Shot creation critical for Ohio State basketball

The key for the Ohio State basketball team to truly be a dangerous team once March rolls around is shot creation, something they lacked a year ago.

The Ohio State basketball team was almost super dangerous last year. They had a guy who could heat up at the drop of a hat in Duane Washington. They had a really reliable post scorer in E.J. Liddell. There were a few guys who could hit threes too. There’s a reason they were a two-seed.

Unfortunately, they weren’t dangerous enough. Two things killed them in the postseason; defense and shot creation. They have tried to address the defense by adding Jamari Wheeler from Penn State, and they have Kyle Young back down low. Shot creation is the key though.

Last year, they really only had one player that could consistently create his own shot. That was Washington. Now that he has moved on, the Buckeyes are left looking around at their roster trying to find someone who can fill that role. Ideally, they would have three or four guys that can do that.

Cedric Russell seems to be the guy that Chris Holtmann is hoping can fill Washington’s role at shooting guard. He was definitely able to create his own shot at Louisiana. He is someone that can get to a spot and create a shot over some tough defense.

The Buckeyes need more than him though. They need someone like Justice Sueing or Meechie Johnson to step up. Sueing’s shooting really tailed off at the end of the season. He seemed to wear down over the grind of a physical Big Ten season. He’s the most likely guy to take that secondary shot creator role.

Liddell is the best player on the team, but he can’t create his own shot. Action needs to be run for him to get points. Sueing was able to create his own shots while he was at Cal. He needs to get that form back for the Ohio State basketball team to really be a contender.

Sueing’s development into that role will define what happens with the Buckeyes’ season. I hope he can rise to the challenge.