Making the NIT is not successful. That's par for the course for this group the last few years. A well-coached Buckeye team last year was easily NIT material, and should have been NCAA-bound. Assuming Holtmann can bring some new life, this team should absolutely make the NCAA.
CJ Jackson is a legitimate 1, as he proved at the end of last year.
Kam is solid, if streaky at 2.
Tate and KBD should get B1G honors.
Wesson should be serviceable.
Potter should get 2 or 3 threes a game, besides growing as an interior presence.
All three freshmen show the ability to give a solid 10+ minutes a game if needed.
Assuming we just shelled out 24 million dollars for a top talent as a coach, I will be disappointed if we DON'T make the NCAA. We are thin at back-up PG, that's about it. This team can win 20 games.
Robert Morris, Radford, Texas Southern, Northeastern, Willam-Mary, Appalachian State, Citadel and Miami are 8 wins. Clemson game is in Columbus. Gonzaga and UNC are likely L's.
A 9-2 Buckeye team in the B1G could still get 11 from the B1G schedule plus one in the tourney. We get Rutgers and Penn State twice, and Nebraska at home. If this team is up for it, we can take that step back toward being respectable again right off the bat.
It would be a success this year to make the NIT.
- define "legitimate" pg? Meaning that he is a pg, is one of the top pgs in the conference, or somewhere in between? I think he's a very average b1g pg. He shot well the last 4 games or so, but poorly for the prior 25, so which is more likely the baseline? His shot is a little on the ugly side (too much arc, too little rotation), so I think he's probably a 33% shooter or so from three. He handles the ball fine and has a good feel for the game, but isn't a creator. We also have no backup PG (it seems our first choice as a backup is a guy that played the 4 last year)
- kam is streaky and hasn't shown the ability to do much on offense other than shoot. Now, if he shoots the ball very well and consistently, then it would help elevate the team, but as you say, he's streaky and I don't really expect to see much different than we've seen the past 3 years.
- I really like Tate as a player, but if he can't shoot, he hurts the offensive flow and makes us an easier team to defend. He's probably the top guy on the team that can get is own points and you know you will always get great effort. I have no idea what to expect from kbd. I think Holts style should suit him better and unlike some, I think seeing him move more to the high and low post will be a good move.
- I assume the wesson you are referring to is kaleb and I have no idea what to expect from him. He has a good feel for the game and good all around skills, but his lack of athleticism concerns me. I think he will have issues with fouls and defending.
you didn't mention young or jallow and these are a couple of guys that I'm interested to see. Unfortunately they are playing behind our 2 best players.
again, the big concern is our roster makeup. We have 1 pg, 1 sg and 2 centers. Only having 2 guards on the roster is going to be an issue in a lot of games. I think we are going to face a lot of defensive pressure and the least bit of foul trouble at any of these 3 positions causes us major problems.
I won't say this team can't win 20 games. The non-conf has some challenging games, but a good number of cupcakes. you did leave out a couple of games we will get in the pk80 tourney. I think we go 1-2 out there, lose to unc and them 1, maybe 2 more in the non-conf. The collection of college basketball experts have us pegged to be 11th or 12th in conference (high of 9, low of 13, median of 12). That would mean they are projecting us to have somewhere around 6-8 wins in conference. could we win more? sure, but right now, the expectations are for a bit of a rough go in the conference.
