Written by David Regimbal

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Pairing movie references or characters from classic literature with a sports storyline is an incredibly popular practice by today’s media. Whether it’s Dwight Howard or Cam Newton as Superman, Wade and Lebron as Batman and Robin or Jeremy Lin as some hybrid between Rudy and Jesus -- sports fans at large are always looking to link what they’re seeing on the court or playing field with something they’ve seen on the big screen.

I’m not exempt from this practice. I’m constantly looking to pair sports moments with movies I’ve seen. It’s a strange kind of therapy that helps me categorize and process the sports-pain I’m experiencing.

With Ohio State’s recent struggles on the basketball court -- I’ve been forced to find a Hollywood scene that fits the Buckeyes’ situation just right. Despite the obvious “Jekyll and Hyde” nature of William Buford’s game, I don’t think that’s an appropriate comparison for the teams overall flatness.

After a lot of thought, I finally settled on Jim Carrey’s scene from Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, when he’s trying to find the connection between Finkel and Einhorn. And if you’re wondering -- I didn’t show partiality in selecting this scene just because Jim Carrey is my second cousin.* It really fits, I promise.

* Yes, Jim Carrey is my second cousin. Telling that to the ladies was never as impressive as I thought it would be.

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The scene doesn’t directly correlate with any particular player or even the Buckeyes as a whole, but rather to the fans of Ohio State who spend so much time trying to figure out why this team can be so dominant one game and so lackluster the next. There has to be a connection -- something happens to this team to cause such schizophrenic tenancies.

Finkel and Einhorn, Finkel and Einhorn, Finkel and Einhorn. THINK!

There are those in the media who have correctly analyzed William Buford’s up-and-down season, but none better than Buckeye Sports Bulletin’s Ari Wasserman (if you’re a Buckeye fan on Twitter, follow him or continue doing the Internet incorrectly -- your choice). Three days after Ohio State’s loss to Michigan State -- a game where Buford shot just 2-12 for four points -- Ari wrote this piece on Buford’s senior season and how his success on the court could dictate how far the Buckeyes go in the NCAA tournament.

It’s no question that Buford’s senior season has produced a wide variety of performances. As Ari pointed out in his article, Buford had the nation’s biggest safety net last year by sharing a backcourt with Jon Diebler and David Lighty. With Diebler and Lighty now gone, the needed scoring load from the perimeter has shifted to someone who -- for the past three years -- has done nothing but share that responsibility.

It’s easy to point the finger at Buford when Ohio State struggles because he’s the only senior on a team begging for leadership and in most instances, his stat line is the most egregious when the Buckeyes put one up in the loss column.

So it’s as simple as that? All Ohio State needs is for Buford to play well to win? Finkel? Einhorn?

Maybe it’s not that simple. Maybe we can’t just heap all our expectations on Buford’s shoulders and expect him to single handily lead the team through the month of March by himself. Doing that would require Buford to be kind of player Kemba Walker was for UConn last year -- a guy who could put the team on his back and carry them across the finish line.

Has Buford ever been that player for Ohio State? Will he ever be that player?

I don’t think so. Buford is at his best when he’s operating within a fully functioning backcourt. We hardly ever noticed any form of inconsistency from him last year because he was in a system that was perfectly suited for his talents. This year -- his role in that system has shifted to a primary position, but that doesn’t change the fact that he needs support from Ohio State’s other backcourt members.

The most recent situations that fueled the “Buford needs to step up” outcry from fans were his two performances in losses to Michigan State and Michigan. As mentioned previously, Buford went 2-12 shooting against the Spartans for four points, and a week later he scored just six points off 3-12 shooting against Michigan.

Can we put the entirety of the blame for those losses squarely on Buford’s shoulders? Or would it have helped if Aaron Craft and Lenzelle Smith Jr. had contributed in those games? When you look at the numbers, Craft and Lenzelle struggled just as much as Buford in both of those losses. Against the Spartans, Craft and Lenzelle shot 36% (4-11) from the field and against Michigan, the two combined to shoot 2-9 for just six points.

That’s a whole lot of non-production from the entire backcourt, yet for some reason Buford is the only one catching heat.

During the same time frame of Buford’s most recent struggles -- he has also had games where he played incredibly well. Just two weeks ago against Purdue, Buford shot 59% from the field on his way to scoring a career high 29 points. Was it a coincidence that in the same game, Craft and Lenzelle combined to shoot 5-9 from the field for 20 points? Or how about this past Tuesday when Buford went 7-9 from the field for 17 against the Illini? Was that fueled at all by Craft and Smith Jr. adding 18 points off of 7-9 shooting as well?

Ace Ventura making the discovery that Einhorn was a man is almost identical to the discovery needed to understand Buford’s struggles. Buford isn’t the man, he’s just a very important man in a cog that needs to operate smoothly for him to thrive. Craft and Lenzelle don’t need to put David Lighty and Jon Diebler type-numbers up for Buford to feel comfortable, but the two combining to shoot anything south of 35% usually results in a tough night for the senior.

Buford can be as lethal as anyone in the country when he’s in a groove. All it takes for him to get there is a little help from his teammates.

Follow @davidreg412