The Eleven Warriors Web Report comes to you weekly from the Spectrum Sports studios in downtown Columbus, featuring our own Beau Bishop, Dan Hope and James Grega.
This week's show focuses solely on the Ohio State men's basketball team, which faces an important final week of the regular season – beginning Tuesday against Rutgers, followed by a Friday trip to Indiana – as the Buckeyes look to regroup from back-to-back losses to Michigan and Penn State.
"It's about expectations," said Bishop, noting that at the start of the season, everyone would have been thrilled that Ohio State is currently 13-3 in Big Ten play, in second place in the conference and well on its way to an NCAA Tournament berth. After a 13-1 start to conference play with wins over Michigan State and Purdue raised the bar of expectations along the way, however, the Buckeyes now must regroup quickly to keep the season from trending in the wrong direction.
The biggest issue for the Buckeyes leading to their past two losses, Grega says, has been their guard play, as opponents are "pressuring the heck out of C.J. Jackson and Andrew Dakich and forcing them to make plays off the dribble," which has led to turnovers and a lack of offensive rhythm. Grega says the upcoming stretch will be where first-year head coach Chris Holtmann "earns his money," as he looks to make the necessary adjustments to get the Buckeyes back on track.
"I think what you're going to see in these next couple of games is Jae'Sean Tate's going to run a lot more of the point," Grega said. "I think you're going to see them play a little bit smaller. We've seen Kyle Young play a lot more minutes, I think you're going to see him continue to do that, so they're more versatile defensively."
As for Tate, Bishop and Hope agreed that his contributions to the Buckeyes over the past four years ought to be appreciated on Tuesday night, when he will be one of four players honored during Senior Night festivities.
"This is a kid whose effort was not indicative of the teams he played on for much of his career, when there were a lot of kids who frankly half-assed it," Bishop said. "Jae'Sean always gave complete effort. Regardless of what happened this week, he has resurrected a legacy here, and now, whatever happens over the next month of the season, can walk out of here with head held high."
Tuesday will also be the final Ohio State home game for Dakich, Kam Williams and presumably Keita Bates-Diop, who has another year of eligibility but has decided to participate in Senior Night festivities and could choose to leave for the NBA after this season, having graduated this past fall.
All of them, Bishop and Grega agreed, deserve an ovation – hopefully in front of a large crowd – on Tuesday night.
"This is a group that deserves it maybe more than any other senior class we've seen in recent memory at Ohio State," Grega said.
This week's episode of the Eleven Warriors Report on Spectrum Sports Mid-Ohio premieres at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
