Connor Lemons
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It’s okay to get your hopes up about this Ohio State men’s basketball team
Connor Lemons via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
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The Buckeyes have plenty of room for improvement, even after beating a ranked Texas team on Monday.
Listen, I get it. Over the past eight seasons, the Ohio State men’s basketball team has a 37-9 record in November, including this week’s 80-72 win over No. 19 Texas — good for an .804 winning percentage.
That is a considerably better winning percentage than the Buckeyes’ overall record over the past eight seasons, which at 136-89 comes out to a .604 winning percentage.
Under Chris Holtmann, the Buckeyes were the November national champions, spending 11 weeks in the AP Top 25 during that month over his seven seasons, even climbing inside the top-10 here and there. Then, more often than not, the wheels would fall off the bus in late December or early January, and the Buckeyes would have to dig their heels in for the stretch run to make the NCAA Tournament.
I understand your hesitation to allow Monday night’s win over a ranked Texas team get your hopes up for Ohio State men’s basketball this season. Keep your expectations low, and you can never be disappointed, right?
But I’m giving you permission to get excited. The 126th edition of Ohio State men’s basketball could turn out to be a special team, with young, raw players who should hit their stride as the season progresses.
Here’s why I think this Ohio State team is going to continue to build off the good vibes it had on Monday night, and why — unlike some recent Buckeye basketball teams — this group will not fall off.
Ohio State began the game on an 8-0 run thanks to a three-pointer from Bruce Thornton and then back-to-back baskets from Micah Parrish. It took the Buckeyes all of 13 seconds to take the lead, and Texas was never able to catch up. The Longhorns did cut Ohio State’s lead to three points multiple times, but the Buckeyes always paired a defensive stop with a basket to prevent Texas from ever tying the game.
The fact that Ohio State never trailed is significant, because it had been over three years since the Buckeyes led wire-to-wire like that over a ranked opponent. The last time Ohio State beat a ranked opponent and never trailed was Jan. 23, 2021, when the Buckeyes beat the Wisconsin Badgers 74-62 at the Kohl Center.
E.J. Liddell scored within the first 16 seconds in that game, and the Buckeyes would ride a game-opening 6-0 run to victory over the 10th-ranked Badgers. Dominating a quality opponent from start to finish doesn’t happen often.
There was a moment during the second half of Monday night’s game when I remembered that Meechie Johnson played for Ohio State. I was at media day and have already spoken to Meechie this year, so I didn’t actually forget he was on the team, but by and large, Johnson was not a factor against Texas on Monday night.
Johnson finished the game with six points on 2-11 shooting in 30 minutes. He also had four rebounds, three assists, three turnovers, and a steal. He showed up in the box score, but seven of Meechie’s 11 shots were three-pointers, several of which were rushed and defended well by Texas.
Last season at South Carolina, Johnson was named Second Team All-SEC, averaging 14.1 points per game on 39.9% shooting (32.1% from three). He was brought in this summer to pair with Bruce Thornton and create one of the better backcourts in the country, but on Monday night he didn’t impact the game at the level he probably should have. That will change moving forward. Ohio State won anyway.
Additionally, Aaron Bradshaw and Sean Stewart — Ohio State’s starting center and power forward — combined to score just four points on 1-8 shooting in 34 minutes. Each player struggled defensively, picking up four fouls apiece.
Both Bradshaw and Stewart were five-star recruits and high-profile transfers. Both are expected to contribute at a much higher level this year than either did on Monday. Ohio State won the game anyway, with very little contributions from their starting frontcourt.
Mobley Jr., known as “Juni” to his teammates, was the best shooter in the 2024 recruiting class, but getting shots off in high school and in college are two different tasks. Not only does Mobley need to mix up the shots he takes so that teams can’t paint him as someone who exclusively shoots three-pointers, he also needs to be creative in how he creates space for himself to shoot the ball. At 6-foot-1, he’s always going to be one of the shorter players on the floor.
He had no issue whatsoever getting shots off or hitting them on Monday night, checking in six or so minutes into the game and knocking down a logo three about one minute later. He went on to finish with 14 points and one rebound in 13 minutes, going 4-for-4 from beyond the arc.
Mobley probably won’t average 14 points per game this season, but the fact that he was able to create his own offense against a very good team in his first college game bodes well for the rest of the season — many of Ohio State’s opponents won’t be as good as Texas this year.
At the same time, Royal chipped in 16 points in 25 minutes off the bench. The 16 points were a career-high, as were the 25 minutes. He also knocked down a pair of three-pointers — one of which gave Ohio State a 12-point lead with just over five minutes remaining in the game. In 33 games last season, Royal hit a total of three three-pointers. He almost matched that on Monday against Texas.
Royal was expected to take a step forward this season after averaging 4.7 points and 2.4 rebounds per game as a freshman, but perhaps we under-sold just how much better he’s going to be as a sophomore.
As mentioned above, Bradshaw and Stewart struggled against Texas quite a bit. Austin Parks subbed in for six minutes as well, but missed his only shot. That means the three players who played the most at center for Ohio State on Monday night combined to score four points on 1-of-9 shooting.
The Longhorns had 26 paint points to Ohio State’s 22. Many of those paint points from the Buckeyes came from guards like Thornton and Parrish cutting to the basket on the dribble, or Royal cleaning up a missed shot here and a loose ball there before quickly dunking or laying the ball in. There were very few set plays for Bradshaw, Stewart, or Parks below the basket.
Diebler wants the ball to touch the paint “on every possession” but that really didn’t happen Monday night. Ohio State shot 45% overall, 50% from three and led by as much as 15 at one point. It was not necessarily a sustainable method, but it worked.
The bright side is that Diebler and his staff will undoubtedly go over film and try to find better, more creative ways to get Stewart and Bradshaw looks below the basket moving forward.
Ohio State has a lot of room for improvement, despite the win against Texas. Guys who did not contribute much on Monday will get better. Areas where the Buckeyes struggled — like below the basket — will improve. Players who were expected to be key contributors off the bench — like Mobley and Royal — were the reason Ohio State won the season opener.
There’s a lot of space between where the Buckeyes are right now, and their ceiling.
Continue reading...
Connor Lemons via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images
The Buckeyes have plenty of room for improvement, even after beating a ranked Texas team on Monday.
Listen, I get it. Over the past eight seasons, the Ohio State men’s basketball team has a 37-9 record in November, including this week’s 80-72 win over No. 19 Texas — good for an .804 winning percentage.
That is a considerably better winning percentage than the Buckeyes’ overall record over the past eight seasons, which at 136-89 comes out to a .604 winning percentage.
Under Chris Holtmann, the Buckeyes were the November national champions, spending 11 weeks in the AP Top 25 during that month over his seven seasons, even climbing inside the top-10 here and there. Then, more often than not, the wheels would fall off the bus in late December or early January, and the Buckeyes would have to dig their heels in for the stretch run to make the NCAA Tournament.
I understand your hesitation to allow Monday night’s win over a ranked Texas team get your hopes up for Ohio State men’s basketball this season. Keep your expectations low, and you can never be disappointed, right?
But I’m giving you permission to get excited. The 126th edition of Ohio State men’s basketball could turn out to be a special team, with young, raw players who should hit their stride as the season progresses.
Here’s why I think this Ohio State team is going to continue to build off the good vibes it had on Monday night, and why — unlike some recent Buckeye basketball teams — this group will not fall off.
They outplayed No. 19 Texas from start to finish
Ohio State began the game on an 8-0 run thanks to a three-pointer from Bruce Thornton and then back-to-back baskets from Micah Parrish. It took the Buckeyes all of 13 seconds to take the lead, and Texas was never able to catch up. The Longhorns did cut Ohio State’s lead to three points multiple times, but the Buckeyes always paired a defensive stop with a basket to prevent Texas from ever tying the game.
The fact that Ohio State never trailed is significant, because it had been over three years since the Buckeyes led wire-to-wire like that over a ranked opponent. The last time Ohio State beat a ranked opponent and never trailed was Jan. 23, 2021, when the Buckeyes beat the Wisconsin Badgers 74-62 at the Kohl Center.
E.J. Liddell scored within the first 16 seconds in that game, and the Buckeyes would ride a game-opening 6-0 run to victory over the 10th-ranked Badgers. Dominating a quality opponent from start to finish doesn’t happen often.
Multiple key players did not play well, but Ohio State won (handily) anyway
There was a moment during the second half of Monday night’s game when I remembered that Meechie Johnson played for Ohio State. I was at media day and have already spoken to Meechie this year, so I didn’t actually forget he was on the team, but by and large, Johnson was not a factor against Texas on Monday night.
Johnson finished the game with six points on 2-11 shooting in 30 minutes. He also had four rebounds, three assists, three turnovers, and a steal. He showed up in the box score, but seven of Meechie’s 11 shots were three-pointers, several of which were rushed and defended well by Texas.
Last season at South Carolina, Johnson was named Second Team All-SEC, averaging 14.1 points per game on 39.9% shooting (32.1% from three). He was brought in this summer to pair with Bruce Thornton and create one of the better backcourts in the country, but on Monday night he didn’t impact the game at the level he probably should have. That will change moving forward. Ohio State won anyway.
Additionally, Aaron Bradshaw and Sean Stewart — Ohio State’s starting center and power forward — combined to score just four points on 1-8 shooting in 34 minutes. Each player struggled defensively, picking up four fouls apiece.
Both Bradshaw and Stewart were five-star recruits and high-profile transfers. Both are expected to contribute at a much higher level this year than either did on Monday. Ohio State won the game anyway, with very little contributions from their starting frontcourt.
John Mobley Jr. and Devin Royal are ahead of schedule
The freshman withpoints from deep pic.twitter.com/5g2RcUzeA9
— Ohio State Hoops (@OhioStateHoops) November 5, 2024
Mobley Jr., known as “Juni” to his teammates, was the best shooter in the 2024 recruiting class, but getting shots off in high school and in college are two different tasks. Not only does Mobley need to mix up the shots he takes so that teams can’t paint him as someone who exclusively shoots three-pointers, he also needs to be creative in how he creates space for himself to shoot the ball. At 6-foot-1, he’s always going to be one of the shorter players on the floor.
He had no issue whatsoever getting shots off or hitting them on Monday night, checking in six or so minutes into the game and knocking down a logo three about one minute later. He went on to finish with 14 points and one rebound in 13 minutes, going 4-for-4 from beyond the arc.
Mobley probably won’t average 14 points per game this season, but the fact that he was able to create his own offense against a very good team in his first college game bodes well for the rest of the season — many of Ohio State’s opponents won’t be as good as Texas this year.
At the same time, Royal chipped in 16 points in 25 minutes off the bench. The 16 points were a career-high, as were the 25 minutes. He also knocked down a pair of three-pointers — one of which gave Ohio State a 12-point lead with just over five minutes remaining in the game. In 33 games last season, Royal hit a total of three three-pointers. He almost matched that on Monday against Texas.
Royal was expected to take a step forward this season after averaging 4.7 points and 2.4 rebounds per game as a freshman, but perhaps we under-sold just how much better he’s going to be as a sophomore.
Ohio State had basically zero post presence the entire game and still won
As mentioned above, Bradshaw and Stewart struggled against Texas quite a bit. Austin Parks subbed in for six minutes as well, but missed his only shot. That means the three players who played the most at center for Ohio State on Monday night combined to score four points on 1-of-9 shooting.
The Longhorns had 26 paint points to Ohio State’s 22. Many of those paint points from the Buckeyes came from guards like Thornton and Parrish cutting to the basket on the dribble, or Royal cleaning up a missed shot here and a loose ball there before quickly dunking or laying the ball in. There were very few set plays for Bradshaw, Stewart, or Parks below the basket.
Diebler wants the ball to touch the paint “on every possession” but that really didn’t happen Monday night. Ohio State shot 45% overall, 50% from three and led by as much as 15 at one point. It was not necessarily a sustainable method, but it worked.
The bright side is that Diebler and his staff will undoubtedly go over film and try to find better, more creative ways to get Stewart and Bradshaw looks below the basket moving forward.
Room for improvement
Ohio State has a lot of room for improvement, despite the win against Texas. Guys who did not contribute much on Monday will get better. Areas where the Buckeyes struggled — like below the basket — will improve. Players who were expected to be key contributors off the bench — like Mobley and Royal — were the reason Ohio State won the season opener.
There’s a lot of space between where the Buckeyes are right now, and their ceiling.
Continue reading...