Men’s Hoops Sweet Sixteen Preview – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/15/1999 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 15, 1999
Ohio State head coach Jim O’Brien:%^$”It is nice to be still playing. We know we have our work cut out for us playing against a successful team like Auburn. If we have any chance of moving on we will have to play well.”%^$
%^$”My greatest fear is their ability to rebound on offense. That has been one of our deficiencies this year and one of their strengths.”%^$
%^$”When we play someone the same size as us we do well. But we have played much bigger teams in the Big Ten all season.”%^$
%^$”If you were to single out one thing for us to successful (against Auburn) it would be that we have to limit them to very few second shots.”%^$
%^$On Ken Johnson rebounding and shot blocking:%^$”He has the ability to really help us on defense. He has gotten better. He has become a little more conscientious toward his game. He is taking more pride in his game. That is coming with getting older an maturing.”%^$
%^$On Scoonie Penn relationship:%^$”I think there are very good player/coach relationships around the country. I have had the fortune of having very good relationships throughout the years. His is a little bit different because he decided to give up something special to him and come here. I do love this kid. He has been a very special player and person for all of our coaches for the last couple of years. We have known him since his sophomore year in high school. There is a pretty good bond between us. I feel fortunate for him to decide to come with us.”%^$
%^$Penn’s confidence:%^$”Scoonie has a will to win and is a very competitive kid. His approach to daily practice is something that has been very influential and very positive. As much as Scoonie has brought to our team, this turnaround is more involved than just one player. A lot of the kids on our team need to get a lot of credit for what we have done. It befuddles me that Michael Redd gets as little notoriety as he has. His improvement and the improvement of the other guys are some of the reasons we are better. Scoonie is the leader and his drive helps because he is always pushing.”%^$
%^$Penn’s prediction of an NCAA Tournament appearance in preseason:%^$”I guess he knew more about what was going to happen than I did. We were being cautiously optimistic at the time (preseason). I knew we were going to be better than we were. But to start going from five-consecutive losing seasons to the NCAA Tournament was a little of a stretch. I thought (Penn) was a little bit out of whack when he talked about the NCAA but that is all he knows. He thinks that is the way it is supposed to be.” %^$
%^$Penn and Redd coexisting:%^$”I thought their relationship was good a year ago. There were good signs they had become good friends. I thought that was important. Mike was our go-to guy a year ago. I knew Scoonie was going to put himself in position to share that. I think the fact they became good friends and Michael was a willing learner as a young player are the reasons things have worked out the way they have. It says an awful lot about both. Michael has shown tremendous maturity. Michael is still our go-to guy. Scoonie still recognizes that. Each guy could be the go-to guy and when we go to the other and they accept it, it makes it nice as a coach.”%^$
%^$On change in starting lineup for NCAA:%^$”We were going to make the change (freshman Brian Brown for sophomore Jon Sanderson) regardless of Scoonie’s (injury) situation. After we played the way we did it (against Murray State) it was a no-brainer to start the same way against Detroit. It enables us to get Scoonie off the ball more than we did when Brian is not in the game. “%^$
%^$On Auburn:%^$”(Scott) Pohlman is somebody you have to deal with. He shoots close to 40 percent from 3-point range. (Doc) Robinson seems to be a physical point guard. (Mamadou) N’Diaye is a lot like our Ken Johnson, a good rebounder and he blocks shots. They have a lot of guys that seem to have similar games. It is hard to single anyone out because they are all playing well. We have to be concerned with the tempo and the way the game will be played, then adjust the matchups to how the game is being played.”%^$
