-
Follow us on Twitter @buckeyeplanet and @bp_recruiting, like us on Facebook! Enjoy a post or article, recommend it to others! BP is only as strong as its community, and we only promote by word of mouth, so share away!
LGHL No. 13 Ohio State falls to No. 2 Indiana 83-59
- News
- 0 Replies
No. 13 Ohio State falls to No. 2 Indiana 83-59
1ThomasCostello via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Ben Cole - Land-Grant Holy Land
A tough night for the Buckeyes, losing to the Hoosiers for the second time in under four weeks
The Ohio State women’s basketball team only has four games left in the 2022-23 regular season. In that time, the Buckeyes hope to stay in the top four of the Big Ten. Their fourth place position in the conference is a stark contrast to leading the conference until the week of Jan. 23 when the began a stretch of four losses in five games.
Monday provided the toughest matchup between now and the start of the Big Ten women’s basketball tournament on March 1, a visit by the No. 2 Indiana Hoosiers. Unfortunately for the Buckeyes, it was a repeat story to their Jan. 26 trip to Indiana and then some, losing to the Hoosiers 83-59.
Ohio State started the game going toe-to-toe with Indiana. On the Hoosiers first few possessions of the game, forward Mackenzie Holmes was mostly neutralized, with forward Eboni Walker, who started for injured Rebeka Mikulášiková, not giving the Indiana star much room to move.
On the offensive end though, the Buckeyes couldn’t capitalize. Walker missed two early layups, showing obvious frustration at the misses, appearing to force her shots. Ohio State and Indiana were locked up at six points apiece, but then Indiana looked like Indiana.
The rest of the first quarter featured an 18-6 run for the Crimson and the second quarter didn’t go any better for the Buckeyes. Indiana went on a 17-2 run to start the quarter and leading the way was substitute guard Sara Scalia.
Scalia joined the Hoosiers via the transfer portal from fellow Big Ten side the Minnesota Golden Gophers. The guard had nine of those 17 points to start the second quarter and hitting 17 total points in the first half on 5-for-6 shooting from beyond the arc.
After those first few minutes of effective defense, Holmes turned back into Holmes. The forward led all players with 18 points in the first half, hitting from not only in the paint but from midrange.
Indiana went up 27 points in the second quarter, but the Buckeyes weren’t giving up the fight. It began with a three-point shot by guard Taylor Mikesell.
It was the guard’s lone three of the half, but it began a seven-point run, only their second time in the game to that point with back-to-back baskets. The reason Mikesell was ineffective from deep was the game plan of the Hoosiers. Like other teams late into the Big Ten schedule, Mikesell wasn’t given any room to shoot, courtesy of guard Chloe Moore-McNeil.
Mikesell had five points on 2-for-7 shooting in the first half, but making up the Buckeyes’ scoring was forward Cotie McMahon. The freshman scored 12 points in the first half and in the second quarter had half of them, all on long runs down the court.
It started with McMahon intercepting a pass to Holmes and running the length of the court on a layup. She made similar runs on the next two offensive possessions, but the Buckeyes’ defense couldn’t stop Indiana on the other end of the basket, allowing the visitors to shoot 74.2% for the first two quarters.
After cutting their 27-point deficit down to 20, the Hoosiers pushed it back out to 25 points going into the halftime locker room.
Inside the Schottenstein Center, it was muggy. The higher than normal February temperatures meant a toastier inside to the arena in the first half. The second half it cooled down with the air starting to work and the Buckeyes’ shooting followed suit.
Ohio State went 64.3% in the third quarter, led by a pair of 10-point scorers in McMahon and Mikesell. The two led a Buckeyes quarter where they outscored the Hoosiers 24-14. A part of that was better perimeter defense.
After Indiana shot 63.6% from deep in the first half, they shot only 28.6% in the third quarter. That allowed the Buckeyes to trim the lead down to 10 points with 2:11 remaining in the third quarter.
However, the Hoosiers weren’t held back for too long. Indiana hit their only two three-point shots in the quarter in the final two minutes. Scalia added her sixth of the game and Berger hit her first. Ohio State let the lead go back up by five, but still trimmed 10-points off their halftime deficit, going into the final quarter down 15 points.
The Buckeyes needed a strong start to the fourth quarter to have a fighting chance, but it began in the Crimson’s favor. Indiana scored the first two baskets of the quarter, pushing coach Kevin McGuff to take an early quarter timeout.
Out of the timeout, Walker scored her 10th point of the night and Taylor Thierry followed it up with a layup of her own in a quieter than usual night for the sophomore.
While the Buckeyes showed fight, it was two quarters too early. Ohio State ultimately falls to the top team in the conference, losing to Indiana 83-59.
Before Monday’s game, the questions surrounding guard Jacy Sheldon and Mikulášiková were a main point of concern for the Buckeyes and it was a worst case scenario for Ohio State. Neither of the usual Scarlet & Gray starters made it onto the court against the Hoosiers.
Sheldon’s absence was especially frustrating for fans after getting a glimpse of her return against the No. 8 Maryland Terrapins. Without either of the players, the Buckeyes’ smaller lineup had trouble all night matching up against Holmes in the paint.
Also, the first half didn’t have the same intensity in the press that a healthy Sheldon would give and without Mikulášiková, it was more difficult to pull people out of the paint to give other players to work.
Coach McGuff references having Sheldon ready for the stretch run, but with now a minimum of only five games left, including postseason, the question is: When does that stretch run begin?
What’s Next
Following Monday’s game, the Scarlet & Gray play their final unranked opponent of the conference season on Thursday. Thats’ when the Buckeyes travel to Happy Valley for a matchup against the Penn State Nittany Lions.
Following Thursday’s game, Ohio State goes back to the ranked grind, starting the final week of the season in Michigan against the No. 12 Michigan Wolverines before welcoming the No. 8 Maryland Terrapins in the final game of the season. It’s the Buckeyes’ last chance to solidify a top-four spot on Feb. 24.
Continue reading...
1ThomasCostello via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Ben Cole - Land-Grant Holy Land
A tough night for the Buckeyes, losing to the Hoosiers for the second time in under four weeks
The Ohio State women’s basketball team only has four games left in the 2022-23 regular season. In that time, the Buckeyes hope to stay in the top four of the Big Ten. Their fourth place position in the conference is a stark contrast to leading the conference until the week of Jan. 23 when the began a stretch of four losses in five games.
Monday provided the toughest matchup between now and the start of the Big Ten women’s basketball tournament on March 1, a visit by the No. 2 Indiana Hoosiers. Unfortunately for the Buckeyes, it was a repeat story to their Jan. 26 trip to Indiana and then some, losing to the Hoosiers 83-59.
Ohio State started the game going toe-to-toe with Indiana. On the Hoosiers first few possessions of the game, forward Mackenzie Holmes was mostly neutralized, with forward Eboni Walker, who started for injured Rebeka Mikulášiková, not giving the Indiana star much room to move.
On the offensive end though, the Buckeyes couldn’t capitalize. Walker missed two early layups, showing obvious frustration at the misses, appearing to force her shots. Ohio State and Indiana were locked up at six points apiece, but then Indiana looked like Indiana.
The rest of the first quarter featured an 18-6 run for the Crimson and the second quarter didn’t go any better for the Buckeyes. Indiana went on a 17-2 run to start the quarter and leading the way was substitute guard Sara Scalia.
Scalia joined the Hoosiers via the transfer portal from fellow Big Ten side the Minnesota Golden Gophers. The guard had nine of those 17 points to start the second quarter and hitting 17 total points in the first half on 5-for-6 shooting from beyond the arc.
After those first few minutes of effective defense, Holmes turned back into Holmes. The forward led all players with 18 points in the first half, hitting from not only in the paint but from midrange.
Indiana went up 27 points in the second quarter, but the Buckeyes weren’t giving up the fight. It began with a three-point shot by guard Taylor Mikesell.
It was the guard’s lone three of the half, but it began a seven-point run, only their second time in the game to that point with back-to-back baskets. The reason Mikesell was ineffective from deep was the game plan of the Hoosiers. Like other teams late into the Big Ten schedule, Mikesell wasn’t given any room to shoot, courtesy of guard Chloe Moore-McNeil.
Mikesell had five points on 2-for-7 shooting in the first half, but making up the Buckeyes’ scoring was forward Cotie McMahon. The freshman scored 12 points in the first half and in the second quarter had half of them, all on long runs down the court.
It started with McMahon intercepting a pass to Holmes and running the length of the court on a layup. She made similar runs on the next two offensive possessions, but the Buckeyes’ defense couldn’t stop Indiana on the other end of the basket, allowing the visitors to shoot 74.2% for the first two quarters.
After cutting their 27-point deficit down to 20, the Hoosiers pushed it back out to 25 points going into the halftime locker room.
Inside the Schottenstein Center, it was muggy. The higher than normal February temperatures meant a toastier inside to the arena in the first half. The second half it cooled down with the air starting to work and the Buckeyes’ shooting followed suit.
Ohio State went 64.3% in the third quarter, led by a pair of 10-point scorers in McMahon and Mikesell. The two led a Buckeyes quarter where they outscored the Hoosiers 24-14. A part of that was better perimeter defense.
After Indiana shot 63.6% from deep in the first half, they shot only 28.6% in the third quarter. That allowed the Buckeyes to trim the lead down to 10 points with 2:11 remaining in the third quarter.
However, the Hoosiers weren’t held back for too long. Indiana hit their only two three-point shots in the quarter in the final two minutes. Scalia added her sixth of the game and Berger hit her first. Ohio State let the lead go back up by five, but still trimmed 10-points off their halftime deficit, going into the final quarter down 15 points.
The Buckeyes needed a strong start to the fourth quarter to have a fighting chance, but it began in the Crimson’s favor. Indiana scored the first two baskets of the quarter, pushing coach Kevin McGuff to take an early quarter timeout.
Out of the timeout, Walker scored her 10th point of the night and Taylor Thierry followed it up with a layup of her own in a quieter than usual night for the sophomore.
While the Buckeyes showed fight, it was two quarters too early. Ohio State ultimately falls to the top team in the conference, losing to Indiana 83-59.
Injuries Stack Up
Before Monday’s game, the questions surrounding guard Jacy Sheldon and Mikulášiková were a main point of concern for the Buckeyes and it was a worst case scenario for Ohio State. Neither of the usual Scarlet & Gray starters made it onto the court against the Hoosiers.
Sheldon’s absence was especially frustrating for fans after getting a glimpse of her return against the No. 8 Maryland Terrapins. Without either of the players, the Buckeyes’ smaller lineup had trouble all night matching up against Holmes in the paint.
Also, the first half didn’t have the same intensity in the press that a healthy Sheldon would give and without Mikulášiková, it was more difficult to pull people out of the paint to give other players to work.
Coach McGuff references having Sheldon ready for the stretch run, but with now a minimum of only five games left, including postseason, the question is: When does that stretch run begin?
What’s Next
Following Monday’s game, the Scarlet & Gray play their final unranked opponent of the conference season on Thursday. Thats’ when the Buckeyes travel to Happy Valley for a matchup against the Penn State Nittany Lions.
Following Thursday’s game, Ohio State goes back to the ranked grind, starting the final week of the season in Michigan against the No. 12 Michigan Wolverines before welcoming the No. 8 Maryland Terrapins in the final game of the season. It’s the Buckeyes’ last chance to solidify a top-four spot on Feb. 24.
Continue reading...
LGHL Football season is over, what do we do now?
- News
- 0 Replies
Football season is over, what do we do now?
Chris Renne via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Alex Gould/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK
If you’re like me, the offseason adjustment doesn’t naturally occur. Bare with me as I try to walk us through some ways we can pass the time until the ball is kicked off again.
The Kansas City Chiefs won Super Bowl LVII 38-35 over the Philadelphia Eagles, signaling the end of the football season. For non-NFL fans, this has been the case for a month now, but for those of us that follow the two leagues to the end of the line, the journey of 2022-23 football season is over.
The dedicated life of a fan never stops. The football offseason is a journey as long as the season itself. There will be time for all the message board posting, recruiting news, and debates about realignment among many other topics that fill our beloved sport of football’s time off. But even with all of that fun stuff, there is still so much more time on your hands — time that you need to fill until Ohio State or your other favorite team kicks off again to start the year.
Once the Lombardi Trophy is handed over to the winning team, a question looms in many of our minds: what now? That question is not easy to answer, but this is not only the offseason for players. Fans need time to recoup as well. Not to say what us fans do is anything near the players, but the emotional ride has a level of demand to it.
To recover best, maximizing your time in the offseason starts with your other hobbies, then devolves into our helpless habits of fanaticism. Today, we get into the best ways to maximize your time away from the game.
Catch up on all those shows you missed
This is an easy one. Fall is not just time for college football apparently. New shows come out in the fall, and with all the streaming services dropping new content at any given time, we’re bound to miss something. Starting here is the easiest way to get a fresh reset. There is a ton of non-football stuff out there I’ve been told. What time is better than now to find that stuff?
Sylvester Stallone is in a show based in Tulsa, and apparently he is King. If that doesn’t get you excited for the potential this offseason brings, the show with Kevin Costner has a few spin-offs that can eat away the time until football. Without too many recommendations, there is a lot out there that can widen the horizon. Rather than talking about that five star recruit at dinner with your significant other or friends, you can discuss these shows.
There’s also not just TV shows, movies still exist and the new Avatar was pretty cool. James Cameron can probably fill at least a month of your time, but there are also movies like Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile, and if your offseason is filled with that, then maybe just get on recruiting message boards.
Try that new hobby you have been putting off
Moving on, I know with the TikToks and social media, people see a bunch of stuff they might want to try. Throw that might word out of the vocabulary and take some new hobbies by the horns.
There are some cool people who read this site that have incredible skills and hobbies. If you’re like me and do not, there is a lot of potential out there. Hobbies come and go in our life. With limited time on our hands, we have to pick and choose meaning some of our favorite activities fall by the wayside. Without football taking up seven days out of the week, there is time to reignite those passions.
The list is long here, starting with woodworking. Could you imagine being able to say you built a bird house or something? That feels like a pretty productive offseason to me. You could even build it with Ohio State in mind with the paint scheme. After you start with the bird house, your skills will develop, and eventually you’ll be on a wooden canoe you made yourself.
Some less labor intensive hobbies include painting and video games. You could even enjoy the performing arts with your local theatre. If those don’t fill the time well enough, there is a wide variety of potential hobbies out there that could be fun.
Turn your attention to the next sport
This is the safest area. With the NBA in full swing, the transition tends to be pretty seamless for us. If you’re an unfortunate sole who is a fan of one of the six teams that aren’t in the NBA playoffs this is a tough place to be.
Major League Baseball is still a couple of months away from starting, and outside of people who root for teams that are drafting in the top-10, this might not be the best option.
In that case, you might as well stay committed to the mission of following the Buckeyes. We will get to the two ways to do that next, but before we do there are a lot of angles to follow additional sports.
ESPN+ has Cricket — can I say without shame that I now know what wicket is? No, but I have watched more than I thought. There is a level of learning to new sports, but with so many options, I’m sure you can find something.
Sports betting is also legal, and throwing a few bones on a game will always increase the viewer experience. It will never replace the rush of Ohio State football, but in a responsible manner and with our betting partner DraftKings, why not throw down an offseason wager or two?
Follow any of Ohio State’s Spring Sports with the same vigor
There will be no mention about Ohio State’s men’s basketball team due to the unfortunate state of their season. Even without the natural Buckeye transition, the Ohio State athletic program has some highly ranked, competitive sports. This might be the easiest way to transfer your football energy, as there is already a bias heading into the following.
The Buckeyes are ranked fourth in men’s wrestling, 13th in women’s basketball, seventh in men’s hockey, and first in men’s tennis. That gives plenty of options to pivot your attention to during the football offseason — and you don’t have to buy new gear. These teams may end up breaking your heart, but the journey is always the friends you make along the way. The best part is you won’t have to go anywhere else to get coverage of these teams.
Getting into other Buckeye teams has never been easier with the Big Ten Network, and if these programs keep winning, there is no reason you can’t have a lot of fun.
Become a message board genius
At the end of the day we’re all here because there is no way out. This is our life. Thursday will get here and the attention will shift immediately to recruiting. With the additions of NIL, transfers, and realignment still center stage, there is never a shortage of conversation to be had. That is where message boards and platforms like Twitter become the outlet to unleash our fandom on the world.
You may carve some wood sculptures or catch up on all your shows, but you and I both know that is not how it ends. The rumors of a five-star recruit taking a spring visit will eat at your mind until you get an update. A Notre Dame fan will spew nonsensical praise about Marcus Freeman, and you’ll have to remind them what happened last season. This is the way of life we have chosen, and even with an effort to step away, the game will always bring you back.
There will always be another recruit, another fan base, and another debate to be had. While you try to expand your horizons, we all end up back to making a depth chart projection ahead of Spring Practice, We will have our conspiracies to discuss and that is what makes this sport so great. The grind never stops, and that is the life of the fan. As long as there is an Ohio State football, we will never go a day with out it.
With the football offseason officially here, we begin the long road back to watching Ohio State on Saturday’s in the Shoe – or any football at all. That realization sucks, but there are things to do to fill the void.
If you’re like me, you’ll probably just skip to message board genius and grind away until the Buckeyes play again.
Continue reading...
Chris Renne via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Alex Gould/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK
If you’re like me, the offseason adjustment doesn’t naturally occur. Bare with me as I try to walk us through some ways we can pass the time until the ball is kicked off again.
The Kansas City Chiefs won Super Bowl LVII 38-35 over the Philadelphia Eagles, signaling the end of the football season. For non-NFL fans, this has been the case for a month now, but for those of us that follow the two leagues to the end of the line, the journey of 2022-23 football season is over.
The dedicated life of a fan never stops. The football offseason is a journey as long as the season itself. There will be time for all the message board posting, recruiting news, and debates about realignment among many other topics that fill our beloved sport of football’s time off. But even with all of that fun stuff, there is still so much more time on your hands — time that you need to fill until Ohio State or your other favorite team kicks off again to start the year.
Once the Lombardi Trophy is handed over to the winning team, a question looms in many of our minds: what now? That question is not easy to answer, but this is not only the offseason for players. Fans need time to recoup as well. Not to say what us fans do is anything near the players, but the emotional ride has a level of demand to it.
To recover best, maximizing your time in the offseason starts with your other hobbies, then devolves into our helpless habits of fanaticism. Today, we get into the best ways to maximize your time away from the game.
Catch up on all those shows you missed
This is an easy one. Fall is not just time for college football apparently. New shows come out in the fall, and with all the streaming services dropping new content at any given time, we’re bound to miss something. Starting here is the easiest way to get a fresh reset. There is a ton of non-football stuff out there I’ve been told. What time is better than now to find that stuff?
Sylvester Stallone is in a show based in Tulsa, and apparently he is King. If that doesn’t get you excited for the potential this offseason brings, the show with Kevin Costner has a few spin-offs that can eat away the time until football. Without too many recommendations, there is a lot out there that can widen the horizon. Rather than talking about that five star recruit at dinner with your significant other or friends, you can discuss these shows.
There’s also not just TV shows, movies still exist and the new Avatar was pretty cool. James Cameron can probably fill at least a month of your time, but there are also movies like Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile, and if your offseason is filled with that, then maybe just get on recruiting message boards.
Try that new hobby you have been putting off
Moving on, I know with the TikToks and social media, people see a bunch of stuff they might want to try. Throw that might word out of the vocabulary and take some new hobbies by the horns.
There are some cool people who read this site that have incredible skills and hobbies. If you’re like me and do not, there is a lot of potential out there. Hobbies come and go in our life. With limited time on our hands, we have to pick and choose meaning some of our favorite activities fall by the wayside. Without football taking up seven days out of the week, there is time to reignite those passions.
The list is long here, starting with woodworking. Could you imagine being able to say you built a bird house or something? That feels like a pretty productive offseason to me. You could even build it with Ohio State in mind with the paint scheme. After you start with the bird house, your skills will develop, and eventually you’ll be on a wooden canoe you made yourself.
Some less labor intensive hobbies include painting and video games. You could even enjoy the performing arts with your local theatre. If those don’t fill the time well enough, there is a wide variety of potential hobbies out there that could be fun.
Turn your attention to the next sport
This is the safest area. With the NBA in full swing, the transition tends to be pretty seamless for us. If you’re an unfortunate sole who is a fan of one of the six teams that aren’t in the NBA playoffs this is a tough place to be.
Major League Baseball is still a couple of months away from starting, and outside of people who root for teams that are drafting in the top-10, this might not be the best option.
In that case, you might as well stay committed to the mission of following the Buckeyes. We will get to the two ways to do that next, but before we do there are a lot of angles to follow additional sports.
ESPN+ has Cricket — can I say without shame that I now know what wicket is? No, but I have watched more than I thought. There is a level of learning to new sports, but with so many options, I’m sure you can find something.
Sports betting is also legal, and throwing a few bones on a game will always increase the viewer experience. It will never replace the rush of Ohio State football, but in a responsible manner and with our betting partner DraftKings, why not throw down an offseason wager or two?
Follow any of Ohio State’s Spring Sports with the same vigor
There will be no mention about Ohio State’s men’s basketball team due to the unfortunate state of their season. Even without the natural Buckeye transition, the Ohio State athletic program has some highly ranked, competitive sports. This might be the easiest way to transfer your football energy, as there is already a bias heading into the following.
The Buckeyes are ranked fourth in men’s wrestling, 13th in women’s basketball, seventh in men’s hockey, and first in men’s tennis. That gives plenty of options to pivot your attention to during the football offseason — and you don’t have to buy new gear. These teams may end up breaking your heart, but the journey is always the friends you make along the way. The best part is you won’t have to go anywhere else to get coverage of these teams.
Getting into other Buckeye teams has never been easier with the Big Ten Network, and if these programs keep winning, there is no reason you can’t have a lot of fun.
Become a message board genius
At the end of the day we’re all here because there is no way out. This is our life. Thursday will get here and the attention will shift immediately to recruiting. With the additions of NIL, transfers, and realignment still center stage, there is never a shortage of conversation to be had. That is where message boards and platforms like Twitter become the outlet to unleash our fandom on the world.
You may carve some wood sculptures or catch up on all your shows, but you and I both know that is not how it ends. The rumors of a five-star recruit taking a spring visit will eat at your mind until you get an update. A Notre Dame fan will spew nonsensical praise about Marcus Freeman, and you’ll have to remind them what happened last season. This is the way of life we have chosen, and even with an effort to step away, the game will always bring you back.
There will always be another recruit, another fan base, and another debate to be had. While you try to expand your horizons, we all end up back to making a depth chart projection ahead of Spring Practice, We will have our conspiracies to discuss and that is what makes this sport so great. The grind never stops, and that is the life of the fan. As long as there is an Ohio State football, we will never go a day with out it.
With the football offseason officially here, we begin the long road back to watching Ohio State on Saturday’s in the Shoe – or any football at all. That realization sucks, but there are things to do to fill the void.
If you’re like me, you’ll probably just skip to message board genius and grind away until the Buckeyes play again.
Continue reading...
LGHL You’re Nuts: The next Buckeye to win an NFL end-of-season award
- News
- 0 Replies
You’re Nuts: The next Buckeye to win an NFL end-of-season award
Josh Dooley via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Garrett Wilson and Nick Bosa just took home NFL awards, so who’s next?
Everybody knows that one of the best parts of being a sports fan is debating and dissecting the most (and least) important questions in the sporting world with your friends. So, we’re bringing that to the pages of LGHL with our favorite head-to-head column: You’re Nuts.
In You’re Nuts, two LGHL staff members will take differing sides of one question and argue their opinions passionately. Then, in the end, it’s up to you to determine who’s right and who’s nuts.
This week’s topic: The next Buckeye to win an NFL end-of-season award
Lost in the hype of Super Bowl week, and the subsequent gifting of another game to the Kansas City Chiefs, was the NFL’s recognition of its best or most deserving individual players.
NFL Honors, the league’s annual awards show, was held last Thursday to celebrate greatness and hand out trophies across the board: MVP, Offensive/Defensive Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year and so on. The show also reveals the league’s next Hall of Fame class, as well as its plans for continuing to protect and promote the legacy of Pat Mahomes via random game stoppages and phantom calls... Oh, wait, that was just a random nightmare I had last night.
During this year’s ceremony, two former Ohio State Buckeyes were recognized for their stellar on-field performance. Wide receiver Garrett Wilson of the New York Jets was tabbed as the AP Offensive Rookie of the Year (ROTY), while defensive end Nick Bosa took home AP Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY). The latter is just the second former Buckeye to win DPOY (Randy Gradishar in 1978), while Wilson became the fifth Ohio State rookie to earn a ROTY award (offense or defense) since 2016!
Including Michael Thomas’ 2019 win for Offensive POTY, the Scarlet and Gray can now claim seven major awards in the past seven seasons. Which inevitably got us thinking: Who’s next? Which former OSU player is going to take home the next prestigious NFL award, and will it be next season?
Recent history tells us the answer is “yes”, but Gene and I did not want to back ourselves into a corner. If I wanted to predict that Kyle McCord wins ROTY in 2025, such an option was available to me. However, I chose to go in a slightly different direction.
While it may not be considered a major award, I am always intrigued by Comeback Player of the Year. I just think it is a cool idea and often recognizes a player who overcame some sort of adversity to enjoy a great season. I also think it is borderline hilarious that Chad Pennington won it twice in three seasons, for essentially just staying healthy and playing average football. I mean, how does one have two “comeback” seasons in the span of 36 months? With no injury in between? But I digress. Because I think there is one former Buckeye who could be a prime candidate for this award in 2023. His name is Chase Young.
Young was chosen second overall in the 2020 NFL Draft, and he immediately took the league by storm. The uber-athletic DE finished his rookie season with 7.5 sacks, four forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries, and a touchdown, flashing potential to become one of the NFL’s most disruptive defensive players. He earned Defensive ROTY honors, and was one of only two rookies voted to the Pro Bowl. All signs pointed toward Young following in the footsteps of the Bosa brothers, poised to terrorize quarterbacks for years to come... But the wheels have since fallen off for this Washington Commander, with injury acting as the main culprit.
Young battled a sophomore slump throughout the first half of the 2021 season, before tearing his ACL and PCL in Week 10. He had only tallied 1.5 sacks to that point; a precipitous drop-off from his productive rookie campaign. The injury he suffered was a significant one, which then lingered... and lingered... and lingered, nearly wiping out all of his 2022 season. Young returned in Week 16, but had minimal impact on the field. Not surprising given his long layoff.
But I expect Young to bounce back in a major way in 2023. He is too talented not to. All this guy has done, when healthy, is make life hell for opposing quarterbacks — minus a few games during which he was consistently double and triple-teamed. Helping Young’s Comeback POTY cause is the Washington roster. The Commanders do not have a ton to hang their hat(s) on, but what they do have is a silly-talented defensive line group. Jonathan Allen, Daron Payne, and Montez Sweat should all take on their fair share of opposing blockers, putting Young in a lot of one-on-one matchups. If he wins enough of them, he will be a fixture in the backfield.
Beyond believing in Young’s overall talent, I want to believe that he can overcome his unfortunate injury. You never want to see an athlete’s career significantly impacted by injury at such a young age, regardless of which team he or she played for. But it certainly cuts a little deeper when said athlete donned scarlet and gray. So Chase Young is my prediction for 2023 Comeback Player of the Year, and if his past playing history is any indication, you can take that prediction to the bank!
As Josh already laid out, Ohio State players have made quite a habit of taking home end-of-season awards in the NFL over the past few years, including most recently Nick Bosa and Garrett Wilson. I love Josh’s choice of Chase Young as Comeback Player of the Year, because we still have not really seen what a fully healthy version of the freakishly athletic defensive end looks like in a full NFL season. However, with the way the Buckeyes have been producing wide receivers under Brian Hartline, I’m going to place my bet on the offensive side of the football.
Offensive or Defensive Rookie of the Year are likely the easiest awards to try and predict, and you generally know which players are going to be taken at or near the top of the draft and which of those guys will be playing big roles for their teams in year one in the league. However, the possibility of picking yet another Ohio State receiver to take home Offensive Rookie of the Year is simply too good to pass up, and so for that reason my choice to be awarded OROY in 2023 will be none other than Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
People might forget just how good JSN was after missing basically the entirety of the 2022 campaign, but I think that is only going to play into the situation he lands in at the NFL level. Had Smith-Njigba played the lions share of the snaps this past year as expected, he would undoubtedly be WR1 in this year’s NFL Draft. However, without much of anything on tape from this season, he will likely fall to later in the first round — where the better team’s in the league are drafting. Rather than being taken by a team in the top-10 that is likely closer to a rebuild than competing, JSN will likely find himself on a good team to start his professional career.
Why should we think that Smith-Njigba will shine right away at the next level? Well, might I remind you that JSN was actually the best receiver in a WR room that featured both Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave — two guys who just posted 1,000-yard seasons in their rookie years, one of which took home OROY. He didn’t even just put up marginally better stats, either. He was significantly ahead of both Olave and Wilson, posting over 1,600 yards receiving on 95 catches, ahead of the second-place Wilson’s 70 receptions for 1,058 yards.
Don’t get me wrong, all three of these guys are tremendous talents, and pretty much everyone knew that Olave and Wilson would be stars at the next level. This is not to say that JSN will be even better than they are in the NFL, because that is already an incredibly high bar to achieve, but the combination of landing in a potentially better situation on top of already proving his talent level when surrounded by other stars leads me to believe that Jaxon Smith-Njigba should be the clear favorite to win OROY in 2023.
Continue reading...
Josh Dooley via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Garrett Wilson and Nick Bosa just took home NFL awards, so who’s next?
Everybody knows that one of the best parts of being a sports fan is debating and dissecting the most (and least) important questions in the sporting world with your friends. So, we’re bringing that to the pages of LGHL with our favorite head-to-head column: You’re Nuts.
In You’re Nuts, two LGHL staff members will take differing sides of one question and argue their opinions passionately. Then, in the end, it’s up to you to determine who’s right and who’s nuts.
This week’s topic: The next Buckeye to win an NFL end-of-season award
Josh’s Take
Lost in the hype of Super Bowl week, and the subsequent gifting of another game to the Kansas City Chiefs, was the NFL’s recognition of its best or most deserving individual players.
NFL Honors, the league’s annual awards show, was held last Thursday to celebrate greatness and hand out trophies across the board: MVP, Offensive/Defensive Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year and so on. The show also reveals the league’s next Hall of Fame class, as well as its plans for continuing to protect and promote the legacy of Pat Mahomes via random game stoppages and phantom calls... Oh, wait, that was just a random nightmare I had last night.
During this year’s ceremony, two former Ohio State Buckeyes were recognized for their stellar on-field performance. Wide receiver Garrett Wilson of the New York Jets was tabbed as the AP Offensive Rookie of the Year (ROTY), while defensive end Nick Bosa took home AP Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY). The latter is just the second former Buckeye to win DPOY (Randy Gradishar in 1978), while Wilson became the fifth Ohio State rookie to earn a ROTY award (offense or defense) since 2016!
Including Michael Thomas’ 2019 win for Offensive POTY, the Scarlet and Gray can now claim seven major awards in the past seven seasons. Which inevitably got us thinking: Who’s next? Which former OSU player is going to take home the next prestigious NFL award, and will it be next season?
Recent history tells us the answer is “yes”, but Gene and I did not want to back ourselves into a corner. If I wanted to predict that Kyle McCord wins ROTY in 2025, such an option was available to me. However, I chose to go in a slightly different direction.
While it may not be considered a major award, I am always intrigued by Comeback Player of the Year. I just think it is a cool idea and often recognizes a player who overcame some sort of adversity to enjoy a great season. I also think it is borderline hilarious that Chad Pennington won it twice in three seasons, for essentially just staying healthy and playing average football. I mean, how does one have two “comeback” seasons in the span of 36 months? With no injury in between? But I digress. Because I think there is one former Buckeye who could be a prime candidate for this award in 2023. His name is Chase Young.
Young was chosen second overall in the 2020 NFL Draft, and he immediately took the league by storm. The uber-athletic DE finished his rookie season with 7.5 sacks, four forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries, and a touchdown, flashing potential to become one of the NFL’s most disruptive defensive players. He earned Defensive ROTY honors, and was one of only two rookies voted to the Pro Bowl. All signs pointed toward Young following in the footsteps of the Bosa brothers, poised to terrorize quarterbacks for years to come... But the wheels have since fallen off for this Washington Commander, with injury acting as the main culprit.
Young battled a sophomore slump throughout the first half of the 2021 season, before tearing his ACL and PCL in Week 10. He had only tallied 1.5 sacks to that point; a precipitous drop-off from his productive rookie campaign. The injury he suffered was a significant one, which then lingered... and lingered... and lingered, nearly wiping out all of his 2022 season. Young returned in Week 16, but had minimal impact on the field. Not surprising given his long layoff.
But I expect Young to bounce back in a major way in 2023. He is too talented not to. All this guy has done, when healthy, is make life hell for opposing quarterbacks — minus a few games during which he was consistently double and triple-teamed. Helping Young’s Comeback POTY cause is the Washington roster. The Commanders do not have a ton to hang their hat(s) on, but what they do have is a silly-talented defensive line group. Jonathan Allen, Daron Payne, and Montez Sweat should all take on their fair share of opposing blockers, putting Young in a lot of one-on-one matchups. If he wins enough of them, he will be a fixture in the backfield.
Beyond believing in Young’s overall talent, I want to believe that he can overcome his unfortunate injury. You never want to see an athlete’s career significantly impacted by injury at such a young age, regardless of which team he or she played for. But it certainly cuts a little deeper when said athlete donned scarlet and gray. So Chase Young is my prediction for 2023 Comeback Player of the Year, and if his past playing history is any indication, you can take that prediction to the bank!
Gene’s Take
As Josh already laid out, Ohio State players have made quite a habit of taking home end-of-season awards in the NFL over the past few years, including most recently Nick Bosa and Garrett Wilson. I love Josh’s choice of Chase Young as Comeback Player of the Year, because we still have not really seen what a fully healthy version of the freakishly athletic defensive end looks like in a full NFL season. However, with the way the Buckeyes have been producing wide receivers under Brian Hartline, I’m going to place my bet on the offensive side of the football.
Offensive or Defensive Rookie of the Year are likely the easiest awards to try and predict, and you generally know which players are going to be taken at or near the top of the draft and which of those guys will be playing big roles for their teams in year one in the league. However, the possibility of picking yet another Ohio State receiver to take home Offensive Rookie of the Year is simply too good to pass up, and so for that reason my choice to be awarded OROY in 2023 will be none other than Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
People might forget just how good JSN was after missing basically the entirety of the 2022 campaign, but I think that is only going to play into the situation he lands in at the NFL level. Had Smith-Njigba played the lions share of the snaps this past year as expected, he would undoubtedly be WR1 in this year’s NFL Draft. However, without much of anything on tape from this season, he will likely fall to later in the first round — where the better team’s in the league are drafting. Rather than being taken by a team in the top-10 that is likely closer to a rebuild than competing, JSN will likely find himself on a good team to start his professional career.
Why should we think that Smith-Njigba will shine right away at the next level? Well, might I remind you that JSN was actually the best receiver in a WR room that featured both Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave — two guys who just posted 1,000-yard seasons in their rookie years, one of which took home OROY. He didn’t even just put up marginally better stats, either. He was significantly ahead of both Olave and Wilson, posting over 1,600 yards receiving on 95 catches, ahead of the second-place Wilson’s 70 receptions for 1,058 yards.
Don’t get me wrong, all three of these guys are tremendous talents, and pretty much everyone knew that Olave and Wilson would be stars at the next level. This is not to say that JSN will be even better than they are in the NFL, because that is already an incredibly high bar to achieve, but the combination of landing in a potentially better situation on top of already proving his talent level when surrounded by other stars leads me to believe that Jaxon Smith-Njigba should be the clear favorite to win OROY in 2023.
Continue reading...
LGHL Dimitrious Stanley’s Ohio State legacy worthy of respect
- News
- 0 Replies
Dimitrious Stanley’s Ohio State legacy worthy of respect
Michael Citro via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
He wasn’t the flashiest receiver to ever don the scarlet and gray, but Stanley deserves Buckeye Nation’s respect.
A little-used bench option from 1993 to 1995, former OSU wide receiver Dimitrious Stanley broke out during the 1996 college football season that started just a few months after I donned cap and gown and walked for my degree in Ohio Stadium. I was at every home game in which Stanley played — in that same stadium.
So when news of Stanley’s passing at just 48 years old after a battle with prostate cancer for four years dropped three days ago, it shook me up a bit.
It occurred to me that many of our readers, and even some of our writers here at Land-Grant Holy Land, are too young to have seen him play, or at least too young to remember it. I figured that those of us who do remember him have an obligation to talk about what we remember from the man who wore No. 3 for the Buckeyes (for three seasons, anyway — he wore No. 86 his freshman season). After all, remembering people who are gone is the only form of immortality we’ve got at the moment.
A four-year letterwinner from 1993-96, Stanley could easily be lost amidst the names of great Buckeye wide receivers. He was only a starter during his senior season of 1996. He made the most of his time in the starting lineup for John Cooper’s Buckeyes that season, catching 43 passes for 829 yards and eight touchdowns to lead the Buckeyes in all three major categories.
Of those 43 catches, 10 receptions came in a monster performance against Wisconsin for a total of 199 receiving yards. The Buckeyes needed every play Stanley made that day, winning just 17-14 at home. Ohio State had beaten No. 4 Penn State by 31 points a week earlier and then struggled to score or to run the ball against the Badgers’ eight-man front. A sloppy OSU team turned the ball over repeatedly and had a kick blocked.
Still, Stanley scored the winning touchdown on a throw by Joe Germaine, keeping the Buckeyes on track for an eventual Rose Bowl berth.
Only four players have bested Stanley’s career high for yards in a game in that win over Wisconsin, and they are a who’s who of great OSU receivers: Jaxon Smith-Njigba (twice), Terry Glenn, Santonio Holmes, Gary Williams, and David Boston.
Stanley capped his senior season in style, helping the Buckeyes snap a long Rose Bowl title drought. Two of his catches came on a second-half drive that gave his team a 14-10 lead. The second of those catches went 72 yards to the house.
The Buckeyes couldn’t hold the lead and fell behind late. But Germaine rallied the Buckeyes and converted a pair of third downs on the decisive drive by finding Stanley. Boston capped the winning drive with a five-yard touchdown reception. All Stanley did was pull two defenders with him on a slant route to free up Boston for the game-winning score.
The winning drive was one of the most dramatic game-winning possessions in school history. It snapped Ohio State’s four-game losing streak in the “Granddaddy of them All” and gave the Buckeyes their first Rose Bowl championship since 1974.
Entering the 2022 season, Stanley was still seventh on Ohio State’s career list for receiving yards per game, averaging 18. As previously mentioned, he didn’t play much his first three seasons, so his career totals are not much higher than his 1996 totals: 63 receptions for 1,136 yards and 13 touchdowns. By today’s standards, that’s somewhere between what a second and third receiver on a Ryan Day offense nets in one season.
Stanley then capped his OSU career with a selection to the 1997 Senior Bowl. After a cup of coffee in the Canadian Football League and arena football, Stanley’s football career was over. He may be more widely remembered for his work on local television in Columbus than as a player, but I’ll never forget what he did to get Ohio State that elusive Rose Bowl win.
While there are far bigger names on the long list of great Buckeye wideouts that leap more immediately to mind, Stanley deserves to be remembered, too.
Continue reading...
Michael Citro via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
He wasn’t the flashiest receiver to ever don the scarlet and gray, but Stanley deserves Buckeye Nation’s respect.
A little-used bench option from 1993 to 1995, former OSU wide receiver Dimitrious Stanley broke out during the 1996 college football season that started just a few months after I donned cap and gown and walked for my degree in Ohio Stadium. I was at every home game in which Stanley played — in that same stadium.
So when news of Stanley’s passing at just 48 years old after a battle with prostate cancer for four years dropped three days ago, it shook me up a bit.
It occurred to me that many of our readers, and even some of our writers here at Land-Grant Holy Land, are too young to have seen him play, or at least too young to remember it. I figured that those of us who do remember him have an obligation to talk about what we remember from the man who wore No. 3 for the Buckeyes (for three seasons, anyway — he wore No. 86 his freshman season). After all, remembering people who are gone is the only form of immortality we’ve got at the moment.
A four-year letterwinner from 1993-96, Stanley could easily be lost amidst the names of great Buckeye wide receivers. He was only a starter during his senior season of 1996. He made the most of his time in the starting lineup for John Cooper’s Buckeyes that season, catching 43 passes for 829 yards and eight touchdowns to lead the Buckeyes in all three major categories.
Of those 43 catches, 10 receptions came in a monster performance against Wisconsin for a total of 199 receiving yards. The Buckeyes needed every play Stanley made that day, winning just 17-14 at home. Ohio State had beaten No. 4 Penn State by 31 points a week earlier and then struggled to score or to run the ball against the Badgers’ eight-man front. A sloppy OSU team turned the ball over repeatedly and had a kick blocked.
Still, Stanley scored the winning touchdown on a throw by Joe Germaine, keeping the Buckeyes on track for an eventual Rose Bowl berth.
Only four players have bested Stanley’s career high for yards in a game in that win over Wisconsin, and they are a who’s who of great OSU receivers: Jaxon Smith-Njigba (twice), Terry Glenn, Santonio Holmes, Gary Williams, and David Boston.
Stanley capped his senior season in style, helping the Buckeyes snap a long Rose Bowl title drought. Two of his catches came on a second-half drive that gave his team a 14-10 lead. The second of those catches went 72 yards to the house.
The Buckeyes couldn’t hold the lead and fell behind late. But Germaine rallied the Buckeyes and converted a pair of third downs on the decisive drive by finding Stanley. Boston capped the winning drive with a five-yard touchdown reception. All Stanley did was pull two defenders with him on a slant route to free up Boston for the game-winning score.
The winning drive was one of the most dramatic game-winning possessions in school history. It snapped Ohio State’s four-game losing streak in the “Granddaddy of them All” and gave the Buckeyes their first Rose Bowl championship since 1974.
Entering the 2022 season, Stanley was still seventh on Ohio State’s career list for receiving yards per game, averaging 18. As previously mentioned, he didn’t play much his first three seasons, so his career totals are not much higher than his 1996 totals: 63 receptions for 1,136 yards and 13 touchdowns. By today’s standards, that’s somewhere between what a second and third receiver on a Ryan Day offense nets in one season.
Stanley then capped his OSU career with a selection to the 1997 Senior Bowl. After a cup of coffee in the Canadian Football League and arena football, Stanley’s football career was over. He may be more widely remembered for his work on local television in Columbus than as a player, but I’ll never forget what he did to get Ohio State that elusive Rose Bowl win.
While there are far bigger names on the long list of great Buckeye wideouts that leap more immediately to mind, Stanley deserves to be remembered, too.
Continue reading...
LGHL No. 13 Ohio State women’s basketball vs. No. 2 Indiana: Game preview and prediction
- News
- 0 Replies
No. 13 Ohio State women’s basketball vs. No. 2 Indiana: Game preview and prediction
1ThomasCostello via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Jeremy Hogan/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
The Buckeyes and Hoosiers meet for the final time in the regular season, with a lot on the line for the Scarlet & Gray.
The Ohio State women’s basketball team has had a tough go as of late. After a 19-0 start to the season, the Buckeyes have dropped four of six games. Part of that downfall was a defeat on Jan. 26 against the Indiana Hoosiers.
On Monday, Ohio State and Indiana return to the court in opposite positions. It’s now the Hoosiers coming in as the No. 2 side against the No. 13 Buckeyes. It’s not only another game between two top-15 Big Ten teams, but a chance for the Scarlet & Gray to get back to where they were before the last week of January sent the season in a different direction.
Although this edition of the game is at home for the Buckeyes, it’s arguably a more difficult matchup than almost three weeks ago. That’s because Ohio State faces an Indiana team who’s hitting their stride even better than they were in January.
Indiana is fresh off a program record conference play crowd witnessing IU take down the No. 4 Iowa Hawkeyes. On the court of Assembly Hall, the Hoosiers neutralized center Monika Czinano, forcing guard Caitlin Clark to try and win the game alone, unsuccessfully.
On the other side, the Buckeyes are 2-2 since their loss to the Hoosiers. Outside of lopsided wins over the Minnesota Golden Gophers and Wisconsin Badgers, Ohio State lost to an unranked Purdue Boilermakers and continued struggles against top-10 ranked conference opponents.
Ohio State’s struggles culminated on Feb. 5 in a trip to College Park, Maryland. Against the No. 8 Terrapins, the Buckeyes lost by a season-high 34 point deficit. Never in the 40 minutes did the Scarlet & Gray look up to the challenge of guard Diamond Miller and the Terps. Now, it’s another game against center Mackenzie Holmes’ Hoosiers.
“She’s one of the best post players in the country,” said head coach Kevin McGuff. “So, we certainly have our hands full.”
On Jan. 26, Holmes led all scorers with 26 points, although Ohio State did well to keep her out of a strong rebounding night. Even so, Holmes’ four rebounds were made up for through guards Sydney Parrish and Yarden Garzon’s 21 combined boards.
Holmes hurts the Buckeyes the way she has since she joined the Hoosiers: inside the paint. The Scarlet & Gray haven’t had an answer for Holmes since the start of last season and now Indiana’s gotten stronger around her, creating one of the most well-balanced teams in the country.
Indiana features point guard Grace Berger, who moved into the one-spot in her senior season this year. Berger leads IU with 5.6 assists per game, which would be the fifth-highest in the Big Ten if not for missing nine games of the season due to a knee injury.
Berger not only finds Holmes, who shoots strong inside the paint but can move throughout the arc and hit midrange jumpers, but a trio of offensive threats on the perimeter.
This summer, head coach Teri Moren added three players — two from the transfer market and one incoming freshman. They’re Parrish, an Oregon Ducks transfer, freshman Yarden Garzon and former Minnesota Golden Gopher Sara Scalia.
Garzon was especially dangerous in the matchup in Bloomington, Indiana. The Israeli National Team guard had a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Garzon hit four threes and also had three steals, with two turning into fastbreak points. Those turnovers were crucial in Indiana’s win against a Buckeyes team who outscored Indiana for three quarters, but fell hard in the third quarter.
The Buckeyes turned the ball over six times in the third quarter, with Indiana 7-0 in fastbreak points and 13-0 in points off turnovers. Ohio State’s six points is the second lowest total they’ve scored in a quarter all season.
“Hopefully we can bottle what we did in those three quarters in Bloomington and apply it to Monday night’s game, is what I’m hoping,” said head coach Kevin McGuff.
However, Ohio State might not have the same people available to play those three strong quarters. A potential absence for Monday is forward Rebeka Mikulášiková. The Slovakian suffered a high ankle sprain halfway through the first quarter of Wednesday’s win against Minnesota.
On Friday, Mikulášiková told the coaching staff she was good to go for Monday, but nothing’s official until after weekend practice and McGuff and the Buckeyes can see what she does on the court. Although, Mikulášiková didn’t affect the last game in Indiana as much as the team needed, scoring three points and grabbing four rebounds.
If the injury does keep Mikulášiková out, it’ll be up to transfer forward Eboni Walker. Walker played 25 minutes, scoring 12 points and dishing six assists. All a Buckeye career high from the former Nevada Gatorade Player of the Year honoree. When Ohio State was effective against Holmes on Jan. 26, it was when Walker was on the court. Walker had seven rebounds in the game, good for second best on the Scarlet & Gray in the defeat.
Another injury discussion is around guard Jacy Sheldon. Will she return? Against Maryland, Sheldon made her long awaited return after not playing since Nov. 30 due to a foot injury. Buckeye fans were surprised on Wednesday when Sheldon didn’t suit up for the game against Minnesota, but that was by design. On Saturday, coach McGuff gave more detail about why Sheldon didn’t play.
“She’s chomping at the bit to play,” said McGuff. “She’s still day to day because I’m watching her move and I’ll just be frank, I didn’t think she was moving like she normally does, when she’s healthy at Maryland, so I kind of took a step back and said ‘hey, I just want to make sure we’re doing the right thing here.’”
Fans and the Buckeyes all want Sheldon back at 100%, but McGuff is still worried more about making sure Sheldon doesn’t aggravate her injury, and still with the mindset that they get Sheldon ready for the stretch run. Although the end of the regular season is coming quickly, next Friday against the Maryland Terrapins.
A win for Ohio State against Indiana could still happen without Sheldon. The Minnesota win showed that the Buckeyes can hit shots, after a cold spell came as the winter months blew in. The more players like guard Rikki Harris and forwards Taylor Thierry and Cotie McMahon hit their shots, the more space guard Taylor Mikesell will have to work with against the Hoosiers.
In the last outing, McMahon led the Buckeyes in scoring and made things especially difficult for Indiana in the first half. The freshman had 18 of her 21 points in the game in the first two periods, with the Hoosiers finally adjusting to her attacking style in the second half.
If McMahon gets started like that again, and her teammates hit shots, there’s no telling what could happen.
With the ability of Indiana, and how they’ve grown as a unit this season, it’s difficult to see a Buckeyes victory. Something going Ohio State’s way is that they don’t have to play in front of a crowd of over 10,000 who are against them, like the Buckeyes did in Bloomington.
However, Indiana is the better team on Monday. If Mikulášiková is out, Walker will play well against Holmes, with Thierry part of that coverage too. But Walker can’t play 40 minutes, and the lack of depth will be difficult for Ohio State to overcome.
The Buckeyes will shoot better than they did in the third quarter against Indiana in January, but it won’t be enough to overcome Indiana. It’ll be a closer game than last month, but the same result.
Date: Monday, Feb. 13, 2023
Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
Where: Schottenstein Center, Columbus, Ohio
Television: Big Ten Network
Stream: Fox Sports app with Big Ten Network subscription
From the Buckeyes’ sellout against the Iowa Hawkeyes to Indiana selling over 13,000 tickets for an upcoming rivalry game against Purdue, the popularity and growth of Big Ten women’s basketball can’t be ignored.
“It’s amazing what some of the conference schools are doing in terms of attendance,” said McGuff. “The league is as good as its ever been in terms of the depth so there are great games and great programs all around and I’m just really happy that people are out and supporting women’s basketball like that in the Big Ten.”
Ohio State is hoping for some of that on Monday, too. While there’s no word yet on attendance numbers, another sellout could help the Buckeyes against a tough opponent like Indiana.
This season, the Buckeyes’ attendance is on the rise, averaging 5,622 per game. That’s the highest it’s been in four seasons. With games against Indiana and Maryland at home to finish the home regular season, there’s a strong chance for it to rise even further.
Continue reading...
1ThomasCostello via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Jeremy Hogan/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
The Buckeyes and Hoosiers meet for the final time in the regular season, with a lot on the line for the Scarlet & Gray.
The Ohio State women’s basketball team has had a tough go as of late. After a 19-0 start to the season, the Buckeyes have dropped four of six games. Part of that downfall was a defeat on Jan. 26 against the Indiana Hoosiers.
On Monday, Ohio State and Indiana return to the court in opposite positions. It’s now the Hoosiers coming in as the No. 2 side against the No. 13 Buckeyes. It’s not only another game between two top-15 Big Ten teams, but a chance for the Scarlet & Gray to get back to where they were before the last week of January sent the season in a different direction.
Preview
Although this edition of the game is at home for the Buckeyes, it’s arguably a more difficult matchup than almost three weeks ago. That’s because Ohio State faces an Indiana team who’s hitting their stride even better than they were in January.
Indiana is fresh off a program record conference play crowd witnessing IU take down the No. 4 Iowa Hawkeyes. On the court of Assembly Hall, the Hoosiers neutralized center Monika Czinano, forcing guard Caitlin Clark to try and win the game alone, unsuccessfully.
On the other side, the Buckeyes are 2-2 since their loss to the Hoosiers. Outside of lopsided wins over the Minnesota Golden Gophers and Wisconsin Badgers, Ohio State lost to an unranked Purdue Boilermakers and continued struggles against top-10 ranked conference opponents.
Ohio State’s struggles culminated on Feb. 5 in a trip to College Park, Maryland. Against the No. 8 Terrapins, the Buckeyes lost by a season-high 34 point deficit. Never in the 40 minutes did the Scarlet & Gray look up to the challenge of guard Diamond Miller and the Terps. Now, it’s another game against center Mackenzie Holmes’ Hoosiers.
“She’s one of the best post players in the country,” said head coach Kevin McGuff. “So, we certainly have our hands full.”
On Jan. 26, Holmes led all scorers with 26 points, although Ohio State did well to keep her out of a strong rebounding night. Even so, Holmes’ four rebounds were made up for through guards Sydney Parrish and Yarden Garzon’s 21 combined boards.
Holmes hurts the Buckeyes the way she has since she joined the Hoosiers: inside the paint. The Scarlet & Gray haven’t had an answer for Holmes since the start of last season and now Indiana’s gotten stronger around her, creating one of the most well-balanced teams in the country.
Indiana features point guard Grace Berger, who moved into the one-spot in her senior season this year. Berger leads IU with 5.6 assists per game, which would be the fifth-highest in the Big Ten if not for missing nine games of the season due to a knee injury.
Berger not only finds Holmes, who shoots strong inside the paint but can move throughout the arc and hit midrange jumpers, but a trio of offensive threats on the perimeter.
This summer, head coach Teri Moren added three players — two from the transfer market and one incoming freshman. They’re Parrish, an Oregon Ducks transfer, freshman Yarden Garzon and former Minnesota Golden Gopher Sara Scalia.
Garzon was especially dangerous in the matchup in Bloomington, Indiana. The Israeli National Team guard had a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Garzon hit four threes and also had three steals, with two turning into fastbreak points. Those turnovers were crucial in Indiana’s win against a Buckeyes team who outscored Indiana for three quarters, but fell hard in the third quarter.
The Buckeyes turned the ball over six times in the third quarter, with Indiana 7-0 in fastbreak points and 13-0 in points off turnovers. Ohio State’s six points is the second lowest total they’ve scored in a quarter all season.
“Hopefully we can bottle what we did in those three quarters in Bloomington and apply it to Monday night’s game, is what I’m hoping,” said head coach Kevin McGuff.
However, Ohio State might not have the same people available to play those three strong quarters. A potential absence for Monday is forward Rebeka Mikulášiková. The Slovakian suffered a high ankle sprain halfway through the first quarter of Wednesday’s win against Minnesota.
On Friday, Mikulášiková told the coaching staff she was good to go for Monday, but nothing’s official until after weekend practice and McGuff and the Buckeyes can see what she does on the court. Although, Mikulášiková didn’t affect the last game in Indiana as much as the team needed, scoring three points and grabbing four rebounds.
If the injury does keep Mikulášiková out, it’ll be up to transfer forward Eboni Walker. Walker played 25 minutes, scoring 12 points and dishing six assists. All a Buckeye career high from the former Nevada Gatorade Player of the Year honoree. When Ohio State was effective against Holmes on Jan. 26, it was when Walker was on the court. Walker had seven rebounds in the game, good for second best on the Scarlet & Gray in the defeat.
Another injury discussion is around guard Jacy Sheldon. Will she return? Against Maryland, Sheldon made her long awaited return after not playing since Nov. 30 due to a foot injury. Buckeye fans were surprised on Wednesday when Sheldon didn’t suit up for the game against Minnesota, but that was by design. On Saturday, coach McGuff gave more detail about why Sheldon didn’t play.
“She’s chomping at the bit to play,” said McGuff. “She’s still day to day because I’m watching her move and I’ll just be frank, I didn’t think she was moving like she normally does, when she’s healthy at Maryland, so I kind of took a step back and said ‘hey, I just want to make sure we’re doing the right thing here.’”
Fans and the Buckeyes all want Sheldon back at 100%, but McGuff is still worried more about making sure Sheldon doesn’t aggravate her injury, and still with the mindset that they get Sheldon ready for the stretch run. Although the end of the regular season is coming quickly, next Friday against the Maryland Terrapins.
A win for Ohio State against Indiana could still happen without Sheldon. The Minnesota win showed that the Buckeyes can hit shots, after a cold spell came as the winter months blew in. The more players like guard Rikki Harris and forwards Taylor Thierry and Cotie McMahon hit their shots, the more space guard Taylor Mikesell will have to work with against the Hoosiers.
In the last outing, McMahon led the Buckeyes in scoring and made things especially difficult for Indiana in the first half. The freshman had 18 of her 21 points in the game in the first two periods, with the Hoosiers finally adjusting to her attacking style in the second half.
If McMahon gets started like that again, and her teammates hit shots, there’s no telling what could happen.
Projected Lineups
Lineup Notes
- Thierry is third in the Big Ten in field goal percentage at 64.9% and has scored double-figures in nine games in a row.
- McMahon leads the Buckeyes with 119 free throws this season, hitting 68.9% of her shots.
- Buckeyes 83.1 points per game is the second-highest in the conference.
Lineup Notes
- Holmes leads the conference in shooting percentage (69%) and second in points per game (22.1).
- Indiana has the best defense in the Big Ten, allowing 60.3 points per game.
- Berger had her best game of the season last week, against Iowa, with 26 points, nine rebounds and six assists.
Prediction
With the ability of Indiana, and how they’ve grown as a unit this season, it’s difficult to see a Buckeyes victory. Something going Ohio State’s way is that they don’t have to play in front of a crowd of over 10,000 who are against them, like the Buckeyes did in Bloomington.
However, Indiana is the better team on Monday. If Mikulášiková is out, Walker will play well against Holmes, with Thierry part of that coverage too. But Walker can’t play 40 minutes, and the lack of depth will be difficult for Ohio State to overcome.
The Buckeyes will shoot better than they did in the third quarter against Indiana in January, but it won’t be enough to overcome Indiana. It’ll be a closer game than last month, but the same result.
How to Watch
Date: Monday, Feb. 13, 2023
Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
Where: Schottenstein Center, Columbus, Ohio
Television: Big Ten Network
Stream: Fox Sports app with Big Ten Network subscription
LGHL Prediction: 78-72 Indiana Hoosiers
Big Growth in Big Ten
From the Buckeyes’ sellout against the Iowa Hawkeyes to Indiana selling over 13,000 tickets for an upcoming rivalry game against Purdue, the popularity and growth of Big Ten women’s basketball can’t be ignored.
“It’s amazing what some of the conference schools are doing in terms of attendance,” said McGuff. “The league is as good as its ever been in terms of the depth so there are great games and great programs all around and I’m just really happy that people are out and supporting women’s basketball like that in the Big Ten.”
Ohio State is hoping for some of that on Monday, too. While there’s no word yet on attendance numbers, another sellout could help the Buckeyes against a tough opponent like Indiana.
This season, the Buckeyes’ attendance is on the rise, averaging 5,622 per game. That’s the highest it’s been in four seasons. With games against Indiana and Maryland at home to finish the home regular season, there’s a strong chance for it to rise even further.
Continue reading...
LGHL LGHL Uncut Podcast: Izzo, Holtmann discuss Michigan State’s win, state of Ohio State program
- News
- 0 Replies
LGHL Uncut Podcast: Izzo, Holtmann discuss Michigan State’s win, state of Ohio State program
Connor Lemons via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images
You can always count on Tom Izzo for some good quotes.
Throughout the season, Land-Grant Holy Land will be bringing you uncut audio primarily from Ohio State press conferences, but also from individual interview sessions.
Following Ohio State’s lopsided, comical loss to Michigan State Sunday afternoon, we spoke to Tom Izzo, Chris Holtmann, and Bruce Thornton about that game and the state of Ohio State’s program in general.
Izzo spoke at length about Holtmann and the Ohio State program. He mentioned that “once you build the monster, you have to feed the monster” meaning that once you establish success at this level, you have to figure out how to sustain it. Izzo said Sunday’s game was a “rock fight” but that he had several players contribute in other ways than scoring.
Thornton talked about the losses piling up and was also asked about social media. He said there are a lot of “hate comments” thrown his way, but that he’s had to stay mature and just learn to ignore people on the internet.
Holtmann talked about how Izzo’s Spartans slowed the pace down quite a bit from when the two teams met last season, but that his offense was just all-around “rough.” He talked a bit about Brice Sensabaugh’s continued struggles and what he’d like to see from Roddy Gayle for the rest of the season.
Connect with Connor:
Twitter: @lemons_connor
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
Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images
You can always count on Tom Izzo for some good quotes.
Throughout the season, Land-Grant Holy Land will be bringing you uncut audio primarily from Ohio State press conferences, but also from individual interview sessions.
Listen to the episode and subscribe:
Subscribe: RSS | Apple | Spotify | Stitcher | Google Podcasts | iHeart Radio
Following Ohio State’s lopsided, comical loss to Michigan State Sunday afternoon, we spoke to Tom Izzo, Chris Holtmann, and Bruce Thornton about that game and the state of Ohio State’s program in general.
Izzo spoke at length about Holtmann and the Ohio State program. He mentioned that “once you build the monster, you have to feed the monster” meaning that once you establish success at this level, you have to figure out how to sustain it. Izzo said Sunday’s game was a “rock fight” but that he had several players contribute in other ways than scoring.
Thornton talked about the losses piling up and was also asked about social media. He said there are a lot of “hate comments” thrown his way, but that he’s had to stay mature and just learn to ignore people on the internet.
Holtmann talked about how Izzo’s Spartans slowed the pace down quite a bit from when the two teams met last season, but that his offense was just all-around “rough.” He talked a bit about Brice Sensabaugh’s continued struggles and what he’d like to see from Roddy Gayle for the rest of the season.
Connect with Connor:
Twitter: @lemons_connor
Theme music provided by www.bensound.com
Continue reading...