With a nearing exhibition game against Ashland on Saturday and the start of the regular season around the corner, coach Jim Christian’s squad is anxious to play, though a solidified starting rotation has yet to be decided.
With only six players from last year still in uniform for Ohio, players have been given ample time to prepare before the team sees its first competitive game action.
“It’s an exhibition game, so everyone is going to play,” Christian said. “We want to see a couple of the young guys play because some of them were injured during our scrimmage. So, we’re just trying to get as many minutes for as many guys, play different combinations, and do what we do.”
With the incoming talent, Christian is set on molding Ohio’s game plan around the team rather than framing the players around a specific blueprint.
“Every team is going to be different,” Christian said. “There’s no, ‘This is how we play, that’s the only way we play and we take the new guys and plug them in.’”
What is also different — not just for Ohio but for all NCAA teams — is the newly implemented hand-check rule, as officials will be more stringent on physical, defensive play. Where the Bobcats fit in this change is their ability to regulate their aggressiveness and become more balanced while defending their opponents.
“The more important part is that it’s up to (the players) adjusting to whether the game is being called,” Christian said. “That’s going to be the difference. The teams who fight it and say, ‘Well, I didn’t foul them,’ may not have (fouled) by the old rules, but by the new rules, it’s a foul. So, you better adjust to how the game is being called and what you’re doing.”
The Mid-American Conference preseason coaches poll was released Tuesday, ranking the Bobcats third in the MAC East. Akron, which split the MAC regular-season title with Ohio last season, received the most first-place votes in the East, while Buffalo ranked second.
Christian does not see any reason to take the predictions seriously, though.
“It’s the same thought I would have if we were picked first — all those (rankings) are done by paper,” Christian said. “(Nobody knows) what returns, what you have, nobody knows who emerged — nobody knows anything. I don’t use it as motivation, they (the players) don’t care, and they know I don’t care.”
Senior forward Ricardo Johnson sees what others haven’t on the court this preseason and sees Ohio’s emerging talent as beneficial to the Bobcats’ success.
“I think it’s different because we have a lot of depth at each position,” Johnson said. “We don’t have the main players from last year, so it gives a chance for the different people to step up (on) different nights.”
ch115710@ohiou.edu
@ColinHanner
