From ping-pong tables to wall mosaics, Ohio has different mindset down the stretch of this season.
OXFORD —Bob Boldon said last year he’d rather play at Western Michigan than Toledo in the Mid-American Conference Tournament because he’d prefer a hotel with a ping-pong table than one with a view of a frozen river.
Standing in the underbelly of Miami’s Millett Hall on Saturday, Ohio’s second-year coach spoke with the poise that comes with having his team in a position to make a postseason run.
“We’re not talking about postseason ping-pong tables and frozen rivers in Toledo, so I guess this feels better,” Boldon said. “I can tell you that.”
A 67-45 win against Miami secured Ohio’s first 20-win season since 2007-08, and comes two years after the Bobcats endured their worst season in program history.
Boldon has been here before.
Prior to his time in Athens, he coached at Youngstown State for three years. When he took over, the team went 0-30. His next season resulted in a 10-21 record. In his third season, 2012-13, the Penguins finished 23-10.
Sound familiar? Perhaps it’s history repeating itself.
Boldon inherited an Ohio program at its lowest point (a 6-23 record) and took it to 9-21 record in year one. This year, his team is the top seed in the MAC and is in the midst of a 10-game win streak.
The Bobcats have transformed into a well-rounded basketball team in two years. When the team’s offense is sluggish, as it was Saturday, the team’s defense wins games.
Even if one individual player struggles, another can seamlessly fill her place. Ohio has gone from relying on one or two players to consistently preform on a regular basis to playing all 10 available players in the first half.
There’s a drive to continue looking forward with Boldon and the Bobcats. A 20-win season, he says, is just a start for Ohio.
“Twenty wins for whatever reason has become the benchmark of success,” Boldon said Saturday. “When you get 20 wins in college basketball you say you’ve had a good season. I would say we’ve had a good season. On the same token, we have another game looming three days from now.”
Ohio’s current 10-game winning streak stands in stark contrast to an equally long losing streak last season, and the Bobcats have a two-game lead in the MAC East division with six games remaining before the conference tournament in Cleveland.
For a team constantly rewriting its future, the Bobcats have the goal of continuing their win streak one game at a time, all while looking forward to the conference tournament.
In the past, ping-pong tables and frozen rivers clouded those visions. Now, Boldon and the Bobcats have set their sights clearly on Cleveland.
@charliehatch_
gh181212@ohio.edu
