Ohio State coach Thad Matta has spent much of the last year preaching a “next play” mentality to point guard JaQuan Lyle. As of last weekend, more than 137,000 viewers have a visible reminder of what Lyle has been battling with. And today, the sophomore provided an indication that he’s still working to move past that mental hurdle while endeavoring to become one of the nation’s elite point guards. At a camp hosted by NBA superstar Chris Paul, Lyle was filmed breaking down defender Victor Oladipo, a former national co-defensive player of the year, and burying a mid-range jumper while dozens of on-court spectators went nuts. Then, seconds later, Oladipo buried the winning jumper in Lyle’s face. “Next-play mentality,” Lyle said today of the sequence. “He fell, everybody else watching the game was going crazy, but he didn’t let that affect him. He got right back up, hit the shot and won the game. That’s what really matters.” >> Follow BuckeyeXtra on Facebook and Twitter It’s one of the chief lessons Lyle took away from the camp, where he said he took the chance to pick the brains of Paul, Oladipo and others in attendance on how to improve his game. Lyle said Paul called him to personally invite him to the camp. He doubted the authenticity of the call, Lyle said, until Paul brought up a game years ago when Lyle helped beat Paul’s AAU team. In 35 games including 31 starts as a freshman, Lyle averaged 11.2 points, 4.7 rebounds and 4.2 assists and posted the fifth…
Continue Reading: Ohio State men's basketball | JaQuan Lyle says he's improving physically, mentally
