• 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!
  • Consider registering! Fewer and higher quality ads, no emails you don't want, access to all the forums, download game torrents, private messages, polls, Sportsbook, etc. Even if you just want to lurk, there are a lot of good reasons to register!

2018-2019 Ohio State Men's Basketball (Official Thread)

i think potter will be a starter at the beginning of the season, but i don't think he'll remain a starter as the staff works through different lineups. the only way i can see potter sticking as a starter is if he proves two things: 1) that he is not a liability when guarding stretch 4s and perimeter picks and 2) that he can be a consistent and reliable threat beyond the arc. otherwise, our defense will be swiss cheese and opposing defenses will just smother kaleb by laying off of potter. for the most part, the value i place on potter is his ability to hit 3s. he does have a good shot. i wish i could say that i have not given up on his ability to be a good defender, but...

edit: thought about it. slept on it. potter to start at the start of the season? yeah, that's a no for me, dawg.
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0
answers the question, as of this moment, where Micah will be playing this coming season
The one lineup wrinkle we didn't see Tuesday that I was curious about was if Micah Potter and Kaleb Wesson would play together. They didn't. Potter played center in a lineup with Kyle Young at forward.
Kaleb Wesson's expanding game and more Ohio State basketball observations ahead of Buckeyes' Spain trip

And the full-court press starting five :wink:
* Lineups were kind of all over the place during Tuesday's practice, which was expected. One that was interesting, though, put four guards around freshmen forward Jaedon LeDee. The guards were Woods, Musa Jallow, Luther Muhammad and Justin Ahrens.
 
Upvote 0
CHRIS HOLTMANN HOPES TRIP TO SPAIN IS AS MUCH ABOUT EDUCATION AS IT IS ABOUT BASKETBALL



For a young team entering just its second year under a new head coach, it seems obvious that Ohio State's trip to Spain is more about team cohesion than anything else.

While that is likely the case, Chris Holtmann still wants his team to focus on another aspect of the trip; the educational portion.

Basketball seems to be third on the list behind team chemistry and educating his players on this trip, and that is all right with Holtmann, who said Tuesday that he is excited to see how his players react to a new environment.

"Education is kind of a broad term, but I think the more educated we all can be, the better," he said. "When you get a chance to experience a different culture and talk to people from a different country who see things in a different way than you do and grew up differently, I think there are advantages to all of that.

"It's a little bit like going on a trip with your kids and you are anxious to see how they respond to seeing a new place and how much they enjoy it."

The Buckeyes ship off for Spain on Wednesday morning and will return on Aug. 11. While overseas, they are set to play three games in three cities. First, Ohio State will travel to Madrid and take on the Madrid Generals on Aug. 4. Three days later, they will make the trek to Valencia to take on the Valencia All-Stars on Aug. 7, before closing with a trip to Barcelona and playing the Catalan All-Stars on Aug. 9.

As far as the basketball portion for Ohio State, Holtmann said that he plans on tinkering with a variety of different lineups as he continues to get to know his players both on and off the floor.

Florida State transfer CJ Walker is staying back from the trip and spending time with family, which will give the players who are eligible to play this season a greater chance to develop chemistry on the court. Holtmann said he plans to give the upperclassmen the first chance at starting on the trip, before filling in with younger players behind them.

"Lineups will really vary. I think I will start the juniors and seniors that first game," Holtmann said. "We will start three different lineups and we will play everybody equal time, because we are still learning about our team. We don't know enough to say, 'These are our five starters.'"

Entire article: https://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio...uch-about-education-as-it-is-about-basketball
 
Upvote 0
watched the practice. not much you can glean from very little very early, but...

kaleb is far more spry than he was last season. he doesn't look (much) stronger, but he can move far better. his feet actually shuffled on closeouts. the lateral movement is much better. also, coach says he wants to see more of a 3-point shot from kaleb. we're going to see it.

ledee might not have done much on the practice stat sheet, but on defense he does not move like a freshman. he's quick and decisive. the offense may just be put-backs and one-steps, but i absolutely think there are minutes for him this season. nobody on the team brings what he does, and that's the trio of size, exceptional strength, and the ability to break down as he closes out from the post position.

i'm a bit skeptical of jackson and woods together if the 3 and/or the 4 won't break down a defense on a drive. those two guys need complementary players to set them up. they can shoot, but they're not the best at creating their own shots. of course, we already knew that heading into the season.

one thing i look for in a freshman is immediate comfortability. some players just know they belong the moment they put on a new jersey. diebler was a prolific shooter in high school and an opposing coach (izzo?) knew regardless of jon's freshman season that he was going to break conference records. but diebler showed up questioning if he belonged. duane washington, however, looks like he knows he belongs. again, it was just an early practice, but he carries himself like it's already year two or three. ask his sierra canyon teammates and they'll tell you that duane had confidence in himself from day one despite a new environment. all of that together, i think duane is going to get good minutes right off the bat. he'll probably run plenty of point so that jackson can fill the natural 2.

andre definitely looks slimmer. last season, he understandably started with a belly. i'm not sure about his outside shot (though he was a good perimeter shooter in high school), but the off-the-dribble game should be there. not saying he'll average 10+, but i wouldn't be surprised if he's the 3rd of 4th leading scorer. he'll certainly get the minutes to be that guy.

it's a surprise to pretty much no one, but muhammad's defense and penetration game will garner minutes. i think he'll prove to be starter-worthy by january, but the concern is safeguarding the ball. he still reminds me of recruit elijah weaver in that both handle the ball too far away from their bodies. at least on offense, he played like he was in his head.

jallow and ahrens. i just don't know. it's early.

young and potter. i just don't know. not much may separate them, but either or both will probably get decent minutes. i still like young's upside, but until he can play without looking like he's always doing long division in his head, well...

we'll see how it goes with walker. he didn't stand out too much, but we're a year and a few months from him getting minutes that matter. to be honest, i didn't keep my eyes on him as much because of that.

to sum up all of the above, well... it's the beginning of august. my observations mean nothing.
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0
The defense was much further along compared to the offense, which is expected this time of year. This roster doesn’t have the length of Matta’s team, but they are going to dig in and be in your jersey for 40 minutes.

Unfortunately, I look up and down the roster and don’t see where the offense improves and points come from.

Very very early.
 
Upvote 0
Thanks for sharing, guys, and from what I've seen I agree with a lot these insights.

I think offense is going to be a struggle. Duane Washington could prove a valuable guy off the bench because of his offensive ability but also he is more athletic than CJ and Keyshawn. I do think that one of Jallow or Muhammad is going to need to be on the court at all times for perimeter defense purposes.
 
Upvote 0
Back
Top