Chris Holtmann critics haven’t been hard to find among Ohio State fans in the final month of the 2021-22 season.
If nothing else, the Buckeyes began their latest campaign with the potential to break through to the other side of the barrier that’s halted their progress time and time again over the last decade, and one that Holtmann has yet to get past: the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Even though it suffered a surprise offseason departure with Duane Washington, Ohio State returned a first-team All-Big Ten performer in E.J. Liddell and stocked up with nine seniors that figured to make the Buckeyes a win-now group.
By the end of the season, Ohio State wasn’t all that far off from reaching the aforementioned benchmark. The Buckeyes were one possession away from taking a lead on Villanova in Sunday’s Round of 32 matchup in Pittsburgh. But in the end, Ohio State couldn’t close the show and failed to advance to the Sweet 16 once again, giving the Buckeyes another promising-at-times but ultimately unspectacular season.
“Listen, it's hard to win in this tournament. We've had four opportunities. I've been here five years, and we have had four opportunities,” Holtmann said after Sunday’s loss. “We performed pretty well in this tournament in three of them. We just haven't been able to push through to that second (weekend).”
When compared to archrival Michigan, which has now made five straight Sweet 16 appearances, the Buckeyes’ postseason track record under Holtmann has certainly not seemed like much to write home about, to say the least.
By the same token, Ohio State would have had to spring a five-point upset over a No. 2 seed and Big East Tournament champion just to get to the Sweet 16. The Buckeyes were not expected to knock off the Wildcats, even if a win would have flipped the script on the story of their season.
If your qualm is with the fact the Buckeyes were a No. 7 seed to begin with, there is credence to that criticism, given that Ohio State spent 12 weeks this season ranked inside the AP poll’s top 20 teams.
As much as it may seem like an excuse, the reality of Ohio State’s injury issues has to account for some of its troubles as well. Justice Sueing, considered the Buckeyes’ second-best player in the preseason, played just two games all year. Sixth-year forward Seth Towns did not play at all. Kyle Young, who often became Ohio State’s third option after the emergence of Malaki Branham as a legitimate star, missed five games due to vestibular dysfunction and a concussion, and parts of two other contests as a result of the latter affliction.
Kyle Young has left the game now after taking a shoulder to the head. This is only Young's second game back after sustaining three concussions in a 12-month period.
— Griffin Strom (@GriffinStrom3) March 20, 2022
Holtmann discussed the manner in which injuries impacted his team all season, and Liddell even brought them up unprompted when discussing his disappointment immediately following the Buckeyes’ season-ending Sunday loss.
“I don't think reality has really kicked in yet that I wouldn't be able to – this certain group of guys, a lot of guys these last games, older guys, seniors. It's tough, man. I'm really hurting inside,” Liddell said. “I wish I could have done more to help get it done. This group of guys was really determined. We fought through a lot of adversity and injuries this year. I gave my all this year. I wish I could have done a little bit more, though.”
Holtmann mentioned them again himself in his postgame press conference, but also lauded the efforts of a team that won an NCAA Tournament game that many expected it to lose after dropping four of its last five games prior to Selection Sunday.
“I think the injuries played a major role. We didn't have the team we anticipated having,” Holtmann said. “But I was really proud of our last kind of – this week, really. I didn't like how we started either half (against Villanova) to be honest with you. I thought those two starts really – we just were not as physical or as detailed as we needed to be. But in terms of the season in review, I would have to kind of think about it and put it in perspective.”
It’s safe to say Ohio State did not get the level of contribution from its three new grad transfers that most fans assumed it would going into the season. No one confused Jamari Wheeler with an offensive dynamo, and given his career-high scoring average and 31 starts this season, there’s no doubt the Penn State transfer was the most important new veteran addition this season. Cedric Russell and Joey Brunk had their moments, but never materialized into consistently reliable sources of production.
In the most important game of the season, that trio combined for three points, as Russell didn’t score at all in just four minutes of game time and Brunk did not see the floor. That lack of output only contributed to an issue that Ohio State dealt with all season, in which finding any additional scoring options beyond Liddell and Branham was routinely a problem night in and night out.
“We have been searching for that third and fourth guy, it's been Kyle a lot, other guys at times but it's been Kyle when we have been at full strength, sometimes Zed (Key),” Holtmann said. “I thought he gave us a good lift on the glass, he missed a couple of baskets but I thought he gave us great lift on the glass. We have been kinda searching for that and we have missed that third, fourth and sometimes fifth option.”
But Holtmann doesn’t believe he needs to reinvent the wheel in order to get over the hump. As long as the Buckeyes keep earning NCAA Tournament berths and winning opening-round games, Holtmann said they are bound to break through eventually.
“Gotta keep getting here, gotta keep growing. Listen, when we got here a few years ago with a different program, you keep getting here, you get here enough, you get here consistently, and it will happen,” Holtmann said.
Buckeye fans are fed up with Ohio State’s postseason shortcomings, and for that reason, any mention of five straight NCAA Tournament appearances (including the canceled 2020 tournament that the Buckeyes would have made) – the second-longest streak in program history – will likely produce an eye-roll for many. But Holtmann believes the momentum he’s created in repeated trips to the Big Dance will lead to success beyond the second round soon enough.
“I believe in what we're doing and I'm more than confident it's going to happen. It's hard to win in this tournament. If you go back and look at the number of years I've been a head coach and the number of NCAA Tournament wins, it's pretty good,” Holtmann said. “We feel good about what we're doing. We've obviously got to do some roster construction here, given some of what we're losing, but we will deal with that when we get back.”
