OK, I know I need to get a life. But I just finished going through the OSU game recording possession by possession and charted how OSU shredded our defense and the nature of each breakdown and each bucket in an attempt to determine, while I'm not caught up in the flow and excitement of a live game, who is and isn't getting it done on that end of the floor. If you're not interested in this level of detail, I don't blame you -- just move on! If you are, first I'm going to describe the possessions, at least as I saw them, then at the end try to group them so as to make some tentative conclusions about where the team needs work and who needs work in which areas.

Note these are only possessions which led to baskets or free throws by OSU, so in that sense it's an incomplete picture of the total defensive effort, and I stopped charting at the 4 minute timeout of the 2nd half, as the game had long been decided and it was deep, deep garbage time and therefore the whole exercise would've meant less and less. Some may differ with my judgments as to what happened on particular plays, what should have happened, etc.

But here goes with the first 36 minutes:


1st Half:

time: 1807 Seth goes under a Sullinger screen at the 3 point line. Easy 3 pointer for Craft. Category: perimeter defense/screen. Main culprit (I know, not a great word, but you know what I mean -- and I know on a lot of plays more than one defender contributed to the breakdown): Curry.

1747 live ball turnover leads to OSU runout and layup. Category: turnover: Culprit (defensively): none

1722 Seth screened up top, Craft gets into the lane, Mason blocked out from helping out. Layup. Category: help defense by bigs. Main culprit: Mason

1701 Austin missed layup, 4 guys, especially Seth, loaf getting back; easy transition layup. Category: transition. Main culprit: Curry

1613 2nd chance for OSU (loose ball off offensive board), ends up w/ Sullinger, muscled it in over Mason in the lane. Tough shot. Category: inside man-to-man. Culprit: Mason (though Sullinger's shot was tough)

1508 Dawkins caught on switch after excellent screen by Sullinger; Sullinger banks in easy 10 footer after easy entry pass. Category: lack of help. Culprit: none

1148 screen at 3 point line, Hairston switches too late, leaving Buford open for a 3 over Thornton. Category: perimeter defense/screen. Main culprit: Hairston

1039 Kelly overpowered in post by Sullinger after Kelly had to help when Mason beaten outside by Buford, who got into the lane and passed to Sullinger. Kelly couldn't get back into good defensive position and had no chance. Category: perimeter defense/off the dribble. Main culprit: Mason

932 Rivers beaten around screen, Buford receives pass, gets into the lane, fouled in the act. Category: perimeter defense/screen. Main culprit: Rivers

854 Sullinger backs Mason down in the post, challenges him, fouled in the act and hits both. Category: inside man-to-man. Culprit: Mason

828 Defense got scrambled, Sybert gets a tip in. Block out was missed - probably Ryan's. Category: failed block out. Culprit: Kelly

807 live ball turnover leads to Buford transition layup. Weak attempt by Curry to draw charge. Category: transition

740 Thomas drives from top of the circle, past Mason, into lane, hits tough runner. Category: perimeter defense/off the dribble. Main culprit: Mason

631 Sullinger drives from outside 3 point line into lane, shoots over Miles. Category: perimeter defense/off the dribble. Culprit: Miles

610 pick & roll leaves Kelly recovering onto Thomas at 3 point line, Thomas drives by, gets into lane easily, hits floater. Category: perimeter defense/screen. Culprit: Kelly. The game is getting away from us at this point.

540 High pick & roll for Craft; Curry caught by pick, Kelly doesn't step up, easy J. Category: perimeter defense/screen. Culprit: Kelly

429 Good perimeter defense by us but when Mason helped Ryan out on a drive, which caused an airball to be shot, it left Sullinger open for the easy tip in. Dawkins couldn't rotate over to box Sullinger out --not nearly big enough to handle that. Category: perimeter defense/off the dribble Culprit: Kelly

402 Dawkins loafs around a screen, easy J for Buford. Category: perimeter defense/screen. Culprit: Dawkins

256 Uncontested 3 in the halfcourt by Thomas. Nobody within 15' of him. Nobody ever saw him or picked him up the entire possession. Mason's man, I think. Category: perimeter one-on-one defense. Culprit: Mason

159 Duke in 1-2-2 zone, Thomas gets to FT line, finding seam behind Thornton, receives pass from Sullinger in the post, easy 6 footer in the lane over Miles, who was slow to get over. Category: zone principles and then slow help Culprit: Tyler and Miles

104 2nd chance. Miles beaten to hustle rebound, Thomas shoots over him. Category: failure to block out. Culprit: Miles

0000 Inbounds play, Rivers gets picked, no switch with Miles, uncontested 12' corner J for Thomas at the buzzer. Terrible. Category: perimeter defense/screen. Culprit: Rivers. He needed to fight through the screen rather than assume Miles would switch on this play, as if he had switched, Rivers would've been caught under the hoop with an OSU big - would've meant a layup right over him. Bad recognition by Austin.


Second Half:

1905 Pick & roll at the 3 point line, slow recovery by Seth on the switch. Thomas drains the 3. Category: perimeter defense/screen. Culprit: Curry

1729 (Kelly had already been pulled for the night by this point) Rivers' man beats him into the lane, Dawkins and Curry help, good ball movement by OSU, we can't recover quickly enough, ultimately Dawkins can't close out in time. Smith nails a 3. Category: perimeter one-on-one defense and then help/rotation. Culprit: Rivers and Dawkins

We are in full-fledged blowout mode at this point.

1624 Thomas offensive board/putback over Dawkins and Rivers. Just a bigger, stronger player. Category: failure to block out. Culprit: Rivers and Dawkins.

Dawkins is then pulled for the night.

1459 Pick & roll, Craft banks in the straight-on 3 after Curry backed way too far off him. No recovery from the screen. Category: perimeter defense/screen. Culprit: Curry

1250 Helter-skelter play, Craft gets into the lane, ball bounces off us right back to him, layup. Category: misc. Culprit: none

1152 Mason isolated on the wing vs Buford, who takes him 1 on 1 off the dribble. Weak help by Miles - didn't even put his hands up. Category: perimeter defense off the dribble and then help/rotation by bigs. Culprits: Mason and Miles

1052 Sullinger posts Miles, Miles is slow to get around him (and that tuchus of his), fouls him on the shot. Category: inside man-to-man. Culprit: Miles

1000 Miles loses Sullinger on a pick, Mason doesn't realize it. Layup. Category: Help defense by bigs. Culprit: Mason

812 Craft gets baseline screen, no switch by Mason, who doesn't see it coming and allows himself to be screened; late help in lane by Miles. Layup. Category: Help defense by bigs. Culprit: Mason and Miles

720 Good ball movement by OSU, we're scrambling to keep up, Rivers a bit lost, refs miss obvious foot out of bounds on baseline by OSU, good passing leads to Sullinger dunk. Category: help/rotation Culprit: none

636 More good ball movement by OSU as we scramble on the perimeter. Cause of the scramble was soft double down by Rivers. We scramble, they kick it out and reverse it, leads to 3 by Craft. Category: help/rotation. Culprit: Rivers

503 Again, double down leads to kick-out and scramble and Sullinger layup. Better double by Austin, but good kick-out pass by Sullinger. Good recovery by Hairston and by Rivers, but Craft just drove by what I assume to be an exhausted Rivers and made the easy pass to Sullinger. Category: help/rotation. Culprit: none



OK so by my count, the category breakdown looks like this:

Lack of help or slow help including "help by bigs" - 10 hoops
Perimeter defense/screens - 9 hoops
Perimeter defense off the dribble - 4
Failed block outs - 3
Perimeter one-on-one defense - 3
Inside man-to-man defense - 3
Transition - 2
Zone principles issues - 1
Turnover - 1
Miscellaneous - 1


These probably don't add up to the total # of actual OSU hoops due to some hoops being attributable to more than one issue, or the defensive issue led to free throws instead of a field goal, or I just messed up a little, but the number should be close.

Individuals:

Mason had 3 instances that I attributed to bad help D that led to hoops
he had 3 of perimeter off-the-dribble issues that led to hoops
2 inside man-to man
and 1 other perimeter 1-on-1
That's a total of 9 hoops that his defense appeared to me to be a significant factor in the Buckeyes getting that bucket. I know he played a lot of minutes, and OSU has the best big man in college basketball, but 9 still seems like a lot.

Miles:
slow help - 3
perimeter off the dribble - 1
failed blockout - 1
inside man-to-man - 1
total: 6. That's also a lot considering his minutes.

Rivers:
perimeter defense/screen issues - 2
perimeter one-on-one - 1
failed blockout - 1
help/rotation - 1
total:5

Curry:
perimeter defense/screen issues - 3
transition - 1
total: 4

Kelly:
perimeter defense/screen issues - 2
perimeter off the dribble - 1
failed blockout - 1
total: 4. A lot considering his minutes. I think this is why he was pulled, not his getting skunked on offense.

Dawkins:
slow help - 1
Perimeter defense/screen issues - 1
failed blockout - 1
total: 3

Hairston:
perimeter defense/screen - 1

Thornton:
zone principles - 1

Mike and Quinn: 0


So I don't know how much all of that is worth. Maybe not much. And I know my methods are open to criticism, and there were judgment calls made by me throughout. But nevertheless if my analysis is even close, it lays out the areas that we were weak defensively in in this game and who may need to work on what.

As a team, we had an awful time handling screens -- both the screened man fighting through, which was almost nonexistent, as well as anybody else stepping up to help the screened man, and our rotations were often poor when the ball began to swing as a result of the floor being opened up by a screen. Recovering from solid screens being set is difficult. Perhaps that's why we do so much screening of our own on offense, right? (see Knight, Bob) But we've simply got to improve in this area on the defensive end.

Seth has got to get better at handling perimeter screens, fighting through when appropriate, being ready to switch when necessary, and doing so quickly. Too many easy opportunities for the Buckeyes on screen plays involving Curry.

Mason, as great a rebounder and shot alterer as he can be, did not play well defensively in this game, in a number of areas, if these numbers are credited. Our perimeter guys have taken a lot of criticism on these boards for their defensive performance, and perhaps rightfully so, but the big guys weren't any better. Surprisingly, it wasn't Sullinger just overpowering him inside in this game. Mason got beaten repeatedly in one-on-one, off the dribble situations by guys as well, and that just killed us too.

Miles has to get quicker and more aggressive in jumping out to help his teammates defensively.

Austin has to make a more consistent defensive effort in all areas, though to be fair he played a ton of minutes and was most of the offense in this game, and he had to be dog tired.

Anyway, that's it for now. Hope some of you find this interesting and/or helpful in some way. Comments are of course welcome.