Buckeyes Trying to Survive Until Turner Returns
Mike DeCourcy - SportingNews.com
Dec 14, 2009
INDIANAPOLIS -- Even if the Ohio State Buckeyes had been able to lure the Madden Cruiser from retirement to transport them to Butler, a 3-hour bus ride with a broken back is exactly what it sounds like. So Evan Turner was not inside historic Hinkle Fieldhouse as his teammates played the first of (too) many games without him.
Whether the No. 13 Buckeyes could have used him as a cheerleader is hard to say. He'd never filled that role for this team.
That they missed him as a playmaker, scorer, rebounder, passer, defender, catalyst and leader was entirely predictable. Their 74-66 loss to No. 22 Butler was no disgrace, and no surprise.
"When you lose a guy like that, it's hard to explain," Ohio State coach Thad Matta said. "Evan and I's relationship on the court -- he could look, make eye contact, not say a word and he knew exactly what to tell the other four guys on the floor. He just has a great feel for what's going on."
Before Turner slipped off the rim while attempting to dunk exactly seven days earlier in an easy victory over Eastern Michigan, he had been the best player in college basketball. He was leading the Buckeyes in scoring, rebounding and assists and twice had produced triple-doubles.
Now he is facing another seven weeks away from the lineup and hoping he can beat that timeline as decisively as his 25 points, 13 rebounds and six assists helped defeat Florida State.
"It's a lot different," Buckeyes forward David Lighty said. "He was averaging 20 points, 13 rebounds, five assists. It's hard to replace that.
"We can't be sad about it, down about it."
Without Turner to steal some of the attention from nearly 10,000 fans and several NBA scouts, Butler's Gordon Hayward stood out as the best player on the floor: 24 points, eight rebounds, 3-of-6 3-point shooting.
Lighty did what he could to cover for Turner. Lighty passed for three assists along with contributing 16 points and seven rebounds.
"From what I saw, David Lighty played his tail off today," Matta said. "He was everywhere. He literally played nine positions out there."
The players who took over Turner's point guard position were senior P.J. Hill, who started and was ineffective, and Jeremie Simmons, who earned the majority of the minutes. Simmons managed five assists and struck three times from 3-point range, but he is more comfortable and dangerous playing off the ball. So it was necessary for Lighty and sophomore wing William Buford to help generate offense, as well.
"We're going to have to adjust a little bit," Matta said. "We've got to continue to learn and play smarter."
After that Florida State win, the Buckeyes were starting to believe they could contend for a top-three spot in the Big Ten and the kind of comfortable NCAA seed that a player as special as Turner might be able to turn into a magical run. Now, it's a matter of surviving until he returns -- and hoping he'll be something close to the player who left.
Ohio State next plays three winnable home games before tipping off its Big Ten season in a New Year's Eve road game at Wisconsin's Kohl Center. The Buckeyes were stuck with a ridiculous opening stretch in which they play four of their first five conference games on the road.
Matta never has been pleased about that. Ultimately they'll play an even split of home and road league games, but Turner's likely absence for the entire stretch demonstrates how damaging the imbalance can be.
It's hard to be comfortable on the road when your back is broken.
Mike DeCourcy is a writer for Sporting News. E-mail him at decourcy@sportingnews.com.
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