text: Ohio College Basketball Insider: Ohio coach keeps spirits up
  The drive from Athens to Columbus can be viewed as a potential 80-mile speed trap or some of the best scenery Ohio has to offer. Ohio University coach Saul Phillips chose the latter yesterday as he drove to Port Columbus on family business.
  It has been a long, trying season for everyone connected with the men's basketball program, and Phillips used the time to decompress and think about his team. The Bobcats (9-14, 4-8 Mid-American Conference) blew a 14-point lead in losing to Miami University 77-66 on Saturday in Oxford. Phillips was upset with the way some of his players reacted when things got hot.
  Phillips realizes the limitations of the roster - no true point guard, no true big man, a lot of youth and a short bench - but "I was hoping to avoid some growing pains this season."
  "But it's a process," he added. "We have three seniors, but after that, we have a lot of youth. I'm not worried about where we are going long-term. We're fighting for every win tooth and nail this year."
  Phillips is funny and colorful talking with the media, but he's a buttoned-down coach who places value on efficient half-court offense and clamp-down defense. He was a player for four years at Wisconsin-Platteville and an assistant for three years at Wisconsin under Bo Ryan.
  Ohio has had some good moments, defeating Buffalo, Akron and DePaul. But the Bobcats are 1-7 in road games and have not won more than two straight games.
  "There are times when shot selection and turnovers have really derailed us," Phillips said. "I don't think we've taken a massive step in how we want to play. I don't know if it's the messenger or other reasons. We have had as many wrong answers as right answers.
  "But we're not at each other's throats. We're trying to work things out the best we can."
  Phillips is the team's third coach in four seasons. Entire recruiting classes were lost when John Groce left for Illinois and Jim Christian for Boston College. How would Caris LeVert (Michigan) and Tariq Owens (Tennessee) look in a Bobcats uniform?
  "We've tried to coach the players like they were out of high school, but you can't keep changing coaches and have things sailing along," Phillips said. "I see the human things of them having to start over."
  Help is on the way next season. Stretch forward Kenny Kaminski (Michigan State) and point guard Jaaron Simmons (Houston) are sitting out this season as transfers. The four-player recruiting class includes guard Jordan Dartis of Newark and 6-foot-8 forward Doug Taylor of Northland.
  "This is going to be a quick flip," Phillips said of getting his own players into the lineup.
  Phillips has even found positives about the frigid weather after spending 10 years in Fargo, N.D.
  "This is a heat wave for Fargo," he said. "We'd go through a month straight where we didn't crack zero. It was so flat that when it got windy, you didn't know if it was snowing or the snow was just blowing around. It was like being inside a snow blower."
  Ohio Wesleyan nears title
  With games remaining against Oberlin and DePauw, Ohio Wesleyan has a two-game lead over Wooster in the North Coast Athletic Conference.
  The Battling Bishops (19-4, 14-2) have not won a regular-season title since 1987-88, when they won the NCAA Division III championship behind All-American Scott Tedder of Whitehall.
  Only Wooster and Wittenberg have won NCAC championships since 1992-93. Wooster has won all but two regular-season titles since 2003-04.
  Ohio Wesleyan defeated Wabash 81-80 last Wednesday on two free throws by Claude Gray with 10 seconds left, and beat Allegheny 80-66 on Saturday.