ThomasCostello
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Solution to help Ohio State women prepare for postseason is already on the roster
ThomasCostello via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images
The Buckeyes are on a downward trend, but there’s uplift within the 10-player roster.
At the end of the first quarter Thursday night, Ohio State women’s basketball was already down nine points. The Indiana Hoosiers came into the game known for dangerous deep shooting and issues inside the post but in the home side’s first four offensive possessions, Indiana passed out of the Buckeye press and hit uncontested shots near the basket.
By the end of the third quarter, Ohio State was down 18 points and the only thing that wasn’t over about the game was the clock. It was a game where the Buckeyes were out rebounded, out shot and out hustled in Assembly Hall.
The defeat was the culmination of recent issues colliding in a result that leaves questions for head coach Kevin McGuff and the Buckeyes. Problems that McGuff and team leaders like junior Cotie McMahon have talked about following losses to the UCLA Bruins, USC Trojans and back-to-back overtime games after giving up late double-digit leads.
They include not playing defense for 40 minutes, playing without grit and not everyone on the team doing what they’re supposed to do when they don’t have the ball.
For all the recent concerns, Thursday night also showed a way for the Buckeyes to survive a poor stretch and prepare for the fast-approaching postseason.
At the start of the second quarter, the Buckeyes erased their nine-point deficit and took only 2:38 off the clock. Now, Ohio State is known for getting rid of large deficits in games, coming back from 24 points against the Hoosiers two years ago in the Big Ten Tournament, but the personnel on the court weren’t a group many expected. They were a group that hasn’t seen the court together at all this season.
Coach McGuff had two of his regular starters in McMahon and guard/forward Taylor Thierry, but the other three didn’t include point guard Jaloni Cambridge, shooting guard Chance Gray or forward Ajae Petty. Instead, graduate seniors Madison Greene and Eboni Walker played sustained minutes with freshman center Elsa Lemmilä rounding out the five players on the court.
To tie the game, the Buckeyes forced a turnover, a shot clock violation and then another turnover. Ohio State only allowed two total shots from the Hoosiers in the three minutes of the quarter. The five players had a strong defensive focus and were the only grouping that made the Buckeye press work, scoring three fast break baskets in the nine-point run that erased the Indiana lead.
When the five players left, so did the defensive momentum.
“We tried to play that group for a while but you know just the pace of the game and all that we wanted to sub and get some fresh people in there,” said McGuff. “But it was a good lineup and I think just you know we haven’t played as well as I think we’re capable of late which is why we’ve been you know kind of trying some different lineups to give it a look.”
It makes sense that the group worked too, with Greene’s five previous years in the program and a strong understanding of the McGuff system. Same thing with Walker, although she’s only in her third season at Ohio State. The graduate senior showed in 2023 that she impacts games. Walker was an integral part of the team when she stepped in to start for an injured Rebeka Mikulášiková and didn’t give up the starting role for the rest of the season, getting the team to the Elite Eight.
At first, Walker had her issues when she ran into Thierry on defense and went up for a layup and shot the ball off the side of the backboard. It’s to be expected when Walker only appeared in seven of the last 12 games, averaging seven minutes per game. Even so, Walker bounced back and played strong defense, picking up two steals.
Greene and Walker were the only two players on the roster with a positive plus/minus in the loss. For the freshman Lemmilä. she added two blocks and three rebounds in 15 minutes.
Now, does it make sense to start all of these players because of one strong game? No. There are three regular season games remaining and altering the starting lineup to that extent probably will do more harm than good.
However, there’s no reason why the three can’t have larger roles in games. It’s already started for Lemmilä, who averages 22 minutes off the bench in the last seven games. Ohio State got better when Lemmilä played more minutes. The freshman was key in the Buckeyes win over the Minnesota Golden Gophers and helped hold Iowa Hawkeyes’ forward Hannah Stuelke to 10 points on Monday.
Also, none of the three can be accused of taking a play off. Offensively, the three won’t be focal points of the half court offense, but that’s where McMahon and Cambridge come into the conversation.
Another benefit is that it spurs on competition within the roster. When healthy, Cambridge, Gray, Thierry, McMahon and Petty start every game. How does a player respond when their name isn’t called to start a game?
There’s an argument that starting isn’t all that important in a 40-minute game with unlimited substitutions, but for the Buckeyes it's worth a shot to see how players respond.
If Ohio State continues down the same path expecting different results, it's hard to see success in the Big Ten Tournament or March Madness.
Continue reading...
ThomasCostello via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images
The Buckeyes are on a downward trend, but there’s uplift within the 10-player roster.
At the end of the first quarter Thursday night, Ohio State women’s basketball was already down nine points. The Indiana Hoosiers came into the game known for dangerous deep shooting and issues inside the post but in the home side’s first four offensive possessions, Indiana passed out of the Buckeye press and hit uncontested shots near the basket.
By the end of the third quarter, Ohio State was down 18 points and the only thing that wasn’t over about the game was the clock. It was a game where the Buckeyes were out rebounded, out shot and out hustled in Assembly Hall.
The defeat was the culmination of recent issues colliding in a result that leaves questions for head coach Kevin McGuff and the Buckeyes. Problems that McGuff and team leaders like junior Cotie McMahon have talked about following losses to the UCLA Bruins, USC Trojans and back-to-back overtime games after giving up late double-digit leads.
They include not playing defense for 40 minutes, playing without grit and not everyone on the team doing what they’re supposed to do when they don’t have the ball.
For all the recent concerns, Thursday night also showed a way for the Buckeyes to survive a poor stretch and prepare for the fast-approaching postseason.
At the start of the second quarter, the Buckeyes erased their nine-point deficit and took only 2:38 off the clock. Now, Ohio State is known for getting rid of large deficits in games, coming back from 24 points against the Hoosiers two years ago in the Big Ten Tournament, but the personnel on the court weren’t a group many expected. They were a group that hasn’t seen the court together at all this season.
Coach McGuff had two of his regular starters in McMahon and guard/forward Taylor Thierry, but the other three didn’t include point guard Jaloni Cambridge, shooting guard Chance Gray or forward Ajae Petty. Instead, graduate seniors Madison Greene and Eboni Walker played sustained minutes with freshman center Elsa Lemmilä rounding out the five players on the court.
To tie the game, the Buckeyes forced a turnover, a shot clock violation and then another turnover. Ohio State only allowed two total shots from the Hoosiers in the three minutes of the quarter. The five players had a strong defensive focus and were the only grouping that made the Buckeye press work, scoring three fast break baskets in the nine-point run that erased the Indiana lead.
When the five players left, so did the defensive momentum.
“We tried to play that group for a while but you know just the pace of the game and all that we wanted to sub and get some fresh people in there,” said McGuff. “But it was a good lineup and I think just you know we haven’t played as well as I think we’re capable of late which is why we’ve been you know kind of trying some different lineups to give it a look.”
It makes sense that the group worked too, with Greene’s five previous years in the program and a strong understanding of the McGuff system. Same thing with Walker, although she’s only in her third season at Ohio State. The graduate senior showed in 2023 that she impacts games. Walker was an integral part of the team when she stepped in to start for an injured Rebeka Mikulášiková and didn’t give up the starting role for the rest of the season, getting the team to the Elite Eight.
At first, Walker had her issues when she ran into Thierry on defense and went up for a layup and shot the ball off the side of the backboard. It’s to be expected when Walker only appeared in seven of the last 12 games, averaging seven minutes per game. Even so, Walker bounced back and played strong defense, picking up two steals.
Greene and Walker were the only two players on the roster with a positive plus/minus in the loss. For the freshman Lemmilä. she added two blocks and three rebounds in 15 minutes.
Now, does it make sense to start all of these players because of one strong game? No. There are three regular season games remaining and altering the starting lineup to that extent probably will do more harm than good.
However, there’s no reason why the three can’t have larger roles in games. It’s already started for Lemmilä, who averages 22 minutes off the bench in the last seven games. Ohio State got better when Lemmilä played more minutes. The freshman was key in the Buckeyes win over the Minnesota Golden Gophers and helped hold Iowa Hawkeyes’ forward Hannah Stuelke to 10 points on Monday.
Also, none of the three can be accused of taking a play off. Offensively, the three won’t be focal points of the half court offense, but that’s where McMahon and Cambridge come into the conversation.
Another benefit is that it spurs on competition within the roster. When healthy, Cambridge, Gray, Thierry, McMahon and Petty start every game. How does a player respond when their name isn’t called to start a game?
There’s an argument that starting isn’t all that important in a 40-minute game with unlimited substitutions, but for the Buckeyes it's worth a shot to see how players respond.
If Ohio State continues down the same path expecting different results, it's hard to see success in the Big Ten Tournament or March Madness.
Continue reading...