Zach Reichle Appreciation Post

Gotta say, dude hustled his ass off last night.

I can’t really talk about Masten as he played during a period that I wasn’t paying any real attention to OSU basketball. But as to Reichle I think there are a few reasons why he isn’t held in high esteem. First, he came billed as a shooter and he really hasn’t lived up to that. He’s had some nice games and stretches, but his overall numbers haven’t been that good especially when combined with reason two. Second, he was very overmatched in other areas. And third, prior to this year he has been a starter for one and a third seasons on what many feel have been underperforming teams. His sophomore year he started 13 games and averaged 19 mpg. Most people felt his talent level was more on par with a 10-12 minute bench guy. Last year he started every game and averaged 28 mpg. Most probably felt talent-wise in Pac 12 he should have been more a 15-20 mpg bench player at best.

I’ve come to appreciate him. He plays hard, is willing to stick his nose into the fray, and comes up with some key buckets and rebounds. It’s just ideally he’d be coming off the bench. Is it his fault WT hasn’t been able to bring in enough talent to allow him to come off the bench? No. Hats off to him for making himself a serviceable if not ideal starter. If he can keep his 3-pt % at 40 or higher, I think he’ll have plenty who appreciate him by end of season.

Currently he has a higher 3 point FG% than Tinkle or Thompson did. If he shoots around 43% this year (again, he's currently at 54.5) He's going to finish in the top 10 all time at OSU for 3 point percentage.