Royal, Middleton part of deeper bench fueling OSU’S surge
COLUMBUS — Jake Diebler received two primary pieces of advice after his promotion.
Abruptly elevated to Ohio State’s interim coach with six games left in the regular season, the 38-year-old Diebler reached out to trusted mentors within the profession for their thoughts on how to best handle the situation. The consensus focused in on two points: don’t try to be anyone but yourself, and tighten your rotation as much as possible.
As the Buckeyes enter postseason play against Iowa on Thursday in the Big Ten Tournament, Diebler has held true to one of those pieces of advice. The Ohio native has coached with his heart on his sleeve and remolded the pace of practice and play to best mirror his style, but in the process he’s opened up the rotation more than at any point in the season.
It’s working. Ohio State is 5-1 under Diebler, and it’s allowing the Buckeyes to play harder for shorter stretches before catching their breath on the bench.
“The depth of this team is a real strength,” Diebler said Monday. “Whether that is brief segments or guys stepping up in a bigger way than they had anticipated going into a particular game, our team has embraced that depth is a strength for us. You’re also seeing guys are playing so hard that they’re asking for breaks at times. That’s a great place to be as a team.”
Two freshman are leading that charge: Scotty Middleton and Devin Royal. Both were in the rotation but toward the back end entering the Purdue game but have seen their playing time and production rise under Diebler. Middleton had appeared in 12 of Ohio State’s first 14 Big Ten
games, missing one due to injury and one due to suspension, and was averaging 3.5 points while shooting 34.8% (8 for 23) from 3 and 44.4% (16 for 36) overall in 12.5 minutes per game.
In the last six games, Middleton is averaging 5.7 points and shooting 56.3% (9 for 16) from 3 in 16.8 minutes per game. His overall shooting percentage has dropped to 39.3% (11 for 28) as his impact on the game has increased.
Royal’s production has been even more pronounced. A healthy, unused substitute in three of the first 14 Big Ten games, the forward was 17 for 32 (53.1%), averaging 4.4 points in 8.1 minutes per appearance with 17 total rebounds. Starting with the Purdue game, Royal has shot 60.7% from the floor (17 for 28), equaling his fieldgoal total to that point of league play, and grabbed
16 rebounds.
Royal’s minutes have doubled to 16.2 during the past six games and his scoring
has nearly followed suit, rising to 7.8 per game during that stretch.
“Devin and Scotty, they
provide some versatility on both sides of the ball,” Diebler said Friday before Sunday’s season-closing win at
Rutgers. “Scotty’s hit some big shots. His shooting, that’s been a (team) weakness for us. Devin’s versatility offensively, his ability to score in that mid-range game, starting to show some E.J. Liddell qualities in that space and his ability to score around the rim and expand his game.
“Both those guys provide some versatility, but they’re both tough, two-way players and they’ve earned those extra minutes.”
It’s not just those two, though. Fifth-year Baylor transfer Dale Bonner’s role and production have both increased. Bonner is scoring 5.3 points in 20.5 minutes per game during the last six games, shooting 40.0% from the floor (12 for 30) and 33.3% (5 for 15) from 3. In his first 14 Big Ten games, Bonner scored 2.6 points, shot 23.6% (13 for 55) overall and 15.4% (4 for 26) from deep while playing 15.6 minutes per game.
Even freshman guard Taison Chatman, who had appeared in four of the first 14 Big Ten games totaling 9:39 of playing time, has made an impact. The highest-rated member of the freshman class in the national recruiting rankings, has totaled 25 minutes during the last six games and scored nine points, his first in Big Ten play.
Getting a few extra minutes from Bonner, a banked-in 3 from Chatman or some more inside presence from Royal has taken some pressure off the likes of Bruce Thornton, Jamison Battle and Roddy Gayle and allowed them to be more effective late in games.
“At the end of the season, everybody’s tired,” Thornton said before playing Rutgers. “You’ve been playing 30-plus games. That extra eighth, ninth man on the roster can be a big difference. Having those guys playing at the rate they’re playing right now, I think it’ll be possible for us to make it to March Madness.”*