Ohio State's Chris Holtmann talks Zed Key's shoulder brace, Indiana loss and more on radio
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Ohio State has hit the midpoint of the Big Ten.
On New Year’s Day, the Buckeyes earned a 16-point win at Northwestern to move them to 10-3 overall and 2-0 in Big Ten play leading into a showdown with No. 1 Purdue at Value City Arena four days later. What has transpired since has been a downward spiral of defeats, first by single digits and now recently by more decisive margins. After a 16-point loss at Indiana on Saturday night, Ohio State will prepare to host Wisconsin on Thursday while nursing a streak of seven losses in eight games.
Ohio State lost five straight by single digits for the first time in program history, beat Iowa on Jan. 21 and then went to Illinois and Indiana and took two more losses.
With all that in the recent past, and a date with a Badgers team that has lost six of its last seven, Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann held his weekly radio show Monday. In case you couldn’t listen, here are the key points.
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A few Buckeyes could miss some practice this week
Ohio State was off Sunday, but a few players could miss practice time leading into the Wisconsin game.
“We had some guys get some testing (Sunday) on a couple ailments,” Holtmann said. “They’ll need to sit out for a practice or two. We’ll see how it goes from there. All in all, guys are fine. Our overall team health this time of year is fine outside of Zed’s knee and shoulder. It’s a lot of things that come with the wear and tear of a season. It’s certainly not as bad as what it has been in past years, and that’s encouraging.”
Third-year center Zed Key, who injured his left shoulder against Purdue, missed the next game at Maryland and then injured his left knee in the final seconds against Iowa.
He’s still battling with the protective brace on his shoulder, Holtmann said.
“He’s had a little bit of a limited stretch in practice,” he said. “The biggest thing that bothers him right now is the brace. It’s restrictive and hard for him to breathe. Big guys, they get tired quick. He’s complained about the brace being hard on him.
“His knee’s OK. He did that two games ago, but I think that’s fine. It’s more the shoulder now.”
Final minutes of first half doomed Buckeyes at Indiana
Ohio State was within 31-30 with about four minutes to play in the first half at Assembly Hall but allowed the Hoosiers to blow the game open with a 15-0 run to close the half.
The Buckeyes never pulled within single digits again.
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“Poor shot selection,” Holtmann said. “We had the team in the double bonus and we settled for four jump shots. That can’t happen. We just have to be better with that. That’s on us as coaches and players. It was offensive shot selection that fueled their transition, then we had a couple defensive breakdowns. The main thing was their offense was fueled by poor offense on our end.”
Some of those shots came from sixth-year forward and captain Justice Sueing, who took a pair of 3-pointers in that stretch.
“Justice settled for a few shots late in the half that don’t play to his strengths,” Holtmann said. “All in all, Zed’s opening to the second half, we need more of that consistently and we just didn’t have that as much.”
Buckeyes used Zed Key, Felix Okpara together at Indiana
Ohio State’s two centers saw playing time side by side against the Hoosiers. Holtmann said it’s a look into where things could be headed.
“It is something we definitely plan to play next year, for sure,” Holtmann said. “Will we do it some more this year? We might on certain matchups. Defensively is the biggest challenge. That’s why you need a whole offseason. There’s no question that’ll be a big part of what we do next year.”
Holtmann said doing so came out of a desire to shore up the team’s rebounding efforts.
“That’s our biggest issue right now,” he said. “We’re not rebounding at the level we need to. It’s a variety of things, but having that kind of length and size at the rim and rebounding would definitely help. Those are two long guys and two big bodies.”
Roddy Gayle could be poised for breakout sophomore year
His playing time has remained mostly consistent, but freshman reserve guard Roddy Gayle has shown Holtmann signs that the game is starting to slow down for him in recent weeks.
“He has not shot it maybe as well as he did early in the preseason, but he’s a two-way player,” Holtmann said. “He’s a really talented kid. I think next year, what you’re going to see, hopefully this year we’ll see glimpses, next year people are going to say where did this kid come from?
“He’s one of those guys that as a sophomore the switch gets turned on and everything slows down and he becomes a really, really good player. He’s just got to be ready for the opportunities that are there. We’ve talked about the ball moving better than it has. He’s got to continue to play to his strengths, be who he is and take the opportunities that are there.”
Chris Holtmann still not sure Ohio State should’ve played second half at Indiana
“Honestly, it was stunning,” Holtmann said. “I think you just, it was a real concern as to whether or not, as the head coach I should allow our team to play the second half. It’s a lot to think about there with your players in the midst of that. They grabbed it, took it pretty quickly but I was trying to do some investigation. One of the officials mentioned it could’ve been upward of 10-15 pounds.
“That is dangerous, and it was probably 7 feet from Brice. It was a really scary situation. I did think about saying listen, we’ll take this half as a loss, we’re not playing against because of how uncomfortable I was.”
Sunday, Indiana personnel told The Indianapolis Star that the piece weighed about one pound.
“I wanted to see it, hold it and feel it but they had already taken it back,” Holtmann said. “Looking back on it, I don’t know that my decision would’ve been the same after thinking about it. It would’ve been a loss in our column. That’s fine.”
Jack Owens, Chris Holtmann praise Felix Okpara’s growth
Freshman center Felix Okpara finished with 8 points and four rebounds at Indiana, and one play in particular impressed assistant coach Jack Owens.
“He’s going to be a really good player in time,” Owens, who coaches the team’s big men, said. “You see his ability to block shots. He went and got an offensive rebound over Trayce (Jackson-Davis) and was able to finish with two hands. Those are the things you’re going to continue to see from him. He does a great job timing his blocks.
“You see glimpses of what he’s going to be in the future as he continues to get stronger. If he can get out in transition and finish, that’s where he excels. He can run all day. The sky’s the limit for that kid. He’s completely bought in. He takes coaching and wants to be good for Ohio State, for sure.”
Holtmann said they felt Okpara could be their best option against Jackson-Davis.
“Where he struggles right now is when you’re playing a pick-and-pop 5 who is multi-dimensional and can drive it,” he said. “He has a hard time guarding in space right now. Or if there’s a really strong, physical low-post player, he struggles with that. I thought potentially going into the game he would be our best matchup with Trayce.
“Both he and Roddy have had great moments in the last month, with Brice’s consistent play in the first half. Bruce is coming and working his way through this stretch and doing some good things.”
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Zed Key's shoulder brace presenting issues, Chris Holtmann says
