Apparently the Lure of Coaching Three More Scarlet-Gray Spring Games Wasn't Enough Incentive to Stay in School






Friday, Ohio State will hold a press conference to announce that three freshmen will be declaring for this summer's NBA Draft. Center Greg Oden (no surprise there, he's ready for the NBA), point gaurd Mike Conley (again, no surprise, he was probably the Buckeyes' MVP through the tournament, plus his dad just recently decided to become a sports agent. Weird coincidence!) And shooting guard Daequan Cook (wait, what?)



Here are Daequan's stats for the season:



19.7 minutes per game

9.8 Points

4.3 Rebounds

1 Assist



Apparently Daequan is getting advice from his older brother, former St. Johns draft bust Omar.*

*(we completely made that last part up, Daequan Cook and Omar Cook are not related)

The Coaching Matchup for This Saturday's Ohio State Spring Football Game Will be...

Mike Conley vs. Greg Oden?

This is the Type of Keen Insight You Can Only Get from One Jay Bilas






Jay Bilas on Mike & Mike this morning on the prospects of Greg Oden returning to school:


"I think that he will probably go to the NBA, but there is also a chance that he stays in school."


So if you are keeping track at home, Greg Oden will definitely declare for the NBA draft. Unless he doesn't.

It all Comes Down to This (again)





















So its the Buckeyes and the Gators in a rematch of the BCS title game in January. A few quick thoughts:

• We have a bad feeling about this game. The Florida team is too talented, too experienced, and too deep. We really hope that we are wrong, but we think the Gators are going to win comfortably. However, the Buckeyes were a big favorite in the football game on January 8th and we all saw how that turned out.



• The Florida junior class of Taurean Green, Al Horford, Corey Brewer, and Joakim Noah has to be considered one of the best recruiting classes in college basketball history. Ahead of the Fab Five from Michigan. Remember, the Fab Five went to two championship games, just as the UF juniors now have, but the Michigan class never won.



• Georgetown has no seniors in their starting five, so if they all come back, they should be the favorites to win it all next year. That being said, we were surprised at how easily they were beaten by the Buckeyes last night.



• Billy Donovan should stay at Florida. Why would he want to deal with the scrutiny of coaching at Kentucky when he is already coaching at a school that is in a better position to compete for national championships. He has built something at Florida. He should get Florida to match the offer he get from UK and stay in Gainesville.

• It is really funny how expectations vary. If Ohio State loses on Monday night this basketball season would still be considered a huge success. When the Buckeyes lost the BCS championship game in January, the football season was considered good, but it sort of left a bad taste in the fans' mouths.

Ohio State can Score





Lately, we have been hearing a lot of talk about how Ohio State "plays a boring brand of basketball" and "can't score." We really do not understand this sentiment. First of all, Ohio State has played in arguably two of the most entertaining games in the entire NCAA tournament. Those of course being the St. Patrick’s day escape against Xavier, and last Thursday’s epic comeback against Tennessee. But more than that, they score better than most people give them credit for, and here is the proof:






Bada-Bing! Sorry, we couldn't resist. Here is the real proof - Among the Final Four teams:



Complete Season (regular season & tournament)


Florida - 79.3 ppg
Ohio State - 74.7 ppg
UCLA - 71.5 ppg
G'Town - 69.3 ppg



Within the Tournament


Florida - 84 ppg
Ohio State - 83.25 ppg
G'Town - 76 ppg
UCLA - 64 ppg



So there you have it. Fewer than five points per game separates OSU from the mighty Florida Gators during the season. And in the tournament, less than a point.


(And incidentally, Florida scored 112 points in their first round match-up against Jackson State, so their four game NCAA tournament average is a bit misleading)


So if you want, you can say that you don't think that the Buckeyes are that good. You can say that they are "lucky" to be in the Final Four. Hell, you can say that you think that Georgetown is going to beat them by 30 on Saturday if you feel like it. But don't say that their games are boring, or that they cannot score. Because the facts don't back that up.

Wow

Thats all we can say right now. Wow. Down 20 in the first half, Greg Oden in foul trouble the entire game, and they still pull it out. Wow.

Saturday night against Memphis. Lets keep it rolling.

Whew!

Wow, what a game yesterday.

Greg Oden and the Buckeyes danced their way into the sweet 16 by winning a game they had absolutely no business winning. WE have no idea how you OSU won a game in which they

- trailed by 11 points with just under seven minutes to play

- trailed by nine points with three minutes to play

- trailed by two points with nine seconds left with Xavier shooting two free throws

- lost Greg Oden who fouled out at the end of regulation

On a different subject, a quick memo to Dick Vitale and others of his ilk who continue to live under the misguided assumption that the ACC is the "best conference in America" every year: seven ACC teams entered the NCAA tournament, and six of them have been eliminated by Sunday evening.

Greg Oden: "I'm not NBA ready yet"

music to our ears.

HUH??

Ohio State is the number 1 team in the nation in both polls coming into this weekend, they roll through the Big 10 tournament winning every game by at least 11 points, and win in the title game by 17 over the #4 ranked Wisconsin Badgers, they have not lost since January 9th and have only lost once by double-digits, (back in December mind you) and they are not the #1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament?

The #1 overall team is Florida, who lost games by 13, 10, and 10 points late in the season. Amazing.