Zed Key's health, speeding tickets, more: Chris Holtmann Ohio State radio show takeaways
Two days removed from a double-overtime win against Maryland, Ohio State men's basketball coach Chris Holtmann hosted his weekly radio show.
This week, the Buckeyes will go to Wisconsin on Tuesday night before hosting No. 1 Purdue on Sunday afternoon at Value City Arena. The 79-75 win against the Terrapins moved Ohio State to 14-10 overall and 4-9 in the Big Ten while snapping a five-game losing streak.
On his show, the coach talked about the play of Zed Key in the win against Maryland, his ongoing efforts to bring more weekend home games to Value City Arena and an inauspicious start to his Saturday.
Here are six takeaways from the radio show.
Buckeyes didn’t know if Zed Key would play against Maryland
Ohio State bigs Zed Key and Austin Parks were both questionable for the game against the Terrapins. Parks took a knock to his knee during practice and wound up watching from the bench, but Key was impactful in crunch time despite having been sick with a stomach flu leading into the game.
“I didn’t know if we were going to be able to play Zed,” Holtmann said. “He did a little in shootaround but it was light. He was anxious to play. I love that about him. I think he said on the bench when Devin (Royal) got his fourth foul, ‘Coach has got to play me now!’ He was anxious and eager and I love that about him.”
Key had four points, one rebound and a game-sealing block on Maryland’s final possession.
“I was just wondering if he was going to have the energy to do it because the feedback I was getting, they weren’t sure what his energy level or capacity would be,” Holtmann said. “I looked over at Zed and he was ready to go. That was a big sign for me. I just wasn’t sure what his energy level would be but he had a great way about him. I appreciated his approach because it was important for us.
“We’re going to need his size against the physicality of Wisconsin.”
Buckeyes using Jamison Battle, Bowen Hardman to create gravity
As Big Ten play has progressed, Ohio State’s offense has had a harder time generating open looks and drives to the basket. The Buckeyes felt that against Indiana, Holtmann said, where his team’s guards didn’t have enough space on the floor to operate as the Hoosiers erased an 18-point deficit at Value City Arena.
Tuesday against Maryland, Jamison Battle went 0 for 3 from 3-point range, but his presence on the floor helped allow Gayle and Thornton to drive.
“Tremendous value having a guy out there who has the reputation he has right now in league play,” Holtmann said. “In league play teams just don’t guard non-shooters. Jamison’s value is gravity. Nobody in our league is ever going to not guard him because of his shooting. We need to be able to create more space.”
Sophomore guard Bowen Hardman is having a similar impact in much shorter stints of playing time. Holtmann said he’s on the floor to help provide gravity and space the floor, then gave another reason.
“Plus, he just kind of looks like a shooter, doesn’t he?” Holtmann said. “You’re saying, OK, this kid is a guy they’re probably putting him in there for shooting. That’s true. He made a few against Northwestern. The league’s seen that right now. He is going to have a lot of attention and you saw how they closed out on him in the Maryland game. They drove him off the line.
“He’s maybe not played a ton but I think people know why he’s going in there.”
Zed Key’s illness provided more minutes for Devin Royal
As Key sat out practice, the Buckeyes leaned more on freshman Devin Royal to back up starting center Felix Okpara. Against Maryland, that allowed the Buckeyes to feel comfortable playing Royal as the center in a smaller lineup.
“Devin’s played well,” Holtmann said. “That was the one reason. Zed just hadn’t practiced the day before so I felt Devin had a better feel for what our gameplan was going to be. Once I thought they were going to attack us inside I thought Zed’s size was important.”
Royal finished with 5 points and six rebounds in 14 minutes but also had four fouls, keeping him from playing more.
“It’s a growing process for him,” Holtmann said. “He had a great wall-up on (Julian) Reese late in the game with great verticality and a strong chest. Those kinds of plays are going to be important against Wisconsin because they have two bigs and they pound it inside on you.”
Jamison Battle, Roddy Gayle on lengthy free-throw shooting streaks
Sophomore guard Roddy Gayle Jr. was 8 for 8 from the free-throw line in the win against Maryland, making him perfect on his last 38 attempts. He joins fifth-year forward Jamison Battle as having made at least 30 straight: Battle is perfect on 34 straight.
“I think it speaks to Roddy’s ability,” Holtmann said. “He’s going to be a good 3-point shooter. The game’s still got to slow down a bit for him. He’s got to figure out the best opportunities for him to shoot. He’s just not there yet. You don’t shoot 38 of 38 from the free-throw line and not have good touch. It’s just going to continue to take more time and maturation for him.”
Battle’s ability to hit free throws is a large part of why the Buckeyes went to him with a chance to get a game-winning shot against Indiana only for the possession to end with a turnover.
“Part of the reason we went to Jamison late against Indiana, we felt like he could get fouled and we liked the matchup,” Holtmann said. “We did it once, and then we went again and he ended up turning it over. That’s the thinking of getting your best free-throw shooters to the line.”
Chris Holtmann got a speeding ticket Saturday morning
Holtmann said that it was an enjoyable weekend after both beating Maryland and enjoying the Super Bowl on Sunday evening, but it all got off to an inauspicious start. On his drive into Value City Arena, Holtmann said he was pulled over for speeding.
“I needed that ticket, and I deserved it,” he said. “I was hustling getting into work. I had the shootaround plan ready to go but I wanted to maybe get a couple hours of film in. He gave me my speed and I said, ‘Yeah, I deserve whatever you’re going to give me right now.’ Outside of that, it was a great weekend.”
According to public records, Holtmann was ticketed for going 60 miles per hour in a 35 zone and was assessed a fine of $135.
Ohio State Buckeyes: Join the Ohio State Sports Insider text group with Bill Rabinowitz, Joey Kaufman Adam Jardy
Chris Holtmann still lobbying for more weekend home games
Ohio State’s game against Maryland was its second and final Saturday home game of the season. The Buckeyes will have two more Sunday home games, and that came partially as the result of lobbying the league’s office.
“I went pretty hard at the Big Ten in the offseason,” he said. “Thank you to our crowd. Thank you to our fans. They were phenomenal. That place was loud when Roddy made that dunk. We know we’ve had some struggles, so we appreciate them coming out and supporting us. It was 13-4 to start the game. Didn’t necessarily look great at that point. I give our guys a lot of credit.
“Our students have been as consistent as you can possibly expect. I love the Nuthouse, the energy they bring. They were phenomenal for us.”
Get more Ohio State basketball news by listening to our podcasts
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: 6 takeaways: Ohio State's Chris Holtmann talks speeding, Zed Key, more
