Written by Brian McPeek

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We’re going shotgun and bullet-point style this weekend in The Wrap, folks. There’s just too much going and not enough time for all of it as I head to Virginia for a week of work. Thankfully the sports schedule consists of mostly college hoops and some NFL draft and bounty news. I’m not paying too much attention to Goodyear, AZ because there are simply far too many mirages in the desert heat. Nothing means anything until April 5^th and the Cavs simply don’t capture my attention right now.

~ Finally….four. Ohio State punched their ticket to the biggest weekend in college basketball by virtue of a win over Syracuse in the Elite 8 round. The Buckeyes beat not only Syracuse but also an officiating crew that treated the game like a game of cutthroat racquetball and did their damndest to destroy both teams on the floor.

Seriously, I can’t recall a game in the last ten years that was so poorly officiated and that left me so angry, especially after the tam I was pulling for actually won. But the crew that did that game Saturday night should be brought into some office Monday morning, forced to sit through the shit sandwich of a game they called and then banished to the Ashtabula County Youth Recreation League for the next 12 months.

That was an embarrassing display of refereeing. There were guys getting beaten up worse than in an episode of ‘Lockup’ with no calls being made and then someone would get whistled for an innocuous hand check or touch foul. A game between two teams that good should have had a flow and should have stood for itself. Instead it was choppy as a result of three referees having their heads up their asses and the terrific athletes on the floor had no idea what they could and couldn’t do in terms of playing ball.

Anyway, that was a huge win for OSU and Thad Matta. His team, despite my doubts to the same, showed heart and balls that I haven’t seen them display too often during the season. When Jared Sullinger had to sit just 6 minutes into the first half because of the aforementioned crap-fest from the officials I thought he Buckeyes were doomed. They ended up playing to a tie in the first half despite Sullinger not returning to the floor in those final 14 minutes of the half.

The Buckeyes played as determined a second half as they have in the last two seasons to knock Syracuse out of the tournament. I thought Sullinger winning the Regional MVP award was somewhat of a joke because every starter on the floor had a bigger role in the regional win than Sullinger did other than William Buford.

Buford was AWOL all weekend but DeShaun Thomas was fantastic, Lenzelle Smith, Jr. was critically important and PG Aaron Craft was buzzing around like a box full of bees Thursday night and Saturday night. Sullinger is the biggest name and he did answer the bell in the second half of the game against the Orangemen, but I believe he won that MVP award on name recognition and reputation more than anything else. I’d have given it to Thomas, Smith, Craft and then Sullinger in that order.

~ Now it's a re-match with Kansas in New Orleans next Saturday night at about 830pm. That's a half hour after Kentucky and Louisvill go at it. Could be a classic night in the Big Easy. And the Buckeyes, unlike their visit to Lawrence a few months ago, will have Sullinger against the JayHawks. Kansas is a much better team than they were back then too, though.

Buckle up. 

~ Who’s this sound like?

Works extremely hard on the defensive end, and is capable of shutting down bigger, faster, and more athletic players in spurts. Gets extremely low, and uses leverage to defend the post and deny dribble penetration. Digs the post well from the outside. Doesn’t reach, but uses his hands better than most. Closes out extremely well.

…great defender. He’s a great man-to-man defender. He has a good combination of strength and quickness, so not many people can drive past him without use of a pick. Has a great basketball IQ. Knows what to do at all times. A perfect teammate who knows his role on a team.

…steady floor general who seldom looks for his own offense. Gets most of his shoots from spot up opportunities because defenders slack off of him. Has a consistent stroke, but doesn’t shoot a consistent percentage. Can’t shoot from the outside. Needs time and space to shoot effectively. Can get to the basket, dive and dish and can finish at the rim, doesn’t elevate well. Protects the ball with his body. Decent ball handler, and can almost always get to the spot he wants to get to on the outside. … Is like a coach on the floor.

That’s a pretty damn good description or likeness of Buckeye PG Aaron Craft, no? Both Craft and the player profiled above are 6’2”, 190lb point guards out of the Big Ten. Both are Ohio kids. Both are lauded for their toughness, defensive ability and lack of a refined offensive game.

That’s a conglomeration of scouting reports for a former NBA point guard. If I told you that the player I’m comparing Craft to was a 13-year NBA veteran would you feel pretty good about it? If I told you that 13-year veteran was former Cavs guard Eric Snow does that make you feel better or worse?

It’s who Craft reminds me of. It’s also why I ultimately feel Craft is the most likely player on this Buckeye team to have a long and successful NBA career. And if you watched Craft communicate with his teammates and implore them in the final minute of the Syracuse game, after he had fouled out, you can see Craft is extremely likely to be a head coach at one level or another as well.

~ Interesting just what an effect the tournament can have on peoples’ opinions of players. Last year Derrick Williams rode a big senior season and an incredible post season run to vault him into the number two spot in the NBA draft behind Cavs PG Kyrie Irving.

DeShaun Thomas isn’t getting close to #2 this season but his draft stock is soaring after scoring 22+ points per game during this Ohio State tournament run. Thomas is a smooth 6’7”, 225lb sophomore from Fort Wayne, IN whose emergence this season was a key to the Buckeyes success. Thomas can score inside or outside and his presence makes teams think twice about double teaming Sullinger down low.

It wouldn’t shock me if Thomas parlayed this season and this tourney run into a 1^st round selection in the NBA draft in June. Honestly, if you had to choose between DeShaun Thomas and Kentucky’s Terrence Jones today, who would you take? Jones has gotten a lot more ink but his game has flattened out while Thomas’s is still rising.

We might all find out sooner than we thought.

~ Speaking of the draft, we’ve profiled six WR prospects at Grey Matters Sports that the Browns might be interested in during the first and second rounds of the NFL draft next month and it’s stunning just how much quality and depth there is at that position. If the Browns take any of the six (Justin Blackmon, Michael Floyd, Kendall Wright, Stephen Hill, Alshon Jeffery and Mohamed Sanu), or any combination of two of the six, they could be set for some time at that spot.

There’s a terrific blend of guys who can run by you, around you, through you and over top of you and I’m just praying the Browns go get a couple of them.

Seriously, the more I look at the draft and the quality and depth at the WR and RB position, the more I’d prefer the Browns, if at all possible, trade back and acquire more picks. The draft is that deep and you can get potential Pro Bowl-type talent later in the first round and throughout the early rounds. It’s a good year to need WRs, RBs and some offensive linemen and the Browns need to close the talent gap between themselves and the rest of the division with this draft.

It’s possible to do a lot of that rebuilding work five weeks from now from New York City. They can close the gap considerably or this regime could sign its own death warrant if they screw it up.

My advice: forget the QB position. You lost that war. Go get everything else you want and need and worry about the QB spot later. There’s nothing good that can come of forcing a pick at #4 that you didn’t ever, really want and we know you didn’t want anyone there too badly if you were willing to sell your soul and numerous first round picks for Robert Griffin III.

If you can’t help yourself on the QB front then grab a project late. That leaves those early picks for guys who can help and contribute now and maybe you get lucky with your QB flyer on an Aaron Corp or Alex Tanney.

~ Having trouble digesting what happened to the New Orleans Saints when the league handed down unprecedented suspensions to Head Coach Sean Payton (One season, unpaid, which costs Payton $6million), former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams (suspended indefinitely) and GM Mickey Loomis (8 games)? The Saints were also fined $500,000 and will forfeit a 2^nd round pick this season and next for allowing Williams to run a ‘bounty program’ with players collecting cash for debilitating hits on opponents. The Saints also weren’t cooperative while the NFL explored the matter and that didn’t help during the penalty phase.

This is a proactive move by the NFL. It has less to do with something that’s been going on since guys would throw $5 in a helmet and see who could break Y.A Tittle’s nose, and never mind the fact that you could ask whether Buckeye leaves on the helmet were also an ‘extra contractual’ inducement. This is about the NFL using the Saints money and the Saints infractions to position themselves for the impending litigation over concussions and player safety. The NFL is scared shitless of the Dave Duerson lawsuits and the way they’ve handled concussions over the years.

It used to be funny and cute to show a player get crushed and then get up, wobble to the wrong sideline and then look dazed and confused for a few hours. “If the phone’s ringing don’t answer it buddy” was normal procedure 20 years ago.

That shit isn’t funny anymore. It stopped being funny when Mike Webster lived out his ‘golden years’ with amnesia, dementia and depression in a car under a bridge before dying at 50 and it stopped being funny when Duerson killed himself with a gunshot to the chest so as to preserve his damaged brain for research. Duerson was also just 50 years old.

The NFL isn’t laughing at guys getting their bells rung any more. And this is as much a proactive maneuver as it is anything else. When a jury hears arguments regarding the handling of concussions and player safety then the NFL can shout from the rooftops, “Look what we did when we found out our players weren’t safe!!! We destroyed a coach and a franchise!!!”

It’s not fair and it’s not right to make the Saints and Payton pay the price for the league’s decades of ignorance, but it’s a bold and clever business move. All the headlines this got won’t soon be forgotten and potential jurors are likely to remember it one way or another. The NFL had nothing to lose and everything to gain with these penalties. The Saints success and Sean Payton’s job are a small price to pay for the ability to mount this defense down the road.

 

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