Men's Basketball
The Buckeye Watch
By Tony GerdemanWhat a great week for the Buckeye basketball team.
On Tuesday they overcame a double-digit deficit to win on the road against a ranked opponent, which is something that seemed impossible last year.
And then on Saturday, they took it to the 7th-ranked team in the nation and if you didn’t know beforehand who was ranked and who wasn’t, you sure had an idea after the game. (Of course, you would have been wrong, but what’re you gonna do?)
The Buckeyes overcame 4-25 shooting from Jon Diebler, David Lighty and Jeremie Simmons, but each of those three players hit key shots in key moments. That is the mark of a winner.
The basket is going to be difficult some days and when half of your team is struggling and you still beat a top ten team with less than your best effort, things are looking good.
Of course, when you’ve got a two-headed monster at center and an unstoppable wing player like the Buckeyes had against Notre Dame, a team can overcome many things.
And I think that’s my favorite thing about this team. You might have a guy or two that can’t hit anything, but those guys are still getting rebounds, getting steals, and hustling on defense. And then when you absolutely have to have them make a shot, they do.
At least for now.
But that’s okay, I don’t mind living in the present.
3:15 It’s snowing and apparently icy out. I have to make a quick run over to Polaris, which is about five minutes away. Wish me luck.
4:37 Thanks for nothing.
4:38 Stupid traffic. I’m going to have to do this thing “plausibly live” via my DVR, but I think I may wait until after the SEC Championship Game.
4:54 The radio told me an hour ago that Luke Harangody is playing today. I knew they wouldn’t hold him out. We just never get the type of breaks that take a team’s best player out of the game. Never.
4:59 Michigan is good again. This is good news, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.
5:17 Okay, I can’t wait any longer. I have to see the game.
5:19 And Notre Dame steals the tip. Can’t they do anything within the rules?
5:20 David Lighty starting out on Harangody? Is that a good idea? Doesn’t look like it because Harangody just scored.
5:21 And Harangody just hit a jumper. Good thing he only has pneumonia and not SARS or something, or else he’d be completely unstoppable.
5:22 Harangody misses! Harangody misses!! (Of course, he did have Dallas Lauderdale on him that time.) Still, the unbelievableness of what I have just seen rivals that time I saw unexplained lights in the woods coming back from a high school football game years ago.
5:22:22 David Lighty misses a three and Notre Dame comes down and Ryan Ayers fires up his own three, but gets it blocked by Lauderdale. Dallas blocked that one like Bob Huggins blocked Randy Ayers from signing Damon Flint.
5:23 Jeremie Simmons just missed a three. He’s been cold for the last week and a half…which is basically the entire season save for a game or so. But he’s still always there to hit the big three that we need at exactly the right moment.
5:24 Harangody gets fouled. Makes both free throws. Notre Dame leads 6-0. Pretty soon Evan Turner is going to take over.
5:25 Lauderdale gets the ball down low, spins and scores on Harangody! Great idea. Make him work on defense and get him tired. He can’t be in shape enough to play both ends for forty minutes. Tire him out. (If all of his shooting doesn’t tire him out first, that is.)
5:25:19 Wow! Harangody went right at Lauderdale and shot the ball in his face and Dallas spiked it like a punch bowl! Harangody hung in the air like a falling boulder and Dallas tried not to laugh when he was debacling him. That’s two blocks for Dallas already.
5:27 The television just told me that B.J. Mullens is supposed to be the next Mike Conley. If that’s the case, then Thad Matta should be fired for playing Mullens out of position at center!
5:28 Beautiful rainbow by William Buford. I love watching that guy take mid-range jumpers. It’s the lost art of basketball. Along with Curly Neal’s sliding dribble.
5:30 And now Buford sticks a three with a hand in his face! Is this going to be his breakout game? (Notre Dame leads 8-7.)
5:31 B.J. Mullens misses a wild shot. He had good position, he just needs to slow it down a bit.
5:33 The Buckeyes have been doing a great job on Kyle McAlarney, but eventually the Crispin rises to the top.
5:34 Harangody scores again. It’s despicable that Mike Brey didn’t allow Harangody to recover from his illness and keep him home. What about doing what’s best for the student?!
5:35 David Lighty misses a pull-up jumper from 17 feet. As a buddy of mine told me last week, “When is David Lighty going to realize that he’s Jason Singleton and stop shooting jumpers?”
5:36 Two more for Harangody. I sure hope Brey is happy with himself.
5:38 Nice hook shot from Mullens on Harangody. He took his time and took a shot that he was comfortable with. I really like the way they’re going at Harangody.
5:38:23 Evan Turner gets the steal and kicks it out to Lighty for a three! Tie ballgame! I have a buddy who asked me last week “When is David Lighty going to realize that he’s Jason Singleton and stop shooting jumpers?” What an idiot, right?!
5:38:28 Another steal by Turner and he lays it in! Buckeyes lead 17-15 after a nice 7-0 run. Ha! Anthony Crater was calling for the lob on that one. He thinks he’s Mark Baker.
5:40 The Irish are playing B.J. Mullens straight up today and he’s getting some good looks. This is going to be a very good opportunity to get a real idea of Mullens’ offensive game.
5:42 Great crossover and step-back jumper by Evan Turner. When he’s hitting his mid-range game to go along with his ability to get to the basket, he doesn’t even need a deep game.
5:42:44 Boom! Buford drives it and dunks it, but Notre Dame fouled him before the shot because they knew they had no ability to stop him from doing whatever he wanted to do. It’s good that they know their limitations.
5:43 It’s clear that we have better athletes, so we may as well use them. I think our wings can get by their men just about any time they want.
5:47 Luke Harangody has like nine rebounds so far. Of course, there are a bunch of misses out there to wrangle.
5:49 Buford hits the baseline pull-up jumper. We need scoring right now, and Buford can definitely oblige. Notre Dame leads 24-21.
5:50 Jeremie Simmons for three from Evan Turner! We are getting some very open looks, and hopefully they’ll keep falling like the last two have.
5:50:55 David Lighty fouls Harangody twenty feet from the basket for some reason. Explain that one to me please. But you’ll probably make me angry if you do.
5:51 More crossing over and pulling up for jumpers by Evan Turner. He is so good. Buckeyes finally get the lead, 26-25.
5:53 Wow, William Buford sinks the jumper coming off of the screen for two. There’s just something about the simplicity of a made jumper around a screen that looks so good. It’s perfect basketball. Buckeyes lead 28-26 with 1:20 left in that half.
5:54 Harangody gets rejected again by Dallas Lauderdale! And it leads to a fastbreak basket by B.J. Mullens from William Buford. Buckeyes lead 30-26 with 38 seconds remaining. Is Luke getting tired, or just getting tired of Lauderdale?
5:55 Ouch. Harangody just stole the ball from Turner in the backcourt and laid it in for two. Nobody told Evan that he had somebody behind him. We must communicate people!
5:56 And Harangody misses a half-court heave at the end of the half. The Buckeyes lead 30-28 going into the locker room. And it should be more, but I’ll take it.
5:57 You have to think our shooting in the second half will pick up. Or at least the defense will have to respect it more with Jon Diebler coming back from foul trouble. This will all, of course, leave the drives even more open than they were in the first half--and they’ve been wide open.
5:58 Time to fast forward, even though it means missing ESPNU’s fantastic halftime show.
5:58:24 Diebler misses a three. I don’t get it, he’s supposed to make those.
5:59 But Evan Turner answers with a lay up. Better.
5:59:39 Ryan Ayers misses two shots on one possession. Like when his dad missed on Gerald Eaker and Charles Macon.
5:59:55 Two more for Evan Turner! He’s taking the ball to the basket and cain’t nobody handle ‘im. Buckeyes by six.
6:00 Harangody once again misses a shot because of Dallas Lauderdale. I wonder if at some point Luke will turn to Mike Brey and start doing that fake cough you do when you wanna go home sick.
6:01 Harangody just pushed Lauderdale out of bounds on a rebound but there was no foul called. Well, at least the refs are more worried about Harangody’s health than Brey is. They don’t want to interrupt this game any more than necessary and they just want to get this thing over with and get Harangody back in bed. (But not in a Gary Danielson-Tim Tebow way.)
6:02 Diebler misses another three. That one was a bit of a force. Jon needs to view basketball like a river. Let the current come to you. If you go to the current, then you’re swimming against it. (Pretty philosophical, huh?)
6:03 Big swat by B.J. Mullens! This may be Dallas Lauderdale’s neighborhood, but it looks like Mullens is part of the neighborhood watch.
6:04 Mullens gets another good look, but misses the hook. No worries, Evan Turner is there for the tip in! I love that guy! (Again, not in a Danielson-Tebow way.) Buckeyes lead 38-33 with 15:20 to play.
6:04:21 Harangody misses a 17-footer. Is he getting tired for real now? Seems like he settled for that one.
6:04:37 Oh! Evan Turner broke everybody down, then missed a bunny. I think he was too caught up in looking at everybody’s broken ankles to focus on the shot.
6:05 Dang. Turner turns it over trying to revisit the Little Big Horn of ankle breakings.
6:06 David Lighty misses a three, Turner misses the putback, but B.J. Mullens was there to slam it home with emphasis!
6:06:24 [In Johnny Most’s voice] And there’s a steal by Crater, underneath to Turner, he lays it in!
6:08 Mullens gets fouled after pulling in an offensive rebound. I think this is the most comfortable he has looked this season. I guess that will happen when you don’t get double-teamed. He makes both free throws and the Buckeyes lead 44-39 with 12:25 to play. Mullens now has six rebounds, by the way.
6:09 And now B.J. is calling for the ball on offense. He wants the ball in his hands in a close game against the 7th-ranked team in the nation. Crap. He’s going pro.
6:09:11 Mullens misses the hook shot, Turner gets the rebound and dishes it back to Mullens as he’s falling out of bounds and B.J. lays it in for two! What a tremendous play by Turner to first keep one foot in bounds, then to find the open man in a position to score. The Buckeyes lead 46-39 with 11:45 to play. And Notre Dame calls a timeout.
6:11 Jon Diebler misses another three but Turner gets the rebound and scores. Turner now has 18 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists. Ohio State leads 48-41 with 10:27 remaining.
6:13 Dallas Lauderdale gets fouled and will go to the line. I’m not sure how many times he’s made both of his free throws this year, but we could sure use them here. Here comes the first one…it’s good! And the second…got ‘em both!! Buckeyes lead by nine! Mike Brey is probably thinking, “You have got to be kidding me.” Which, in my opinion, would be disrespectful to Lauderdale, but what else would you expect from a coach who took a player from his deathbed and put him in the starting lineup.
6:15 Ryan Ayers makes a deep three to bring Notre Dame back within six. Okay, okay, I’ll stop ripping on your dad’s rogue’s gallery of recruiting classes.
6:16 Harangody gets an easy one over Lauderdale. Dang. Ohio State leads 52-48 with 8:20 to go. That’s a whole lot of time to hold on for dear life.
6:16:31 Wow! Dallas Lauderdale just called for the ball and dropped a monstrous left-handed hook over Harangody. That shot is unstoppable if it becomes consistent. The only danger would be scraping his knuckles in the rafters. Bloody knuckles don’t heal!
6:17 Harangody is falling to the ground, and as he was falling, Turner took a swipe at the ball and they called him for a foul. C’mon. That’s like having somebody lean against a building that’s getting imploded and then blaming that guy for knocking the building down.
6:19 Ha! Ryan Ayers misses a three like his dad missed on Jami Bosley.
6:19:30 Evan Turner posts up Harangody and gets fouled, and almost makes the basket. He hits both free throws and the Buckeyes lead 56-48 with 7:08.
6:20 Oh!! Dallas Lauderdale just blocked a Kyle McAlarney three-pointer without prejudice! That’s the second three-pointer that our center has blocked. The guy is amazing. He is everywhere. But then what else would you expect when your center is the Metroplex.
6:20:19 Oh again!! Evan Turner blocks Harangody and Diebler kicks it up to David Lighty for the lay up! The Buckeyes lead 58-48 with 6:35 to play.
6:21 And Tory Jackson quickly bangs in a three-pointer. Can’t they even let us enjoy the lead just for a little bit?
6:22 Diebler nails a pull-up jumper from the baseline. Huge basket to get the lead back up to nine. And Thad Matta calls a timeout to set up his defense. Great idea. Notre Dame still has a run in them and we need to do whatever we can to avoid it.
6:25 Harangody drops in another two points. The lead is down to six with 4:40 to play. We must not pucker.
6:26 McAlarney charges into Lighty, but they’ll give him the basket. Lighty goes to the line and hits one of two. The entire team deserves credit for the way they have defended McAlarney today. The Buckeyes lead 61-56 with 3:58 to play and it’s officially time to get nervous.
6:28 Ryan Ayers misses a three like his dad missed on Greg Simpson.
6:30 Tory Jackson makes a wide open three-pointer. How does somebody get that wide open without being in the middle of a power play? Buckeyes now lead only 61-59 with 2:41 to play.
6:30:44 Evan Turner drives and gets his shot blocked by Harangody. Notre Dame ball with 2:11 to play. Pucker.
6:31 Notre Dame misses! Buckeyes get the rebound. Evan Turner makes an open 18-footer. They just gave him the shot. Unbelievable. He almost looked surprised that nobody was going to bother with him. I think he asked the Irish, “Are you sure?” before he shot it. Buckeyes lead 63-59 with 1:11 remaining.
6:32 Harangody misses a shot, Lighty gets the rebound. Dang! Evan Turner just turned it over by dribbling the ball behind his back and getting it stolen, and then he fouled a Domer. There was no need to get cute there. We could have sealed the ball game. Fortunately, we’re not in the penalty yet, so there are no free throws coming.
6:33 McAlarney drives and kicks it out to Tory Jackson who nails a huge three to make it a one-point game with 26.2 seconds remaining. Notre Dame calls a timeout with the Buckeyes leading 63-62. Please don’t let it end this way. Well, I mean, you can let it end 63-62, I was just referring to the momentum and the way things are headed.
6:33:29 And I thought Tory Jackson couldn’t shoot! I wish our guys who couldn’t shoot could shoot like this.
6:34 I’d get B.J. Mullens in for Dallas Lauderdale on offense here because the Irish are going to be looking to foul.
6:35 Turner gets fouled and is looking at two huge free throws with 21.6 seconds remaining. He is due a miss. The television mentions that he is 4-4 today and is shooting 85% on the year. The jinxes are in place. The first one is up…and good! Here’s number two…it’s good! Turner hits two clutch free throws to give him 28 points on the night. The Buckeyes lead 65-62 with 21.6 seconds to play.
6:36 Notre Dame will probably go to the basket right away, so if we can get a blocked shot, we can seal this game and not have to worry about any crazy three-pointer that should have never gone, but somehow miraculously did.
6:37 Here we go…NO!! McAlarney from 30...he missed it! Lauderdale gets the rebound and the Irish finally foul Jeremie Simmons with three seconds on the clock! One free throw seals it!
6:38 Simmons makes the first! Ball game!! And he makes the second for emphasis. The Buckeyes lead 67-62.
6:39 Tory Jackson misses the three to end the game and the Buckeyes have beaten their second ranked team of the week!
6:44 What a great win for the Buckeyes. This is the kind of win that announces your arrival. And maybe one day soon, Notre Dame football will get back to the point where a win against them also means something.
6:45 I said earlier in the week that basketball was fun again, and I think that has been evidenced by two games in December that felt more like games in February or March. The Buckeyes will finally be ranked again after enduring an entire year as just one of the “others receiving votes”, but this team has far greater goals than simply getting ranked, and this past week they have gone a long way towards reaching those goals. This season is just getting started, and already we’re building a nice resume.
6:46 I hope the Buckeyes still have their Dancing Pants available. I know I still have mine. (Yes, they’re Zubaz, but they‘re so dang comfortable that I just can‘t get rid of them.)
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