Feb 19, 2022; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes forward Keegan Murray (15) shoots as he is defended by Ohio State Buckeyes forward Zed Key (23) during the first half at Value City Arena. Mandatory Credit: Joseph Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports
The Ohio State basketball team will come into the 2022-23 season with only two players returning who played significant minutes this past season. Neither of them are rim protectors and the Buckeyes just lost their best defensive player in Kyle Young to graduation.
Zed Key is one of the guys returning and he has decent size at 6’8. The issue is that he doesn’t have the foot speed nor the lift to be a true rim protector so opponents are going to have an easier time getting to the rim. E.J. Liddell was a great rim protector last year with his blocks and he’s gone too.
The Ohio State basketball team needs someone to develop into a rim protector, even if they do it in non-conventional ways. Young did it in non-conventional ways by using his lower body to push people outside the paint and force them into taking contested jump hooks.
The Buckeyes do have 6’11 freshman Felix Okpara coming in this year though. Okpara is someone who can get in the way and contest shots at the rim. He’s not a great shot blocker, but he’s serviceable at whacking away shots. He’ll get better at that too as time goes on.
If Ohio State can’t find someone to deter shots at the rim, they could have a major issue on defense. A lot of the freshmen coming in have an offense-first mentality. Chris Holtmann did at least get a really good perimeter defender from the transfer portal though.
Protecting the rim is important at the collegiate level because there are still players who haven’t developed a reliable outside shot. I’m interested to see if Okpara can step right in and fill that void. Key isn’t a bad defender, he just doesn’t have the lift to swat away shots.
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