The Ohio State Buckeyes men’s basketball team has not had a great stretch lately, losing six of their last seven games with most of those losses coming to unranked opponents. And it sounds like head coach Chris Holtmann is placing some of the blame on his veteran players.
Following Ohio State’s latest loss to the Illinois Fighting Illini, Holtmann called out veteran players Justice Sueing and Zed Key, saying that the Buckeyes “need more production” from them given the youth on the rest of the roster.
“We just need more from them,” Chris Holtmann said according to On3. “Like We need more, and it’s not just about points, we need more effort plays. We need more production from them. They’re too important to what we’re doing and we rely on them too much with how young we are.”
Holtmann said the production from Sueing and Key is crucial to the team’s success.
“We’ve got to get them performing at a higher level, Steve, so that’s on us as coaches and then they’ve got to bring more than what they’re bringing,” Holtmann said. “I thought Zed had some good looks but it’s not just about his finishes around the basket. He’s got to bring more, he’s got to do more in terms of effort plays and so does Justice.”
One way or another, it’s clear the Buckeyes need to do something different.
[On3]
About Kevin Harrish