Hypothetical situation: There are 10 seconds remaining on the clock in a tie game and Ohio State has the ball. Who takes the final shot for the Buckeyes?
Does coach Thad Matta let point guard JaQuan Lyle go one-on-one to get a shot at the rim? Does he draw up a play for Kam Williams or Keita Bates-Diop or Marc Loving? Does he go to Jae'Sean Tate on the block?
There's a handful of options, really, and it doesn't seem like an easy decision.
Some would say it's in a team's best interest to have one go-to player when it needs a big shot; one guy to count on when everything is on the line. There are a handful of those players around the country: Oklahoma's Buddy Hield, Michigan State's Denzel Valentine and Iowa's Jarrod Uthoff to name a few.
Others would say, however, not having one of those marquee players may benefit certain teams in those end-of-game type scenarios. Opposing teams don't necessarily know what is coming; defending those kinds of teams could, at times, be more difficult.
This season, Ohio State certainly falls into the second scenario; the Buckeyes don't have a go-to player in end-of-game situations.
But as Ohio State proved during Tuesday's 76-66 win against Michigan, this team is better when it doesn't have a go-to guy throughout the course of a game, too. The Buckeyes are much better when they put multiple players in double figures as opposed to having one guy, or maybe even two, go for 20-plus points.
"I think it's harder for other teams to guard us," Ohio State sophomore forward Jae'Sean Tate said. "And as long as we get the win, everybody is happy."
Tuesday's victory against Michigan was one of the Buckeyes' most impressive offensive displays of the season. Ohio State had five players score in double figures while shooting 54 percent from the field. The Wolverines, of course, aren't even close to a top-tier defensive team, but the quality of defensive opponent hasn't really mattered much to a Buckeyes team that struggled to score at times this season.
In the win, no Ohio State player scored more than 13 points — Tate and Loving each tallied that total. Lyle and Trevor Thompson both scored 12, while Williams added 10 points off the bench.
"As I told the guys after the game I thought there was the cohesiveness that this team has to play with was evident out there," Matta said after the game. "Everybody sort of embraced their time on the floor, I thought we had an active bench, guys were into the game.
"I’d like to bottle this up and continue to move forward.”
Matta wants to "bottle this up" because it's when this year's version of Ohio State is at its best. Look at the Buckeyes' win over Kentucky back in mid-December. It was another one of Ohio State's best all-around performances and the Buckeyes put four players in double figures — they narrowly missed five as Williams scored nine — with Keita Bates-Diop leading the way with just 14 points.
There have been nights when Ohio State won with someone going for 20-plus points, obviously, and sometimes that is what's needed. But right now, it appears the Buckeyes play their best offensive game when that's not the case.
“With this group of guys we have right now and just with the mindset of getting better every day," Matta said. "Some of the best teams I’ve had I’ve had like five guys averaging close to double figures.”
This certainly isn't one of Matta's best teams, but when it plays like it did Tuesday it's the best version of this year's team that it can be.
