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2024-2025 Ohio State Men's Basketball

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Ohio State Aiming for Better Paint Efficiency, Offensive Rebounding and Consistency From Center Position​

By Andy Anders on February 11, 2025 at 8:35 am @andyanders55
Sean Stewart

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It’s not that Ohio State has been playing bad basketball recently.
Far from it. The Buckeyes are winners of four of their past six games, even if they’ve lost two of their past three contests. Those were road defeats to Illinois and Nebraska, two teams with a combined 20-5 record at home this year.
Still, there’s another level Jake Diebler and his team want to get to as they return home for a trio of games after playing three of their last four contests in hostile environments. While there’s always improvements to be made across the board, there’s one position Ohio State could use more production from – center.
“I think our collective frontcourt in general has another level to get to and it raises our ceiling tremendously if they can get there,” Diebler said. “I was disappointed last game in our efficiency in the paint, felt like we could have been more efficient. And then our offensive rebounding, with Devin (Royal) not being out there when he was (against Nebraska), not being full strength. We needed someone to step into those roles and we didn't do it well enough.”

The Buckeyes have started Duke transfer Sean Stewart at the 5 position most of the season, and lately he’s rotated with Kentucky transfer Aaron Bradshaw and freshman Ivan Njegovan. That’s both to try to match up with Big Ten bigs and because Stewart and Bradshaw have been in consistent foul trouble.
Stewart took 13 minutes to foul out in Ohio State’s most recent loss to Nebraska and is averaging 3.5 personal fouls in 17.9 minutes per game. Bradshaw fouled out in his third most recent game and averages 2.7 personals in 17.7 minutes.
In Ohio State’s last three games, its centers have averaged more combined fouls (6 per game) than points (4) or rebounds (4.3), shooting 29.4% from the field. Stewart was out for the first of those contests at Illinois and Bradshaw the second against No. 18 Maryland, but the full trio combined to shoot 1-of-8 with seven rebounds and eight fouls at Nebraska.
Diebler sees two top areas he wants his frontcourt to improve: Offensive rebounding and efficiency in the paint. Out of the three men who are playing the 5 regularly for the Buckeyes, none average more than 1.2 offensive boards per game.
“Part of offensive rebounding a lot of times is motor and physicality and stuff,” Diebler said. “But I think in general when we're inefficient in the paint, we're sped up. We're playing too fast. Last night (against Nebraska) for example, when I was talking to those guys, they don't have someone who's going to just go block your shot out of the air. Take your time, play off two feet, you don't need to rush and try to beat someone to the rim because they're not a high shot-blocking team like some other teams we may play.”

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Ohio State Aiming for Better Paint Efficiency, Offensive Rebounding and Consistency From Center Position

More consistent production from the center position is key to Ohio State's next step as a team with less than a month remaining in the regular season.
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Being a supreme 'fouler' in HS, can attest that many fouls come from slow feet. Rather than move the feet to get one into position, one resorts to the hands/arms to try to block the player, resulting in the zebras calling the reach. Not certain, certainly, but believe Bradshaw has missed as many minutes as he's played. Plus, he's skinny as a rail, which doesn't auger well in the more physical B10. Was actually pretty fair at 'walking out' the opposing rebounder, but had the mass to make it happen. Against Maryland, most of the come-back was achieved when the Buckeyes went small. Mahaffey, and Devin did a yoeman-like effort in guarding guys 4-6" taller than they were. Anyone know which asst coach is in charge of the bigs?
 
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I think a lot of the problem is the bigs we have keep getting fouls when the other big goes to their body, makes contact, and their arms just come down when the opposing player is trying to shoot. I don't know if the lack of weight is keeping these guys from being able to maintain verticality, but clearly that is an issue.
 
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I get that this season is frustrating, but I am absolutely giving Coach Diebler a mulligan this season. I know we have been starved for a winner, we've had too many years without being a contender at the national level, we deserve this program being better once in a while and all that ... but with all that said, this season is not the one to be complaining about the coach. Losing Okpara and Gayle last spring was a killer - Okpara especially, as we don't have anybody who can hold their ground defending bigs & really control the glass. I'm going to be looking carefully at what happens this spring - I think that will bring a key chance to add somebody with some girth to man the middle that we desperately need. Standing pat just isn't going to be the answer, and I would like to think Coach Diebler realizes that.
 
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Just wanted to share this factoid I came across while researching Bruce Pearl. lol

Two years later, multiple reports surfaced alleging that Pearl had invited multiple top junior recruits to his Knoxville home during the fall of 2008, reports Pearl denied. When a picture surfaced of junior recruit Aaron Craft attending a barbecue at Pearl’s home, that denial became impossible to believe. Even so, Pearl initially told NCAA investigators that Craft had never been to his home, even when presented with the photographic evidence. He subsequently requested a second interview with the NCAA in August, 2010 where he admitted wrongdoing.
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Link
:huh:
 
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DZ83CK said:
I get that this season is frustrating, but I am absolutely giving Coach Diebler a mulligan this season. I know we have been starved for a winner, we've had too many years without being a contender at the national level, we deserve this program being better once in a while and all that ... but with all that said, this season is not the one to be complaining about the coach. Losing Okpara and Gayle last spring was a killer - Okpara especially, as we don't have anybody who can hold their ground defending bigs & really control the glass. I'm going to be looking carefully at what happens this spring - I think that will bring a key chance to add somebody with some girth to man the middle that we desperately need. Standing pat just isn't going to be the answer, and I would like to think Coach Diebler realizes that.
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I have no problem with the coaching job Diebler has done, especially considering his inexperience. I’d much rather go through a learning curve with a guy that will stick around than cycle through outside guys, hoping you get one right. I think the biggest impact on the season has been whatever caused Okpara to bolt. Not that he brought that much offensively, but he could finish and he was an inside presence on the defensive end, something this team needs desperately. Like you said, it will be interesting to see what moves are made in the Spring, especially in the front court.
 
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DZ83CK said:
I get that this season is frustrating, but I am absolutely giving Coach Diebler a mulligan this season. I know we have been starved for a winner, we've had too many years without being a contender at the national level, we deserve this program being better once in a while and all that ... but with all that said, this season is not the one to be complaining about the coach. Losing Okpara and Gayle last spring was a killer - Okpara especially, as we don't have anybody who can hold their ground defending bigs & really control the glass. I'm going to be looking carefully at what happens this spring - I think that will bring a key chance to add somebody with some girth to man the middle that we desperately need. Standing pat just isn't going to be the answer, and I would like to think Coach Diebler realizes that.
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It's not a encouraging start, this is not a national title caliber roster by any means but they should at least be able to make the tournament, where we stand right now we are 1 wrong loss away from being out
 
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Buckeyes Still A Step Away From Contending for Championships, But Getting There Was Always Going to Take Time​

By Andy Anders on February 17, 2025 at 10:20 am @andyanders55
Jake Diebler

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Patience is an uncommon virtue in the modern age.
This isn't a lecture or soapbox stand about that fact. That would be the ultimate pot-meet-kettle moment. My online chess Elo rating has been stuck at 750 (still firmly in the beginner category) for months because I only see bad moves are bad moves after I make them.
My fellow naturally impatient individuals – really any individual who knows of the school's athletic program – can see that Ohio State is an impatient place to coach a sport. There's a demand for immediate results, especially when the Buckeyes' football squadron is constantly in the hunt for conference and national championships.
At a place where football is king, if the men's basketball team isn't also contending atop the Big Ten, apathy can set in quickly with much of the fanbase. Sunday's loss to No. 20 Michigan was played before 18,058 fans in Value City Arena, demolishing the previous season-high of 14,388 against Indiana State on Dec. 29, not coincidentally the last home contest that fell on a weekend for Ohio State. The Buckeyes' average attendance is at 11,609, just 61.7% of the Schottenstein Center's capacity.
I've spoken to multiple people (Buckeye fans and alums) who hadn't watched an Ohio State hoops fixture in several weeks before checking out the team's loss to the Wolverines. There's nothing wrong with that; it's just reality in Columbus. And the football team had a long, emotional national championship run.
Plus, even as his team has been a step away all season, Jake Diebler has continued to publicly set a championship-contending standard for his program. He's been consistent with that message since the summer.
"I have big aspirations for this program and I have not been shy about what the expectations and the standard is for this program," Diebler said on Friday before the Michigan game. "We've had, certainly, our fair share of adversity this season but I'm really proud of the way this group has responded to that."
“I have not been shy about what the expectations and the standard is for this program.”– Jake Diebler
The loss to the Wolverines is the latest in a line of games where the Buckeyes were a step away from that championship-contending watermark. Michigan, who is first in the Big Ten, was Ohio State's fourth one-score loss in Big Ten play, three coming at the hands of ranked opponents.
But objectively, the Buckeyes were always going to take time to build to a title contender under their first-year head coach. And for the first time in three years, Ohio State has well-warranted NCAA Tournament ambitions in late February.
"Frustrated, angry, disappointed," Diebler said after the rivalry loss. "I said this before the game, this game, it's different. It means a ton. And I'm not gonna step back from that because we didn't get the result we wanted. So, we'll take the day to, certainly, reflect on this. And then we've got to move forward and get ready, because everything that we're fighting for is still in front of us."





www.elevenwarriors.com

Buckeyes Still A Step Away From Contending for Championships, But Getting There Was Always Going to Take Time

Ohio State's been a step short of Jake Diebler's championship-contending expectations in his first season, but it was always going to take time for the Buckeyes to reach that echelon.
www.elevenwarriors.com www.elevenwarriors.com
 
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