Wednesday, November 14, 2001
Ohio State basketball preview
OSU deep, just not famous
The Associated Press
| Schedule |
| Date | Opponent | Time |
| November |
| Sun. 18 | Winthrop | 5 p.m. |
| Tue. 20 | Albany | 8 p.m. |
| Tue. 27 | NC State | 7:30 p.m. |
| December |
| Sun. 2 | UNC-Wilmington | 5 p.m. |
| Sun. 9 | IUPUI | 7 p.m. |
| Wed. 12 | Santa Clara | 8 p.m. |
| Sat. 15 | at Louisville | 2 p.m. |
| Wed. 19 | Pittsburgh | 8 p.m. |
| Sat. 22 | E. Illinois | 8 p.m. |
| Sat. 29 | UNC-Greensbro 1:30 p.m. |
| January |
| Wed. 2 | at Purdue | 7 p.m. |
| Sat. 5 | Iowa | 8 p.m. |
| Wed. 9 | at Massachusetts 7 p.m. |
| Sat. 12 | at Northwestern | 8 p.m. |
| Wed. 16 | Penn St. | 8 p.m. |
| Sat. 19 | Indiana | 4:30 p.m. |
| Thu. 24 | Michigan | 7 p.m. |
| Sat. 26 | at Minnesota 4:30 p.m. |
| Tue. 29 | Illinois | 7 p.m. |
| February |
| Sat. 2 | Northwestern 12:15 p.m. |
| Wed. 6 | at Wisconsin | 8 p.m. |
| Sun. 10 | at Michigan St. | 1 p.m. |
| Sat. 16 | at Iowa 12:17 p.m. |
| Wed. 20 | at Indiana | 8 p.m. |
| Sat. 23 | Purdue | 8 p.m. |
| Tue. 26 | Michigan St. | 7 p.m. |
| March |
| Sat. 2 | at Michigan-& | TBA |
| Sun. 3 | at Michigan-& | 4 p.m. |
| Thu. 7 | Big Ten Tourn. ( Indy) TBA |
| Fri. 8 | Big Ten Tourn. TBA |
| Sat. 9 | Big Ten Tourn. TBA |
| Sun. 10 | Big Ten Tourn. TBA |
|
Home games in bold.
&-Time and date to be determined.
|
COLUMBUS - Ken Johnson, the Big Ten's all-time leader in blocks, is gone and the Ohio State Buckeyes must adapt to life without its soft-spoken, art-major of a bully. Now the Buckeyes must play defense without having someone who can erase their mistakes and opponents' shots with one expansive arm.
''In the backs of their minds it was like, 'I'm going to guard my guy as hard as I can, but if he goes by me that's not all that bad,''' fourth-year Ohio State coach Jim O'Brien said. ''Now that mentality is not going to be here.''
Only four players in college basketball history have ever blocked more than Johnson's 444 shots - and two of them were named Mourning and Duncan. A year ago, showing he was more than a defensive stopgap, Johnson averaged 12.5 points a game, second-best on the team.
Now Ohio State will have Will Dudley, who has blocked 23 shots in his three-year career, and a gang of four. The 6-foot-8 Dudley will split time with 7-foot Velimir Radinovic, a soft player with more offensive skills; 6-10 freshman Matt Marinchick;6-9 freshman Terence Dials and 6-6 Tim Martin. At the power forward slot, any of those could share time with 6-7 Zach Williams and 6-7 Matt Sylvester, providing plenty of quantity if not much superstar quality.
''It's almost going to be by committee,'' O'Brien said of his frontcourt.
On the perimeter, the guards are proven and there are a lot of them. Brent Darby, who blossomed late in the season as a shooting guard, and freshman Brandon Fuss-Cheatham provide different looks and different talents at the point. Darby looks to score, while Fuss-Cheatham, the best player in Western Pennsylvania last season, looks to pass the ball to someone else to score.
The forwards include four-year starter and three-year captain Brian Brown, last year's leading scorer at 14.5 points a game, along with 3-point specialist Sean Connolly and Boban Savovic, who led the team in scoring on a summer tour of Europe.
The 6-5 senior from Yugoslavia appears to be over nagging foot problems that have slowed him.
''Savovic has been playing very, very well - maybe better than anybody on our team right now,'' O'Brien said.
A year ago, the Buckeyes (20-11) shocked many by losing stars Michael Redd and Scoonie Penn and still finishing third in the Big Ten at 11-5, winning their final seven conference games. Once again, Ohio State doesn't appear to have any marquee names.
''If you ask the general population to name three guys on this team - maybe even ask people from Ohio - they might struggle to do that,'' O'Brien said.
| ROSTER |
|---|
| Player | Pos | Height | Class | Hometown/School |
| Brian Brown | G | 6-4 | Sr. | Brooklyn, N.Y./Bishop Loughlin |
| Will Dudley | F | 6-8 | Sr. | Brooklyn, N.Y./Bishop Loughlin |
| Tim Martin | F | 6-6 | Sr. | Dayton/Dunbar |
| Doylan Robinson | G | 6-4 | Sr. | Akron/Buchtel |
| Boban Savovic | G | 6-5 | Sr. | Yugoslavia/Newark (N.J.) Eastside |
| Sean Connolly | G | 6-5 | Jr. | Peabody, Mass./Bishop Fenwick |
| Brent Darby | G | 6-1 | Jr. | Detroit/River Rouge |
| Ryan Heflin | G | 5-10 | Jr. | Dayton/Meadowdale |
| Velimir Radinovic | C | 7-0 | So. | Toronto/T.A. Blakelock |
| Shaun Smith | G | 5-10 | Jr. | Cincinnati/Walnut Hills |
| Zach Williams | F | 6-7 | So. | Brooklyn, N.Y./Christ the King |
| Matt Marinchick | C | 6-10 | Fr. | Hudson/Hudson |
| B. Fuss-Cheatham | G | 6-1 | Fr. | Beaver Falls, Pa./Blackhawk |
| Matt Sylvester | F | 6-7 | Fr. | Cincinnati/Moeller |
| Terence Dials | F | 6-9 | Fr. | Youngstown/Boardman |
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