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F DeShaun "The Diesel" Thomas (Panathinaikos - Greece)

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Ohio State men's basketball: Thomas finds support and desire to make his dreams come true
Standout didn?t have a storybook life growing up
By Bob Baptist
The Columbus Dispatch?Sunday February 10, 2013

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EAMON QUEENEY | DISPATCH
Deshaun Thomas chose to attend Ohio State in large part because of the family atmosphere Thad Matta promotes.

Deshaun Thomas remembers that spring day his senior year of high school. He was staying after classes, doing homework, when the school principal, Mary Keefer, entered the room and said, ?Good news.? 

Thomas had been waiting anxiously for it. In four years at Bishop Luers High School in Fort Wayne, Ind., he had become not only the best basketball player in the state but an honor-roll student. 

All that was left for him to do to receive a college scholarship was receive a qualifying score on his college entrance exam. Keefer had the score in her hand. 

?She told me I passed,? Thomas said, ?and I said, ?I?m on my way.? I kind of shed a tear, because my dreams were coming true. It was a wonderful feeling.?

The dreams started on an outdoor court near the small home where Thomas grew up with his grandmother, Lettie Mae Jackson, his three siblings, an assortment of other relatives and, off and on, his mother. He saw his father only occasionally.

cont...
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http://buckeyextra.dispatch.com/content/stories/2013/02/10/helping-hands.html
 
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Part of an article talking about Thomas and his shooting problems as of late:(
Thomas can't stop shooting. That has been established. While Thomas scored 14 Sunday, Aaron Craft had a career-high with 21 to save the Buckeyes. Thomas has scored 21 or more in 12 games this season.

But he maybe doesn't need to be in as much of a hurry as he has of late.

"I hope it's one of those things that sort of happens and he gets back to shooting a higher percentage," Matta said Wednesday. "He's rushed some shots, and we've taken a look."

Matta said Thomas was efficient in practice Wednesday morning, and the idea now is finding a way to stay on the attack and patient at the same time.

"Letting things evolve, that's probably when he's been at his best, when he hasn't tried to force something to happen," Matta said. "That said, we do want him to be aggressive on the offensive end."

So Thomas will get his shots, and he has to.

Thomas has taken 431 shots this year, more than the next two Buckeyes combined, with Craft at 222 and Lenzelle Smith Jr. at 208. He has made 192 shots -- Smith and Craft have combined for 183.

Thomas is 59-of-158 (37.3 percent) on 3-pointers. Next is Smith at 37-for-96 (38.5 percent). Thomas is 93-for-110 (85 percent) from the foul line. Next is Craft at 60-for-74 (81 percent).

He is carrying the offense out of necessity and with joy. Thomas loves the role of being a go-to guy, and there have been times when he's been half the offense. Ohio State nearly won at Michigan State earlier this season when Thomas scored 28 and the rest of the Buckeyes scored 28.

Sunday, he missed some good looks in the lane while facing a tough matchup in Adreian Payne, a good athlete who has three inches on the 6-7 Thomas. But he also missed some quick 3-pointers, was 2-for-7 on the day and allowed it to get to him.

Thomas threw his arm in the air after he felt he got fouled on one 3-pointer, and Matta said he shut down on defense for a time as result.

Asked about that Wednesday, Matta said he wasn't worried about Thomas, but that players get bogged down in games sometime, then told a story about a player once admitting to getting caught up in a foul he thought should have been called seven possessions earlier.

"That's the thing, you're trying to get them to play forward, not backwards," Matta said.

So Thomas, then, should not look back to Ohio State's tight win over Northwestern two weeks ago, when he missed nine of his first 11 shots. Unless he does want to remember how he took over at the end of that game, and Northwestern coach Bill Carmody said the Wildcats couldn't stop him.

Thomas knows what he can do. He's done it. Maybe he's tried too hard to do it for the last month.

"I've been kind of slow these last two games," Thomas said after Sunday's win. "But I learn and move on. I can't get frustrated. I'm going to find a way and I'm sure my teammates are going to find a way to get me great shots."

All he has to do is wait for them ... aggressively.
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http://www.cleveland.com/osu/index.ssf/2013/02/ohio_states_deshaun_thomas_loo.html
 
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brutus2002;2309798; said:
He will not leave if he is not a 1st rounder. I think DT will be back for his senior year.
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ShakerBuck;2309802; said:
If he were to get drafted in round 2. he would most likely be playing overseas, but how much higher would he get drafted next year?
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Regarding next year that's really hard to say how much higher he would go because it would depend on how much he improved his game and how much others improved their games.

I don't know how much his little one plays in his life because I have not read that much about him. However, if he does play a major role in DeShaun's life that would make it difficult for him to go and play in Europe IMO

I guess he will have some tough decisions to make after the season is over.
 
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All I know is DT needs to quit camping out on the 3 point line and get some easy buckets in the paint like he did down the stretch vs. NW earlier tonight. Granted, there were more holes in that NW zone than there are in a slice of swiss cheese but OSU is at their best when he is inside making plays, there is movement around the bucket and guys are crashing the glass.....not standing around on the perimeter watching opponents rebound their missed outside contested jump shots.

Now go steal one from IU next week.....GO BUCKS!!!!
 
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LitlBuck;2309777; said:
I don't think he should leave unless he is going to go in the first round but I am not him because he has a young child.
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After what happened with William Buford, I hope he goes Pro. If Buford came out after his junior year, he's a mid first round pick. Turned out, he stayed and didn't get drafted at all.
 
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Saw a couple talking heads discussing him... and it made a TON of sense...
They said he should go.. because his game will not change with another year.. he will be exact same.. his shot selection won't change.. his shooting won't change.. it's time for him to make the move
 
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NJ-Buckeye;2310795; said:
Saw a couple talking heads discussing him... and it made a TON of sense...They said he should go.. because his game will not change with another year.. he will be exact same.. his shot selection won't change.. his shooting won't change.. it's time for him to make the move
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Yep. DT needs to go before he gets over-exposed like Buford did.
 
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I don't get you guys at all. He's not going to be a first round pick this year. He's just not. He probably won't ever be one, but he should go because his stock isn't going up next year even though he's only a 2nd rounder at best now? C'mon now. Most guys who are in DT's situation (likely 2nd round at best) stay their Senior year - I know he has a child but I don't see any NBA stock negative in staying one more year. It would be kind of embarrassing to go "early" only to be a 2nd rounder/UDFA to not make the NBA when he could stay one more year and cement a legacy at OSU. He probably would've left last year if he thought he'd be a first round pick, and he was in the exact same situation then as he will be looking forward to next year.
 
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NJ-Buckeye;2310795; said:
Saw a couple talking heads discussing him... and it made a TON of sense...
They said he should go.. because his game will not change with another year.. he will be exact same.. his shot selection won't change.. his shooting won't change.. it's time for him to make the move
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What talking heads are these? I sense they are not OSU-backers/analysts.
 
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