Raising his game
Since making a mental adjustment, sophomore Deshaun Thomas has become a big-time scorer in the absence of an injured Jared Sullinger
By Bob Baptist
The Columbus Dispatch Thursday December 22, 2011
Neither Ohio State coach Thad Matta nor sophomore Deshaun Thomas remembers exactly which game it was the past six weeks.
This time of year, the games come and go swiftly, like ? well, like the shots that used to come off Thomas? fingertips.
Both, however, do remember the message Matta imparted to his forward during a one-sided halftime chat.
?I knew he wasn?t ready to play before the game,? Matta said, ?and he went out and he wasn?t ready to play.? So they talked. ?And the second half, he comes out and has a big second half,? Matta said. ?Obviously, he?s very gifted. But he?s learning the other side of it, and at times maybe the most important side of it. As I?ve told him, as long as he stays hungry and stays focused, I think he?s going to continue to play at the level he?s capable of playing at.?
Thomas? level has been very high lately, a rise coinciding with the second-ranked Buckeyes needing someone to step up and help fill the void created by injuries to All-America center Jared Sullinger.
More than anyone else, Thomas has.
In the past four games, including games at Kansas and South Carolina that Sullinger missed all or the majority of, Thomas has averaged 22 points, shot 76.6 percent from the field, and even chipped in eight assists ? three more than he had in the first eight games combined.
He also has become more of a three-point threat, making 10 of 21 attempts in that time after hitting less than one-third of his attempts before that.
Ohio State ends the nonconference portion of its schedule tonight against Miami University at Nationwide Arena.
?(Matta) knows what I can do when I have my mind right. My game is right,? Thomas said. ?Ever since he told me that and gave me that talk, things have been successful. So I always prepare my mind before a game, listen to the music I like and just prepare for any challenge.?
Thomas fills his head with Lil Wayne music before games.
?A lot of stuff to get me pumped up and hyped,? he said. ?It?s just all a mind-set. As a player, you?ve got to have a mind-set each and every game, have your mind ready to play. I think I?m growing (like) that.?
cont...
