Ohio State's Jake Diebler talks Jamison Battle, Devin Royal and more on radio show
One day after the first win at Michigan State in 12 years, Ohio State interim coach Jake Diebler held his second weekly coaches show.
Three games into his tenure after taking over for Chris Holtmann, Diebler has led the Buckeyes to a 2-1 record that includes a home win against No. 2 Purdue and Sunday’s 60-57 win at Michigan State on Sunday. In between, the Buckeyes took a loss at Minnesota, but Diebler said he enjoyed looking at photos and reactions from the team after Dale Bonner’s last-season game-winner inside the Breslin Center.
“I was so happy,” he said. “You watch that and you watch it 30 times because you’re looking at the individual guys and their reactions. (Terence Dials) did a little dance before stepping on the court. The joy in our guys chasing Dale, those pictures are special.”
This week, Ohio State will host Nebraska on Thursday and Michigan on Sunday before concluding the regular season March 10 at Rutgers. The Buckeyes are 16-12 overall and 6-11 in Big Ten play. With all of that in the picture, Diebler sat down for his second radio show to talk about the Michigan State win, the development of several players and more.
In case you couldn’t listen, here are the top takeaways.
Jamison Battle not expected to be sidelined long
Ohio State was without the Big Ten’s top 3-point shooter as Jamison Battle sat out with an ankle injury suffered in Thursday’s loss at Minnesota. He was questionable on the official availability report, and Diebler said Battle was dedicated to getting back to health in time to play but ultimately couldn’t.
“If we had another day or two, it might’ve been different,” Diebler said. “We wanted to do what was best for him. We trusted him to evaluate how well he could play out there, and after doing some texting and things it didn’t seem like he was really going to be able to have the impact he wanted to have. No one anticipates this to be a long-term thing. This set him up to be successful for the rest of the season.”
Diebler referenced a photo of Battle celebrating Bonner’s game winner that showed him seemingly feeling pretty healthy but said the photo doesn’t tell the full story.
“He looked 100% healthy for the first couple steps, but after that he’s hobbling,” he said. “I said, ‘What are you doing?’ He said, ‘My adrenaline is pumping.”
Battle was locked in during huddles, Diebler said.
“His voice on the bench and in timeouts was incredible,” he said. “He was so engaged. Had some really valuable things he said. I was really impressed with how locked in he was to our team being successful. He spent so much time with our trainer in between games trying to get ready, but for him to stay engaged, it was impressive.”
Roddy Gayle and Devin Royal both suffered slight ankle injuries during the second half but were able to gut it out.
“Roddy Gayle, he legitimately tweaked his ankle,” he said. “Devin, same thing. Our guys showed great toughness. I think everyone was lost in the team and finding a way to win that game. Some real collective toughness.”
Jake Diebler praises Devin Royal for his late-game poise
He said the same after the win, but Diebler credited freshman forward Devin Royal for his play inbounding the ball with 6.4 seconds left and the game tied at 57.
“People point to Dale’s shot, not to minimize that, but Devin’s poise taking the ball out of bounds for a freshman with no timeouts, it was incredible,” he said. “Bruce finding a way to get open, having the awareness to advance the pass, there’s so many things that go into that shot having a chance to go in.”
His contributions were especially valued with Battle unavailable.
“(Battle) is really, really important to our team,” Diebler said. “We don’t need guys to go do something wild. We just need guys to be a little tougher, a little more together. They did that. Devin Royal stepped up. Felix (Okpara) stepped up. To win a game on the road like that when Roddy (Gayle) and Bruce (Thornton) are so critical for us but weren’t their best, I was proud of our collective togetherness and toughness.”
Diebler said the coaches are still working with Royal on staying out of foul trouble while playing with physicality and compared his growth trajectory to that of E.J. Liddell as a freshman. While recruiting Royal, Diebler said he consistently displayed toughness and production.
“Recruiting him, that was a no-brainer because of how tough he is and how he produces,” he said.
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Taison Chatman earning more playing time
After injuries slowed his preseason, freshman guard Taison Chatman has been stacking good practice days and earning more playing time, Diebler said.
“The last couple games, his defense has been good,” Diebler said. “I thought that was the best thing he did against Michigan State. As he’s shown consistency in practice, he has to be rewarded for that. We need more ball handling out there at times. He passed up an open 3 I’d like to see him take. I was really impressed with his defense and he’s continuing to get more and more consistent in practice.”
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State's Jake Diebler talks Jamison Battle, Devin Royal on radio
