Marlowe Alter talked to Jim Christian, Dustin Ford, Aaron Fuss and Ivo Baltic to talk about Ivo's confidence issues, his role and more.



 http://speakeasyohiou.com/2013/02/23/the-mystery-of-ivo-b.../

Fantastic article and a ton of honesty here from player and coaches. One of the best articles I've read on OHIO basketball this year. Hope the dude figures it out heading into March. 

The "crapping" comes from the tone and the nit-picky nature of some of the comments.  I sometimes wonder what the comments would have been like if Ivo had been fouled hard on the offensive end then committed an intentional foul like Reggie did on the defensive end vs EMU; the only comment about Reggie's foul I've seen is that it was excusable.  Would it have been "a real heady play for a senior" if Ivo had done it?

We all recognize that Ivo has had issues this season.  It's interesting that everybody sees what the root cause is -- his switching from a post-up player a perimeter shooter.  Coming into this season he was only 5-21 (.238) from 3pt range; this season, he's 8-22 (.364).  He tried only two 3pters in 900 minutes during his sparkling sophomore season; last season he tried 18 in 1,014 minutes, and his pts-per-game avg dropped from 11.4 to 8.7.  He's just hasn't been a perimeter player, although he seems to be getting there -- among the regulars, he's second only to Wilkins in 3pt percentage, and he's best among those playing more than 11.6 minutes per game.  He already has more assists and steals this season than either of the last two seasons, despite playing 1/3 fewer minutes.  The big issue is turnovers; he's gone from one every 14 minutes the past two seasons to one every 12 this season.  And that's attributable to his lack of confidence.  I hope his sessions with TJ work.  But the season is getting short, so they don't have much time left.

Thanks for reading, I wrote the story on Baltic's inconsistencies over the past season and a half...He was very humble when I talked with him and was harsh on himself about his performance this season.

But here's a juicy nugget from Ivo that I did not include in the article. When I asked him why he hasn't posted up much this season, here's the first part of the quote (the second part is in the article where he says he's "gotten away from it" and needs more practice down low, which was peculiar in its own right):

“I would like to play in the post a little bit more. He (Keely) takes up a lot of space so it’s hard to play with him. When me and Jon (Smith) are in there, Jon does a good job of knowing when to move and go to certain spots and that's what makes me successful I guess."

I found that fascinating. He wasn't necessarily calling Reggie out, but rather that he felt more comfortable playing with Jon. Can't say I've seen him play well with either guy this year.
 

Perhaps you should go back and re-read what was written by me about Keely's hard foul.  If I remember correctly, I said he was extremely fortunate it didn't get him kicked out.  In no way did I commend such a stupid play.  When I saw it happen live I immediately said Flagrant 2 and ejection in my head.