With just four games remaining in the regular season, it's probably not something Ohio State head coach Thad Matta wants to spend too much time thinking about. But after suffering back-to-back losses for the first time all season, he may not have another choice.
The Buckeyes may need to shake up their starting lineup again.
"We're going to open things up and see what happens in practice the next couple of days," Matta said Monday on his weekly radio show when asked about a potential change to the starting lineup. "I've always said I won't play the five best players, I'll play the five that play the best together."
Right now, the five players who play best together is still a mystery.
Ohio State's current starting lineup features Shannon Scott, D'Angelo Russell, Sam Thompson, Jae'Sean Tate and Anthony Lee, although Lee has missed the last three games due to a lingering groin strain. Matta said he remains "day-to-day" with the injury and is unsure when he'll be able to return to action. Amir Williams has started in his place.
“We're going to open things up and see what happens in practice the next couple of days. I've always said I won't play the five best players, I'll play the five that play the best together.”– Thad Matta
Matta has already shaken up his starting lineup once this season. He inserted Tate and Lee into the starting five in place of Williams and Marc Loving prior to the Buckeyes' game at Northwestern back on Jan. 22. Ohio State won five out of its next six games with its new-look lineup before losing back-to-back road games to Michigan State and Michigan.
"We showed in stretches yesterday where there was some pretty good basketball being played, but consistency is something that we've got to get," Matta said.
At this point, it would seem Russell is the only safe bet to keep his starting spot. The freshman guard has been slumping a bit over the last three games, but has been magnificent for the most part thus far in his first season in Columbus.
The other four spots, though? Those could be up for grabs.
Scott and Thompson seem like the next in line to keep their spots as they are essentially the Buckeye captains, but Matta could send a message by sending them to the bench.
Tate was entered into the starting lineup to give Ohio State more energy at the start of games and help the team get off to better starts, but that hasn't exactly been the case. He's one of the Buckeyes' best players, but he could be better suited coming off the bench. At this point, though, odds are Tate is going to remain a starter.
One player who could sneak into the starting lineup is freshman Keita Bates-Diop, who has played significantly better since earning more playing time with the suspension to Loving. Even since Loving's return, Bates-Diop has looked much more comfortable, specifically on the offensive end. He scored 12 points and was 5 for 7 from the field in just 19 minutes against the Wolverines.
After that loss, Matta hinted a lineup without a big guy wasn't completely out of the question. A starting five of Scott, Russell, Thompson, Tate and Bates-Diop would be just that.
“I wouldn’t rule that out," Matta said of a smaller lineup. "I think from the standpoint of plus-minus when you’re in the game and taking a look at that just from the standpoint of being able to move them on defense and finish around the basket."
If there are changes made — and even if there aren't — discussing it at this point of the season is never a good sign. Ohio State is running out of time to figure things out.
"We have to look ourselves in the mirror and see what’s up," Thompson said following the loss to Michigan. "I don’t know where we went wrong as seniors this week, I don’t know where we went wrong as players this week, but for whatever reason we did not convey to our team that it was as big of a game as it was and we’ve got to fix that.”
