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Poll
(This is a Poll) Help Name My New Puppy
- Open Discussion (Work-safe)
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My wife and I are adding a new addition to the family next weekend and need help naming him. He is a Papillon and we want to go with a French name. I have had 2 other Papillons in the past (Pierre and Marcel) and don't want to use their names. 
LGHL You’re Nuts: Which Buckeye is headed for a strong second half of the regular season?
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- 0 Replies
You’re Nuts: Which Buckeye is headed for a strong second half of the regular season?
Brett Ludwiczak via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Craig Strobeck-Imagn Images
Your (almost) daily dose of good-natured, Ohio State banter.
Aside from Ohio State not leaving Eugene with a victory on Saturday night, the game between the Buckeyes and Ducks was just about everything you could ask for. Two of the best teams in the country going back and forth in a raucous environment. There’s no question both teams are deserving of spots in the College Football Playoff, and they should also meet again in the Big Ten Championship Game as long as Penn State and Indiana don’t pull some shenanigans.
As Buckeye fans, we have become accustomed to picking at every negative thing we can find after a loss. Setbacks are few and far between for the Buckeyes, so it’s natural to want to identify the problem so it can be fixed and we don’t have to deal with the pain of another loss again anytime soon.
Today we are going to put the loss to Oregon behind us and look towards the rest of the season. Coming out of the loss to the Ducks, there were some Buckeyes who played well in Eugene, hopefully sparking a second half surge. What we want to know today is which Ohio State player you are looking towards to have a strong second half of the regular season.
From the opening play of Saturday night’s game, Gee Scott Jr. was locked in. Scott was in the right spot at the right time to catch the deflected Will Howard pass for a six-yard gain. Even though the gain wasn’t for much, the pass could have easily been intercepted if Scott hadn’t made a play on it. Scott would finish with three catches for 46 yards in the game.
Entering the Oregon game, Scott had four catches for 19 yards and score, with three of those catches and the touchdown coming in the win at Michigan State. The former wide receiver who transitioned to tight end is now just four catches and six yards from eclipsing his single-season highs of 10 catches and 70 yards, with both of those marks being set last year.
A little earlier this season I was critical of the production from the tight ends following the departure of Cade Stover. Scott has started to answer the call the last few games, with three catches in two of Ohio State’s last three contests. The Buckeyes don’t need Scott to be Stover when it comes to production, they just need him to be alert and available since he could see more targets if opposing defenses send more resources to cover Emeka Egbuka and Jeremiah Smith.
I feel like Scott could be a big factor down the stretch for the Buckeyes. Howard is becoming more comfortable throwing Scott the football. With his big body, Scott could be utilized even more in the passing game later in the season since he could deliver some punishing blows to opposing defenses. Also, Scott’s body size and soft hands could see him with more targets in the red zone.
The wide receivers and running backs are the stars of the Ohio State offense, there is no question about that. Scott will likely be doing a lot of the dirty work on the offense but he is becoming more of a threat to be used in the passing game and should continue to see targets going forward
Gone are the days of Chase Young. Gone are the days of Nick Bosa. Gone are the days of Joey Bosa. Hell, gone are the days of Billy Bosa, Nick and Joey’s easily overlooked older brother who once had two sacks in a game against the South Florida Mauraders in the Broward County U12 Pee Wee Football League.
The Ohio State defensive line is seemingly incapable of generating sacks as currently constructed, so something’s gotta give. I don’t know if it’s Jim Knowles or Larry Johnson (although I have my suspicions), but the refusal to do anything other than ask the four defensive linemen to run straightforward and hope that their athleticism simply overwhelms the five or six offensive linemen standing in front of them ain’t cutting it.
We saw against Oregon yet another example of what happens when you cannot generate a pass rush to disrupt what a talented quarterback and wide receivers are doing. So, simply put, if Ohio State wants to win the Big Ten and national titles — which are both still very much in their grasp — they have to make a change up front on defense.
Whether that change is in personnel and/or scheme, is less important right now as is the willingness to make a change to begin with. Personally, I believe the scheme is the most important aspect of reasserting OSU’s pass rush as an integral part of their defensive approach, from disguising the rush to mixing up who is bringing pressure, from dropping linemen into coverage to blitzing linebackers and DBs, something must be done in order to change what’s happening along the line of scrimmage.
However, I also think that it is beyond time to start mixing up the rotation on the defensive line. I know that the starting defensive line of J.T. Tuimoloau, Ty Hamilton, Tyleik Williams, and Jack Sawyer is supremely talented, which is why I view their lack of production in this area more as a schematic and philosophical failure than anything else. However, as good as they may or may not be at stopping the run — individually or collectively — they need to be better at generating pressure.
I think that Jack and Tyleik have shown the most ability to do that, so I think that — in conjunction with changes in the play calls — Knowles and LJ need to get on the same page and start getting guys on the field who can bring more to the pass rush in key situations.
So, my pick for this article exercise is Cadden Curry, but I would honestly be good with Mitchell Melton, Kenyatta Jackson, Kayden McDonald, anyone who is going to pin their ears back and regularly force their way into the backfield and hit the quarterback. It would be a massive dereliction of duty for this coaching staff to squander four years of Justin Fields and C.J. Stroud at quarterback and another year with arguably the best roster in Ohio State history in a six-year period and not win a national title.
There are no excuses left, there are no more justifications available, there are no more rationalizations accepted, they simply must get the job done.
Continue reading...
Brett Ludwiczak via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Craig Strobeck-Imagn Images
Your (almost) daily dose of good-natured, Ohio State banter.
Aside from Ohio State not leaving Eugene with a victory on Saturday night, the game between the Buckeyes and Ducks was just about everything you could ask for. Two of the best teams in the country going back and forth in a raucous environment. There’s no question both teams are deserving of spots in the College Football Playoff, and they should also meet again in the Big Ten Championship Game as long as Penn State and Indiana don’t pull some shenanigans.
As Buckeye fans, we have become accustomed to picking at every negative thing we can find after a loss. Setbacks are few and far between for the Buckeyes, so it’s natural to want to identify the problem so it can be fixed and we don’t have to deal with the pain of another loss again anytime soon.
Today we are going to put the loss to Oregon behind us and look towards the rest of the season. Coming out of the loss to the Ducks, there were some Buckeyes who played well in Eugene, hopefully sparking a second half surge. What we want to know today is which Ohio State player you are looking towards to have a strong second half of the regular season.
You’re Nuts: Which Buckeye is headed for a strong second half of the regular season?
We’d love to hear your choices. Either respond to us on Twitter at @Landgrant33 or leave your choice in the comments.
Brett’s answer: Gee Scott Jr.
From the opening play of Saturday night’s game, Gee Scott Jr. was locked in. Scott was in the right spot at the right time to catch the deflected Will Howard pass for a six-yard gain. Even though the gain wasn’t for much, the pass could have easily been intercepted if Scott hadn’t made a play on it. Scott would finish with three catches for 46 yards in the game.
Entering the Oregon game, Scott had four catches for 19 yards and score, with three of those catches and the touchdown coming in the win at Michigan State. The former wide receiver who transitioned to tight end is now just four catches and six yards from eclipsing his single-season highs of 10 catches and 70 yards, with both of those marks being set last year.
A little earlier this season I was critical of the production from the tight ends following the departure of Cade Stover. Scott has started to answer the call the last few games, with three catches in two of Ohio State’s last three contests. The Buckeyes don’t need Scott to be Stover when it comes to production, they just need him to be alert and available since he could see more targets if opposing defenses send more resources to cover Emeka Egbuka and Jeremiah Smith.
I feel like Scott could be a big factor down the stretch for the Buckeyes. Howard is becoming more comfortable throwing Scott the football. With his big body, Scott could be utilized even more in the passing game later in the season since he could deliver some punishing blows to opposing defenses. Also, Scott’s body size and soft hands could see him with more targets in the red zone.
The wide receivers and running backs are the stars of the Ohio State offense, there is no question about that. Scott will likely be doing a lot of the dirty work on the offense but he is becoming more of a threat to be used in the passing game and should continue to see targets going forward
Matt’s answer: Caden Curry
Gone are the days of Chase Young. Gone are the days of Nick Bosa. Gone are the days of Joey Bosa. Hell, gone are the days of Billy Bosa, Nick and Joey’s easily overlooked older brother who once had two sacks in a game against the South Florida Mauraders in the Broward County U12 Pee Wee Football League.
The Ohio State defensive line is seemingly incapable of generating sacks as currently constructed, so something’s gotta give. I don’t know if it’s Jim Knowles or Larry Johnson (although I have my suspicions), but the refusal to do anything other than ask the four defensive linemen to run straightforward and hope that their athleticism simply overwhelms the five or six offensive linemen standing in front of them ain’t cutting it.
We saw against Oregon yet another example of what happens when you cannot generate a pass rush to disrupt what a talented quarterback and wide receivers are doing. So, simply put, if Ohio State wants to win the Big Ten and national titles — which are both still very much in their grasp — they have to make a change up front on defense.
Whether that change is in personnel and/or scheme, is less important right now as is the willingness to make a change to begin with. Personally, I believe the scheme is the most important aspect of reasserting OSU’s pass rush as an integral part of their defensive approach, from disguising the rush to mixing up who is bringing pressure, from dropping linemen into coverage to blitzing linebackers and DBs, something must be done in order to change what’s happening along the line of scrimmage.
However, I also think that it is beyond time to start mixing up the rotation on the defensive line. I know that the starting defensive line of J.T. Tuimoloau, Ty Hamilton, Tyleik Williams, and Jack Sawyer is supremely talented, which is why I view their lack of production in this area more as a schematic and philosophical failure than anything else. However, as good as they may or may not be at stopping the run — individually or collectively — they need to be better at generating pressure.
I think that Jack and Tyleik have shown the most ability to do that, so I think that — in conjunction with changes in the play calls — Knowles and LJ need to get on the same page and start getting guys on the field who can bring more to the pass rush in key situations.
So, my pick for this article exercise is Cadden Curry, but I would honestly be good with Mitchell Melton, Kenyatta Jackson, Kayden McDonald, anyone who is going to pin their ears back and regularly force their way into the backfield and hit the quarterback. It would be a massive dereliction of duty for this coaching staff to squander four years of Justin Fields and C.J. Stroud at quarterback and another year with arguably the best roster in Ohio State history in a six-year period and not win a national title.
There are no excuses left, there are no more justifications available, there are no more rationalizations accepted, they simply must get the job done.
Continue reading...
LGHL Could special teams be Ohio State’s Achilles heel this season?
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Could special teams be Ohio State’s Achilles heel this season?
Jami Jurich via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Matthew Visinsky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
It’s time for special teams to start doing something if the Buckeyes want to remain title contenders.
The Buckeyes know they have work to do after their Oct. 12 road loss to Oregon, and while most eyes are understandably on the defense, there are also a number of improvements needed from the special teams unit heading into the back half of the season.
With teams like Penn State, Indiana, and Michigan looming just over the bye week horizon, the Buckeyes cannot afford special teams errors if they’re going to win out (and because of their loss, winning out becomes even more important now). Somewhat easy to overlook, special teams still have the power to completely change the tone of the game, for better or worse, and for the Buckeyes this year, it’s unfortunately been more of the latter.
The Buckeyes have struggled on special teams for a few years, but after Ryan Day parted with special teams coordinator Parker Fleming, fans hoped it would be the start of a new era. And the first game looked like it might be—we got glimpses of potential from a unit that has been mostly disappointing in recent memory.
Then it went south, with sloppy errors and mistakes from each phase of the unit: Muffed punts, three consecutive out-of-bounds kickoffs, the punting mediocre at best, and an onside kick recovered against them.
It turns out that Fleming was never the problem. Don’t get me wrong — I don’t think he was the solution either, but he certainly doesn’t hold sole responsibility for the chronic failings of a unit that has failed to right the ship in any meaningful way in his absence.
Now, the special teams unit must become an area of greater focus for them at season midpoint, or it could very well become their Achilles heel this year.
Take the three out-of-bounds kickoffs from kicker Jayden Fielding, for example. These came against Marshall, so the Buckeyes had a little margin for error, but each of these kickoffs gave Marshall the opportunity to start their drives at the 35-yard-line instead of the 25 (they also, for what it’s worth, resulted in Fielding being replaced mid-game). This kind of advantageous field position is one thing against the Thundering Herd but against a team like Penn State? That’s a free first down, something you absolutely cannot afford in a game that is sure to come down to the wire.
The Buckeyes don’t have room for sloppy mistakes in the rest of their schedule, and certainly, not costly special teams errors that compromise their field position, give the Nittany Lions free yards, or God forbid, result in turnovers.
Now, one area where we have to give Ohio State’s special teams some credit is field goal kicking. Fielding, for example, nailed a tough 40-yarder against Oregon in a game where every point mattered. He’ll need to keep his confidence there in the second half of the season.
And to be fair to the unit as a whole, they weren’t entirely the root of the problem against Oregon (that would, of course, be the defense), but they certainly didn’t solve many problems either.
The Oregon kickoff that hit Caleb Downs on the 41-yard line and resulted in a fumble comes to mind. The Ducks regained possession and immediately wound up on the Ohio State 9-yard line after a 32-yard deep ball from Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel to Traeshon Holden. In fact, the turnover would likely have proved more costly if Holden didn’t get himself ejected from the game shortly after for spitting on a Buckeye player, backing the Ducks up to the 25 and ultimately forcing them to settle for a field goal.
But when you lose the game by one point, you certainly have to wonder: If the special teams unit had gotten themselves on and off the field uneventfully, would the outcome of the game look different?
The pressure is on now for the Buckeyes to play their best football, something that becomes absolutely critical with one loss to their name already if they hope to remain in the national championship contention conversation. And in order to do that, special teams need to step up and be, well, something special.
That is to say, it’s not enough for them to be not a problem. They must actively be part of the solution, or you can bet a team like the Nittany Lions will exploit their weakness on the way to victory.
Continue reading...
Jami Jurich via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Matthew Visinsky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
It’s time for special teams to start doing something if the Buckeyes want to remain title contenders.
The Buckeyes know they have work to do after their Oct. 12 road loss to Oregon, and while most eyes are understandably on the defense, there are also a number of improvements needed from the special teams unit heading into the back half of the season.
With teams like Penn State, Indiana, and Michigan looming just over the bye week horizon, the Buckeyes cannot afford special teams errors if they’re going to win out (and because of their loss, winning out becomes even more important now). Somewhat easy to overlook, special teams still have the power to completely change the tone of the game, for better or worse, and for the Buckeyes this year, it’s unfortunately been more of the latter.
The Buckeyes have struggled on special teams for a few years, but after Ryan Day parted with special teams coordinator Parker Fleming, fans hoped it would be the start of a new era. And the first game looked like it might be—we got glimpses of potential from a unit that has been mostly disappointing in recent memory.
Then it went south, with sloppy errors and mistakes from each phase of the unit: Muffed punts, three consecutive out-of-bounds kickoffs, the punting mediocre at best, and an onside kick recovered against them.
It turns out that Fleming was never the problem. Don’t get me wrong — I don’t think he was the solution either, but he certainly doesn’t hold sole responsibility for the chronic failings of a unit that has failed to right the ship in any meaningful way in his absence.
Now, the special teams unit must become an area of greater focus for them at season midpoint, or it could very well become their Achilles heel this year.
Take the three out-of-bounds kickoffs from kicker Jayden Fielding, for example. These came against Marshall, so the Buckeyes had a little margin for error, but each of these kickoffs gave Marshall the opportunity to start their drives at the 35-yard-line instead of the 25 (they also, for what it’s worth, resulted in Fielding being replaced mid-game). This kind of advantageous field position is one thing against the Thundering Herd but against a team like Penn State? That’s a free first down, something you absolutely cannot afford in a game that is sure to come down to the wire.
The Buckeyes don’t have room for sloppy mistakes in the rest of their schedule, and certainly, not costly special teams errors that compromise their field position, give the Nittany Lions free yards, or God forbid, result in turnovers.
Now, one area where we have to give Ohio State’s special teams some credit is field goal kicking. Fielding, for example, nailed a tough 40-yarder against Oregon in a game where every point mattered. He’ll need to keep his confidence there in the second half of the season.
And to be fair to the unit as a whole, they weren’t entirely the root of the problem against Oregon (that would, of course, be the defense), but they certainly didn’t solve many problems either.
The Oregon kickoff that hit Caleb Downs on the 41-yard line and resulted in a fumble comes to mind. The Ducks regained possession and immediately wound up on the Ohio State 9-yard line after a 32-yard deep ball from Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel to Traeshon Holden. In fact, the turnover would likely have proved more costly if Holden didn’t get himself ejected from the game shortly after for spitting on a Buckeye player, backing the Ducks up to the 25 and ultimately forcing them to settle for a field goal.
But when you lose the game by one point, you certainly have to wonder: If the special teams unit had gotten themselves on and off the field uneventfully, would the outcome of the game look different?
The pressure is on now for the Buckeyes to play their best football, something that becomes absolutely critical with one loss to their name already if they hope to remain in the national championship contention conversation. And in order to do that, special teams need to step up and be, well, something special.
That is to say, it’s not enough for them to be not a problem. They must actively be part of the solution, or you can bet a team like the Nittany Lions will exploit their weakness on the way to victory.
Continue reading...
LGHL Thoughts, observations, and musings from Ohio State’s ugly preseason loss to No. 20 Cincinnati
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Thoughts, observations, and musings from Ohio State’s ugly preseason loss to No. 20 Cincinnati
Connor Lemons via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Albert Cesare/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
It’s going to be a long two weeks of practice for the Buckeyes after Friday night’s showing in Cincinnati.
For the first time in seven months, The Fighting Jake Dieblers took the floor in a real life basketball game as they traveled down I-71 south to take on the No. 20 Cincinnati Bearcats in a preseason exhibition game. Donations of $25,000 were made during a pregame ceremony to Jay’s Light, the Joe Burrow Foundation, and the Linder Center of Hope, and both teams came out on the floor together while the organizations were honored.
Jake Diebler went with a starting five of Bruce Thornton, Meechie Johnson, Micah Parrish, Evan Mahaffey, and Sean Stewart for the first of two preseason games the Buckeyes will play. Aaron Bradshaw, who transferred in from Kentucky this summer, will be Ohio State’s starting center this season, but missed Friday night’s game after taking an elbow to the head during a practice earlier in the week.
The Bearcats have missed the NCAA Tournament each of the past four seasons, but start the year at No. 20 in the AP Poll in large part because of how much they brought back. Cincinnati brings back four of their top six scorers from last year, including their top three — Dan Skillings, Simas Lukosius, and Day Day Thomas.
They looked the part of a ranked team, too, coming out and taking a 17-point lead on the Buckeyes late in the first half. Cincinnati looked like a team with some continuity and familiarity with each other, and Ohio State... well, they looked like a team with nine new players. Thanks to baskets by Ques Glover, Micah Parrish, and Devin Royal, Ohio State cut the 17-point lead to 10 at halftime, 41-31.
Cincinnati opened the second half on a 20-5 run that put this game out of hand with 10 minutes still left to go. Day Day Thomas stole the ball from Parrish with 8:28 remaining and dished it off to Cincinnati native and one-time Ohio State target Rayvon Griffith, who ran the floor and slammed it home to make it 63-36 Bearcats with 8:28 left to play.
Tonight’s final score from Fifth Third Arena: 80-62
Here are a few observations and takeaways from tonight’s charity exhibition game in Cincinnati:
Aside from the new faces, the theme of this summer was pace. Diebler wants to completely change the speed at which Ohio State plays. He wants to keep opposing teams on their toes, prevent opponents from setting up their defense, and just in general tire teams out.
However, you’d never have known that by watching the first half of Friday’s game. Wes Miller’s team out-Diebler’d Diebler’s team in the first half, racing out to a 26-12 lead within the first 10 minutes. The Bearcats looked bigger, tougher, and much more together than Ohio State did. There were several possessions in the first half where the ball would wind up in someone’s hands with seven or eight seconds left on the shot clock, and that player would wind up dribbling the ball out and taking a contested shot at the buzzer — very little ball movement.
Stewart played just over eight minutes per game last year and was mostly a rim-runner, making sure to be available under the basket for offensive rebounds, easy dunks, and what not. Part of his reason for transferring was to show that he could do more than that, and he showed a little bit of that expanded bag Friday night.
1:15 into the game, Stewart caught a pass on the right wing from Thornton, shot faked to get his defender in the air, and then drove to the basket, where he was met by another defender at the rack. Stewart went right into his chest, took the contact, and then scored over him to give Ohio State its first basket of the game.
Stewart won’t start at center this year, but there will be times with Bradshaw on the bench when Stewart will slide over and play that position. The mobility and athleticism isn’t something Ohio State had at the center position last year with Felix Okpara.
Ohio State’s starting lineup looks set for the most part (assuming Bradshaw is good to go in two weeks for Texas), but we were still interested in who was the first, second, third, and fourth sub of the game, as well as who appeared to have the leg-up on the depth chart.
A few observations:
Okay, this might seem like an obvious one, but some teams can get away with not being great three-point shooting teams if they’re great at other things. Last year’s Houston team finished the year No. 2 in KenPom and made it to the Sweet Sixteen while only shooting 34.7% from three. But the Cougars rebounded the heck out of the ball, were tough as nails, and have been one of the better defensive teams for the past half-decade.
On Friday night, Ohio State was not good when they tried to shoot the long ball, were the far less physical team, and struggled mightily to defend — especially on the perimeter. If Ohio State isn’t going to drastically improve their defense from the last few seasons, then it will have to shoot the ball much better moving forward. You can maybe survive struggling in one of those areas, but not all of those areas.
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
Albert Cesare/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
It’s going to be a long two weeks of practice for the Buckeyes after Friday night’s showing in Cincinnati.
For the first time in seven months, The Fighting Jake Dieblers took the floor in a real life basketball game as they traveled down I-71 south to take on the No. 20 Cincinnati Bearcats in a preseason exhibition game. Donations of $25,000 were made during a pregame ceremony to Jay’s Light, the Joe Burrow Foundation, and the Linder Center of Hope, and both teams came out on the floor together while the organizations were honored.
Jake Diebler went with a starting five of Bruce Thornton, Meechie Johnson, Micah Parrish, Evan Mahaffey, and Sean Stewart for the first of two preseason games the Buckeyes will play. Aaron Bradshaw, who transferred in from Kentucky this summer, will be Ohio State’s starting center this season, but missed Friday night’s game after taking an elbow to the head during a practice earlier in the week.
The Bearcats have missed the NCAA Tournament each of the past four seasons, but start the year at No. 20 in the AP Poll in large part because of how much they brought back. Cincinnati brings back four of their top six scorers from last year, including their top three — Dan Skillings, Simas Lukosius, and Day Day Thomas.
They looked the part of a ranked team, too, coming out and taking a 17-point lead on the Buckeyes late in the first half. Cincinnati looked like a team with some continuity and familiarity with each other, and Ohio State... well, they looked like a team with nine new players. Thanks to baskets by Ques Glover, Micah Parrish, and Devin Royal, Ohio State cut the 17-point lead to 10 at halftime, 41-31.
Cincinnati opened the second half on a 20-5 run that put this game out of hand with 10 minutes still left to go. Day Day Thomas stole the ball from Parrish with 8:28 remaining and dished it off to Cincinnati native and one-time Ohio State target Rayvon Griffith, who ran the floor and slammed it home to make it 63-36 Bearcats with 8:28 left to play.
Tonight’s final score from Fifth Third Arena: 80-62
Here are a few observations and takeaways from tonight’s charity exhibition game in Cincinnati:
Which team is supposed to be going fast, again?
Aside from the new faces, the theme of this summer was pace. Diebler wants to completely change the speed at which Ohio State plays. He wants to keep opposing teams on their toes, prevent opponents from setting up their defense, and just in general tire teams out.
However, you’d never have known that by watching the first half of Friday’s game. Wes Miller’s team out-Diebler’d Diebler’s team in the first half, racing out to a 26-12 lead within the first 10 minutes. The Bearcats looked bigger, tougher, and much more together than Ohio State did. There were several possessions in the first half where the ball would wind up in someone’s hands with seven or eight seconds left on the shot clock, and that player would wind up dribbling the ball out and taking a contested shot at the buzzer — very little ball movement.
Sean Stewart is a different kind of big
Stewart played just over eight minutes per game last year and was mostly a rim-runner, making sure to be available under the basket for offensive rebounds, easy dunks, and what not. Part of his reason for transferring was to show that he could do more than that, and he showed a little bit of that expanded bag Friday night.
1:15 into the game, Stewart caught a pass on the right wing from Thornton, shot faked to get his defender in the air, and then drove to the basket, where he was met by another defender at the rack. Stewart went right into his chest, took the contact, and then scored over him to give Ohio State its first basket of the game.
Stewart won’t start at center this year, but there will be times with Bradshaw on the bench when Stewart will slide over and play that position. The mobility and athleticism isn’t something Ohio State had at the center position last year with Felix Okpara.
Depth Chart hints
Ohio State’s starting lineup looks set for the most part (assuming Bradshaw is good to go in two weeks for Texas), but we were still interested in who was the first, second, third, and fourth sub of the game, as well as who appeared to have the leg-up on the depth chart.
A few observations:
- John Mobley Jr. was the first player to sub in for Ohio State, 3:24 into the game
- Ivan Njegovan subbed in before Austin Parks
- With Bradshaw out, it was Mahaffey that drew the start at the four, with Stewart sliding to the five.
- “Preferred walk-on” Ques Glover played nine minutes in the first half, while John Mobley Jr. played 10 minutes in the first half
- Ohio State started the second half with Thornton, Mobley, and Johnson all on the floor together
Ohio State will not be good if the shooting is not better
Okay, this might seem like an obvious one, but some teams can get away with not being great three-point shooting teams if they’re great at other things. Last year’s Houston team finished the year No. 2 in KenPom and made it to the Sweet Sixteen while only shooting 34.7% from three. But the Cougars rebounded the heck out of the ball, were tough as nails, and have been one of the better defensive teams for the past half-decade.
On Friday night, Ohio State was not good when they tried to shoot the long ball, were the far less physical team, and struggled mightily to defend — especially on the perimeter. If Ohio State isn’t going to drastically improve their defense from the last few seasons, then it will have to shoot the ball much better moving forward. You can maybe survive struggling in one of those areas, but not all of those areas.
Continue reading...