Obviously, there is plenty of evidence that OSU will have terrible post play next season. At the top of the list is the simple fact that we have almost never had strong post play since Ford took over (arguments can be made in favor of Boggans and Moses). In addition to that point, Allen was anything but a force down low last season. Solomon showed flashes, but will he take another year of development before he is ready? Who knows if Olivier can play at this level or not? Ibaka is a complete unknown. And, finally, I doubt that any of us think that Hammonds, Shine or Burton are likely to be able to make a big impact at PF.
With all that said, I don't think it is completely unrealistic for OSU to be better, in the post, then they were during this past season. Here are a few reasons why I feel that way.
1). Let's face it. Last season, our post game pretty much consisted of giving the ball to Nash and letting him try to take his man off the dribble. While he scored a lot of points last season, we also remember him getting stuffed at the rim, or losing the ball out of bounds with regularity. In addition, he was often a net negative by the time the game ended. Even when he scored a bunch of points, his terrible defense, turnovers, and mediocre (at best) rebounding hurt OSU more than he was helping on offense. Lack of legit scoring options forced Ford to play him as much as possible and hope that his positive contributions outweighed the negatives. I would say that it was less likely to work out in OSU's favor overall.
2). The overwhelming majority of post minutes that did not go to Nash went to Cobbins last season. He had some strengths, but never really seemed to develop into the player that he seemed capable of becoming when he played as a RS freshman. IMO, a big part of his issues last season had to do with guards not getting the ball to him in the post. Whether that was due to him not knowing how to get into position, or guards not looking for him is debatable. I think that most of us believe that it was mostly due to Ford not emphasizing that type of offensive strategy. Cobbins also seemed to fall off defensively last season. He was often caught out of position, or went for the block when he should have stayed home and protected the rim.
3). Looking at points 1 and 2, I don't think it is going to take anything spectacular for OSU to have improved post play next season. Just removing Nash from the equation is likely to make OSU a more fundamentally sound team. Overall team scoring has to be a concern. Hopefully there will be enough of it, along with better rebounding, defense and ball security to end up with a net gain.
4). Evans might add a needed dimension. Hickey did a lot of great things last season, and saved our bacon on more than 1 occasion. However, he did very little to improve our post play. He was not adept at entry passes into the post. He was not adept at penetrating, drawing the defense and dishing to the open man. He had a lot of positives in his game. His perimeter D was well above average. He was a streaky scorer. Great ball handler. Evans is touted to be super quick with the ball and a pure PG. If he is better at passing, penetrating and making decisions, it should result in more easy looks for our big guys.
In conclusion... there are a ton of unknowns going into next season. But, one thing we do know is that Nash and Cobbins, although great in many ways, had enough holes in their games that we should not be thinking, "there is no way we are going to be able to replace the play we got from those 2 last season".
With all that said, I don't think it is completely unrealistic for OSU to be better, in the post, then they were during this past season. Here are a few reasons why I feel that way.
1). Let's face it. Last season, our post game pretty much consisted of giving the ball to Nash and letting him try to take his man off the dribble. While he scored a lot of points last season, we also remember him getting stuffed at the rim, or losing the ball out of bounds with regularity. In addition, he was often a net negative by the time the game ended. Even when he scored a bunch of points, his terrible defense, turnovers, and mediocre (at best) rebounding hurt OSU more than he was helping on offense. Lack of legit scoring options forced Ford to play him as much as possible and hope that his positive contributions outweighed the negatives. I would say that it was less likely to work out in OSU's favor overall.
2). The overwhelming majority of post minutes that did not go to Nash went to Cobbins last season. He had some strengths, but never really seemed to develop into the player that he seemed capable of becoming when he played as a RS freshman. IMO, a big part of his issues last season had to do with guards not getting the ball to him in the post. Whether that was due to him not knowing how to get into position, or guards not looking for him is debatable. I think that most of us believe that it was mostly due to Ford not emphasizing that type of offensive strategy. Cobbins also seemed to fall off defensively last season. He was often caught out of position, or went for the block when he should have stayed home and protected the rim.
3). Looking at points 1 and 2, I don't think it is going to take anything spectacular for OSU to have improved post play next season. Just removing Nash from the equation is likely to make OSU a more fundamentally sound team. Overall team scoring has to be a concern. Hopefully there will be enough of it, along with better rebounding, defense and ball security to end up with a net gain.
4). Evans might add a needed dimension. Hickey did a lot of great things last season, and saved our bacon on more than 1 occasion. However, he did very little to improve our post play. He was not adept at entry passes into the post. He was not adept at penetrating, drawing the defense and dishing to the open man. He had a lot of positives in his game. His perimeter D was well above average. He was a streaky scorer. Great ball handler. Evans is touted to be super quick with the ball and a pure PG. If he is better at passing, penetrating and making decisions, it should result in more easy looks for our big guys.
In conclusion... there are a ton of unknowns going into next season. But, one thing we do know is that Nash and Cobbins, although great in many ways, had enough holes in their games that we should not be thinking, "there is no way we are going to be able to replace the play we got from those 2 last season".
