PF Jared Sullinger (2x 1st Team ALL B1G & All American, Anyang KGC, S.Korea)

[Buckskin86]

Passing on riches paying off for Sullinger
Ohio St. moves on to Elite Eight

BOSTON -- He hurt his leg. He hurt his back. He hurt his hip. His play was falling. And worst of all, Jared Sullinger's NBA value was falling.

So he lost big money by deciding to come back to Ohio State this season instead of turning pro. It all built up, and he started snipping at officials, blaming them.

This has been a tough year for Sullinger. So why does he seem satisfied?
"The decision (to come back) was the best for me and my goals," he said. "I want to leave, if I leave, just with winning. As long as we're winning, I'm happy . . . I really don't care about my (NBA) stock."

That does not compute. Not in today's sports mentality. It seems all wrong and out of place to think there might be some reason to play in college over the pros. But Ohio State beat Cincinnati 81-66 Thursday night in the East Region semifinals, and Sullinger has his spark back. He's suddenly using the NCAA tournament as a showcase for the NBA ? the way it's meant to be used.

No, that's not fair. It's not what he's doing at all, if you take him at his word. And there is no reason not to. This is what Sullinger wanted. This: Ohio State will play Syracuse Saturday for a spot in the Final Four. And with Syracuse center Fab Melo out, ruled ineligible, Sullinger is going to be dominant.

Ohio State should reach the Final Four, and in Sullinger's strange world, that seems to be a goal in itself.

"The basketball team last year really had a touch of my heart," he said. "There's some guys where they're pretty much family. I mean, I really couldn't let my family down like that."

cont....

http://www.foxsportsohio.com/03/23/...ing_ohiostate.html?blockID=694300&feedID=3725

 

[dav713]

He did so much right in every facet of the game last night. 23 points & 11 boards, 9-10 from the line, and he showed his vision making some beautiful passes out of the post. Was a lot of fun to watch. Hear is to 3 more wins for the big guy.

 

[Bill Lucas]

The difference I've noticed in Sully is that he is now making sure he faces the basket when he gets double teamed. As a result he's hurting teams with excellent passing out of the double team and making opponents pay for using this strategy.

Earlier in the season he was getting trapped and kept his back to the basket. A nice (and proper) adjustment.

 

[armsbendback]

Bump

Can't have Sully's thread on page 2 after the way he played in the 2nd half tonight!

 

[NINJA BUCK13]

 

[Buckeye1]

^^^

NICE! Priceless man. NB what???

 

[billmac91]

Sullinger is one of those rare guys who will probably find the NBA game easier than college.

College basketball is suffering from awful offensive calls...Referees don't care about anything other than where a players feet are. They aren't checking to see if defenders are set, if they actually take a hit, if the offensive player is actually under control.....

None of that matters anymore. It's whether the defender is outside the semi-circle under the hoop.

And Jared has struggled this year with foul trouble and being able to create for himself without picking up the charge. It has been infuriating to watch at times...the kid just can't operate without picking up cheap fouls. NBA officials would laugh at half the bullshit Jared gets called for on the college level. I really think in the NBA, where spacing is better, there is illegal defense, and they actually let guys bang underneath, his productivity and offensive game will get better.

I was even questioning him myself, until I realized the kid can't take a power dribble with his back to the hoop without being called for an offensive foul.

On another note...Jay Bilas is absolutely correct in stating he thinks the "charging" call should be abolished. Obviously, not removing offensive fouls from the game, but plays where an offensive player is under control, lays it in, but is called for a charge b/c someone slides under him. It rewards bad defense...if you want to stop a lay-up, don't let your man beat you to the hoop. The charge, as Jay says, rewards bad defense. Someone from the weakside plants his feet just outside a semi-circle, takes nuts to their face, and get rewarded. It's time to change the game....

 

[Buckskin86]

This trip to Final Four is why Sullinger returned for sophomore season
By Jeff Goodman | CBSSports.com College Basketball Insider

BOSTON -- Jared Sullinger stood underneath the basket with a wide smile, a snip of the net threaded through his hat, which was flipped backward. He was watching his teammates dance while taking a peak at his coach, Thad Matta cut the final piece of the net from the rim. This was a scene he had envisioned for the past 364 days.

When Jared Sullinger uttered the words at the Prudential Center in New Jersey last season, few believed him. The Ohio State big man was a sure-fire lottery pick, guaranteed millions of dollars in the NBA this season.

"I'm coming back," Sullinger said moments after the Buckeyes were upset by Kentucky in the Sweet 16.

Yeah. Sure, Jared. That's what everyone says. Then reality sets in, they take the money and head to the pro ranks.

"I knew he was returning," Ohio State coach Thad Matta said.

Whatever, Thad. That's pretty much the same line you used with Mike Conley, Kosta Koufos, B.J. Mullens and even Greg Oden. They all bolted to the league after their freshman campaigns. But not Sully. He's a different dude, a guy who actually loves college basketball -- and one who understood that he wasn't yet physically and emotionally prepared to play at the next level.

However, as much as anything else, Sullinger came back to win a national title.

"He couldn't go out with that taste in his mouth," teammate Deshaun Thomas said.

Sullinger accomplished his first goal on Saturday night, knocking off No. 1 seed Syracuse 77-70 to advance to the Final Four. The first half was far from a clinic, with the referees blowing their whistles early and often, sending players from both sides to the bench -- including the Buckeyes' star big man, who spent the final 13 minutes, 42 seconds of the first half as a bystander after picking up his second foul.

But his team did enough, especially on the defensive end, without Sullinger on the court to go into halftime tied at 29. Then Sully went to work in the second half, taking advantage of an Orange team that was without its starting center Fab Melo, and finished with 15 points after the break.

"This is what he came back for," said Satch Sullinger, Jared's father and high school coach. "He wasn't ready for the NBA. He was only 19 years old and needed to grow up."

Sullinger has matured, but he's still a kid at heart.

"A big Teddy bear," said Ohio State point guard Aaron Craft.

"He's like that big yellow bird on Sesame Street," added Thomas. "Big Bird."

Big Bird has led Ohio State, a team that didn't quite fulfill preseason expectations, to the Final Four for the first time since 2007 -- when Oden, Conley and Daequan Cook took them to the national championship contest.

"I know people didn't believe it when I said it, but I was always planning on staying two years," Sullinger said.

"Unless he won a national title his freshman season," Satch Sullinger added.

cont...

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebas...s-why-sullinger-returned-for-sophomore-season

Jared Sullinger’s second chance
Late run keeps redemption hope alive
By Dan Duggan
Sunday, March 25, 2012

Quite simply, last night is the reason Jared Sullinger returned to Ohio State for his sophomore year.

The All-American power forward could have bolted for the NBA after a dominant freshman season and been a top-five pick. Instead, Sullinger wanted a chance for redemption after the top-seeded Buckeyes were eliminated in the Sweet 16.

Sullinger got that redemption last night, scoring a game-high 19 points to lead the Buckeyes past Syracuse, 77-70, in the East Regional final at the Garden. Ohio State is headed to the Final Four in New Orleans, where it will face the winner of today’s North Carolina-Kansas matchup.

“This is definitely what I came back for — to be in the Final Four, getting past the Sweet 16 or winning in the Elite Eight. I could name everything that I came back for,” Sullinger said. “The train hopefully doesn’t stop here. We’ve still got more work to do.”

Sullinger had to wait for his shot at redemption, one of many victims of a foul-happy officiating crew. At one point I thought there was a ringing in my ear, but it was comforting to realize that it was just the incessant blowing of whistles on every possession.

Sullinger was called for a charge two minutes in, then picked up a critical second foul on a Dion Waiters drive with 13:42 remaining in the first half. That forced Sullinger to use his gargantuan derriere as a seat rather than as a bulldozer in the post.

cont...

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/...demption_hope_alive/srvc=sports&position=also

Sullinger reaches one goal
March 25, 2012

Jared Sullinger and Ohio State are headed to the Final Four. (Michael Ivins-US PRESSWIRE)
Zac Jackson

BOSTON - Part of the reason Jared Sullinger doesn't enjoy rehashing the decision he made a year ago to bypass the NBA Draft and certain lottery-pick status for another year at Ohio State is because Sullinger insists it wasn't much of a decision at all.

He never planned to do anything but come back and win not only a bunch of games, but a bunch of really big ones.

Saturday night's win -- Ohio State beat Syracuse to advance to next weekend's Final Four in New Orleans -- is the biggest yet. After Sullinger overcame two questionable early fouls to finish with a game-high 19 points and help the Buckeyes advance to their first Final Four since 2007, he had quite a platform to share his feelings.

"This is definitely what I came back for," he said. "To play in the Final Four. To get past the Sweet 16, to play in the Elite Eight. I can name everything I came back for.

"Nah, (I never had any) regrets. I love this school too much. I knew this basketball team had a chance to win."

A year ago, Sullinger was a freshman playing beyond his years but had plenty of experienced help -- three seniors started for the Buckeyes and Ohio State surrounded Sullinger with skilled 3-point shooters who made defenses pay for giving too much attention to Sullinger.

But the Buckeyes bowed out in the Sweet 16 at 34-2, a fallen favorite after a peaking Kentucky team edged the NCAA Tournament's No. 1 overall seed on a late jumpshot by Brandon Knight. Sullinger said immediately after that game he'd be back for his sophomore season and a few weeks later he found himself in his dorm room searching the Internet for a picture of Knight making that shot.

The picture he found has been hanging in the bathroom at Sullinger's apartment since the summer. He sees it every morning and every night.

cont...

http://www.foxsportsohio.com/03/25/...ing_ohiostate.html?blockID=695548&feedID=3631

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tB7Q1f5cr8Q"]Jared Sullinger thanks Ohio State doubters.flv - YouTube[/ame]

 

[the traveler]

happy for Sullinger and the team. It's been so fun to watch this squad this tourny.

 

[Buckskin86]

Ohio State's Jared Sullinger accepts his Final Four burden: 'This team goes as I go'
Published: Sunday, March 25, 2011
Doug Lesmerises, The Plain Dealer

John Kuntz, The Plain Dealer
"As long as I play and show emotion and play with energy, this team should be where we were when we were beating teams by 15-plus points," says OSU's Jared Sullinger.

Since a loss to Wisconsin on Feb. 26, the Buckeyes have been a better team as Jared Sullinger has gotten back to his old self. Here are his averages in his last nine games, in which the Buckeyes are 8-1, compared to his numbers through the Wisconsin loss:
Last 9 games: 20 points, 9.9 rebounds, 56.9 percent shooting, 83.6 percent free throws, 1.8 assists, 1.8 turnovers.
Previous: 16.8 points, 9.3 rebounds, 54.9 percent shooting, 74.2 percent free throws, 1.1 assists, two turnovers.

BOSTON -- When the second half started Saturday night, Ohio State got its All-American back. When the Buckeyes needed him most in the last month of the season, they got him back then, too.

After first-half trouble stuck him on the bench, Jared Sullinger's 15 points in the second half of the East Region final against Syracuse -- made by drawing fouls through the Orange defense and hitting skilled post moves over it -- carried Ohio State into the Final Four, where the Buckeyes will face Kansas on Saturday at about 8:50 p.m.

In the last week, Sullinger has defiantly called out anyone who had doubted the Buckeyes, but a month ago there was no guarantee this Sullinger would be showing this game again. Even coach Thad Matta intimated that Sullinger wasn't engaged as he needed to be, but his ability to get back to his former ways helped put the Buckeyes on this new path.

"He understands now how he fits into the maze," Sullinger's father, Satch, said Sunday. "Everything's clicking right now for everyone. I call it one heartbeat."

cont...

http://www.cleveland.com/marchmadness/index.ssf/2012/03/ohio_states_jared_sullinger_ac.html

 

[Coqui]

So according to the first article Buckskin86 posted, win or lose, Sully is gone.

Here's hoping he can use the last two games as an NBA highlight reel (along with Bufird)

 

[FCollinsBuckeye]

Congrats to Jared for being selected as a repeat first team AP All-American!

:osu:

http://aol.sportingnews.com/ncaa-ba...sas-thomas-robinson-leads-ap-all-america-team

Joining Robinson on the first team were Jared Sullinger of Ohio State, the first repeat All-America in three years, freshman Anthony Davis of Kentucky, Draymond Green of Michigan State and Doug McDermott of Creighton.

Davis received 63 first-team votes while Green, the lone senior on the team, got 53. Sullinger had 30, one more than McDermott. The voting was done before the NCAA tournament.
​

​

 

[colobuck79]

Hello new wallpaper!

 

[Buckskin86]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dxsgqta1EDg"]Sullinger ready, set, go for Kansas - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Buckskin86]

Posted: Wednesday March 28, 2012
Michael Rosenberg>INSIDE COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Amid criticism, OSU's Sullinger shows growth on and off the court

This week, The Associated Press named Jared Sullinger a first-team All-America. Sullinger received the honor last year, too. So I guess the critics are right: He did not improve.

Sullinger is only a sophomore, but in a short-attention-span sport in a short-attention-span world, he already seems like old news. Sure, he leads Ohio State into the Final Four on Saturday. And (as the All-America honor indicates) he has been recognized as one of the best players in college basketball. But there was much more talk this season about Kentucky freshman Anthony Davis, who will be (and should be) the No. 1 pick in this year's NBA Draft. And Kansas star Thomas Robinson, who went from sophomore reserve to junior All-America. And Michigan State senior Draymond Green, who seemed to add a new offensive skill every week and led the Spartans to a top seed in this year's tournament.

Sullinger? He is ... uh, just really good. Again. As a freshman he averaged 17.2 points and 10.2 rebounds for a Big Ten champion that earned a No. 1 seed. As a sophomore he averaged 17.6 points and 9.1 rebounds for a Big Ten champion that earned a No. 2 seed. People who expected him to dominate college basketball this year have been disappointed.

Sullinger seems like the same guy we saw as a freshman. But he isn't. And that is why he stayed in school.

Sullinger would have been a top-five pick in last year's NBA Draft. When a player of his caliber chooses to return to college these days, we tend to ask two questions: Can he improve his draft stock? And can he win the national championship?

Sullinger returned for a simpler reason: He needed to spend another year in college.

His father Satch, who coached him in high school, says: "My wife and I were really concerned, releasing a 19-year-old to the professional world, where the team camaraderie would never exist again the way it does in high school, grade school and college."

Sullinger has not had the year he envisioned -- or rather, he has not had the year that others envisioned for him. Draymond Green beat him out for Big Ten Player of the Year. NBA scouts don't seem to love him quite as much as they did a year ago. Sullinger has an impressive vertical leap for a 280-pound man, but he is not a quick jumper. Scouts worry his shot will get blocked a lot in the NBA.

It is not always easy being the flavor of last year. Sullinger, one of the nicest college basketball stars you could meet, seemed angry on the court at times this season. He complained too much to officials. He got frustrated by physical defenses.

cont...

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/20...3/28/Jared.Sullinger/index.html#ixzz1qQntCrNW