Ohio State basketball: Zed Key anchor of OSU defense

The Ohio State basketball team is replacing a lot from last season. The Buckeyes lost their two best scorers and their best defender too. Now, they have to find a way to replace that scoring production with incoming freshmen and transfers. On defense, there might be another replacement.

Zed Key isn’t known to be a particularly great defender, but he has shown signs of being able to turn into one. He stands at 6’8 and has long arms. Even though he doesn’t have much of a vertical to speak of, he still uses his body to contest shots fairly well.

The biggest thing about Key is that he tries hard on defense. He sprints back in transition and makes sure he gets back to the paint so that the opposition can’t get an easy bucket. He also tries really hard to get low and shuffle his feet side to side to make sure he doesn’t get blown by.

Key’s lack of athleticism is what holds him back from being a truly great defender. He can still get better at putting himself in a good position to make someone take a tough shot over him though. The Buckeyes are definitely going to be working with him on that this summer.

If Key can improve as a defender and be that anchor in the middle of the lane, this Ohio State basketball team will be in a lot better position to win games in March. Finding that key defender to replace Kyle Young is going to be the toughest thing this team has to do heading into this season.

We’ll see if Key can be that anchor in the middle. I know he’s going to try his hardest to be good enough to be that guy because he wants to be the best player that he can be.