deeper look of how they are getting it done on the court.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25268670/Screen_Shot_2024_02_05_at_3.20.44_PM.png)
@OhioStateMTEN
The men have been unbeatable thus far — literally. They had a nice 4-0 start to the season before ITA Kickoff Weekend Jan. 27-28. The Bucks won both of their matches, which means they advanced to the ITA Indoor Team National Championship this month in New York. This is the 15th time the Buckeyes have advanced to the final site, having previously won the national title in 2014 and 2019.
They also had two HUGE wins this past weekend. First, Ohio State took down No. 3 Virginia in a rematch of last year’s national championship, a 7-0 SWEEP on Friday. They also set a new attendance record of 769, as the line to get into the Ty Tucker Tennis Center spawned an hour before the match started!
But, their tough weekend didn’t end Friday, as they had to play against No. 13 Wake Forest on Sunday. The Bucks were standing on business though, and took home a 6-1 victory. The win was the 55th-consecutive home victory for the Buckeyes, and it’s also the seventh-consecutive win over Wake Forest since falling in the 2018 NCAA Championship match.
The men now get a well-earned week of rest before facing No. 2 South Carolina Sunday at noon. If you live in Columbus, I highly recommend going before the Super Bowl — plus, admission is free!
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25268718/Screen_Shot_2024_02_05_at_3.31.46_PM.png)
@OhioStateWTEN
The women opened the season as the No. 14 team in the nation, and upset No. 13 Oklahoma in their first match of the year. After that, they fell to No. 5 Oklahoma State, but they have not lost a match since.
As for their ITA Kickoff Weekend, they defeated both Notre Dame and Arizona State to advance to the Indoor Championship as well. However, the women’s championships are held in Seattle, while the men’s is in New York. The women will be playing this weekend.
The player to watch on this team is Irina Cantos Siemers. She is a graduate student and the captain of the Buckeyes, recently being named Big Ten Athlete of the Week. She now has 113 total singles wins, the most in program history.
The women’s team also had a big weekend, as they took down two top-20 opponents. First off, they defeated No. 17 Duke on Friday with a 4-0 sweep. Then, on Sunday, they swept No. 13 UCLA with another 4-0 victory. The win was No. 225 of head coach Melissa Schaub’s coaching career, making her the program’s all-time wins leader.
Tennis has quickly become a more popular sport, both professionally and collegiately. Ohio State has two of the best teams in the country, so I highly recommend you follow along and support them both!
Continue reading...
Megan.Husslein via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
@OhioStateMTEN Twitter
The men are undefeated, while the women have only suffered one loss.
Perhaps no program for the Buckeyes is currently faring better than tennis. Both the men and the women are killing it right now, as the men are ranked No. 1 in the country and the women are No. 12.
Let’s take a bit of a deeper look of how they are getting it done on the court.
Men’s Tennis
The men have been unbeatable thus far — literally. They had a nice 4-0 start to the season before ITA Kickoff Weekend Jan. 27-28. The Bucks won both of their matches, which means they advanced to the ITA Indoor Team National Championship this month in New York. This is the 15th time the Buckeyes have advanced to the final site, having previously won the national title in 2014 and 2019.
They also had two HUGE wins this past weekend. First, Ohio State took down No. 3 Virginia in a rematch of last year’s national championship, a 7-0 SWEEP on Friday. They also set a new attendance record of 769, as the line to get into the Ty Tucker Tennis Center spawned an hour before the match started!
But, their tough weekend didn’t end Friday, as they had to play against No. 13 Wake Forest on Sunday. The Bucks were standing on business though, and took home a 6-1 victory. The win was the 55th-consecutive home victory for the Buckeyes, and it’s also the seventh-consecutive win over Wake Forest since falling in the 2018 NCAA Championship match.
The men now get a well-earned week of rest before facing No. 2 South Carolina Sunday at noon. If you live in Columbus, I highly recommend going before the Super Bowl — plus, admission is free!
Women’s Tennis
The women opened the season as the No. 14 team in the nation, and upset No. 13 Oklahoma in their first match of the year. After that, they fell to No. 5 Oklahoma State, but they have not lost a match since.
As for their ITA Kickoff Weekend, they defeated both Notre Dame and Arizona State to advance to the Indoor Championship as well. However, the women’s championships are held in Seattle, while the men’s is in New York. The women will be playing this weekend.
The player to watch on this team is Irina Cantos Siemers. She is a graduate student and the captain of the Buckeyes, recently being named Big Ten Athlete of the Week. She now has 113 total singles wins, the most in program history.
The women’s team also had a big weekend, as they took down two top-20 opponents. First off, they defeated No. 17 Duke on Friday with a 4-0 sweep. Then, on Sunday, they swept No. 13 UCLA with another 4-0 victory. The win was No. 225 of head coach Melissa Schaub’s coaching career, making her the program’s all-time wins leader.
Tennis has quickly become a more popular sport, both professionally and collegiately. Ohio State has two of the best teams in the country, so I highly recommend you follow along and support them both!
Continue reading...
LGHL I-80 Football Show: Chiefs over Niners in the Super Bowl!
- News
- 0 Replies
I-80 Football Show: Chiefs over Niners in the Super Bowl!
JordanW330 via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Perry Knotts/Getty Images
In this episode, we discuss NFL and collegiate coaching hires plus Super Bowl predictions.
Welcome to a new episode of Fans First Football Network’s I-80 Football Show. On this show, we travel down I-80 to talk all things Big Ten Football, covering all 18 teams. After every week of action, we will catch you up on all the conference’s games and look ahead at the matchups, storylines, and players you should be paying attention to for the next week. My name is Jordan Williams, and I am joined by my co-host Dante Morgan.
There has been a lot of news, specifically in the NFL, since we last recorded. In the Big Ten, Jim Harbaugh was announced as the head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers, taking Jesse Minter and Ben Herbert with him. The NFL coaching cycle finished without Bill Belichick landing a job, resulting in his son Steve being offered the defensive coordinator position at the Washington Huskies.
The guys also discuss Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore’s hiring philosophy. Jordan is skeptical that Moore will be able to maintain Michigan’s recent success. We’ve already seen Ryan Day struggle with only promoting internally, and Moore is following that path with his recent picks for most of the positions on his offensive staff.
The Chiefs face the 49ers in the Super Bowl! We’re both on the Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes winning back-to-back Super Bowls. Can Kyle Shanahan overcome his struggles in big games and finally win a Lombardi Trophy?
Follow the show on YouTube: @JordanW330
Follow the podcast on Instagram: @I80FootballShow
Connect with us on Twitter: Jordan: @JordanW330 and Dante: @DanteM10216
Continue reading...
JordanW330 via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Perry Knotts/Getty Images
In this episode, we discuss NFL and collegiate coaching hires plus Super Bowl predictions.
Welcome to a new episode of Fans First Football Network’s I-80 Football Show. On this show, we travel down I-80 to talk all things Big Ten Football, covering all 18 teams. After every week of action, we will catch you up on all the conference’s games and look ahead at the matchups, storylines, and players you should be paying attention to for the next week. My name is Jordan Williams, and I am joined by my co-host Dante Morgan.
There has been a lot of news, specifically in the NFL, since we last recorded. In the Big Ten, Jim Harbaugh was announced as the head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers, taking Jesse Minter and Ben Herbert with him. The NFL coaching cycle finished without Bill Belichick landing a job, resulting in his son Steve being offered the defensive coordinator position at the Washington Huskies.
The guys also discuss Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore’s hiring philosophy. Jordan is skeptical that Moore will be able to maintain Michigan’s recent success. We’ve already seen Ryan Day struggle with only promoting internally, and Moore is following that path with his recent picks for most of the positions on his offensive staff.
The Chiefs face the 49ers in the Super Bowl! We’re both on the Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes winning back-to-back Super Bowls. Can Kyle Shanahan overcome his struggles in big games and finally win a Lombardi Trophy?
Follow the show on YouTube: @JordanW330
Follow the podcast on Instagram: @I80FootballShow
Connect with us on Twitter: Jordan: @JordanW330 and Dante: @DanteM10216
Continue reading...
DE Zion Grady (Official Thread)
- By pnuts34
- Buckeye Football
- 86 Replies
247
Rivals
Twitter
HudL
Class: 2025
Position: DE
School: Enterprise(AL) Enterprise
Height: 6-foot-4
Weight: 225lbs
Login to view embedded media
Rivals
HudL
Class: 2025
Position: DE
School: Enterprise(AL) Enterprise
Height: 6-foot-4
Weight: 225lbs
Login to view embedded media
Indiana at Ohio State, Tuesday, February 6, 2024, 7 PM ET, Peacock
- By ScriptOhio
- Buckeye Basketball
- 82 Replies
Buckeyes and Hoosier Meet for 200th Time on Tuesday
Ohio State vs. IndianaDate: February 6, 2024
Time: 7 p.m.
Venue: Value City Arena – Columbus, Ohio
Watch: Peacock
Ohio State is back home to host a pair of home games this week, starting with a Tuesday evening matchup against Indiana. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. and the game will be streamed exclusively on Peacock. Jac Collinsworth and Robbie Hummel will call the action.
- This will be the 200th all-time meeting between Ohio State and Indiana. Officially, the Hoosiers lead the series 109-84 after taking into account vacated games.
- The teams met exactly one month ago, on Jan. 6 in Bloomington, and the Hoosiers came away with a 71-65 victory. Indiana built a 10-point lead with less than four minutes to play. A three-pointer by Jamison Battle and four points from Felix Okpara helped cut the deficit to just two at 67-65 with 1:44 left. But Indiana made enough plays down the stretch to hold on. Battle led the Buckeyes with 17 points on 5-of-10 from long range.
- Ohio State battled Iowa in a back-and-forth game but fell on the road 79-77 last Friday night. Battle led four Buckeyes in double figures with 17 points on 3-of-5 from long range. Big man Felix Okpara tied a career-high with 14 points to go along with a game-high eight rebounds and two blocks. Bruce Thornton also had 14 points and five assists.
- Thornton leads the country in assist-to-turnover ratio, dishing out 97 assists and committing just 21 turnovers. He has had at least two assists in every game and has had 18 assists and three turnovers over the last four games.
- Okpara is one of two players in the country (with at least 15 games) to have one or more blocked shots in every game they have played. He is third in the Big Ten and 11th in the country with 52 blocked shots this season.
- Freshman Devin Royal has come off the bench and provided a start over the past month. He has scored 35 points in roughly 52 minutes of action since Jan. 15 on 14-of-23 (.609) shooting. Royal is coming off of playing a season-high 17:21 at Iowa and finished with nine points and three rebounds.
- Battle’s shooting 45 percent from long range, which is sixth-best in the country and tops in the Big Ten. The 6-7 forward is also the only Big Ten player on the Julius Erving Award late season watch list.
- Indiana enters the game having lost four of its last five games, including an 85-71 loss at home to Penn State on Saturday. The Hoosiers are led in scoring by Malik Reneau at 16.0 ppg. Big man Kel’el Ware, who had a solid game against the Buckeyes in Bloomington, is averaging 15.3 points and a team-best 9.5 rebounds per game.
High School Bowl Games
- By ScriptOhio
- Football Recruiting
- 2 Replies
The Hurry-Up: 2025 DL Trajen Odom Says Ohio State is “Easily In The Top Three” and Four-star 2025 Linebacker Tarvos Alford Will Announce His Commitment on March 30
North Carolina 2025 defensive lineman Trajen Odom says Ohio State is “easily in the top three” for him and four-star linebacker Tarvos Alford will commit on March 30.
ALL-AMERICAN BOWL NOW ALLOWING JUNIORS TO PARTICIPATE
The yearly All-American Bowl traditionally reserved for the top high school seniors in the nation to showcase their talents is making a significant change starting with next year’s game.Per the All-American Bowl, high school juniors will now be allowed to participate in the event in addition to the seniors selected for the game. The change was implemented in hopes that more juniors would announce their commitments during the live broadcast on NBC and to mitigate opt-outs of the bowl from seniors who enroll in their college of choice in December.
Login to view embedded media