Before practice Monday, Penn State basketball player Milos Bogetic revealed his plan to scour the Internet for some juicy material on Ohio State's ever-present freshman center, Greg Oden.
By 7 tonight, when the Nittany Lions (10-13, 1-9 Big Ten) face No. 2 Ohio State at the Bryce Jordan Center, Bogetic wanted to be equipped to throw the verbal jabs he and teammate Jamelle Cornley have directed toward opponents this season, even during the team's current nine-game losing streak.
"I don't know about Mel this time ... but I'm planning to trash-talk," said Bogetic, the Lions' center.
However, as easy as it might be to quickly find information about the 19-year-old Oden, it's been equally difficult for opponents to develop a defensive scheme that
prevents him from dominating around the basket.
"He's been guarded every way that you can imagine and think about," Penn State coach Ed DeChellis said.
And while facing double and sometimes triple teams from big men and smaller guards consistently swiping at his wrists, Oden, at 7-feet and 280 pounds, has averaged 15.3 points and 9.4 rebounds per game, and shot 62.4 percent from the field for the Buckeyes (22-3, 10-1). His rebounding average and field goal percentage leads the Big Ten.
Just as troubling for DeChellis is Oden's propensity to draw so much attention that skilled shooting teammates, like guards Ron Lewis and Daequan Cook, are left open when opposing guards try to help down low.
"That's why they are where they are," DeChellis said. "You try to take Oden away ... then the other guys beat you from the perimeter."
So how does Penn State -- which has not won a game since Jan. 3, ranks last in the Big Ten defensively and sits at the bottom of the conference standings -- plan to limit the possible No. 1 pick in June's NBA draft?
"You just can't let him go crazy," DeChellis said. "They're going to get him the ball, and he's going to score some points for them. Not many people have been successful against him."
If there were a more precise plan for tonight's ESPN televised game, DeChellis wouldn't say it.
"I don't know if I could tell you that here," he said when asked if Penn State's three tallest players -- Bogetic, Brandon Hassell and Joonas Suotamo -- would be encouraged to use each of their five fouls while defending Oden. Hassell, who is expected to play after recovering from a sprained left foot injured last week, is the Lions' tallest player at 6-foot-11. Bogetic and Suotamo are each an inch shorter.
"You might see all of them on him at one point in time," DeChellis said. "Everybody's got to try to take their turn, whether we're playing straight up or we're trying to double down, whatever we're trying to do."
For the Lions' offense, the challenges are not any easier. Oden leads the Big Ten with 3.6 blocks per game and modifies shots like a select number of college centers have been able to do so historically.
"He's going to block your shot," Cornley, who is listed at 6-foot-5, said. "He's probably going to block my shot, once, twice, maybe three times, whatever, but we need to be relentless and try to get him into foul trouble."
For Bogetic, he sees Oden's presence inside as a reason to take a few three-pointers, which he is rarely hesitant to attempt anyway.
"Everybody's going to use what they can to beat him. If he doesn't guard me from the outside, I'm going to shoot, and we'll see how that goes," Bogetic said.
