Bobcats Blow It In BG
This has the makings of another frustrating season for Ohio Bobcat fans. OU had put together a very solid OOC performance this season. Unfortunately they followed it up with a loss in the MAC season opener to a below-average Bowling Green team. A team of Ohio’s caliber should not be dropping games to a team ranked 270 in the RPI. I’m aware that Anderson Arena is a tough venue to play in, but the problems that this Ohio team has displayed executing on the road during the Tim O’Shea tenure have become epidemic.
The Bobcats turned the ball over 20 times. They shot 5-22 (22.7%) from 3-pt range (why they’re launching 3 after 3 when they’re that cold from long distance, I don’t know). They only got to the FT line 9 times as opposed to BG’s 22 free throws. Look at the bottom line, the Bobcats only scored 49 points against Bowling Green, a team that has lost to DI bottom feeders Furman and Northern Colorado already this season. Not good.
What’s more is Tim O’Shea’s continuing inability to get his young players on-court experience. As seasons go on O’Shea usually tightens up his rotation to only go 8-deep. The Bobcats have depth this season. Tommy Freeman and DeVaughn Washington are both good young players, but if they can’t get any on-court time, this is going to be a wasted year in their development. Freeman and Washington are averaging less than 3 and 1 minutes respectively over the past 7 games, and the only reason that Freeman’s is that high is because he logged 13 minutes in the blowout against Kansas.
You’re telling me that Bubba Walther needs to play 31 minutes against BG while shooting 5-14 and turning the ball over 4 times? Three of those minutes couldn’t have gone to Freeman? Take an additional 2 from Allen Hester, and there’s 5 minutes for Freeman. Is Leon Williams really at his most effective when playing 35 minutes like he did against Bowling Green? I’m not saying that Freeman or Washington need to be key cogs in the rotation, but it really shouldn’t be that difficult to get them 5-8 minutes apiece.
My complaints about the rotation are beside the point for today though. Today all but puts the nail in the coffin of Ohio’s NCAA Tournament at-large hopes. Ohio’s execution needs to get much better, especially on the road, or they’re going to end up with a 9-7 MAC record and a 5-seed in the Tournament. Tim O’Shea definitely has some problems to solve with this team. He now has the rest of the MAC regular season to see if he can do it.
Dan Whitmyer is the head basketball writer at VanDelay Sports. He can be reached at dwhit@vandelay-sports.com
Tags: BG, Bowling Green, Bubba Walther, jerome tillman, leon williams, mac, MAC Basketball, MAC East, ohio, Ohio Bobcats, ou, Tim O'Shea