Ohio State (8-2) is facing both a literal and metaphorical giant in No. 12 North Carolina (10-1) Saturday in the CBS Sports Classic. The Tar Heels are the tallest team in the nation according to KenPom, and Ohio State is going to need to be creative on offense if they want to pull off the upset and earn their first win over a ranked team this season.
One guy who could help offset the size disadvantage
a bit and add an element of physicality to the game is freshman forward A’mare Bynum, who scored a career-high 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting in Ohio State’s double overtime win over West Virginia on Saturday night. He also had nine rebounds, three assists, and three blocks, coming one board shy of his second double-double of the season. That all came in a career-high 38 minutes played against the Mountaineers.
Aside from the singular game against Northwestern when he went completely nuclear, sixth-year senior Brandon Noel has been pretty consistently outplayed by Bynum. While Noel has been the consistent starter at the power forward spot, Bynum is playing essentially the same amount of minutes as him (22.4 MPG for Noel vs 22.0 MPG for Bynum. With the biggest team in the country on tap for Saturday, should Ohio State consider making a switch, with Bynum replacing Noel in the starting lineup?
When asked on Thursday about it, Diebler didn’t give any indication that he was considering moving Bynum into the starting lineup, but said that the freshman has earned the opportunity to play “starter’s minutes” as well as the opportunity to play through struggles and not see his minutes docked for it. Diebler sounded like a coach who is much more concerned with who is on the floor in the final five minutes of the game than the first five.
Connor was on vacation last week, so there was no debate, but two weeks ago, Connor and Justin debated whether the Buckeyes’ loss to Pitt was a “blip” or a “bomb”. Connor said it was just a blip because Ohio State played pretty poorly and still were one sideways buzzer-beater away from winning a road game. Justin said it was a bomb because it put the Buckeyes in a tough spot moving forward, where they now need to win a game they are expected to lose, since they lost a game they were expected to win.
Back to the task at hand: Does Bynum need to be in the starting lineup Saturday at 3 p.m. ET? Ohio State is 6-1 against Kentucky and UCLA in the CBS Sports Classic, but is 0-3 against North Carolina. Is it time to make the change?
This week’s question: Should A’mare Bynum start Saturday against North Carolina?
Connor: Yes
Bynum is playing as much as Noel is, and who is on the floor to close the game is more important than who is on the floor when the ball is tipped off. That’s all fine and good, but another issue plaguing Ohio State lately is consistently starting out slow.
Ohio State scored 11 points in the first 10 minutes against West Virginia, and only had their defense to thank for not falling behind while their offense sputtered. They fell behind Illinois at home, 24-15, by the under-12 timeout. Pittsburgh jumped out to a 16-4 lead over Ohio State — a deficit that the Buckeyes had to spend the entire game making up. App State led Ohio State by double-digits for most of the first half last month in Columbus.
Do I need to go on?
If Bynum does one thing, it’s inject energy into every play he’s involved in. He’s a good cutter, is pretty good at finding the open man if he drives and draws multiple defenders, and is by far the best dunker on the team. Having Bynum on the floor at the beginning of the game is less about having a “starter” title or playing more minutes — he’s already playing as much as Noel, the starter — it’s more about having your best offensive group out there so that you can start strong.
Even taking the Northwestern game into consideration, Bynum has proven to be a more impactful player than Noel through the first 10 games of the season. If Ohio State is actually making starting strong a priority, then Bynum should be out there for the first few minutes of the game on Saturday.
Justin: No
I am pretty on the record as not caring what the starting five is as long as the finishing five is the right five. And against West Virginia, Amare Bynum played 38 minutes while Brandon Noel played 17 minutes. And Bynum was in the game for the most important parts of the second half and both overtimes. Also, Brandon Noel has played limited minutes in some games this season, but he has also scored 29 points in a win over Northwestern and was the main reason they secured that early road conference win.
Bynum is averaging 8.4 points and 4.4 rebounds in 22.0 minutes per game and 54.1% shooting from the field. Noel is averaging 8.4 points and 4.7 rebounds per game on 67.9% shooting from the field in 22.3 minutes played per game.
The main difference is that Noel has started all 10 games, and Bynum has come off the bench in all 10 games.
In most games, Noel starts, but Bynum comes off the bench near the first media timeout in the game. There have also been games where Bynum has brought energy and a different ability off the bench and can catch a defense sleeping.
For now, I am okay with Bynum coming off the bench and providing that spark off the bench as long as he is playing 22-25 minutes per game, as he has been. But Brandon Noel has also had his moments for the Buckeyes so far this season.
