As turnovers mount, Ohio State's Roddy Gayle dealing with growing pains
A national television audience saw what only members of the Ohio State and Clemson programs witnessed during the preseason.
In Saturday night’s 71-65 loss at Indiana, Buckeyes sophomore guard Roddy Gayle struggled his way through his least effective game of the year. One week after putting up a career-high 32 points to power Ohio State past West Virginia on the Cleveland Cavaliers’ home court, Gayle missed 14 of his 17 shots to finish with only 9 points while playing a team-high 34:52. And with 9:23 to play and Indiana ahead 53-52, Gayle’s leaping pass sailed out of bounds for his career-high fifth and final turnover of the night.
He wasn’t the only Buckeye to struggle from the floor. Classmate Bruce Thornton missed 13 of his 17 shots. He wasn’t the only Buckeye to turn it over so frequently. Jamison Battle led the Buckeyes with 17 points on 6-of-12 shooting, but he also had five turnovers.
It was, by any reasonable measure, a rough game in what has been a breakout season for Gayle. It was also reminiscent of Ohio State’s closed, “secret” preseason scrimmage played against Clemson in Nashville. On Oct. 28, in a game played without Battle, Gayle missed 11 of his 17 shots from the floor and turned the ball over six times against a Tigers team ranked No. 21 in this week’s Associated Press poll.
In between, Gayle’s had superstar moments while nearly tripling his scoring average from 4.6 as a freshman to 14.5 this year. The Indiana game was a reminder, coach Chris Holtmann said leading into Wednesday night’s home game with No. 15 Wisconsin, that Gayle’s growth is ongoing.
“This is the part of the process for a young player growing into a good player,” Holtmann said before Tuesday’s practice. “It’s not going to happen overnight for him. We didn’t expect it to. There’s going to be bumps along the way. He’s got to make some corrections in terms of simplifying his attack, reading some situations better.”
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There are a few ways to work on that. Holtmann said the coaches have been going over film with Gayle, helping break down reads and plays where he can make better decisions. In practice, the Buckeyes have added drills where Gayle has to make plays in crowds or against multiple defenders.
Those drills are designed to help Gayle with his decision making, something Holtmann pinpointed as Gayle’s top area of needed growth ahead of improved overall ball skills.
“He’s just got to keep getting better,” Holtmann said.
At times, Gayle looks like a finished product. He’s scored in double figures in 11 games this year, eight more than his freshman season total. He’s had four games with at least four assists this season, flirted with a triple-double with 11 points, seven assists and five rebounds in a Nov. 29 win against Central Michigan and has three games of at least 20 points.
His average minutes per game have nearly doubled compared to last year (16.3 to 31.1), he’s taken and made more shots than in all of last season and his assist, rebounding and turnover numbers have all surpassed last year’s final totals. He's had three or more turnovers in six straight games and eight of Ohio State's last nine.
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“From how we ended the season last year, there’s no U-turns,” Gayle said after his 32-point effort against the Mountaineers. “We’ve got to take that leadership and that connectivity that we did late last season and build it into what we’ve been this season.”
After the first 20-point game, when Gayle scored what was then a career-high 20 against Merrimack on Nov. 15, Holtmann said the Buckeyes were challenging him to bring more motor and effort daily in practice.
That has been an ongoing process, too, but Holtmann said it’s not related to Gayle’s mounting turnovers.
“We’ve always challenged him with that consistent motor, bringing that every day, bringing the level of consistency that good players bring because he’s got it in him, but he needs to be more consistent,” the coach said. “I’ve talked to him about that. His dad and his high school coach, we’ve all discussed that with him. We just need that from Roddy. He needs that to experience the kind of growth we want him to experience.
“It’s a lot for a sophomore, but it’s certainly the path he chose and the path we chose to get him better and better quickly.”
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State's Roddy Gayle dealing with growing pains as turnovers mount
