What this Ohio State basketball team still needs to prove to fans

The Ohio State basketball team is off to a good start for this 2023-24 season. They are 10-2 and fresh off a big 78-36 victory over New Orleans. It was a big second half that carried the Buckeyes in that one, and they won it without having Chris Holtmann on the sideline.

Despite the Buckeyes having a good start, there is still something they need to prove to Ohio State basketball fans. They need to prove that they can sustain this start once January starts. That's the time of year when the slide usually comes for the Buckeyes.

That's when Big Ten play gets going back up and that's when the Buckeyes have struggled. They are already just 1-1 in conference play after they blew an 18-point lead against Penn State. That's something that can't happen, especially against average teams.

I do love that the Buckeyes have had a good start. It's better than the alternative. I'm just not getting my hopes up that the normal January slide won't happen. I need to be proven otherwise until I decide to change my mindset once the new year starts. The Buckeyes need to shoot better in more games.

In the last two games, the Buckeyes have shot just 24% from beyond the arc. That's not sustainable when Big Ten play starts because it becomes much harder to score. The defense is a lot tougher, especially in the paint. If opponents can just leave shooters open outside, that's a problem.

Ohio State doesn't play again for another week, so they have time to practice the issues that they need to fix the most. They can show that they are a tough team that is built for the postseason once the new year gets here. We'll see what happens with this version of the Buckeye basketball team.