Ohio State forward E.J. Liddell has made that jump in development everyone hoped he would. He’s gone from a freshman that was inconsistently impactful in and around the lane, to one that is a more consistent threat with an ever-evolving inside to outside game.
Not only is Liddell got a great feel in and around the basket, but his mid-range game might be the best in the Big Ten. On top of that, he’s now able to stretch out defenders by stepping outside the arc and becoming a legitimate threat to bomb away from deep.
It’s a clear evolution and improvement in developing an all-around game to create significant mismatches for the opposition. It was on display against Wisconsin again Saturday afternoon and helped lead the way to an upset of the No. 10 team by an improving Buckeyes’ squad. Liddell led the team with 20 points and is shooting over 50 percent from the floor this year.
For Liddell, he told Buckeyes Wire it’s something he knew he had to work on to make himself and his team more of a force on the offensive end.
“I worked on it very hard, very, very hard,” Lidell said. “I knew I had to expand my game for this team to be good. If I hit shots, it’s going to open up opportunities for my teammates, and I just feel like it’s just my confidence level. I started off kind of slow — I mean I made like two 3’s in the first couple of games, but I feel like I just keep improving, and just keep a mindset on getting better every day.”
Opposing coaches are feeling the pinch in the matchup nightmare Liddell is creating too. Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard signaled out how hard it is to gameplan against what Lidell can do on the basketball court. Almost virtually throwing up his hands in disbelief.
“The positions they (Ohio State) put you in, and Liddell in the post, and him coming out and shooting I thought really got them going too,” Gard said in the postgame presser. “I mean, he’s shooting 18-foot jump shots.”
There may not be a more difficult matchup in the conference these days than figuring out who to put on Liddell. If you use a smaller forward, he can body them up and use his length to get buckets in and around the rim. Put height and length on him and he can dust off the mid-range and bomb away from deep.
This is an E.J. Liddell appreciation tweet. 👏@EasyE2432 // @OhioStateHoops pic.twitter.com/gGJECssd3V
— Ohio State on BTN (@OhioStateOnBTN) January 23, 2021
And with so many scoring options starting to emerge on this Ohio State team, it’s no wonder they are becoming a highly efficient team on the offensive end. Duane Washington still leads the team in scoring, but with what Liddell can do from multiple spots on the floor offensively, and what he brings with rebounding and guarding the post and rim, he’s got a case for being the MVP of this team to date.
Yeah it’s early, but if E.J. Liddell can continue to give other teams fits with an all-around game, the rest of the team can come right alongside for a potential deep run in March.
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