Ohio State basketball: How OSU can try to fix their defense

The Ohio State basketball team has been falling apart down the stretch because of their poor defense. Here might be a way to fix it.

Perhaps the biggest reason that the Ohio State basketball team has lost four of the last five games is because of their poor perimeter defense. They can’t keep anyone in front of them right now. Most of the guards they’ve been facing have had a wide-open runway to the paint.

Jamari Wheeler, Malaki Branham, and Eugene Brown have all had their issues keeping people in front of them. Brown’s defense is perhaps the biggest problem considering he’s starting at the small forward position right now and he can’t stay in front of anyone.

The problem is, no one else is available at that position to play any better defense. Justin Ahrens certainly isn’t a defensive stopper. They’ve tried three-guard lineups that involve Meechie Johnson or Cedric Russell too, but neither of them are great defenders either.

So what’s the answer then? I think I might have a solution. Ohio State tried using a zone at some points during the Penn State game, and that didn’t work either. What might work is having a big man blitz more on the pick and roll and staying there more instead of hedging back.

The Buckeyes need to attack the ball-handler more than what they’ve been doing. Because of that, the guards have been penetrating and either making layups or kicking to open shooters. They have to dictate more of the play than the opposing offense.

This may not even work because it does leave someone open if the rotation defense behind it doesn’t work well. All I know is that Chris Holtmann has to try something different if he doesn’t want to get bounced in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.