On January 7th, the Ohio State Buckeyes were 15-0 and a consensus top five team. Now, on January 26th, the Bucks find themselves at 16-4. Losses to Michigan State, Iowa, Minnesota, and Nebraska followed by an unimpressive win against Illinois have them falling way behind the pace in the Big Ten race, and many experts are now throwing around the dreaded "overrated" word when mentioning them. The question is with six weeks left to play in the season can the Buckeyes regroup to get back into the Big Ten race, regain some momentum, and make a run in the NCAA tournament? I think they can. So basketball fans, members of the Buckeye Nut House and Buckeye Nation everywhere, and any other person who might have accidentally stumbled upon this blog, let's look at how Ohio State can climb back to the top of the college basketball polls.
During their four game losing streak, Ohio State couldn't score. They haven't been able to score all year, but during those four losses the Buckeyes couldn't buy a basket, even if they'd just won the lottery and Walmart was offering Black Friday deals. If they were playing darts, they couldn't have hit a bulls eye the size of Kim Kardashian's thigh-fat infused ass. If they fell out of a boat, they would have not only been unable to hit water, they would've found a way to land in a mound of desert sand. I hope you all get the point at just how bad it was... Ohio State doesn't have the heralded "go to scorer" when they need a basket to end a run or get some momentum. In fact, Ohio State's offense becomes a DIRECTV commercial when things start to go bad. What do I mean? When LaQuinton Ross can't score, Ohio State struggles to find an easy basket. When Ohio State can't find an easy basket, Lenzelle Smith starts to force shots. When Lenzelle Smith starts to force shots, the Bucks try and get Amir Williams going in the paint. When the Bucks try and get Amir Williams going in the paint, everybody remembers he's the worst forward in college basketball. When everybody remembers he's the worst forward in college basketball, Aaron Craft gets frustrated and turns the ball over. When Aaron Craft gets frustrated and turns the ball over, Ohio State stops defending. And when Ohio State stops defending, they have no chance of winning a basketball game. That recipe basically sums up Ohio State's play over the last four weeks. The consistently poor offense and a disappearance of the dominating defense that has been essential to Ohio State during the Thad Matta era has led to the Buckeyes finding themselves with four Big Ten losses before February. Luckily, the Big Ten schedule is an absolute gauntlet, so Michigan, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Iowa, Indiana, Minnesota, and just about every other team (outside of maybe Penn State and Northwestern) will beat each other up. This gives Ohio State a slim chance to lay claim to at least a share of the Big Ten title by season's end. Of course, they'll have to win some tough games of their own along the way. How do they get back to playing Buckeye basketball? Easy.
1) Get Aaron Craft More Involved on Offense
It's no secret that Aaron Craft's jumper is not a masterpiece, so he's not going to create that many shots for himself on the perimeter. It's also no secret that Craft has some of the quickest feet in college basketball, so he can stay with anybody in college basketball. That's why I don't get why Matta doesn't create more opportunities for Craft to drive to the rim. Run screens for him. Run pick-and-rolls with Williams. If Craft starts scoring more, he'll attract more attention, thus creating more opportunities for the shooters around him. This will give the Buckeyes easier looks for their perimeter shooters, which is exactly what they need right now. How do they get Craft more opportunities to create for himself?
2) Go Small
The Buckeyes do not have a great front court as all. You never know what you're going to get out of Amir Williams (And most nights, it's very bad basketball), and Trey McDonald might be one of the most worthless forwards in the country. Instead of keeping one of these guys in the game, the Bucks should try a smaller lineup. LaQuinton Ross is just as tall as McDonald, and he can do a lot more on the floor. A lineup of Craft, Smith or Shannon Scott, Sam Thompson, Ross, and Marc Loving (who we will get to later) would give this team much better opportunities to score. It might make them vulnerable to teams with dominating front courts on the defensive end, but right now, trying this lineup would be worth a shot. And if this doesn't work?
3) Get the Ball to the Italian
Cue Will Ferrell a la Kicking and Screaming for step number three to fix the Buckeyes. A staple of almost every great team in college basketball is a shooter off the bench who can hit a three to end a drought and swing the momentum (Luke Hancock for Louisville last year is a great example). Ohio State has a great player (with an even greater name!) in Amedeo Della Valle to fill this void.The man might look like a mix of a poorly designed animated character and Anderson Varejao, but he has proven he can provide instant offense off the bench occasionally. If Della Valle is unable to do this, what are some other options?
4) Utilize your Member of the Best Recruiting Class of All Time
Ohio State may have not gotten me, but they still landed a player out of the best recruiting class of all time in Marc Loving. Every time I watch the Buckeyes play, I see William Buford 2.0 in Loving. He has a smooth jump shot and some raw athleticism. He has made his share of freshman mistakes this season, and while that was reduced some of my faith in him, I don't understand why Matta hasn't given him more opportunities. The most important thing for the Ohio State Buckeyes to do, though?
5) Get Back to Your Bread and Butter and Play Defense
The saying "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" comes to mind with step five. Outside of VCU and Syracuse, Ohio State has made their reputation on the defensive end. They might not have a catchy name like 'Havoc' or play the 2-3 zone like Syracuse, but they have always played consistently good man-to-man defense under Matta. Jonah Hill might have been able to move on to play more serious roles in films, Brett Favre might have been able to move on to play for the Vikings and Jets, and Justin Bieber might have been able to develop into a felon, but unlike these three men, the Buckeyes need to hang their hats on the strength that has made them a perennial threat come March.
Only time will tell if the Bucks can mesh back together into a cohesive and capable basketball unit. Only time will tell if Ohio State will find a bona fide scorer. Only time will tell if Thad Matta stumbles across the blog post to discover the cure for bad basketball. Here;s hoping Ohio State figures it out solely for Aaron Craft's purpose, and his Buckeye career can end with the way it should: A Big Ten regular season/tournament title and a deep NCAA tournament run.
Fun Fact of the Week: Back in November, I picked Creighton's Doug McDermott to win National Player of the Year. That looks to be a great prediction, if any readers made a bet on that. However, I also picked Syracuse as the most overrated team in the country. That was a horrible prediction, and I might reimburse any readers who made a bet on that.
J. Nave
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