If you’ve never lived in Ohio, you perhaps cannot truly understand the role of Ohio State athletes in the community. They aren’t just football players or basketball players: they are expected to be role models, good citizens, and able representatives of an important institution. Buckeyes fans want Ohio State to have great players, to be sure, but we also want them to be great people so that they can fulfill that aspirational role.
This little video of a visit some Ohio State basketball players made to Nationwide Children’s Hospital, to hang out with some of the kids who are being treated there, gives a glimpse of what can happen when good people become Buckeyes. And it happens all the time, usually without any fanfare. When one of my colleagues was battling cancer, he was surprised by a visit from some Ohio State football players, including one of the biggest stars on the team. They came, they sat down, they talked with him and listened to him, and they provided encouragement. No photographers or publicists were there, and to my knowledge no news story about the visit ever appeared. But my friend greatly appreciated the gesture and the fact that these football players took time away from being BMOC to visit an ill stranger.
It touched him deeply, and it made me understand, better than I had before, the great significance these young people can assume — if they are good people. That’s one reason why we care so much about who becomes a Buckeye.
The Buckeyes played excellent on-the-ball defense and rebounded the ball well to dominate the first half — even though they played most of the half with Deshaun Thomas, their top scorer, riding the bench with two fouls. The Buckeyes were sharp and attacking and had Duke on its heels. In the second half, however, Duke played much more aggressively at both ends of the court, and it paid off. Duke hit big shots, Ohio State didn’t, and when Duke pulled ahead it made the free throws that salted the game away.
Cameron is tough because the crowd is loud and proud, but mostly it’s tough because Duke always has great teams under Coach Mike Krzyzewski. This year is no exception. The Blue Devils are ranked second and they’ve already beaten two of the most highly regarded teams in the nation, Kentucky and Louisville. After six games, the Blue Devils have five players averaging in double figures. They are led by 6-10 center Mason Plumlee, who is netting almost 20 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 blocks per game, and senior guard Seth Curry. The Blue Devils have a lot of talent and play the tough, disciplined game you expect from a Coach K team.
Duke clearly has the edge in tomorrow night’s contest, but the game should be an intriguing one. Plumlee gives Duke a strong inside game that the Buckeyes lack; OSU big men Evan Ravenel and Amir Williams will have to play exceptionally well to keep the Buckeyes competitive. OSU defensive whiz Aaron Craft will take on one of the Duke guards, but can the Buckeyes guard the rest of the Blue Devil squad? At the other end of the court, Duke will have to figure out how to defend the Buckeyes’ top scorer, Deshaun Thomas, who can take the ball inside or pop from outside. Ohio State fans also are looking for Lenzelle Smith, Jr., one of the heroes of the Buckeyes’ run to the Final Four last year, to assert himself at the offensive end.
The team begins with three stalwart players who really emerged last year: scoring and rebounding machine Deshaun Thomas, point guard and defensive stopper Aaron Craft, and do-everything guard Lenzelle Smith, Jr. All three played significant minutes and made big contributions to last year’s success. To replace Sullinger in the middle, the Buckeyes will look to 6-11 sophomore Amir Williams, a shot blocker who showed promise is limited action last year, and senior Evan Ravenel, who backed up Sullinger. The other spot might be occupied by point guard Shannon Scott, who will need to improve his shooting this year, jump-out-of-the-gym alley-ooper Sam Thompson, or silky smooth shooter LaQuinton Ross. Add in freshman Amedeo Della Valle, from Alba, Italy, and you give coach Thad Matta lots of pieces to work with.
Obviously, I’m more excited about Deshaun Thomas’ decision to return to Ohio State for his junior year. This past season he went from a one-dimensional, shot-launching part-time player to a crucial part of the team that made it all the way to the Final Four. He brought so much to the table — a scorer’s mentality and creative shot-making, an inside-outside offensive game, tremendous rebounding abilities, and significantly improved defense and interior passing — and was just a lot of fun to watch. If his improvement from his sophomore to junior year is comparable his development this year, Thomas could compete for leading scorer and rebounder honors in the Big Ten next year.
Obviously, I’m sorry that the Buckeyes could not hold their lead and could not make their goal of the national championship game. Their loss, however, does not take away from what has been a wonderful season for the team and its fans. This is a group that battled through adversity and tough stretches and came back to play extremely well down the stretch and in the NCAA Tournament. Much as I would like to have seen the Buckeyes win and get the chance to knock off Kentucky, there is no shame in losing by two points in a hard-fought game to a basketball powerhouse like Kansas.
A lot has been written about the match-ups in the game. How will Jared Sullinger, who missed the first game between the Buckeyes and Jayhawks in December, fare against shot-blocking center Jeff Withey? Will cat-quick Jayhawk Tyshawn Taylor be able to play his game notwithstanding the suffocating defensive efforts of Aaron Craft? Who will guard the Buckeyes’ versatile Deshaun Thomas, and who will try to stop Jayhawk Elijah Johnson?
I don’t get this criticism, and think this year’s NCAA Tournament demonstrates that Coach Matta can match up with anybody. He has this year’s team motivated and ready to perform, also also has shown a lot of flexibility in how Ohio State has played its opponents. Against Gonzaga, which had a strong 7-footer in the middle, he moved Sullinger around and away from the basket for some uncontested jumpers. Against the fabled Syracuse zone, he changed the positions of Thomas and Sullinger and Ohio State made interior passes that led to some easy baskets; he also recognized that Lenzelle Smith, Jr. was not the focus of Syracuse defensive plans, and in the second half Smith helped to lead the Buckeyes to victory. In every game, Coach Matta and his staff have put the Buckeyes in the position to win — and that is what you want from a coach.
The Buckeyes are going to the Final Four! Even as I type those words, I find them hard to believe — and richly satisfying, all at the same time.
The Ohio State Buckeyes will hope to carry the Big Ten flag forward when they play tonight against the Big East’s best team, the Syracuse Orange. It will be a battle of two seasoned, highly regarded teams that spent the entire season ranked in the top ten.
The Buckeyes will be looking to break down the zone in other ways, by trying to get the ball to Deshaun Thomas at the elbow of the lane and have him shoot mid-range jumpers before Syracuse players can rotate over or dish to Jared Sullinger and others if holes in the zone open up. Thomas has been a stud in the Tournament, and the Buckeyes hope his strong showing will continue.
Syracuse has a lot of long and talented players who can run, shoot, and finish near the rim. They like to play up-tempo and score fast-break points off turnovers. They are led in scoring by forward Kris Joseph and guard Dion Waiters, but the match-up I’ll have my eye on will be Ohio State’s Aaron Craft against Syracus guard Scoop Jardine. Jardine is terrific, and Syracuse counts on him to get the ball to the players who can finish. Craft will be trying to disrupt that and will be playing his tremendous pressure on the ball style to do so. If Craft can get Jardine out of his rhythm and out of his game without getting himself into foul trouble, the Buckeyes will have a chance to move forward.
This is the third year in a row the Buckeyes have made it this far — and the last two years they went no farther. In 2010 they lost a heart-breaker to Tennessee, 76-73; last year they arguably had the best team around and fell in a stomach-churning loss to Kentucky, 62-60. The close scores made the losses more agonizing, and Buckeyes fans don’t want to endure another.
Jared Sullinger was a beast on the inside; he scored 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, and Wisconsin really had no answer for him. Deshaun Thomas showed why he is one of the best forwards in the Big Ten, grabbing many rebounds and making some clutch buckets. Aaron Craft played a standout defensive game against Badgers stud point guard Jordan Taylor, and made some key free throws to help ice the game, Lenzelle Smith, Jr., played a fine floor game, and William Buford — poor, much maligned William Buford, who just could not get a shot to go down — made a three-point dagger in crunch time.
Smith is a 6-4 guard, and he plays the game the way it should be played. He sweats and scrambles when he’s guarding an opposing player and looks like he eventually could be as versatile on the defensive end as David Lighty — who could guard just about anybody. Smith has a solid offensive game; he’s patient, unselfish, and doesn’t force shots. But where Smith really shines is in transition. I love watching #32 rip down a rebound and rush pell mell down the court, head up and looking to dish. He’s made some terrific passes, including some alley-oop lobs leading to rim-rattling, crowd-pleasing dunks.
