Buckeyes Aim to Reintegrate Marc Loving to Team After Absence

By Nicholas Jervey on February 19, 2015 at 10:10 am
Marc Loving could use a hand.
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On Saturday, Marc Loving returned from a quasi-suspension to play against Michigan State. If you're confused about his return, you're not alone.

On Feb. 4, shortly before Ohio State was set to play Purdue, OSU's associate athletic director of communications wrote that "Loving has temporarily lost his privilege to wear the Scarlet and Gray." The athletic department would give no further explanation for Loving missing the Purdue game, or the next two games after that.

Whatever the reason behind The Suspension That Dares Not Speak Its Name, Loving is back on the court. His role on the team, cloudy before the quasi-suspension, is murkier than ever.

Loving began the season as a starting forward for the Buckeyes, but following Ohio State's loss to Iowa on Jan. 17 he began to serve as the team's sixth man. He played 27 minutes per game in three games coming off the bench, less than the 30 minutes he played per game as a starter. The move arguably helped the team; Loving's efficiency stayed the same as the Buckeyes went 3-0, with blowout wins over then-ranked Indiana and Maryland.

Before the Michigan State game, Thad Matta admitted he didn't know how many minutes Loving would have in his new role in the rotation. "Quite honestly I haven't thought about it. I think from the standpoint that with his absence I've seen this team get better. Now where does he come back and fit in? Hopefully like he did in the Maryland game," Matta said.

The Maryland game, in which Loving bombed the Terrapins for 19 points and six rebounds, is Loving's best game of the year, what the Buckeyes are looking for.

One sequence in that game stands out: with Ohio State leading 8-5 in the first half, Loving tracks his man from the three-point line to the block and back up again. He fights past an off-ball screen, using his lateral speed to shield his man away from the basket.

When Loving's man kicks the ball out and another Maryland player blows by Sam Thompson on the baseline, Loving is there to cut him off. His rotation forces a bad pass and a steal by Shannon Scott, and he heads upcourt. As D'Angelo Russell pushes the ball up the court, Loving gives his man the slip, which gives him all the space he needs to catch, set his feet, and drill a three-pointer.

Loving's addition would help Ohio State's perimeter game, but playing time is a zero-sum game: for Loving to have more, somebody else has to have less.

The unlucky player is most likely Keita Bates-Diop, whom Matta said had "turned the corner" as a small forward in Loving's absence. While Matta may like Bates-Diop, the freshman's minutes dropped from 19 and 18 against Rutgers and Penn State to five against Michigan State. Unless Bates-Diop makes significant progress or other players start to struggle, there's a good chance he remains on the bench in tight situations.

Having Loving in the mix will, in theory, be good for the team's health. Before their midweek bye, the Buckeyes had played three games in six days with a short rotation. Adding Loving to the lineup should give other rotation players more energy. "I just like that we've added depth, we can give Jae'Sean a blow, we can give Sam more of a blow," Matta said.

Judging by the Michigan State game, though, Loving is not ready to be a full rotation player yet. Loving played five impact-free minutes, coming one missed three-pointer shy of achieving a Trillion.

Matta dismissed the notion that focus and mental state were the problems, which leaves getting in sync with the rest of the team as the obvious answer. If the problem is rhythm, it can be addressed against tame opponents like Michigan and Nebraska.

At his best, Loving is Ohio State's second-best scorer and offensive player. He can't shoot the Buckeyes to victory by himself, but he can make the difference in a close game.

Thad Matta agrees. "I like the strides everyone on this team has made in his absence, but we also know this: for however many games, Marc makes us a better team when he's out there playing."

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