Quick hitters from Jake Diebler Big Ten Tournament preview press conference

COLUMBUS — Ohio State interim head coach Jake Diebler met with the media and discussed the Buckeyes ahead of the Big Ten Tournament.

Since taking over for Chris Holtmann, who was fired on Feb. 14, Diebler has led Ohio State to a 5-1 record and a first-round bye in the conference tourney.

The 10-seed Buckeyes will square off against 7-seed Iowa Thursday night at 6:30 p.m. in Minneapolis.

Lettermen Row has a roundup of Diebler’s comments from his pre-tournament press conference.

What Diebler said Monday…

+ Diebler said he and the team have talked openly about what’s at stake, but they’re still taking it one game at a time and keeping “the main thing the main thing.” Real and honest dialogue these days is important. Ultimately, though, you have to get back to work and focus on the task at hand, he said.

+ The depth of this team is a real strength, Diebler said. “Guys are playing so hard that they’re asking for breaks, and that’s a great place to be at as a team,” Diebler said. Diebler referenced Taison Chatman’s banked 3-pointer at Rutgers as an example of the team’s “togetherness” — the fact that Chatman, despite not playing against Michigan, was ready to make an impact in the regular season finale is notable.

+ Diebler said they have a core group of guys who know what to expect from the Big Ten Tournament. Each season and each team is different, “but our guys know what it feels like.” Diebler added: “It’s March Madness, anything can happen.” Not only did the program make a four-game run last year, but it also advanced to the Big Ten Championship back in 2020-21.

+ The Ohio State leaders have really raised their voices the last few weeks, Diebler said. But also the young guys aren’t scared, he emphasized. “I don’t anticipate the moment being too big for anybody,” he said.

+ Diebler was asked for initial thoughts on Iowa. The Hawkeyes have been playing well, he noted, especially Payton Sandfort, who has scored 22 or more points in four of the last five games. Iowa has depth on the interior and on the perimeter. But Ohio State and Iowa are both in different places at the moment compared to where they were when they faced off in February. “I believe there’s a confidence factor knowing that we were in their gym with a chance to win the game,” Diebler said of the Buckeyes’ 79-77 loss to the Hawkeyes in Iowa City on Feb. 2.

+ Diebler was asked about the uptick in Ohio State turnovers recently (the Buckeyes combined for 30 giveaways against Michigan and Rutgers). The increased pace and aggressiveness may be a factor. Diebler said going back and watching the Rutgers game, he doesn’t feel like they had as many empty possessions as the Michigan game. When Ohio State started to get ahead, he felt like they made a great adjustment with taking care of the ball and getting more shots up. That required ball handlers to anticipate the Rutgers crowds and pull up their dribble slightly earlier than normal.

+ Diebler said limiting turnovers and continuing to fight on the glass will both be key in the Big Ten Tournament. “Us taking care of the ball, creating some turnovers and then rebounding,” he reiterated as focal points. “Can we get some second-chance opportunities, too? And we got to obviously finish plays, and prevent the other team from getting some.”

+ Diebler was asked about the defensive buy-in the last six games. He reminded reporters that when Holtmann was still head coach, defense was an emphasis, too. Sometimes work at that end of the court takes time to come to fruition, Diebler explained. He added: “I felt we were starting to trend in a positive direction. But we’ve raised the aggressiveness. And I think our guys have embraced that. It’s not like our staff all of a sudden started working harder. We’ve been working as hard as we possibly can all season and looking for maybe a little adjustment. Our staff deserves a ton of credit, not just for the improvement defensively, but for the last few weeks and how things have gone.”

+ Diebler was asked what’s so important about momentum this year. He said confidence and momentum give you an opportunity to play your very best. “We haven’t played our best yet, and we’re still striving to put longer stretches together to be tougher,” Diebler said. He believes they have another level to reach, and momentum can get them there.

+ Diebler said there’s momentum within a game. And in that game against Rutgers, he felt like it was going to be decided by runs. His biggest fear was if Ohio State had offensive droughts — which are inevitable against Rutgers, especially on the road — that the Buckeyes defense would slip. That didn’t happen, though. Diebler believes that shows maturity.

+ Diebler said they’ve bumped up director of professional development Terence Dials on staff and allowed him to be more engaged in practice. “That was an easy decision to make,” Diebler said, explaining the value of having a former player assisting. Diebler said Mike Netti has helped offensively. If Diebler is talking to a player on the bench or an official, Netti steps up and makes a call, Diebler noted. Brandon Bailey and Jack Owens are still focusing on the defensive side of the ball. “We’ve had great chemistry on our staff, from top to bottom,” he said.

+ “From the day everything happened, there’s been unbelievable support,” Diebler said. He has to make the final decisions, but those decisions aren’t happening without input. There’s some pieces that have been in place here for a long time that have really helped, Diebler said, in regard to logistics.

+ Diebler was asked about if Ohio State deserves to be in the NCAA Tournament conversation at this point. “Absolutely. Absolutely. I’m no expert on all the metrics that go into making that decision, but I would think a couple of our top wins would stack up against anybody in the country,” Diebler said. Diebler said with the recent road wins and the momentum they absolutely deserve to be in the conversation.

+ Diebler said he gets nervous before every game. “I would imagine that will always be the case,” he said. “I think that stems from how much I care, how competitive I am,” Diebler noted. He said it usually goes away as soon as the ball goes up for tip-off.