New court laid out, new lights in the rafters, new German-born big man patrolling the paint. There was plenty of flash and fanfare on Monday night as Ohio State began its quest to win the second national
championship in program history, but once the ball went up at 6:30, the Buckeyes were all business.
Facing a team that — by several analytical measures — is one of the worst in college in basketball, Ohio State scored on each of its first seven possessions, jumping out to a double-digit lead in the first few minutes but struggled to take control of the game, leading by just one point late into the first half. Ohio State was drawing plenty of fouls and scoring more or less at will, but the communication on defense was poor and there was little to no rim protection from the Christoph Tilly, Ivan Njegovan, or anyone else.
IU Indy never got it closer than 10 in the second half, but the game was also never quite in the bag for the Buckeyes, as they eclipsed the 100-point mark and then some in a 118-102 opening night win over the Jaguars.
While the offense mostly lived up to expectations and flashed the Buckeyes’ potential to hang triple-digits on any given night, Ohio State struggled on defense. Ohio State was rushing to double the basketball, but rarely were able to rotate quick enough to stop the Jaguars from getting open shots when they passed out of the double team. Because of that, Ohio State’s Horizon League opponent was able to hang around for much longer than they were expected to, or frankly should have.
One game into the season, this looks like an Ohio State team that could beat anybody or be beaten by anybody on an given night. They look like a team that’s still under construction, so put on your hard hats and let’s pound some nails.
Here is where Ohio State needs some work:
Closing out on defense
When a team playing man-to-man defense sends a second defender to the ball to double team or “trap”, the team with the ball is going to have a numbers advantage if the ball handler can find that open man quick enough. When that happens, the defensive team needs to close out on that player, preventing them from taking that open shot and making the offensive team continue to pass the ball around.
Whether it was a lack of communication or a lack of hustle, Ohio State struggled to close out on Monday night. The Buckeyes were trapping quite a bit, but when the Jaguars passed the ball out of the double team and found the open man, Ohio State did not sprint to the shooter, leaving them open for shot after shot after shot.
Diebler and the coaching staff will see this when they look at the film from this game, and Ohio State will have to decide to either double team less, or make it a priority to sprint at the shooters that are left on the perimeter after the double team.
Blocking shots
Not that many of IU Indy’s shots came in the painted area, but it almost looks like a typo that Ohio State blocked zero shots in the first half of Monday’s game. The Jaguars’ tallest starter was 6-foot-8, giving the Buckeyes a substantial size advantage in this game. Not that Tilly or Brandon Noel will ever become shot-blocking machines, but the two did very little to deter or impact shots near the basket on Monday night. That will bite them in the Big Ten, when opponents are just as big — if not bigger — than Ohio State.
Fouling three-point shooters
Ohio State fouled IU Indy shooting three-pointers three times during the first half of Monday’s game, and while the final score makes it look pretty irrelevant, both of those fouls happened while the game was still semi-competitive. The first happened about four minutes into the game, with Ohio State up 19-8. John Mobley Jr. closed out on a shooter in the corner, reached his hand out, and touched JP Dragas’ hand as the ball left his hand. Mobley was pulled from the game for about 50 seconds and went back in with Ohio State up 20-12.
The second was Brandon Noel fouling IU Indy’s Reece Hagy later in the first half, with Ohio State leading by single-digits. Taison Chatman then fouled IU Indy’s Kameron Tinsley while shooting a three-pointer with 43 seconds left, and Ohio State leading 118-99. Tinsley hit all three, as the Jaguars crossed the century mark in regulation.
The Buckeyes have to contest three-point shooters without touching them. Fortunately, those mistakes should not cost them too much in the first few games of the season, but it will in the Big Ten.
Turnovers
Ohio State only had four turnovers in the first half, but were sloppy in the second half, turning it over 12 more times and allowing IU Indy to at least keep the game interesting. Seven different Buckeyes turned it over, with Mobley’s four handouts sticking out as the most of anyone on the floor. Similar to Ohio State’s preseason win over OU, the Buckeyes were assisting on a higher percentage of their made baskets, but the passing was also lazy at times, creating turnovers and fast breaks for the opposition.
A bright spot?
If we are exclusively talking about the defensive side of the ball, I thought Gabe Cupps looked very impactful on that side of the floor. When IU Indy cut the Ohio State lead to 10 with just over five minutes remaining in the game, Diebler subbed in Cupps for Noel, going with a three-guard lineup that also included Bruce Thornton and John Mobley. Cupps also had a diving play for a loose ball in the second half that ended up sending him to the locker room for a short time.
In general, Cupps looked like a pest — someone you can stick on the opposing team’s best guard and make them earn their points the hard way. Offensively, Cupps is limited, but on Monday night he looked like a very good on-ball defender.
