Last night, when Ohio State faced Penn State, Buckeyes long threat Jon Diebler launched an ill-advised three-pointer from somewhere near the Poconos. As it clanged violently off the rim, you couldn’t remove the smile from his face with a crowbar.
It was Diebler’s 12th shot attempt and also his 12th three-point attempt. It was also only his second miss; Diebler missed his first shot and his last shot and banged home all ten in between. That is a record, but it might not have even been the most impressive part of Diebler’s game.
By the way, Ohio State ran away with the game 82-61. But back to Diebler.
After nailing his ninth three, Jon Diebler did something that has epitomized the Ohio State Buckeyes so far this season. He found a way to set up a teammate. As Diebler received the ball at the top of the key, he pump-faked as seemingly the entire Nittany Lions team was closing out on him, and drove. He had the entire PSU team off-balance and instead of just forcing up a deserved heat-check, he drove the lane and dished to freshman Deshaun Thomas for a violent dunk. Take your pick on what is more demoralizing to the opposing team.
So the game went for the Buckeyes. On Senior Night in University Park, where they were rightfully rolling out the red carpet for their super-senior Talor Battle, the Buckeyes needed to strike early so as not to allow the emotions in Happy Valley to sweep them away. In the end, the excellent Talor Battle had a team-high 18 points for Penn State, but the night belonged to Diebler and the Buckeyes.
The unselfishness displayed by these Buckeyes is something we haven’t seen before. Diebler’s on fire? Lighty takes only seven shots in 30 minutes setting his ego aside. Sullinger scores 10 points on 4-8 shooting. William Buford scored 21 on 9-14 shooting. This Buckeyes team will recognize who has it going and seemingly get out of their way.
When the outside shots aren’t falling, the Buckeyes rely on David Lighty and Aaron Craft to drive the lane and force the action. When the post game isn’t working with Sullinger, they start bombing from three. This is one of the most well-rounded Buckeye teams we have ever seen, and they aren’t afraid to use any number of methods to come out on top.
As good as last night’s game felt for Buckeyes everywhere, the true test is this weekend when Wisconsin comes to Columbus. The #10 Badgers got the best of Ohio State on February 12th in Wisconsin 71-67. If they want to avoid the Wisconsin sweep, they better find what is working on Sunday and go to that often.
Oh, and they better have a plan to stop junior guard Jordan Taylor. Taylor dropped 27 on the Buckeyes last time and is averaging 17.8 ppg on the season including almost 42% from three point land. The Buckeyes are seemingly always susceptible to the three ball and Jordan Taylor and Josh Gasser combined to go 8-11 from downtown against the Buckeyes last time.
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(Photo AP / John Beale)
