Ohio State's basketball season begins Friday with a season-opener against UMass-Lowell. Leading up to that game, Eleven Warriors will dive deep into a different aspect of the 2014-15 Buckeyes with a new story each day this week.
It was the big question surrounding Ohio State's basketball team at the beginning of last season: Where do the Buckeyes get their points from?
By season's end, there still wasn't an answer.
Without the likes of go-to scorers such as Jared Sullinger and Deshaun Thomas like it had in previous seasons, Ohio State was offensively challenged a year ago — averaging just 69.5 points per game, good for just ninth in the Big Ten.
The Buckeyes were supposed to be able to count on LaQuinton Ross to fill the scoring void, but Ross failed to develop into that go-to scorer. He averaged 15.2 points per game, but his season was littered with inconsistency.
Lenzelle Smith Jr. was also supposed to have an expanded role, but he was inconsistent, too, averaging 11.0 points per game for the year. And Aaron Craft, a mainstay in Ohio State's lineup over the previous three seasons, was expected to take his offensive game to the next level, but that never quite happened.
The result was Ohio State finishing the year 25-10 with a second-round exit from the NCAA tournament after starting the season with 15-straight wins and being ranked as high as No. 3 in the country.
However, it's a new year for head coach Thad Matta and with a new year brings added energy and excitement. But like any team, Ohio State still has a lot of question marks heading into this season, which begins Friday with a 7 p.m. game against UMass-Lowell at the Schottenstein Center.
Perhaps the biggest question with this year's Buckeyes is the same, though. Ross, Smith and Craft — Ohio State's top three scorers from a year ago — are all gone. So, where are the Buckeyes going to get their points this season?
| Player | POS. | PPG. | YR. |
|---|---|---|---|
| SAM THOMPSON | F | 7.9 | SR. |
| AMIR WILLIAMS | C | 7.8 | SR. |
| SHANNON SCOTT | G | 7.5 | SR. |
| MARC LOVING | G/F | 4.4 | SO. |
| TREY McDONALD | F/C | 2.0 | SR. |
A lot of baskets can be expected to come from new faces to the program as Ohio State has brought in one of the top recruiting classes in the country, but the most likely candidate to lead the Buckeyes in scoring is freshman D'Angelo Russell.
The smooth, 6-foot-5 guard from Louisville comes to Columbus with a big-time reputation as he averaged 19.3 points, 4.7 assists and 3.6 rebounds per game as a senior for Montverde Academy — the top high school team in the nation.
Russell has the ability to be a high-volume scorer, but he's also got a high basketball IQ and is a willing passer which bodes well for him getting other teammates involved.
"He does a lot in terms of what he brings to the table with his passing and his ability to score. I like what I've seen," Matta said of Russell recently. "Just his overall awareness as a freshman is pretty high up there with what we've had."
It can't be all Russell, though, to score buckets for the Buckeyes.
Ohio State is going to need significant steps to be made by its three returning scoring leaders, too, in seniors Sam Thompson, Shannon Scott and Amir Williams.
Thompson had the highest per-game average of the three last year at just 7.9 per game. Williams scored 7.8 and Scott added 7.5.
Scott and Thompson are expected to benefit in the up-tempo style Matta wants to play with this year's group. Scott, the team's primary ball handler, is lightning quick and has the ability to get out in the open floor and run. He'll likely pair of with Thompson for some signature throw downs this season — something that has become somewhat of a staple in Ohio State games over the past three years.
Thompson said he's ready for his expanded role this season.
"It's just about my everyday approach. It's about how I approach every day, every practice, every shot, every rep," he said at Big Ten Media Day. "It's about using every opportunity I can to get better, to better myself on the court and it'll show in the game."
At this point in their careers, it's pretty safe to say Thompson, Scott and Williams aren't going to be go-to players like Sullinger and Thomas were, where anytime Ohio State needs a basket, it can throw them the ball and have them make a play.
They may have one of those in Russell, but that remains to be seen. Where the Buckeyes can be most effective, though, is playing to their strengths and using their athleticism and defense to get out in transition to create some easy buckets.
“We have a lot of talent — I think we’re a lot more talented than we’ve been in the last few years," Thompson said. "We’ve got the size, we have the athleticism, we have the shooting. We have all the tools so it’s about how we put it together and how we continue to grow as a basketball team.”
