You’re Nuts: Who will lead Ohio State in blocked shots this season?
· Yahoo Sports
Welcome back to another edition of “You’re Nuts”, where our basketball writers pick a basketball, basketball-adjacent, or sometimes not-basketball-at-all topic and defend their side until the cows come home.
Speaking of cows, last week’s topic had a strong midwestern flair, as the guys each picked one fun Ohio location where the CareSource Invitational could be held in the future. “Could” was a loose term — it was more “could the event physically be held in this space, technically?” rather than “is it reasonable and practical to play a game here?”
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To that end, Justin picked the beach that runs alongside Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio. It’s a well-known location, with beautiful, iconic Lake Erie on one side and America’s roller coaster on the other side. Connor went with a less well-known and much less iconic — but perhaps even more midwestern — option, “Cornhenge” in Dublin. The massive field of seven-foot-tall corn statues stands on the corner of two busy roads in the Columbus suburb, with a large green space alongside it, plenty big enough for a court and bleachers.
Two very Ohio options.
This week, we’re talking about a skill Ohio State really lacked last year – shot blocking. The Buckeyes finished third from the bottom in the conference in blocks per game last season with 2.4, ahead of only Iowa (1.9) and Penn State (1.7). Their team’s block percentage of 6.9% was 315th nationally and 16th in the Big Ten.
Ohio State had exactly zero players who averaged at least one block per game last year. It didn’t stop them from becoming an NCAA Tournament team, but they did that despite not having much of a defensive presence in the paint, not because of it.
With the Buckeyes bringing in multiple big guys this spring and getting one back from a long-term injury, we are making guesses on who will lead Ohio State in blocks this season.
This week’s question: Who will lead Ohio State in blocks this season?
Connor: Amare BynumWhile he originally was not expected to be relied on quite as heavily as he actually was, Amare Bynum ended up playing a huge role for Ohio State last season after forcing himself into the starting lineup in December. Despite having to play the position at times last year, Bynum is not a center and will play a much more comfortable power forward next season.
Still, Bynum was Ohio State’s leading shot blocker as a freshman, finishing the year with 28 blocks in 34 contests. He’ll need to become more consistent in that area, as he had a game with four blocks, a game with three blocks, but also had a stretch from late January to early February where he blocked one shot in a five-game stretch, with Ohio State going 2-3 in that stretch.
Bynum’s going to lead the team in blocks again this season (with an even bigger number of them) because he’s got the best combination of height and athleticism on the roster. He’s got long arms but is also quick enough on his feet to get him into a position where he’s able to get his hand on the ball, even if it’s against someone he wasn’t guarding until sliding over at the very last second.
It’s hard to calculate or put a number on it, but I also feel like Bynum is a big-time momentum-shifting type of player. Once he swats one shot, the whole crowd is holding their breath, waiting for him to do it again. When he starts to get confident and a little cocky on the defensive end, he really becomes a menace to teams when they try to drive to the basket.
Justin: Ivan NjegovanI think Ivan Njegovan will lead the team in blocks for the sole reason that he is the best rim protector on the team, and I do think he will play more this season than last. Njegovan decided to return to Columbus for his third season, and so far, there has been a good amount of talk from open practice and camp that he has really improved his inside game and defense.
Josh Ojianwuna is going to be the starting center, but Andrija Jelavic is more of a stretch four, and Vuk Lazarevic is a freshman who arrived on campus late, so his learning curve is going to be steeper than the other freshmen.
With Ojianwuna coming off a knee injury that sidelined him for the end of the 2024-25 season and all of last season, he will have his minutes limited at least to start as he gets back into the flow of the game and game shape. That will have Njegovan playing more, and I expect him to get 12-15 minutes per game early in the
season.
Last season, he averaged 0.4 blocks per game, but he led the team in blocks per 40 minutes, and his defense and rim protection were something that really improved as the season progressed. I expect him to take an even bigger jump in that department this season.