Basketball is all about making adjustments, and Sonny Troutman knows that very well after leading Ohio to a 67-51 victory over Buffalo tonight.
Halfway through his senior season as a Bobcat, Troutman has made the switch to point guard, and the transformation to his new position took place in The Convo against a high-pressure defense from the Bulls.
He's (coach Tim O'Shea) got me playing point guard
so that is something I have to adjust to switching over in the middle of the season Troutman said. But once I got the jitters out of the way I settled down a bit and starting playing and distributing the ball.
Troutman's move to point came almost a week after point guard Antonio Chatman left the teams for personal reasons. While Troutman had some problems in the first half handling Buffalo's stifling defense, he overcame his frustrations and eventually found his flow.
Troutman finished the game with 10 points and seven assists after a scoreless first half with two turnovers.
Stuff like that (turnovers) is going to happen but you can't let it get to you; you can't worry about a bad play the whole game
Troutman said. It is a big difference bringing the ball up all the time and running the offense. I will have to work on dealing with the pressure.
O'Shea said he liked the way Troutman ran the team after less than a week's worth of preparation at the new position. He recognized the difficult task of playing a new role on the team this late in his career.
I told him it is awfully hard to ask a guy in the middle of his senior year to take over the ball-handling responsibilities
but he is eager to do it
and I think he is enjoying it
O'Shea said. If you look at his improvement from the first half to second half you've got to feel pretty good.
Troutman's struggles in the first half were mostly from his efforts of trying to do too much for his team. After taking many tough shots in the first half he began making better decisions by passing after driving into the paint and finding his teammates for easy baskets.
He ended up being a playmaker and started to penetrate and pass instead of trying to score; he had some shots that just weren't going for him
O'Shea said. He is just going to get better because he is a smart basketball player
and this is going to make him a more complete basketball player.
Buffalo's defense kept the early stages of the game slow as neither team was getting good looks from the field. Guard G
trying to go one-on-one
and they were pressuring us a lot
