Bruce Thornton is the best player on Ohio State, but Jake Diebler has trended toward giving John Mobley Jr. the ball when the Buckeyes need a basket in late-game situations.
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John Mobley Jr. Has Become Go-To Playmaker When Ohio State Needs a Basket in Late-Game Situations
Although Mobley had made only two of his 10 shots in the game, including missing all three of his shots in the second half, Diebler leaned on the sophomore when he needed him the most and when Ohio State needed a basket. Not necessarily because he thought Mobley would make the shot, but because Diebler knew he'd make the right play that would turn into a go-ahead bucket for the Buckeyes.
With Thornton dribbling the ball at the top of the circle following the timeout, Christoph Tilly and Amare Bynum set an elevator screen for Mobley. Since the defender did a great job getting around it, Mobley was unable to shoot a 3-pointer and instead put the ball on the floor, rejecting Tilly's immediate ball screen. With both Tilly's defender and his own defender focusing on him, Mobley came to a stop and delivered a pass to Tilly. Since the big man's defender was off balance, Tilly was able to get to the basket and make a tough layup to give Ohio State the lead for good.
"I have high-level belief in him. I think he's a hooper, I guess, is kind of the best way to describe it," the head coach said of Mobley after the game. "He doesn't really get rattled. I probably sometimes wish maybe he'd get a little bit more rattled, but it's kind of his superpower, too. So, when he's got the ball in his hands, I'm confident something good is going to happen. And he's going to react.
"I just felt like he was a little rushed. I talked to him about that. I think he needed to slow down a little bit when the ball hit his hands," Diebler said of Mobley’s struggles early in the game. "And I felt like he did better in the second half with that. People are going to try to limit his looks because he's such a gifted scorer. But what makes him special and what makes the potential of our offense to be special is that he's not just a scorer. He can read the game. And he made a great read."
It certainly wasn't some newfound playmaking ability that Diebler noticed. In fact, it dates back to last season. While Thornton has struggled in those situations, Mobley seemed to flourish. It's the type of playmaking ability in clutch time that has carried into this season as well.
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