• 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!

2019-2020 Ohio State Men's Basketball (Official Thread)

Everyone is welcome to join us on our quiet little corner of BP called the Hockey Thread: ranked 6th in the country, leading the B1G and headed for their 4th NCAA appearance in a row.
Gene Smith got lucky on that coaching hire because he hired the wrong guy but the wrong guy brought the right guy with him as an assistant. When the wrong guy got fired, the right guy got elevated to take his place.
 
Upvote 0
I can't get over seeing Ohio State tied for 12th place in the Big Ten after being #1 in the NET and #1 in KenPom and 11-1 to start the year.

Amazing that Ohio State is still ranked all the way up at #22 in the NET and #14 in KenPom.

Those 2 heart breaking home losses are the killers in this league.
 
Upvote 0
They're still listing Ohio State as a quality win for IU, so I guess we have that going for us, which is nice.

source.gif


You get a quality win! And you get a quality win! And you get a quality win!
 
Upvote 0
COLUMN: NOT HOT, NOT COLD: OHIO STATE MEN’S BASKETBALL INCHING TOWARD ITS MEAN

IMG_5169-1fqyypv-530x353.jpg


Ohio State had no choice. It simply had to beat Northwestern Sunday.

In the Big Ten, the chance to play a 6-13 Wildcat team is the closest thing to a “gimme” the Buckeyes will get the rest of the way.

Well, that and Nebraska: the only teams beneath Ohio State in the conference standings and the only teams the Buckeyes have beaten since Christmas.

The Buckeyes’ 71-59 victory in Evanston, Illinois, over the weekend was no cause for over-celebratory exuberance –– though it seems Ohio State wins are coming fewer and farther between –– because it was supposed to happen.

Losing the game would have been a stronger indication about the team’s status than winning, but that doesn’t mean there was nothing positive the Buckeyes can take away.

After a heart-wrenching three-point loss to Minnesota Thursday, Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann made several references –– even if ambiguous –– to the “steps forward” the team took in the contest.

It may sound disheartening that the coach of the one-time No. 2 team in the country would be discussing silver linings in a loss to a middle-of-the-pack Big Ten opponent six weeks later, but Holtmann’s assessment seems to be holding up in the short term.

For the first time during Ohio State’s slump –– save a blowout win against Nebraska –– the Buckeyes’ supporting cast clicked on offense for most of the Minnesota matchup.

It wasn’t his teammates’ output, but the near nullification of junior forward Kaleb Wesson’s offensive game in the second-lowest scoring performance of his career that likely sabotaged Ohio State’s chance at a win.

The team shot better than 51 percent without him, and redshirt junior guard CJ Walker, sophomore guard Duane Washington and junior forward Kyle Young all outscored their season averages.

However, one issue that has plagued the Buckeyes all season was once again underscored in the game’s final minutes.

While Minnesota redshirt sophomore guard Marcus Carr was able to conjure magic off the dribble to score the final five points of the game, it became evident once again that the Buckeyes have no such equivalent on their roster.

Though officiating made it increasingly difficult to feed Kaleb Wesson in the low post at the end of games, his sparing late-game looks have been misfires from 3.

No Ohio State guard, nor any Buckeye except Young, could score a point in the final six minutes of the game.

Instead, it was three missed shots from Washington, who all too often plays the role of Ohio State’s go-to option late despite diminishing returns, and two 3-point misses from Kaleb Wesson.

It was that area in which Holtmann might have felt the Buckeyes finally took a step toward improving against Northwestern.

Kaleb Wesson turned in another below-average performance Sunday, but he wasn’t even on the court in the game’s deciding minutes due to foul trouble.

Entire article: https://www.thelantern.com/2020/01/...tate-mens-basketball-inching-toward-its-mean/
 
Upvote 0
SKULL SESSION: SMALL BALL WORKED FOR CHRIS HOLTMANN AND THE BUCKEYES, DAWAND JONES PLAYS BASKETBALL TO STAY IN SHAPE, AND RICHARD SHERMAN FEUDS WITH JIM HARBAUGH


SMALL LINEUP, BIG RESULTS.
Ohio State's been struggling to find much rhythm offensively the past few weeks, but they might have found a way to help solve that puzzle during their road win against Northwestern this past week – play small.

For the bulk of the last two seasons, center Kaleb Wesson has been an irreplaceable part of any success the Buckeyes men’s basketball team has enjoyed. When Wesson picked up his fourth foul with 7:35 to play Sunday and Ohio State hanging onto a six-point lead at Northwestern, his teammates had to figure out how to win without him.

Their response might have given coach Chris Holtmann another option as the season continues. With their leading scorer and rebounder on the bench and no true center on the roster ready to step in, Ohio State pulled away from the Wildcats by going small.

It wasn’t the first time the Buckeyes had done so this season, but it might have been the most effective.

“We’ve done that a few times before where we’ve had to play without him,” Holtmann said of Wesson. “He gives us such a presence, and teams game plan so much for him that we just felt like we were going to play smaller, and once that group was rolling when we went smaller we just decided to stay with it.”

...

“There’s just a little bit more player movement,” Holtmann said. “Your offense can get stagnant at times when you’re playing around a big and kind of force-feeding in a lot of ways.”

I think the trick, in general, is to just not get locked into one thing and beat each team how they're letting you beat them. Small ball worked against Northwestern, when the Wildcats were basically begging Ohio State to shoot wide open threes (shoutout to Justin Ahrens), but I'm going to lose my mind if they start free hoisting from deep if Kaleb Wesson has a size advantage down low.

TL;DR, find mismatches and exploit them. Sports!

Entire article: https://www.elevenwarriors.com/skul...awand-jones-plays-basketball-to-stay-in-shape
 
Upvote 0
Back
Top