Sports
Basketball: Men’s and women’s preview
By: Grant Burkhardt
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The O-Zone is ready to get agitated and stand up for defense starting Sunday, as the Ohio men’s basketball team starts its regular season against the Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks. This season comes with high expectations for the Bobcats as they look to rebound after last year’s 19-16 record.
The ‘Cats are projected to finish third in the MAC East, a projection they think they can out-do. But head coach John Groce knows it will take some work.
“Right now we’re not a good team," Groce said. “And I’ve told them that. We have a chance to be really good, but we’ve got to do some of those little things.”
“Little things” refers to mental toughness, according to Groce. A problem Ohio had last season – best exemplified by the triple-overtime Miami game, that spilled over into this year's exhibition game against Mercyhurst on November 7 – is putting teams away.
“When you’ve got someone down like that, you’ve got to keep your foot on the gas," Groce said.
To help with that, Ohio returns three star performers from last year in guards D.J. Cooper and Nick Kellogg and forward Ivo Baltic. Cooper led the team in scoring and assists and also notched seven double-doubles last season. Kellogg and Baltic are players looking to have an big role in the offense this season for the ‘Cats.
The big thing that jumps out when looking at Ohio’s roster is the shortage of seniors. The only senior on the team is forward – and transfer from the University of Cincinnati – Kenny Belton. However, this is Belton’s first and likely only season at Ohio.
With DeVaughn Washington, Asown Sayles, and Adetunji Adedipe all moving on after last season, a leadership void was left on Ohio’s bench.
In particular, the front-court will have a difficult time replacing a talent like Washington. Even with his big presence the team had difficulty rebounding last season, as the Bobcats finished seventh in the MAC in rebound differential.
“We’ve got to pick up the slack," Baltic said, referring to his fellow big men. “Every team deals with [losing players] every year, but everyone’s working harder.”
One returning player the Bobcats will rely on to be a leader on the team is their floor general, Cooper. This is his third season and it comes with high expectations. Cooper was selected to the preseason All-MAC first team.
Still, Cooper is only one piece to the puzzle. Ohio is a young team chock full of athleticism with a deep bench. Groce will rely heavily on each player to fill his role and play at a high level.
Last season, Ohio led the MAC in scoring, averaging more than 75 points per game. The ‘Cats have been known for playing with speed and this year plan to kick it up another notch.
“Our tempo that we’ve played at, in the time that I’ve been here, is the fastest in the league,” Groce said. “We want to threaten 94 feet as many possessions as we can throughout the game.”
With many new players each with a variety of talents, Ohio looks to catch the opposition off-guard this season. With so many players, each with unique abilities that can help the team, Ohio will have plenty of looks to throw at opponents to keep them on their toes.
The ‘Cats hope to piece together the perplexing jigsaw puzzle that is their team. In the end, they want the picture created to be the picture of a MAC Championship-winning team.
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