Buckeye Freshman Point Guard DJ Carton — Safe at Any Speed
In DJ Carton’s Buckeye debut this past Wednesday, the Ohio State freshman point guard showcased his entire repertoire.
He pushed the ball as much as he could, immediately calling for it following defensive rebounds. Carton would turn his head up court and get running.
When he was in the half court, he made safe, solid passes where they needed to go, and he also hit shots when they presented themselves.
He looked comfortable in every situation, but it was clear that he excelled when it came to the transition game. He not only pushed it for teammates, but also for himself, ending in several dunks for the 6-foot-1 leaper.
Carton scored 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting, hitting his only 3-point attempt, grabbed two rebounds, two steals, and handed out a team-high five assists in Wednesday night’s exhibition game against Division II Cedarville University.
His ability to make things happen with the push is the major reason why head coach Chris Holtmann has told him to speed it up whenever the situation arrives.
“Every time really. Every time I get the ball I’m going to push it because I know that that’s one of my strengths,” Carton said after the game. “And I know like tonight, sometimes the defense was insane and I know we can get easy buckets like that, so every time I do get the ball in position to push, I’m going to do that. And hopefully I can clean things up in the half court and be able to control the offense a little better.”
Asking a true freshman to keep the offense going full speed as much as possible can be a dangerous proposition, which is why Holtmann and his staff will work to keep Carton somewhat grounded in terms of when, where, and against whom.
“I think it’s apparent, he’s explosive in transition,” Holtmann said after the Cedarville game. “Now, some of that, I think time will tell, right? You have to be aware of the floor was broken at times and maybe the competition level and I think we’ll say that to him. It’s gonna be hard for him to get some of those plays that he got tonight, but I thought his decision making was good.”
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https://theozone.net/2019/11/buckeye-point-guard-dj-carton-speed/