Ken
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OSUMBB: To Everything Turn, Turn Turn…
Ken via our good friends at Buckeye Battle Cry
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Apologies to the Byrds, but I was going to do a retrospective article on the Ohio State men’s basketball 2015-2016 season. I may yet do that, but there appears to be some roster shuffling on Thad’s team. You might say it’s a “thinning of the herd”. No, not this potential winnowing..
According to a couple of reliable sources, Daniel Giddens has asked for his scholarship release and supposedly, A.J. Harris will, too. Mickey Mitchell is transferring, too. This caps the season, so far, that had Austin Grandstaff quit the team to move closer to home (Texas).
Here’s what I think of the roster moves:
Austin Grandstaff: Touted (maybe correctly, maybe not) as the Second Coming of John Diebler, this grades out to an Incomplete. His game was a “fire & forget” from long range; 36 of his 41 FG attempts were 3-pointers. Subsequently, he didn’t rebound well and he was a poor defender. Pretty much what you’d expect from a big, freshman shooting guard. He does have a nice shooting stroke, so with some maturing, he could be a secondary scorer for the Sooners.
Daniel Giddens: Supposedly transferring for “family matters”. Who knows? The lad is from Georgia, so maybe he does want to be closer to home. His beef can’t be for lack of playing time. He did start seven games and averaged 18 minutes per game, about the same as his doppelganger at Center, Trevor Thompson. You could see him going through freshman growing pains. His assist/turnover (.28:1) ratio wasn’t good, his free throw shooting (which I’ll never understand) of .44 was terrible and he committed a foul for every 6 minutes of playing time.
Having said that, I appreciated his energy and hustle. These errors were “errors of commission” to me. I will miss young Mr. Giddens and wish him the best, wherever he lands.
Trevor Thompson: I have Trevor here only because he is taking advantage of a new provision that allows NCAA players to “explore” their NBA possibilities, and yet, under conditions, return to their college teams. Look, there is no way in hell that Trevor is going to the NBA anytime soon.
Trevor will return and he will see his minutes increase from last season’s 18 per game. We all hope that his production does, too.
A.J. Harris: I only have Harris here because he fell into the Columbus Dispatch’s “A.J. Harris could be next” meme as it related to Giddens’ release.
Frankly, I don’t understand the “could be next” thing, I guess we’ll have to wait to see. I think he provided a nice “quick” guard option for Thad and set the rotation for OSU to go “small” by allowing JaQuan Lyle to move over to the #2 spot. He averaged just shy of 14 minutes, and his offensive statistics weren’t that good, understandable for a freshman guard, so I don’t know what he was expecting. We’ll have to see what happens.
Mickey Mitchell: Well, the ‘hits keep coming’. I stepped away from the keyboard for a few minutes, and find out that young Mr. Mitchell intends to transfer out of the program. Frankly, I’m disappointed to see Mitchell go; I thought he had the raw skills and “ball sense” to develop into something. His offense was pretty iffy, he was foul prone, but was he ever a rebounder. He was the Buckeyes’ leading rebounder in the ‘post-Jae’Sean Tate stretch.
Although I’m disappointed, this transfer surprises me the least, because, per cleveland.com’s Bill Landis:
Mitchell’s time with Ohio State started on somewhat shaky ground to begin with. Before being ruled ineligible by the NCAA, Mitchell had a wild recruitment during which he committed to Ohio State, decommitted and then re-committed shortly after.
Mitchell and his family told cleveland.com in June that Mitchell decommitted from Ohio State for family reasons. Mitchell’s brother, Mike, was a former Ohio State linebacker who transferred to Texas Tech after one year in Columbus.
I am actually more surprised with the fact that he committed to Ohio State than the fact he is transferring.
Wrap up
OK, so Ohio State experienced two three , maybe three four players leaving the program during/after this season. That’s too bad, because I think these players have good potential and seem to be good kids. But, let’s keep this in perspective. Per Adam Jardy of The Columbus Dispatch:
The Buckeyes are far from alone in losing underclassmen. Also Monday, Michigan State announced that sophomores Marvin Clark and Javon Bess — a Gahanna product — were transferring, and Grant Weatherford of Purdue will leave the program after a redshirt season.
Neither the Michigan State nor Purdue basketball programs are falling off the map. Neither is Ohio State’s.
The post OSUMBB: To Everything Turn, Turn Turn… appeared first on The Buckeye Battle Cry: Ohio State News and Commentary.
Continue reading...
Ken via our good friends at Buckeye Battle Cry
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Apologies to the Byrds, but I was going to do a retrospective article on the Ohio State men’s basketball 2015-2016 season. I may yet do that, but there appears to be some roster shuffling on Thad’s team. You might say it’s a “thinning of the herd”. No, not this potential winnowing..
According to a couple of reliable sources, Daniel Giddens has asked for his scholarship release and supposedly, A.J. Harris will, too. Mickey Mitchell is transferring, too. This caps the season, so far, that had Austin Grandstaff quit the team to move closer to home (Texas).
Here’s what I think of the roster moves:
Austin Grandstaff: Touted (maybe correctly, maybe not) as the Second Coming of John Diebler, this grades out to an Incomplete. His game was a “fire & forget” from long range; 36 of his 41 FG attempts were 3-pointers. Subsequently, he didn’t rebound well and he was a poor defender. Pretty much what you’d expect from a big, freshman shooting guard. He does have a nice shooting stroke, so with some maturing, he could be a secondary scorer for the Sooners.
Daniel Giddens: Supposedly transferring for “family matters”. Who knows? The lad is from Georgia, so maybe he does want to be closer to home. His beef can’t be for lack of playing time. He did start seven games and averaged 18 minutes per game, about the same as his doppelganger at Center, Trevor Thompson. You could see him going through freshman growing pains. His assist/turnover (.28:1) ratio wasn’t good, his free throw shooting (which I’ll never understand) of .44 was terrible and he committed a foul for every 6 minutes of playing time.
Having said that, I appreciated his energy and hustle. These errors were “errors of commission” to me. I will miss young Mr. Giddens and wish him the best, wherever he lands.
Trevor Thompson: I have Trevor here only because he is taking advantage of a new provision that allows NCAA players to “explore” their NBA possibilities, and yet, under conditions, return to their college teams. Look, there is no way in hell that Trevor is going to the NBA anytime soon.
Trevor will return and he will see his minutes increase from last season’s 18 per game. We all hope that his production does, too.
A.J. Harris: I only have Harris here because he fell into the Columbus Dispatch’s “A.J. Harris could be next” meme as it related to Giddens’ release.
Frankly, I don’t understand the “could be next” thing, I guess we’ll have to wait to see. I think he provided a nice “quick” guard option for Thad and set the rotation for OSU to go “small” by allowing JaQuan Lyle to move over to the #2 spot. He averaged just shy of 14 minutes, and his offensive statistics weren’t that good, understandable for a freshman guard, so I don’t know what he was expecting. We’ll have to see what happens.
Mickey Mitchell: Well, the ‘hits keep coming’. I stepped away from the keyboard for a few minutes, and find out that young Mr. Mitchell intends to transfer out of the program. Frankly, I’m disappointed to see Mitchell go; I thought he had the raw skills and “ball sense” to develop into something. His offense was pretty iffy, he was foul prone, but was he ever a rebounder. He was the Buckeyes’ leading rebounder in the ‘post-Jae’Sean Tate stretch.
Although I’m disappointed, this transfer surprises me the least, because, per cleveland.com’s Bill Landis:
Mitchell’s time with Ohio State started on somewhat shaky ground to begin with. Before being ruled ineligible by the NCAA, Mitchell had a wild recruitment during which he committed to Ohio State, decommitted and then re-committed shortly after.
Mitchell and his family told cleveland.com in June that Mitchell decommitted from Ohio State for family reasons. Mitchell’s brother, Mike, was a former Ohio State linebacker who transferred to Texas Tech after one year in Columbus.
I am actually more surprised with the fact that he committed to Ohio State than the fact he is transferring.
Wrap up
OK, so Ohio State experienced two three , maybe three four players leaving the program during/after this season. That’s too bad, because I think these players have good potential and seem to be good kids. But, let’s keep this in perspective. Per Adam Jardy of The Columbus Dispatch:
The Buckeyes are far from alone in losing underclassmen. Also Monday, Michigan State announced that sophomores Marvin Clark and Javon Bess — a Gahanna product — were transferring, and Grant Weatherford of Purdue will leave the program after a redshirt season.
Neither the Michigan State nor Purdue basketball programs are falling off the map. Neither is Ohio State’s.
The post OSUMBB: To Everything Turn, Turn Turn… appeared first on The Buckeye Battle Cry: Ohio State News and Commentary.
Continue reading...