Written by Brian McPeek

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Talking to a few friends over the past few days of the NCAA (both in-person and ‘talking’ like my kids do with their friends, via text and twitter) the consensus was that if Ohio State ran into a team with a physical presence that could lean on Jared Sullinger and make his life miserable, the Buckeyes were in trouble unless DeShaun Thomas and William Buford went off and PG Aaron Craft scored double figures.

The Buckeyes ran into Gonzaga and their 7’0”, 270lb center, Robert Sacre on Saturday in Pittsburgh. And Thomas, Buford and Craft were all exceptional in helping carrying the load in a 73-66 win that carried the Buckeyes into the Sweet 16.

Sullinger actually had a solid day against the bigger Sacre. He scored 18 points and grabbed a handful of rebounds but you can probably thank Craft for the Buckeyes moving. Craft forced Sacre into a couple of early fouls off of pick and roll and was dominant from tip to final horn. The sophomore scored 17 points and dished out ten assists and he forced Gonzaga G Kevin Pangos into a miserable day shooting the basketball (3-13).

This isn’t a game recap. It’s more of an ode to Craft.

I’ve been saying for 15 months that I fully expect Craft to be the best NBA player out of the current Buckeyes, Sullinger included. Sullinger has no clear position in the NBA. He’s too small to battle NBA 4’s down low and he doesn’t have the athleticism, quickness or shot to play as a perimeter ‘3’. Every moron with a television or a memory will fire out Charles Barkley as an example of an undersized power forward who made it big in the NBA. Barkley was an outlier, the needle in that haystack. And Jared Sullinger lacks the lower body to bang in the NBA. More importantly he lacks the will and the heart to ever be compared to Barkley.

I still think Sullinger goes in the NBA Lottery, maybe even in the top ten. But I think his stock is falling based on his, at times, uninspired and uneven play. There’s a chance he could end up outside the lottery and maybe even consider a junior year at Ohio State. But anyone who sees him as a foundation player at the next level is looking through these and not at Sullinger objectively. That’s not a knock on him as a college player. He outclasses most matchups on a nightly basis and he gets his work in against the elite players too. But you can see how Michigan State throttles him, how Sacre leaned on him yesterday and how the limited Josh Harrelson just harassed him last season in the Buckeyes tournament loss to Kentucky.

But Craft? He could end up being special.

He clearly needs to improve his perimeter shooting and that’s a huge issue for a 6’1”, 175lb guard. But I just love everything else about the kid. He directs the offense and looks to get his scorers involved, he gets to the rim regularly and defends like a witch with quick feet and strength. Craft is the Big 10 Defensive Player of the Year and he earned every bit of that award. He does not get into foul trouble despite completely shutting off the water of players like Pangos and Trey Burke from Michigan. He’s tougher than hell and is the one player on that Buckeye team that looks like he’d fight you as soon as you look at you.

I think Craft sticks around for at least three years and maybe for the duration. I think he understands he can benefit from the time at OSU to work on that shot and to more fully develop his offensive game. He’s also likely aware that this draft is deep with talent and if there’s a year to stay in then this is it.

But, damn, watch him play the game. He’s a guy that can score four points on a given night and still be the best and most important player on the floor for the Buckeyes. On a team where you get such uneven performances from Thomas and Buford it’s nice to know that you’re getting great defense, great distribution, great effort and some runs to the rim from Craft every single game.

Heartbreaking

What a truly horrible awful Friday night. Was anyone else as upset as I was to see Michigan lose to Ohio and Duke fall moments later to Lehigh? LEHIGH??

You weren’t upset? Yeah…me neither.

Think Fat Brady Hoke knows which school is Ohio now? See what happens you think you’re being cute and you’re really just being an unfunny, Grade-A asshole who’s trying too hard to restore something that can’t be forced to a rivalry that was one-sided for a decade? Karma happens, that’s what. And you get thumped by a MAC school. And it wasn’t a ‘March Special’ either. No buzzer beaters, no craziness. Ohio University was the better team all night long and controlled the pace and flow of that basketball game. They played hard, took a lead, extended the lead and then held the lead when Michigan made their expected runs.

DJ Cooper was the best player on the floor for 40 minutes and Michigan goes home wearing the sting of another basketball disappointment. The fact that it came at the hands of the team Bloated Hoke uses in a derogatory manner to degrade Ohio State just makes it funny.

And better.

Suck it Wolverines. The Buckeyes’ little brother just bitch slapped your ass back to Ann Arbor.

Tournament SideNote

I invited my 11-yr old daughter Kacie to participate in the 2012 bracket pool. 84 players in it this year. 

As of right now she is in 2nd place overall. I am in 82nd place overall.

Bad news for Kacie is she hasn't paid her entry fee yet. I'm bouncing her if it's not in my hand by 8am Monday. Rules are rules.

For Your Reading Pleasure

I had the pleasure of starting a blog last week with Jason Askew, the author of all the Browns ‘Feeling a Draft’ columns. If you get a chance check it out here. We’ll move it to a web platform soon enough as we already have the domain but right now we’re spit-balling thoughts and columns on potential Browns draft picks. There are articles in there on a few of the QB prospects (Ryan Tannehill, Brandon Weeden) and we’ve also looked at four or five running backs the Browns could either deal for (Ben Tate) or select early in the draft (Trent Richardson, David Wilson, Lamar Miller and Doug Martin).

Hopefully the format works for you. It’s just an easier way for us to do really quick articles on players and have Jason break them down on film for those interested in such things. Jason’s stuff will continue to be highlighted here as well. His pieces for this site tend to be 3,000 words or better and go far more in depth. We value the hell out of them and will be bringing more of them your way. In fact, you can see Jason’s Browns roster evaluation and a great column about Mike Holmgren’s ‘whining’ on the front page right now.

The blog will be Browns-centric for the most part and give you another source for draft thoughts and previews, take you through OTAs and camp and also provide as much as possible during the season. We’ll be objective as possible too. The title of the blog, Grey Matters Sports, was born out of the fact there is plenty of room between the often polarizing “He’s great/He Blows” way of the world right now. The shades of grey in between black and white matter and the grey matter between one’s ears does too.

Make sure you take a look. Jason knows his prospects his football and can take you through some of the areas scouts and NFL personnel people look at. Love for any feedback you may have or comments on the players themselves.

Anyway, it’s out there, we hope you’ll take a look, bookmark and share it with friends and we’ll be looking to put some more time into it in the future.

Thus endeth the plug.

We Really Want to Go That Route?

No offense to Matt Hasselbeck. The guy has been a fine QB for many years in the NFL. By fine I mean ‘adequate’. He’s had same years that were better than adequate and some where adequate would have been a step up. But he’s a WCO guy and he put together a decent season last year in Tennessee despite the Titans not running a WCO, and he may be available if the Titans sign Peyton Manning.

But how much of a step up is the 37 year old Hasselbeck to either Colt McCoy or one of the QBs the Browns could acquire in the draft. Sure, he’s younger than draft prospect Brandon Weeden (had to be done) and he’s probably better than McCoy, but is it worth it to bring him here?

Personally, I guess I’d be okay with Hasselbeck IF you get rid of McCoy and draft your QB of the future. I’d be fine with that because Hasselbeck doesn’t seem to be a dick like Seneca Wallace in terms of mentoring someone else. In fact, it seems to be completely the opposite as you see in this excerpt from a piece that Jerry Brewer from the Seattle Times wrote months back:

Hasselbeck and Locker first met about three years ago at a Washington women's basketball game. Hasselbeck was with his children and went to the concession stand for a beverage. A college student tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hey, Matt, I just wanted to introduce myself," the student said.

Hasselbeck thought the student was a tight end or a linebacker. When the student extended his hand and said, "Hi, I'm Jake Locker," Hasselbeck was stunned.

"Ohmigosh, dude, you're huge!" Hasselbeck said.

Over the years, they have been friendly, swapping text messages. But a true relationship didn't begin to develop until the NFL lockout began in March. They found themselves both working out at UW on several occasions. They didn't figure they would soon be teammates.

Locker is impressed with Hasselbeck's willingness to mentor him.

"He's great with me," Locker said. "Obviously, yeah, we're competing, but it's not, 'Hey, I'm going to try to screw you so I can be the guy.' He's really willing to help, and anytime I need any kind of help, he's there for me. It's been a great couple of weeks here getting to know him and getting to work with him. It's another piece of the puzzle that I'm very thankful to have."

Hasselbeck is amazed that Locker is such a fast learner. The four quarterbacks in Titans camp ride to practice together most days in a truck. A bond is forming. Hasselbeck jokes about Locker's poor renditions of Garth Brooks songs. Locker takes the ribbing and listens intently as Hasselbeck explains the subtleties of being a successful NFL quarterback.

Is all of that important? I don’t know. McCoy rode to work in a truck with Jake Delhomme for a year and McCoy isn’t Joe Montana as a result of it. But he did have a far better season when Delhomme was listening and there for him as opposed to when Wallace basically isolated himself on the bench waiting for a chance to play.

It matters. Not as much as natural ability, arm strength, intelligence, mechanics and everything else, but it matters. But I don’t think it works with Hasselbeck and McCoy now. I think Hasselbeck and Weeden or Hasselbeck and Tannehill would be better fits.

We’ll see where Manning lands and whether the Browns are interested. But if you’re not going to draft your next QB, don’t bring Hasselbeck here to compete with McCoy. I’m fine with competition, but in a year or two Hasselbeck retires, McCoy is gone and you’re no further ahead than you are today.

But the worst part of this whole Manning thing is that my ‘Kevin Kolb as 2012 Browns QB’ guess appears to be dead.

Thank God.

A Wee Bit ‘O Tribe

Spring Training for baseball is nothing more than a welcome reminder that baseball is really close. I pay no attention to the day-to-day stats and doings and pay more attention to whether some of the younger players elevate their games and get some major league eyes on them or if some of the older vets came into camp in shape and healthy.

I know others are concerned about this or swayed by that but I just put almost nothing into spring training results.

Almost nothing.

I am a bit concerned that Ubaldo Jimenez has yet to flip the switch to 2010 Ubaldo and is still lingering in that mediocre 2011 Ubaldo zone. Two top prospects were dealt for a guy the Indians were counting on to take control of the top spot in the rotation and right now he still doesn’t look like ‘that guy’.

He has time, and there’s time once the season starts in a few weeks too, but Ubaldo needs to make sure he’s right real soon. That big body and lanky frame lend themselves to flying all over the place, making control an issue.

Jimenez and the Tribe staff need to make sure he’s a compact and smooth as possible so that he repeats his delivery, finds a consistent release point and generally gets his act together. You can’t have one outing of four from Jimenez be dominant. He needs to be good or better four out of every five trips to the hill for the Indians to have any shot in 2012. And we’re getting closer and closer to ‘Go Time’.

 

Late Edit

So proud of my 14-yr old daughter Jessica and her teammates for heading out to Edinboro University Sunday for a U 14 regional tournament. They battled their asses off all afternoon and finished 2nd in the Gold Bracket, losing the 3rd and deciding game in the championship match 15-8. Unbelievable work from that group of young ladies who find themselves ranked considerably higher than some 'elite' teams in the area. I've told those girls before, elite isn't about what's written on your chest or on the scoresheet next to your team name. It's not about the additional money that parents pay.  Elite is the byproduct of a ton of individual effort, practice, teamwork, coaching and camraderie. The U 14 girls don't wear 'elite' on their chests or on the scorecard, they wear it in their results and in their effort.

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