Ohio State Basketball: Predictions for Buckeyes' 2014-15 Team Awards

Overlook the Ohio State basketball team at your own risk heading into the 2014-15 season.

The Buckeyes may not have Aaron Craft anymore, but this is an athletic bunch that will get out in transition, speed up the game and generally wreck havoc on the opposition. Ohio State may not win a Big Ten championship, but it will be an enjoyable team to watch that should at least compete with Wisconsin near the top of the standings.

The Buckeyes should also receive a number of impressive individual efforts. With that in mind, let’s take a look at some predictions for the Ohio State team awards this year.

That’s right, a freshman is going to walk into the Ohio State basketball program and come away with the MVP honors in his first year.

We know that D’Angelo Russell is a versatile scorer who can play both guard positions, light it up from three-point range, slash to the basket with an array of moves and set up his teammates with excellent passes. You don’t win the team MVP award without elite talent.

However, it is what Russell represents that should have Buckeyes fans excited.

The team finished 128th in Ken Pomeroy’s offensive-efficiency rankings a season ago, shot 32 percent from behind the three-point line and finished an abysmal 227th in the nation in assists per game. The offense sputtered in the half court and never really took advantage of its athleticism in transition.

Opponents sagged off Craft and Shannon Scott, daring them to shoot and cutting off penetration for others. That simply can’t happen this season with Russell; otherwise, he will make the defense pay with his outside shooting.

Russell is the shot in the arm this Buckeyes offense so desperately needed last year. He will be the team’s best overall player and lead them to a much deeper run in the NCAA tournament.

Scott will have the responsibility as the main cog in the stifling defense that has defined Ohio State for Thad Matta’s entire career now that Craft and Lenzelle Smith Jr. are no longer around.

The point guard who averaged 1.7 steals a game as a sophomore and 2.0 steals a night as a junior will thrive in that role.

Working alongside and with Craft has clearly made Scott a better defender throughout his career, and that improvement will be at the forefront of his game this season. Scott is always willing to get in the ball-handler’s grill and push the tempo of the game with his pressure defense, which will lead to turnovers, easy opportunities on the other end and the chance for his athletic teammates to get out in transition and run.

The Buckeyes defense isn’t just going to disappear now that Craft is gone. Scott will assume that leadership role as a senior and become a pain in the neck for the rest of the Big Ten all season.

The projected starting lineup here is Russell, Scott, Sam Thompson, Anthony Lee and Amir Williams, which means everyone else will be eligible for the Sixth Man of the Year designation.

We went back and forth between Marc Loving and Kam Williams, and while Loving may be the more experienced player and arguably more important to what Ohio State is trying to do this year, he is also part of the deep forward rotation. Thompson, Loving, Lee, Keita Bates-Diop and Jae’Sean Tate will all play the two forward spots this year.

In the backcourt, it is just Russell, Scott and Kam Williams. Clearly, the Buckeyes are going to need Williams to play significant minutes, and that is certainly not a bad thing. 

In fact, he even cracked the starting lineup on the team’s preseason Bahamas trip, as Bob Baptist of The Columbus Dispatch noted.

We discussed the offensive struggles in the Russell section, and Williams will also help along that front. He may be the best pure shooter on the team and will be more than ready to spot up from long range when Russell attracts extra defensive attention.

Williams should also be a force on the defensive side thanks to his quickness, which will allow Matta to use that high-pressure defense that will include Williams, Russell and Scott.

What’s more, Williams is a high-flyer who will join Thompson on the list of Buckeyes who can delight the crowd in the waning moments of a blowout with a jaw-dropping aerial display of dunks. That has to count for something.

If a player wins the MVP and is also a newcomer, there isn’t much of a race for Newcomer of the Year.

D’Angelo Russell will be a much-needed lightning rod for this Ohio State offense as the best of a loaded crop of freshmen. We focused on his offense in the MVP section, but Russell is also quick and lengthy enough at 6’4” to stay in front of opposing ball-handlers and hold his own in Ohio State’s pressure defense.

Russell’s play is critical, especially since he will be running alongside a motivated bunch of upperclassmen, as Thompson told Baptist of The Columbus Dispatch.

“No one here has ever lost like that in their career. We’re not used to that. We hold ourselves to a higher standard than that at Ohio State. That’s definitely been the driving force behind this whole offseason.”

Amir Williams may not be the most popular Buckeye among fans, but he will continue his statistical ascension as a senior.

In fact, the numbers show that Williams has gotten better every single season since he arrived in Columbus:

There will be little to no pressure on Williams to produce head-turning numbers this season with so many guards and forwards in the fold. What’s more, the fact that Lee transferred from Temple means Williams isn’t even the only big guy who will be counted on to grab rebounds.

That means Williams can simply play his game, control the paint with his shot-blocking and contribute on the glass. Ohio State may not ask Williams to do too much on offense, but he will score enough points by simply being in the right place when the guards attract extra defensive attention.

Williams’ final numbers will surprise quite a few fans at the end of the season.

Somehow, Matta will manage to edge out the competition this year for Ohio State Coach of the Year.

Follow me on Twitter @ScottPolacek