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- Thread starter OSU_Buckguy
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LitlBuck
Kevin Warren is an ass
I do not know where to put this because it could go in the recruiting forum but since it is more pertinent to this season I will put it here. While I am pleased that the Buckeyes are currently undefeated, I am also somewhat concerned. Holtmann is playing about 9-10 guys right now and I do not think that can continue. Some guys are going to get unhappy about how many minutes they are getting and at what point in the game they play. We have some major depth (damn good players) who are not starting and are really not getting that many meaningful minutes. Carton and Liddell are big time recruits and might think that they should be playing more minutes than they are currently getting. Same is probably true of Washington but since he is starting that might be a wash. Same might be true of Muhammed. It will be interesting to see how Holtmann handles the playing time of his roster excluding Ahrens, Diallo and Gaffney
I can understand Holtmann starting Washington ahead of Andre because Washington is a better outside shooter and might help the team get off to a better start but the fact that Andre is the only senior on the roster has to mean something that I think he is really a team player so it might not bother as much initially.
I do not know maybe when we start playing all conference games the playing time for certain guys will be more defined but it will be interesting to see how Holtmann handles it especially since he has oversigned scholarships plus a transfer (Sueing) sitting out this season. Some guys are bound to get unhappy. I do not know maybe I am being over concerned and the entire team just cares about winning and not playing as much. I hope that is the case.
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OSU_Buckguy
Head Coach
the way that i see it is that osu currently goes 8-deep in meaningful games, though gaffney has gotten some spare minutes. ahrens played some meaningful minutes against cincy, but he played no meaningful minutes against nova and unc. i do agree that ho1tmann has 10 players he can go to if need be. moreover, i'm confident that we'd be 10-deep if jallow were healthy and if ahrens hadn't lost time.
as far as the players' possible responses to lesser minutes, i think it's less of an issue because the guy who is getting the most minutes is averaging only 25.3, while the guy who is getting the least (among those in regular rotation) is averaging 16.5. for the most part, everyone is on equal footing. if carton is upset that he's averaging 21.9 minutes versus walker's 22.8, then dj is a headcase, which i definitely don't think is the case. carton and walker's stats are very similar. carton gets the edge on scoring and playmaking, but walker gets the edge on defense. if the players don't know that ho1tmann will always default to defense, then that's on them.
as i've noted before, i love watching bench reactions. gaffney and ahrens are our biggest cheerleaders. as quiet and timid as gaffney is on the court, he really gets into it off the court. that's a great sign. many of the players have remarked during the season that the team chemistry is strong. that shouldn't be a surprise because that's what ho1tmann has been building. he looks for players to buy in -- that is, to buy in to each other.
now with all that being said, am i expecting that no one will transfer after this season? no, i'm not. i won't and can't single out any player as a probable transfer, but it's just the nature of the game that players want to play.
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OSU_Buckguy
Head Coach
also noteworthy is that muhammad barely played yesterday due to foul (and ballhandling) troubles, but you'd never guess it from his bench reactions. don't think there is anyone on the team who loves his team more than luther.
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ScriptOhio
Everybody is somebody else's weirdo.
OPINION: OHIO STATE FOOTBALL AND BASKETBALL BOTH PLAYING WITH SOMETHING TO PROVE
Motivation is a funny thing in sports.
While it can fuel incredible victories in appropriate amounts, a deficit or excess can create astounding losses.
Yet there’s no way to quantify it. Its levels can be speculated, analyzed and discussed until the narratives around “trap games,” “playing for a purpose” and “having a chip on their shoulder” are chewed up and spit out a thousand times over.
But given the results, Ohio State has shown it has the United States’ most motivated team in the country’s two most popular collegiate sports. For similar reasons, too — both the football and men’s basketball teams are playing with something to prove.
“Every time we play, we want to make a statement,” sophomore quarterback Justin Fields said after the football team’s win against then-No. 13 Wisconsin Oct. 26. “Of course the teams hear that we’re tough. They hear that we’re good, but we want to prove it and go out on the field and prove it to them.”
Ohio State’s No. 1 football team stands 12-0 with a Big Ten title game looming, and its No. 6 men’s basketball team is sure to move into the top 5 after a 74-49 dismantling of No. 7 North Carolina in the Tar Heels’ home arena, pending a win against Penn State Saturday.
Both teams took wildly different paths to get to a point of proving national relevance.
Six years have passed since the Buckeyes last finished outside the Associated Press Poll’s top 10 for football. However, since capturing a national title in 2014, three College Football Playoff-caliber Ohio State squads have fallen victim to an upset that prevented their shots at a national title.
In 2015, No. 9 Michigan State knocked off the defending national champions in Columbus 17-14. Two unranked schools, Iowa and Purdue, pulled out upsets against the Buckeyes in 2017 and 2018, respectively.
Now, being led by first-year head coach Ryan Day and a first-year starter at quarterback in Fields, the Buckeyes came into this season trying to prove that former head coach Urban Meyer’s retirement doesn’t mean they will disappear from playoff contention.
By avoiding those scarring upsets like a gold-and-black death and turning around its worst-in-program-history total defense to be No. 1 in the country, it seems Ohio State has obtained that proof.
“We don’t want to be that team that just slips up one week and ends up costing us our whole season,” sophomore tight end Jeremy Ruckert said following the football team’s victory against Maryland Nov. 9. “We really have that in the back of our minds every week. It’s like March Madness.”
Meanwhile, in the same six-year timeframe, Ohio State men’s basketball had spent just one week ranked inside the AP top 10 entering the 2019-20 season.
In fact, for former head coach Thad Matta’s final two years leading the program, the team wasn’t ranked at all.
When Chris Holtmann took over the reins for Matta before the 2017-18 campaign, it was clear a lot of work was needed to return the team to its Final Four glories of 2007 or 2012, the latter of which came during a run of four consecutive Sweet 16 appearances.
With two top 10 wins by at least 25 points in eight games to open this season, Ohio State is out to prove that work is nearing success. No other team in college basketball history has beaten two top 10 teams by 25 points prior to conference tournament play.
“We’re very hungry,” freshman guard D.J. Carton said after a win against then-No. 10 Villanova Nov. 13. “We’ve been very hungry all season long, and I think we have things to prove. We’ve got a lot of things to learn, a lot of things to build upon, but I feel like we’re playing pretty good basketball right now, and we’re playing together as a unit.”
Both teams now stare down the barrel of potential program-defining seasons. Football is three wins from a national title, while basketball’s hot start gives it legitimate Final Four hype for the first time in seven years.
Accomplishing such tasks would demonstrate to the sporting world that Ohio State’s football program is flourishing more than ever under new management, and its basketball program is back to national relevance.
Those achievements aren’t possible, however, without the fuel provided by the need to prove something.
Entire article: https://www.thelantern.com/2019/12/...ketball-both-playing-with-something-to-prove/
Motivation is a funny thing in sports.
While it can fuel incredible victories in appropriate amounts, a deficit or excess can create astounding losses.
Yet there’s no way to quantify it. Its levels can be speculated, analyzed and discussed until the narratives around “trap games,” “playing for a purpose” and “having a chip on their shoulder” are chewed up and spit out a thousand times over.
But given the results, Ohio State has shown it has the United States’ most motivated team in the country’s two most popular collegiate sports. For similar reasons, too — both the football and men’s basketball teams are playing with something to prove.
“Every time we play, we want to make a statement,” sophomore quarterback Justin Fields said after the football team’s win against then-No. 13 Wisconsin Oct. 26. “Of course the teams hear that we’re tough. They hear that we’re good, but we want to prove it and go out on the field and prove it to them.”
Ohio State’s No. 1 football team stands 12-0 with a Big Ten title game looming, and its No. 6 men’s basketball team is sure to move into the top 5 after a 74-49 dismantling of No. 7 North Carolina in the Tar Heels’ home arena, pending a win against Penn State Saturday.
Both teams took wildly different paths to get to a point of proving national relevance.
Six years have passed since the Buckeyes last finished outside the Associated Press Poll’s top 10 for football. However, since capturing a national title in 2014, three College Football Playoff-caliber Ohio State squads have fallen victim to an upset that prevented their shots at a national title.
In 2015, No. 9 Michigan State knocked off the defending national champions in Columbus 17-14. Two unranked schools, Iowa and Purdue, pulled out upsets against the Buckeyes in 2017 and 2018, respectively.
Now, being led by first-year head coach Ryan Day and a first-year starter at quarterback in Fields, the Buckeyes came into this season trying to prove that former head coach Urban Meyer’s retirement doesn’t mean they will disappear from playoff contention.
By avoiding those scarring upsets like a gold-and-black death and turning around its worst-in-program-history total defense to be No. 1 in the country, it seems Ohio State has obtained that proof.
“We don’t want to be that team that just slips up one week and ends up costing us our whole season,” sophomore tight end Jeremy Ruckert said following the football team’s victory against Maryland Nov. 9. “We really have that in the back of our minds every week. It’s like March Madness.”
Meanwhile, in the same six-year timeframe, Ohio State men’s basketball had spent just one week ranked inside the AP top 10 entering the 2019-20 season.
In fact, for former head coach Thad Matta’s final two years leading the program, the team wasn’t ranked at all.
When Chris Holtmann took over the reins for Matta before the 2017-18 campaign, it was clear a lot of work was needed to return the team to its Final Four glories of 2007 or 2012, the latter of which came during a run of four consecutive Sweet 16 appearances.
With two top 10 wins by at least 25 points in eight games to open this season, Ohio State is out to prove that work is nearing success. No other team in college basketball history has beaten two top 10 teams by 25 points prior to conference tournament play.
“We’re very hungry,” freshman guard D.J. Carton said after a win against then-No. 10 Villanova Nov. 13. “We’ve been very hungry all season long, and I think we have things to prove. We’ve got a lot of things to learn, a lot of things to build upon, but I feel like we’re playing pretty good basketball right now, and we’re playing together as a unit.”
Both teams now stare down the barrel of potential program-defining seasons. Football is three wins from a national title, while basketball’s hot start gives it legitimate Final Four hype for the first time in seven years.
Accomplishing such tasks would demonstrate to the sporting world that Ohio State’s football program is flourishing more than ever under new management, and its basketball program is back to national relevance.
Those achievements aren’t possible, however, without the fuel provided by the need to prove something.
Entire article: https://www.thelantern.com/2019/12/...ketball-both-playing-with-something-to-prove/
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OhioState001
Tressel Loyalist
At Minnesota, quick turnaround to play back home against SEMO two days later, then fly out to Vegas to play UK on Saturday.
Busy week.
Busy week.
Last edited:
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