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You’re Nuts: What to watch for (if you can) during Ohio State’s pre-season game vs Cincinnati
Connor Lemons via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
It doesn’t count, but Jake Diebler’s Buckeyes will take the floor tonight against the Bearcats in Cincinnati — for charity!
Congratulations sailor! You made it to game day! After seven long months, the Ohio State men’s basketball team returns tonight, facing off with the No. 20 Cincinnati Bearcats in a pre-season exhibition game at Fifth Third Arena.
Tonight’s game tips off at 7:00 p.m. ET, and can be found on your typical Ohio State radio affiliates, but will not be on TV, nor will it be streamed anywhere. So if you want to see Sean Stewart, Meechie Johnson, and the gang with your own eyes, you’ll have to buy a ticket and go. Tickets can be purchased here. Lower bowl seats are $40 and upper bowl seats are $20.
Last week, Connor and Justin debated who will win Big Ten Player of the year this season. Justin won the poll overwhelmingly with his choice of Bruce Thornton, and 70% of our clearly non-biased readers agreed with him. Just 7% agreed with Connor’s choice of Iowa’s Payton Sandfort, while the “someone else” choice also picked up 15%.
Connor- 81
This week’s debate is less of a debate and more of a preview of sorts, as we break down what we’re most intrigued to see as the Buckeyes prepare to face the Bearcats. The game will be played with NCAA regulation rules and two 20-minute halves. Diebler has already said that everyone will play, but as of Wednesday he still had not decided who Friday’s starters would be.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25685841/usa_today_23710279.jpg "Syndication: The Columbus Dispatch")
Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
Ohio State is going to have one of the best backcourts in the nation this season. The combo of Meechie Johnson and Bruce Thornton is going to dazzle on a nightly basis. Their ability to score off the dribble and draw multiple defenders will open up better shots for their teammates. Big Ten coaches are not going to have fun preparing their teams for that combo during conference play.
However, the Buckeyes’ frontcourt is murky at best and mildly concerning at worst. The power forward and center spots are going to be filled by Duke transfer Sean Stewart and Kentucky transfer Aaron Bradshaw — two guys who were highly coveted recruits out of high school, but did not play a ton last season.
Ohio State is relying on one of Bradshaw or Stewart to break out this season and start living up to the hype that led to them both being top-20 recruits in the 2023 recruiting class. If they both struggle, the Buckeyes are going to be sluggish below the basket on both ends. They need to play well.
Unfortunately, Bradshaw took an elbow to the head during practice this week, and will be held out of this game. Because of that, I expect Sean Stewart to start at the five, with Devin Royal starting at the four. I’m excited to see how Stewart looks and how much of his offensive game he can showcase — at Duke he was mostly a rim-runner and rebounder, he’ll need to be more than that at Ohio State.
We should also get a good look at both Austin Parks and Ivan Njegovan. It sounds like Njegovan can shoot a little bit, which could actually help him leapfrog Parks on the depth chart and become the main backup center behind Bradshaw. Parks, meanwhile, only played about 20 minutes total his freshman season, but was recruited by Indiana, Illinois, Michigan State, and other big time programs. There’s an opportunity for him to grab some minutes this year, and his first real chance to audition is tonight.
One of the main things everyone can get excited about each season are the newcomers to the team and seeing how they mesh. However, this team is mostly newcomers, and there are many storylines to monitor.
For me, especially with Aaron Bradshaw not playing, I am keeping my eye on John (Juni) Mobley Jr. Mobley is one of the two freshmen in this class and has been hyped up all offseason as one of the top first-year players in the conference, which is saying a lot this year. Mobley was one of the best shooters in all of high school basketball last year, and that will be one of the weaker parts of the team this year after they lost Jamison Battle, Bowen Hardman and Scotty Middleton.
With the loss of Taison Chatman to a season-ending injury, there are more minutes for Mobley to back up Bruce Thornton and Meechie Johnson. They will need him to immediately be ready to play available minutes for Jake Diebler and the coaching staff, and from all accounts, he is ready to do just that.
Friday is his first chance to play another team in a game situation, and how he plays and how much he plays will be interesting. Not to mention, will the elite shooting translate to the college stage? And how will his defense look as a guard?
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
Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
It doesn’t count, but Jake Diebler’s Buckeyes will take the floor tonight against the Bearcats in Cincinnati — for charity!
Congratulations sailor! You made it to game day! After seven long months, the Ohio State men’s basketball team returns tonight, facing off with the No. 20 Cincinnati Bearcats in a pre-season exhibition game at Fifth Third Arena.
Tonight’s game tips off at 7:00 p.m. ET, and can be found on your typical Ohio State radio affiliates, but will not be on TV, nor will it be streamed anywhere. So if you want to see Sean Stewart, Meechie Johnson, and the gang with your own eyes, you’ll have to buy a ticket and go. Tickets can be purchased here. Lower bowl seats are $40 and upper bowl seats are $20.
Last week, Connor and Justin debated who will win Big Ten Player of the year this season. Justin won the poll overwhelmingly with his choice of Bruce Thornton, and 70% of our clearly non-biased readers agreed with him. Just 7% agreed with Connor’s choice of Iowa’s Payton Sandfort, while the “someone else” choice also picked up 15%.
After 174 weeks:
Connor- 81
Justin- 71
Other- 18
(There have been four ties)
This week’s debate is less of a debate and more of a preview of sorts, as we break down what we’re most intrigued to see as the Buckeyes prepare to face the Bearcats. The game will be played with NCAA regulation rules and two 20-minute halves. Diebler has already said that everyone will play, but as of Wednesday he still had not decided who Friday’s starters would be.
This week’s question: What are you watching for during Ohio State’s preseason game against Cincinnati?
Connor: The bigs!
Ohio State is going to have one of the best backcourts in the nation this season. The combo of Meechie Johnson and Bruce Thornton is going to dazzle on a nightly basis. Their ability to score off the dribble and draw multiple defenders will open up better shots for their teammates. Big Ten coaches are not going to have fun preparing their teams for that combo during conference play.
However, the Buckeyes’ frontcourt is murky at best and mildly concerning at worst. The power forward and center spots are going to be filled by Duke transfer Sean Stewart and Kentucky transfer Aaron Bradshaw — two guys who were highly coveted recruits out of high school, but did not play a ton last season.
Ohio State is relying on one of Bradshaw or Stewart to break out this season and start living up to the hype that led to them both being top-20 recruits in the 2023 recruiting class. If they both struggle, the Buckeyes are going to be sluggish below the basket on both ends. They need to play well.
Unfortunately, Bradshaw took an elbow to the head during practice this week, and will be held out of this game. Because of that, I expect Sean Stewart to start at the five, with Devin Royal starting at the four. I’m excited to see how Stewart looks and how much of his offensive game he can showcase — at Duke he was mostly a rim-runner and rebounder, he’ll need to be more than that at Ohio State.
We should also get a good look at both Austin Parks and Ivan Njegovan. It sounds like Njegovan can shoot a little bit, which could actually help him leapfrog Parks on the depth chart and become the main backup center behind Bradshaw. Parks, meanwhile, only played about 20 minutes total his freshman season, but was recruited by Indiana, Illinois, Michigan State, and other big time programs. There’s an opportunity for him to grab some minutes this year, and his first real chance to audition is tonight.
Justin: John Mobley Jr.
One of the main things everyone can get excited about each season are the newcomers to the team and seeing how they mesh. However, this team is mostly newcomers, and there are many storylines to monitor.
For me, especially with Aaron Bradshaw not playing, I am keeping my eye on John (Juni) Mobley Jr. Mobley is one of the two freshmen in this class and has been hyped up all offseason as one of the top first-year players in the conference, which is saying a lot this year. Mobley was one of the best shooters in all of high school basketball last year, and that will be one of the weaker parts of the team this year after they lost Jamison Battle, Bowen Hardman and Scotty Middleton.
With the loss of Taison Chatman to a season-ending injury, there are more minutes for Mobley to back up Bruce Thornton and Meechie Johnson. They will need him to immediately be ready to play available minutes for Jake Diebler and the coaching staff, and from all accounts, he is ready to do just that.
Friday is his first chance to play another team in a game situation, and how he plays and how much he plays will be interesting. Not to mention, will the elite shooting translate to the college stage? And how will his defense look as a guard?
Continue reading...