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How Ohio State basketball rebounds next year

By Ryan Stano

Mar 19, 2021; West Lafayette, Indiana, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Chris Holtmann talks to his players during a time out in the second half against the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles in the first round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament at Mackey Arena. Mandatory Credit: Joshua Bickel-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 19, 2021; West Lafayette, Indiana, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Chris Holtmann talks to his players during a time out in the second half against the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles in the first round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament at Mackey Arena. Mandatory Credit: Joshua Bickel-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Ohio State basketball team won’t be playing any more games this season after suffering a crushing first-round loss. But they can use this experience to be better next year.

Losing in the first round of the NCAA Tournament is never fun. That is especially true when it’s to a 15-seed. The Ohio State basketball team now has to go through an entire offseason with that bad taste in their mouth. Now is their chance to get better and bounce back though.

The Buckeyes have a lot to learn from their late-season slide. Even their wins in the Big Ten Tournament were nail-biters when they didn’t have to be. Both the coaches and the players can learn from their mistakes in all of those games.

In order to get better, two things have to change. The first thing is that they have to play better defense. Ohio State gave up some large point totals this season, including 92 and 91 to Michigan and Illinois respectively. They also couldn’t get critical stops against Oral Roberts.

There’s a chance Kyle Young could use his extra year of eligibility to come back and that would help their defense down low. The problem was their defense on the perimeter. Duane Washington has to get better, and frankly more interested, at playing good defense.

The second thing that has to change is the ball and player movement on offense. Ohio State refused to drive the ball at all against Oral Roberts and it cost them the game. Chris Holtmann has to get an offense that allows for more drives and cuts to the rim.

More skilled guards will help too. Meechie Johnson will get a full season with the team and the Buckeyes will add four-star guard Malaki Branham to help with that as well. Eugene Brown needs to improve off the dribble as well to give Ohio State more reliable ball-handling.

Perhaps the biggest thing the Ohio State basketball team needs to do is improve as a coaching staff. Holtmann failed to make adjustments down the stretch, and it cost them a first-round exit. He needs to show some improvement next year, or things might start to get hairy for him.

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I do have faith in this team to get better next season. They just have to put in the work.

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