2025-2026 Ohio State Men's Basketball
- By DZ83CK
- Buckeye Basketball
- 300 Replies
Yeah, you can't necessarily say any game is going to be an easy W for this team, as they have to bring their "A" effort even to win at "lowly" Maryland and PSU. When you're capable of being had in the paint and not particularly blessed with many physical specimens who can play lock down D, you've got to play like your hair is on fire as some would say. Defense travels, and that's been the weaker area for this team, so it's only natural that getting road wins is going to be a dicey proposition.With 11 games left I think if they can win 5 of them they probably get in
The pitfalls are @ Maryland and @ Ped State, they pretty much have to win those 2 games. Maryland is 159th in NET and Ped State is 129th
Win those 2 and you gotta win 3 between @ Wisconsin, Michigan, USC, Virginia, Wisconsin, @ Sparty, @ Iowa, Purdue and Indiana
Thad Matta, while he struggled recruiting at the end, clearly knew what types of players he needed to win at the OSU level, and on literally every team he always had one starter who was a defensive ace that would help get big stops. When he recruited bigs, he went for the long and athletic big who provided rim protection & was adept at securing rebounds (things we don't really have right now). Additionally, his "defend without fouling" philosophy generally led to opponents getting fewer points the easy way. I don't think it's a coincidence that a good part of the struggles that OSU has had in recent years have been on defense, and the team has just not had the type of talent and emphasis that there was in the vintage Matta years.
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