When coach John Groce went to his bench Wednesday, he utilized a cornucopia of players not usually seen.
Groce's normally tight rotation of players ballooned in the first half of Ohio's 79-65 win against Eastern Michigan, as 11 players entered the game.
All 12 players that dressed played, including little-used freshman center Ethan Jacobs, who had appeared in only seven games to that point.
It's feel
Groce said of his rotation. I thought Jacobs had the best practice he's had during his career here (Tuesday) and I felt like that I wanted to make a point that practice matters. He did a good job when he was in there.
On the other side, the final Bobcat to check in Wednesday's game was Reggie Keely, a sophomore who averages 20 minutes per game and started eight times this year.
Keely entered the game at the 15:54 mark of the second half. He grabbed four rebounds and blocked two shots in 10 minutes.
I liked Reggie's effort in the second half Groce said. I thought he was pretty locked in and did a good job.
But Groce remained adamant when he described why Keely might have sat for as long as he did.
I'll leave it at this: practice matters
Groce said.
Although every Bobcat played in Wednesday's game and Groce was pleased with some of the performances, he said it wouldn't necessarily become a regular occurrence.
I'd like to play a lot of guys
but that's not my decision...I tell the guys if they want to play
earn it in practice. I'd like to play everybody. I wish I could play all 15.
During his three-year tenure with the Bobcats, Groce has been known for using as few players as possible while still playing effectively. In each of the past two seasons, all five starters averaged at least 26 minutes per game, and nobody off the bench played more than 16 per contest.
You got to earn it...this is not equal opportunity. We're trying to play the best basketball we can play. The deeper our rotation is
the better off we are over the course of a 16-game conference schedule.
That has changed this year. Eight players have started at least seven games and all average 19 minutes. Groce has changed his starting lineup and bench rotation all year to find a consistent group that plays good basketball.
But he made no promises that he would continue to utilize his bench.
At some point
we're going to need everybody
Groce said. We'll see how some of those guys respond ... it was good from that standpoint tonight that we were able to play that many guys (against Eastern Michigan).
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