Whoa...20 win season??? How about we start with winning back-to-back conference games first? I agree about both players. Dartis really needs to become more aggressive offensively.

High school is probably a poor measure but 4 short years ago, Dartis was the best player in the powerful OCC while at Newark. He attacked consistently and played around the rim against much larger competition when he had to. Paint play allowed space for his perimeter game. I will never forget Dartis taking a game over in Gahanna, leading Newark to a decided victory. Gahanna featured Michigan State's Nick Ward & Javon Bess and Syracuse's Matthew Moyer in addition to a legit 7'0 Alzonzo Campbell who was a Stony Brook commit. Dartis was an ice veined killer.

Jordan's game has changed, no slashing, little aggression, and being satisfied with set jump shots in transition. This may be a poor comparison but I feel his regression is similar to Ivo's during Christian's first year. I am hopeful that he gets back to what got him here.

When Tony went down last year his absence was softened by the fact that Carter stepped in as essentially Tony-lite. Lot of inside game and had to respect his ability to hit the 3ball. IMO Carter showed himself to be the most game-ready Freshman “big-man” I have seen at OHIO.

We have no such Carter-lite to magically appear this year. With Gareri/BVP both injured and really not able to even adequately show what type of abilities they do have, we are left with having an extremely limited inside scoring game.

Last year with Simmons at the point his drive and dish abilities were a compliment to Carter’s inside development. Simmons also had to be respected by opposing defenses for his ability to pop 3’s.

With having such a limited to non-existent inside scoring threat and a frosh point guard with extremely limited outside shooting skills places an extroidinary amount of pressure on Dartis/Block/Laster to produce.

It will probably take more of Laster-type performances such as he did yesterday to give us opportunities to notch wins going forward. It’s really tough to lose your best player 2 years running and expect to compete at championship level, especially at the mid-major level. I’m afraid there may be a few more CMU type outcomes going forward.

Sometimes life just deals lemons and with the rash of injuries and Simmons moving on this has the makings of wait till next year.

When one guy gets 31, another has 16, and the team has 78, and gets the team gets the win, I'm not terribly concerned about how many points they scored.

But, Gavin in particular hasn't looked like himself for quite a few games. I'm more concerned that they might be worn down. Also, I think someone mentioned that Dartis has had some hip issues he's been playing through? I'm not certain specifically what, but that's gonna make a difference.

That might certainly be the case ... especially with Dartis. If his hip is that bothersome, I can see that be debilitating. In the case of Block ... where is the guy that played in Charleston? I'm not expecting him to drop 25 a game ... but he has been non-existent in terms of offense.

If the issue is worn down .... that's a big problem. It's the 2nd week of January. Saul needs to do a better job of either A) conditioning these players or B) finding ways to limit their minutes to keep them fresh.

I know injuries have wreaked havoc on this season ... but you have Butler & Gareri healthy now ... you add that to Mickle, Taylor, Kirk, Dartis, Gollon, Block & Laster ... that's nine guys. That's more than enough able bodies to keep guys fresh. It's not like they're down to 6 or 7 guys (like they have been previously)

Block played 35 minutes vs. NIU and 31 vs. CMU. If he was tired ... why so many minutes vs. CMU in a blowout loss?

Same for Dartis ... 36 minutes vs. NIU and 27 vs. CMU. Bad hip or not ... he's too good to be this invisible on the offensive end. I think he's really struggling to shoot the ball right now ... 7-24 (3-14 3pt) last three games. Even if he's relegated to being a catch-and-shoot guy right now because of his hip ... he has to knock down those shots.

Ohio is going to struggle to compete for a top-four bye as it is ... but if they can't get more production from these two guys who are playing 30+ minutes a game ... that makes that hill even steeper to climb.

Someone has to step up to fill the production they're missing with Carter gone ... and it has to be someone other than Laster. Kirk has been a pleasant surprise and is probably scoring more than expected (although the turnovers are an issue).

Would also be nice to see more from Taylor/Mickle. Mickle might still be hampered from that knee issue he had. Taylor has only had 3 shot attempts in the last 2 games. That's baffling ... he should be at worst getting a few offensive rebound/putback chances. I'm not saying the offense should be going thru him ... but some more production would help.

Basically what I'm saying is that this team will not survive on Laster and Kirk carrying them offensively when they play the Ball St, Buffalo, Kent , WMUs and Akrons of the MAC. You can get away with that vs. NIU in the Convo ... but I'm not sure that will travel.

Life on the road in the MAC, huh? Ha!

There is, but I think Townie's point was that even against players who went on to play big-time CBB, Dartis was not afraid to go after them.

Anything can happen in Cleveland, but I'm with you in that I wouldn't bet on it right now.

I would add that we don't have an inside presence that warrants a double team, leaving Dartis/Gollon/Block/Laster open for a kickout pass (not sure if that's considered Saulball or not).

That's why I was so concerned with having a PG who shares the ball before the season started. I was told over and over that the PG doesn't have to be the distributor in this system, but when you have guys like Dartis and Block who do not excel in creating their own shot, who gets them involved? Who gets them shots? TK has been very good, don't get me wrong, but his assist average is less than half of what J-Smooth had here in his last two seasons. TK does a lot of things very well, but so far, creating shots for his teammates isn't something he does consistently.

Maybe, but I thought we used the dribble very effectively against NIU. We got the ball into the paint and kicked it out. For the most part, I really enjoyed the offense vs NIU. We had a ton of off the ball movement and shared the ball really well. We did not force a ton of shots, ran the offense and Laster drilled shot after shot with the shot clock either at or almost at zero. If we keep running the offense like we did vs NIU, there will be open shots for Jordy and company. Just hope they are healthy enough to make them.

Lost: Gavin Block's Shot
Last Seen: Game vs Clemson
When Found: Please return it to the Convocation Center

Dude is just flat out brutal right now. Worst stretch of his career.

His shot is not falling, no question. But he brings other positives. He was tied for most rebounds and assists tonight. And with us getting out-rebounded 39 - 33 I don't think we can blow off his 7 boards.