Sunday, March 19, 2000
OHIO STATE NOTEBOOK
Shooting stats don't dazzle Bucks
BY SCOTT MacGREGOR
The Cincinnati Enquirer
NASHVILLE — Ohio State isn't getting too excited about its hot shooting night in Friday's first-round victory over Appalachian State.
The Buckeyes shot 60 percent from 3-point range and 58 percent overall, highlighted by guard Scoonie Penn's 5-for-7 night on 3-pointers that helped him break out of his shooting slump.
But the Buckeyes know how precarious long-range shooting can be. They shot 61.5 percent on 3-pointers in an 82-71 win at Indiana on Feb.19, then followed with 1-for-11 and 2-for-13 nights in their next two wins, over Northwestern and Illinois.
Coach Jim O'Brien says he has been telling his players they are capable of shooting well today against Miami. “We're not changing our approach to any of this,” O'Brien said. “We said, "Fellas, this is the way we play.'”
Penn in particular isn't getting too high. “It's just one game,” Penn said. “If I can continue it, then I'll get excited.”
20/20 Scoonie
When Penn was in the middle of a slump that saw him shoot just 30 percent on 3-pointers for the season, one of the things Ohio State coaches thought could be the cause was his eyesight.
It was suggested Penn have his eyes checked.
“He looked at me like I was crazy,” O'Brien said. “Other than, we haven't done a whole lot. We weren't able to detect any change in his shooting technique. We tried to downplay the problem. We tried to encourage him, and we knew eventually what he was going to do anyway.”
Raising Miami
When Miami revived its dormant basketball program in 1985, the Hurricanes played their home games in the ballroom of the Miami Hyatt Regency, with stands on one side. Since coach Leonard Hamilton took over 10 years ago, they've made three straight NCAA Tournaments. The Hurricanes shared the Big East regular-season title with Syracuse this year.
The team's recent success stems from the play of its senior trio — point guard Vernon Jennings, shooter Johnny Hemsley and center Mario Bland — who have built the program on the court while Hamilton has built it with recruiting off it.
“I wanted to try not to reinvent the wheel,” Hamilton said. “The nice thing about the job in Miami is that every day, you feel there's something you can do to make the program better.”
Hamilton, an assistant at Kentucky from 1974-1986, is rumored to be a candidate to replace Bobby Cremins at Georgia Tech.
“It's not a distraction because it hasn't been discussed by the team and it's not an issue we're concerned with,” Jennings said.
Tournament game coverage at Cincinnati.com/madness
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