2019-20 Ohio State Basketball

As I see it today: 8-5 the rest of the way. Just win the home games except for Maryland, and beat the 2 weakest teams on the road. Attainable but not a slam dunk.

Wins: minn, @northwestern, indiana, rutgers, purdue, @ nebraska, michigan, illinois
Losses: @ michigan, @ wisc, @ iowa, maryland, @ sparty
 
I guess now it is 8-4.
Things don't change unless they change. Ain't gonna happen.

Both Wessons - go, please. Take Washington with you.

Is Gaffney hurt? If not - play him.
 
After last night's loss I will admit my 8-5 predicted finish won't happen. There just is not enough basketball IQ on the roster. Just go back and rewatch the last few possessions. Minnesota's inbounds play results in their best player (Carr) getting a hand-off and rubbing off 2 screens for a layup. Great design, smart execution. our timeout and inbounds play results in chaos and Washington going 1 on 1 as the shot clock runs out. I never cared for our lack of offensive structure, but it really showed last night. Dissappointing.
 
Yeah, to much one on one and not enough of feeding the big men while driving. Driving to the basket and not bein in control and going under the basket and jumping out of bounds to dish it off isn't working. They need to stop being so selfish, period.
 
They lack toughness. They don't compete. I was a small time high school coach (no comparison) but I would light players up for a lack of effort. Poor spacing. Late to the ball, etc., etc., etc.

The bad part of this is that we will still have one Wesson left. More of the same next year? Who will transfer? Ahrens to the MAC

And, Diop was that good.

And for who said it, I believe the 10-18 Big Ten record the last two years is very telling.
 
Bevo said:
They lack toughness. They don't compete. I was a small time high school coach (no comparison) but I would light players up for a lack of effort. Poor spacing. Late to the ball, etc., etc., etc.
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I'll agree with the "poor spacing" and "late to the ball" comments. Could not disagree more with your comments about lack of toughness, not competing, poor effort. Those are way off base IMO.

There are not 3 tougher kids than Young, A. Wesson, and Luther M. anywhere in college hoops. They play incredibly hard, they are lacking in offensive skill. As an entire team, I have no issues with effort. They play very hard. They don't play smart.

PS - I also coached a little high school and played D III in college way back when, so I'm as old school as it gets.
 
They seem to have a lot of one way players.....some are good on D with no offense and others vice versa. Glad to see Kaleb W get himself into shape but using him as focal point of offense has killed this team. They threw it to him 18-20 times last night in scoring spots (inside or open 3's) and he was 1-10 with 3 or 4 TO. You cannot waste that many possessions. Kaleb still cannot finish inside, I would use him as high post option as he is decent passer and that would open up driving lanes. Have to set some screens for guards as nobody can create own shot real well. Need to play Carton and Washington and live with their shoddy defense at times. Liddell has to play more too. Give Gaffney a look as well or he may be out the door as a transfer. Holtman needs to try something different as this team just looks stagnant and getting worse. Wessons may be good kids but I think this team is better next year without them just because Holtman will have to change how they play offense.
 
wolves82 - There is a sense to me that - other than K. Young, who is definitely a throw back to old school ball - that the other two spend a lot of time trying to get somewhere and are a step late or just don't respond in time.

Did you expect A. W. to make that length of the court pass at the end last night or did you just know it would fly out of bounds - not at the other end - but on the side? He is prone to those types of blunders and then is excused somewhat for "trying" really hard. How many times does this team mess up late or on last opportunities .

How many times last night did Minn. respond to a miss or a make and we're flying back down the court with the Bucks in pursuit? We often have guys beaten on the baseline and down the lane.

I had high hopes for this year. Just not there and to me - not close. I don't know if they will win another game or two.

I am not calling into question whether the Wessons are good guys or not. I remember vividly when their dad played - I go all fo the way back to Luke and Bradds, et. al.

I'll go with lacking in offensive skills and lacking in basketball smarts.

Interesting column today in The Dispatch about the team's non competitiveness. First time this season that the paper has called them on it.

Since I am Mr. Sour Apples, I'll say they lose at Nth. Western 66-59.
 
Bevo said:
They lack toughness. They don't compete. I was a small time high school coach (no comparison) but I would light players up for a lack of effort. Poor spacing. Late to the ball, etc., etc., etc.

The bad part of this is that we will still have one Wesson left. More of the same next year? Who will transfer? Ahrens to the MAC

And, Diop was that good.

And for who said it, I believe the 10-18 Big Ten record the last two years is very telling.
Click to expand...
Chris Holtmann agrees with your assessment : https://www.elevenwarriors.com/ohio...ocate-what-it-believes-should-be-its-identity
 
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I honestly thought they played better when Kaleb was out than when he was in. They ought to go with the three guard lineup with Kyle Young at the 5, and speed up the tempo more often. I think pounding the ball into Kaleb is making the team more sluggish overall, and is actually hurting, not helping, them.

I'm not saying stop playing Kaleb at all, but they need to switch things up more often, because they get into a terrible rut. If the Buckeyes would switch gears more often, they'd be much more difficult to defend.

This might be a bit blasphemous to say, but I feel like this team is floating along without a leader, just like during Marc Loving's senior year. Equating Kaleb Wesson with Marc Loving may not be entirely fair, because Loving never hustled at all, IMO. I think Kaleb is working hard, but not working terribly smart, and he just doesn't exhibit any leadership skills out of the court that I can see.
 
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Let's face it,this is four year player basketball who are not physically strong and a few not so smart either.
 
Gene Keady had a great career using four year players.

I like the idea of letting the big Wesson sit more. Speed things up and let Carton have the ball - come turnovers or not.
 
With a team this offensively challenged, Holtman has to play his best two offensive guys in Carton and Washington and live with some turnovers and bad shots and poor D at times with Washington. Carton makes some great plays on D but gambles at times as well. This needs to be Carton's team by March and then into next season as his upside is huge. Let's hope this team makes it into NCAA as that would be great for these young guys to get a taste of that and maybe even win a game there. Next year should be prettier to watch as the young guys grow and Cal transfer Sueing is playing. He averaged almost 15 a game for Cal with 6 boards his first two years. He is 6-7 and really skilled offensively.
 
Interesting, not a single post yet this weekend, after the Buckeyes played a smarter game, shot the ball better, and got a big win. Furthering my theory that a lot of people come on here just to complain.

Ahrens will be needed more with Carton out, and he came through yesterday. If he can make a few shots, and Washington/Muhammad are a little more consistent, this team will be OK. Currently projected as an 8 seed.
 
With Carton stepping away, is this addition by subtraction? I remember seeing him in the IU game at Bloomington and it was one of his not so great games with 7 turnovers. I wondered at the time if part of the Buckeyes struggles this year was they were having some issues with the new young guys wanting bigger roles? Looks like he'd been starting recently, you just wonder what's going on.
 
Red, I have to disagree about Carton. He is the most talented kid on the team so no addition by subtraction at all. He has had some struggles at times with turnovers and bad shots like most freshmen but they are much more difficult to defend when he is out there. He played really well in his last game at NW too. OSU has a senior and juniors who struggle with turnovers at times as well. Let's j hope DJ gets himself right and can return and help OSU down the stretch as they need everyone to contribute. Ahrens needs to play 10-15 minutes every game no matter if DJ is here or not, Ahrens is that deep, deep shooter so he needs a run each half to see if he can throw a couple in.
 
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