I had spent some time writing out a post after the osu game, but lost it 90% of the way through, and ended up blowing it off. Basically it said:
DEFENSE: Locked in, pushed up against the ceiling in the OSU game. We’ve had some games where we have become lackadaisical for stretches, but either way the D is way away of the offense. IF we stay locked in for 40, we will be in every game. Only thing that really concerns me is we have had a few players with length (that have range), hurt us off the dribble in a few games. Rob is lights out on D, but he’s not tall (though he’s strong as a bull for his size). Perimeter D versus OSU was pretty excellent, need Kopp/X/Stewart to stay locked in. Race/TJD = lethal.
2. OFFENSE: still scratching the surface here. Versus OSU TJD may have pushed up against his ceiling, but our guards, at least as measured by scoring, weren’t much of a factor. Obviously that flipped versus Minnesota, and as you said they picked their poison.
we will continue to see this.
either way, I don’t think our offense is close to being what it can be. There will be games where we score 60 points and TJD has half of them. They’ll be games where we hit 12 plus threes. We WILL have open threes. Like a football team with an elite run game, defenses are helpless against play action pass. We are similarly built. Pick your poison.
You said it, and it’s fairly obvious, guard play will determine the season. Stay locked in. Avoid those lackadaisical stretches. Don’t let physical play, foul trouble frustrate you. Etc.