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Men's Basketball
Buckeye Watch
By Tony GerdemanI'll admit it. Last Sunday when the brackets were announced and I saw Georgetown as a possible second-round opponent, my heart sunk. The Hoyas were one of the few teams that I did not want to see, with LSU and Boston College being the other two.
The Tournament is about match ups, and this was a bad match up for us. We would've been better off playing Duke or Villanova.
Georgetown's size and athleticism, combined with surprising shooting, brought the gong of doom down upon the Buckeyes.
But don't let the last game of the season define this team.
They were the Big Ten regular season champions.
And don't let the Big Ten's performance in the Tournament cloud our regular season accomplishments, because, as I've said, the Tournament is about match ups.
Aw, who am I kidding. I sound like a Penn State fan right now.
Let's just get the Watch over with...
4:50 George Mason is overrated. I bet they don't even get to the Final Four.
4:51 The game starts in three minutes. I better not be stuck with the end of the West Virginia/Northwestern State game.
4:54 Sweet. Game on.
4:55 Jeff Green steals the tip for the Hoyas and Ashanti Cook opens the game with a three. It begins.
4:55:28 Dials took the ball right at the taller Hoyas and dropped it in. Sometimes the best way to neutralize a big man is to take the ball right at him. It's like punching a shark in the nose...with a basketball.
4:56 Terence gets called for a cheapie. We can't have that.
4:57 The crowd is into it. And we're going to need it.
4:57:14 Georgetown is crashing the offensive boards. I wish they'd just leave us alone. They're already taller than us, must they be more aggressive too?
4:57:30 There you go. Return aggression with aggression. The Buckeyes just broke the press and Sullinger got a layup. If they're crashing the boards, then we've got numbers the other way. Keep pushing it.
4:57:49 Like that! Je'Kel just got the steal and laid it in. Keep pushing the ball.
4:58 The crowd is really getting into it now. Good thing there are no Value City Arena ushers working in Dayton.
4:58:41 That's two straight jumpers made by Cook. That's not supposed to happen.
4:59 Roy Hibbert gets hacked in the act. The dude is just too big.
4:59:32 Matt Terwilliger is making his first appearance in a couple of weeks. We need him today.
5:00 Although with Dials out, this could get ugly real quick if the shots don't fall.
5:00:27 Je'Kel just took his first three, but it was a long one and it was over Hibbert. If you can't take Hibbert off of the dribble, then you should just quit basketball all together and go play soccer or something. It's just lazy basketball. These players have grown up watching Michael Jordan hit jumpers over seven-footers his whole career and then go into the game thinking they can do the same.
5:05 Ron Lewis just took the ball to the hole and got fouled. It's amazing how often something positive comes from taking the ball into the paint.
5:06 Ashanti Cook just beat us for a backdoor layup. There's going to be a lot of this today. It's going to be like playing against Northwestern's offense with Illinois' players.
5:07 Je'Kel just had a layup blocked. He lost the ball on the way up, so it wasn't really a classic miss. Meanwhile, J.J. just pulled a fadeaway Battier and tricked the refs into calling a charge on Georgetown.
5:08 Dials is back in. Get the ball to him and go right at Hibbert.
5:08:13 Sylvester turns it over trying to do exactly what I told him to do. Still, I am not the one at fault.
5:08:32 Hibbert just got an easy basket. He's just too tall. So what if he's got Tyrannosaurus Rex arms which have rendered his pants pockets useless, he's still pretty darn impressive.
5:09 Dials just took it at Hibbert and went right at him. Dials is too strong. If Hibbert is a T-Rex, then Dials is a Triceratops. (Do dinosaurs need to be capitalized?)
5:10 Hibbert returns the favor.
5:10:24 The Buckeyes are on the verge of getting blown out and it's only 18-10.
5:11 Television timeout. There's a feel to this game of impending doom. Like when a boxer realizes he's in the ring with somebody that he shouldn't be.
5:13 We need to have something positive coming out of this timeout.
5:13:24 Like a double-team on Terence Dials and an airball. And Hibbert wasn't even in there.
5:14 Jeff Green just hit a jumper over Sylvester. That's just a bad matchup for us in every single way.
5:14:26 Ron Lewis turns it over. The Hoyas convert. Georgetown 20-10.
5:15 Wow. One of Georgetown's nameless guards just pushed Jamar Butler down in order to secure a rebound. Nice one.
5:15:24 Je'Kel just hit an open three. I told you the slump was over. John Thompson III knows it now, too. He calls a timeout to try and stifle the flames.
5:17 Apparently realtors are really nice, ethical people. Notice how insurance adjusters don't have commercials about their respective codes of ethics.
5:19 Jeff Green, apparently tired of abusing Matt Sylvester, decides to score on Terence Dials in the post.
5:19:11 Je'Kel hits another three! He pulled up on the break and canned it. I bet it takes about two possessions before he gets another shot up.
5:20 Je'Kel again! Another three. In my best Dick Enberg voice, "Oh my!" 22-19 Georgetown.
5:20:20 Dang. Ashanti Cook is hitting everything. What's up with that?
5:21 Sylvester was just fouled by Brandon Bowman on the baseline as the Buckeyes were pushing the ball. It was reminiscent of the way Michigan State pushes the ball, with Matt Sylvester in the role of Shannon Brown or Maurice Ager.
5:22 Stop laughing.
5:25 Steal by Foster! Wasted by Sylvester as he misses some type of shot. Then, for good measure, Darrel Owens hit a three for Georgetown. That was a bad exchange.
5:26 That was a nice pick and roll with Butler and Dials. Dials went to the hole and Jamar found him. Keep taking it inside one way or the other.
5:26:41 Sullinger just blocked a dunk attempt by Hibbert! Holy cow, that was impressive. And Sylvester converts the ensuing layup. Effort can neutralize size. Unless, of course, the tall are equally full of effort. In that case, the respective efforts cancel each other out and we go back to height. Dang it.
5:27 Jeff Green just made an easy post move and basket over Sylvester. We have no answer for him down there.
5:27:35 Sylvester just let the ball slip out of his hands for some reason. We can't be having possessions where we don't even get a shot up.
5:28 Since everybody hates this Applebee's commercial so much, I'm wondering if they've done more harm than good.
5:30 Green with another jumper. He was my biggest concern for this game, because we don't have anybody that can match up with him. He can shoot, drive, post up, etc. He's a shorter Ian Johnson, basically.
5:31 J.J. just missed a three. Speaking of missing, where's the crowd? All I hear is "Let's go Hoyas!" (And yes, I can hear the exclamation point.)
5:32 The Hoyas just abused Sylvester on the backdoor pass. I don't even know what he was looking at, but he didn't see his man go by until somebody told him to inbound the ball.
5:33 Sullinger just took it inside for two. Keep fighting. Hoyas lead 35-25 with 44 seconds left in the half.
5:33:19 Another Georgetown three. This one by Darrel Owens. How unexpected.
5:35 Matt Sylvester just had his three-point attempt blocked to end the half. The Hoyas lead 38-25.
5:36 What a thoroughly unenjoyable first half.
5:47 Obviously we need to come out and continue to attack and involve Dials, but if Georgetown keeps shooting like they have been, it won't matter what we do.
5:56 Time to start the half. Sylvester takes it right down the middle and lays it in. That's a good way to start.
5:57 Sullinger starts out on Green and the Hoyas can do nothing with the ball. Looks like the defensive pressure has been kicked up a tad.
5:57:27 Butler just went down the lane for two, just like Sylvester did. That avenue's probably going to get closed up pretty soon.
5:57:54 Dials' defense forced Hibbert into a travel. Nice defense by Terence. Reward him.
5:58 Butler tried going down the lane again, but got fouled (which the refs didn't see). As Dials tried to go for the rebound, Hibbert pushed him to the ground. Obviously the refs don't think Hibbert can push anybody down since his arms barely extend outward.
5:58:37 Finally, a foul is called on Hibbert. Dials makes both free throws. Georgetown leads 40-31 with 17:52 to go.
6:00 Dials got pushed down again. He needs to stay on his feet and stop flopping.
6:00:47 Ashanti Cook hit another three. Give me a break. This is just stupid.
6:01 Sylvester just kicked it out to Jamar for a retaliatory three. We needed that.
6:02 Television timeout. Buckeyes trail 43-34 with 15:45 to play.
6:03 You have to expect Dials to start getting pretty emphatic as he possibly stares his last game down. Don't expect him to go quietly.
6:06 Hey, alright! They finally called Georgetown for a push in the back. I take back every bad thing I said about the refs.
6:06:01 On second thought, the refs deserve every ill word ever put to paper...or screen...or whatever.
6:07 Like clockwork. If we go down to Dials, he gets fouled. He made both. The lead is cut to seven, 43-36 with 14:55 left.
6:08 Another back door layup. I hate this stupid Princeton offense. And I hate that it's constantly referred to as the Princeton offense. And I hate the success that it always has in the Tournament.
6:08:13 I wish we ran it.
6:08:46 Jeff Green just hit a three. He's just a bad dude when he wants to be. Ask Duke.
6:09 Dials is fouled and makes both free throws again. How exciting. 48-38 with 13:40 to go.
6:10 Je'Kel just got called for a foul for being pushed. I'm not sure of the physics of that one. I guess every action has an unequal and disproportionate reaction.
6:11 We have got to find a shot for Je'Kel. The slump is dead, let's run Foster dry.
6:12 We are absolutely getting killed on the offensive glass. The long rebounds are killing us. The short rebounds are killing us. (But the shots where there are no rebounds are especially killing us.)
6:12:33 Wow. Sullinger just threw a three-quarter court bounce pass to Dials for a layup. If he threw that pass in practice, Coach Matta would've made everybody run.
6:12:47 Roy Hibbert just shielded J.J. from blocking another of his shots, but J.J. got called for the foul. Is the offensive portion of that foul even called any more? Furthermore, if you're 7'2" and you have to use your forearm to keep a 6'5" guy from blocking your shot, you should have your "Seven Footers Club" card burned. And yes, I realize that means that he will subsequently have to start paying full-price for Subway.
6:14 Coach K says that I can trust Chevy, but what if I don't trust Coach K? Can somebody else vouch for Chevy?
6:17 Hibbert got away with another offensive foul. I think I've complained about the refs all game long. We must be losing.
6:17:13 Je'Kel just missed a three. He went a long time between shots. That's unacceptable.
6:18 Jamar hits a three on his own to make it 52-43 with 9:45 left. Every time we get it this close, Georgetown answers.
6:18:17 Jeff Green just missed a three. That was a quick shot and I'm guessing that John III didn't really like that shot.
6:19 Turnover by Je'Kel. It was an ugly possession all around. Dials kept calling for the ball on the other side of the court, but nobody would swing it over.
6:22 Dials just stole the ball from Hibbert, then turned it over, then blocked a Hibbert shot. Meaning that we're right back where we were two possessions ago.
6:24 Georgetown is just so much bigger than we are, and the offensive rebounds are showing it.
6:27 Yeah, David Arquette can diffuse a bomb. That's believable.
6:29 Georgetown just grabbed another offensive rebound off of a missed three. They're whipping us like we're their little brother. Who were the idiots that made these guys a seven seed?
6:30 J.J. just blocked another dunk attempt, this one by Jeff Green. You can tell Sullinger doesn't want his career to come to an end. He's been defending the goal like...well, like a goalie. (Sorry, it's late and I took the easy way out. Like a three over Hibbert. I'm no better than those I criticize.)
6:30:31 Dials just took the feed from Je'Kel and dropped it in and got fouled. And he hit the free throw! Georgetown by six, 54-48 with 5:11 to play.
6:31 The fans are back into it. We need a stop here and then get it back down to Terence.
6:32 Well, we got the stop, but Hibbert got the rebound and put it back for two.
6:33 Dials forced one up and missed it. Georgetown still leads by eight, 56-48 with 4:05 left.
6:34 Television timeout with 3:46 to play. The Hoyas have the ball with five seconds left on the shot clock. May as well let Cook launch the three, and in the off chance that he misses, Georgetown can grab the rebound and restart the misery all over again.
6:35 It bears mentioning that Georgetown has done a tremendous job on Foster in the second half. He can't even get a shot up--and that's saying something.
6:38 It's getting very chippy right now, as the Buckeyes are hacking the Hoyas all over the place. This may not end very pretty.
6:38:17 Sullinger just got beat on the backdoor and pushed Green into the basket support for a three-point play opportunity. This game is over. The Hoyas lead 59-48 with 2:58 to play.
6:39 The Buckeyes are too frustrated to even mount an entire comeback right now.
6:40 This is going to be a long and painful 2:38.
6:43 I don't know why we keep fouling Hibbert, that dude is better than J.J. Redick at the free throw line.
6:44-6:48 We miss shots. We foul. They make free throws. Game over. Hoyas win 70-52.
6:49 Everything I feared about this game came to be.
6:50 Well, if we would've gotten by Georgetown, we would've had an even bigger problem with Florida. At least we don't have to worry about them now. So we've got that going for us...which sucks.
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