Ohio coach Jim Christian thinks the Bobcats played perhaps the hardest they have all season against Akron in the Mid-American Conference championship game Saturday.
Three days and a cross-country flight later, Ohio (24-9) will try to replicate that effort in order to keep its season alive.
The Bobcats made the trip to Colorado Monday in preparation for their National Invitation Tournament game against Denver on its home floor Tuesday.
Denver (21-9) runs a wide-open style of offense that features no true point guard and enough ball movement, backdoor cuts, spacing and stretching to make a fan’s head spin.
Slowing them down won’t be a problem — they average only 61.1 possessions per game, the second-fewest in the NCAA — but stopping them will.
“You have to know what you’re doing because they can take you out of what you do really fast,” Christian said. “What they do is, whether they play the Lakers or they play Ohio, it’s going to be the same type of style — long possessions, grind-out type possessions. That’s a challenge for us.”
Ohio redshirt senior guard Walter Offutt said it will “be hard” to motivate himself for one final go-around in the NIT, as Ohio had its sights set on an NCAA berth from the time it bowed out of last year’s tournament.
“I’m still disappointed that we’re not in the NCAA Tournament,” he said. “I’m not a fan of secondary tournaments like this.”
But that’s where the Bobcats were bracketed, and that’s where they will try to succeed.
Christian said thinking about the NIT in any other frame of mind is foolish.
“Everybody wants to play in the NCAA Tournament, but it’s arrogant to think that you’re in something that’s beneath you,” he said.
The task of keeping the game in perspective falls in part on those not playing their last collegiate contests, like redshirt junior forward Jon Smith, who said it’s his responsibility to provide a spark off the bench.
“Everybody kind of has to synergize together, because we obviously wanted to go to the NCAA but are really appreciative of the opportunity we have in the NIT,” he said. “We’re going to work hard for this. If it’s a game, we’re up for it.”
More so than just being motivated from the opening tip, the Bobcats will have to continue to push the pace as the game wears on in order to be successful.
Playing at a high altitude will make snappy substitutions and staying out of foul trouble paramount against the Pioneers.
Christian said Denver’s offensive scheme is unlike any the Bobcats saw this season, although if he had to compare it with one opponent, he’d choose Belmont, which bested Ohio by 19 in its ESPN BracketBuster matchup.
Four of the Pioneers’ starters average at least 10 points on 44 percent shooting or better in 30 or more minutes per game.
Christian said it’s tough to pick up and successfully defend against such a unique offense when having only one practice session to prepare.
“The way that they play is that you’re not defending individual players,” he said.
The Pioneers’ potency doesn’t stop with their offense, though. They allow an average of a stingy 55.7 points per game, which ranks eighth in the NCAA.
More so than at any point this season, the Bobcats have to find a way to put aside all other factors and play their brand of basketball, Smith said.
If they don’t, it’ll be the last game for the winningest class in Ohio history.
jr992810@ohiou.edu
