D’Angelo Russell’s shoulders are not that broad, but as the ultimate barometer for Ohio State, Russell is certainly carrying his team.
The Buckeyes go as Russell does, and their success will be determined by how far one of the top freshmen in the country can propel Thad Matta’s troops.
The stats are clear. Russell’s 19.4 points per game is just under a fourth of the team’s scoring average. Yanking down 5.2 rebounds per game, Russell is the leading rebounder on the squad from the guard position. He is second in assists on the team with 5.1 helpers per game – about 30 percent of the team’s total. Russell is also a sneaky defender, averaging nearly two steals per game.
Russell has taken nearly twice as many shots as everyone else on the roster… and rightfully so. It’s hard to argue with a guy taking that many shots when he is hitting nearly 48 percent from the floor and 44 percent beyond the arc. When Russell is on, Ohio State will be very tough to beat, but his lackluster games are the ones in which the Buckeyes have fallen. In Ohio State’s five losses, Russell is 27-90 from the floor.
However, that number does not fully sink in until it is viewed game by game. In the Buckeyes’ first loss at Louisville on December 2, Russell shot 6-of-20 from the floor, but that included several hits late to get to a 17-point total. In a loss to North Carolina, he was 4-of-17 from the floor, including 3-of-10 from 3-point range. In a loss to Iowa, Russell hit just 4-of-16 from the floor. He was better in the second loss to Iowa, but was still under 50 percent at 10-of-22. Finally, in a loss at Assembly Hall to Indiana a few weeks ago, Russell had arguably his worst shooting performance of the season at 3-of-15.
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While Louisville is one of the stronger defensive teams in the nation, these struggles are not just due to strong defense on the opponent’s end. Iowa ranks 81st in the country in scoring defense, while North Carolina is 183rd and Indiana barely pierces the top 300 at 298th.
On the opposite side of the spectrum, in the Buckeyes’ 16 wins, Russell has hit over 55 percent of his shots, at 115-of-208. While this includes few road wins and even fewer quality wins, it still provides proof that when Russell knocks down shots, the Buckeyes could be a team to be reckoned with. However, once they get to the Dance, teams will be more prepared to zero in on opponents’ strengths, and Ohio State will likely have a really rough go of it.
For this team to be as one dimensional as it is, it would be hard to imagine that the Buckeyes will even be a contender to win multiple games in the NCAA Tournament. However, one thing is for sure: D’Angelo Russell is awfully entertaining… and the only thing keeping Ohio State afloat.
