PG Aaron Craft (B1G 6th MOY '11, Def POY '12, Acad AA, Dolomiti En. TR - Italy)

[DZ83CK]

I still think he'd be a better fit in a Jamar Butler circa '07 combo guard role than just playing PG. Scott probably should start at PG next year.

I observed Craft enough to know he is in my opinion a combo guard. I still don't think he's quite the type of player Matta prefers to run the point. No one should believe that any of his competitors for minutes at PG this year fits the prototype for a Matta PG. He's been a very good role player so far, but its still been only 4 games, half of them being complete mismatches - I don't believe that justifies all of your crowing, buckguy.

 

[jwinslow]

Is it that hard to admit that maybe you went a little too far in your criticism? Isn't it supposed to be a good thing when a buckeye comes in and exceeds expectations?

Of course he isn't playing in the big ten or March Madness yet. He still has lots of things to improve about his game. But the box you put him in was quite harsh after the D-IV tourney.

Whatever your personal viewpoints are about Matta in terms of personnel, style & skillsets, you are not going to live down the 'happy just being a part of the team' line. That was way out of line, and people are going to have a hard time moving past that.

Excuse me if I don't want people to get expectations too high for a kid who's only played 4 college games and didn't come in with the reputation of a Sullinger or Thomas.

So the answer is to race as far in the other direction as possible, and peg him as one step above Danny Peters? On scholarship, but just happy to be there and play sparingly?

Besides, why is it a horrible thing if OSU fans are excited about one of their recruits?

The most aggravating thing about all of this is that folks weren't really all worked up about Craft. Nobody had posted in his thread for 5 weeks before the D-IV playoff scouting report (aside from one generic news article). 5 weeks earlier, there were two people high on craft, two that weren't (one was you). He was largely an afterthought in the realm of BP discussions, hardly a situation where the board needed to be slapped with a reality check.

This became a topic because you took a shot at him and it has snowballed from there.

 

[Bill Lucas]

So, he'll take a backseat next year and change his position because of a kid that's still in high school? Hmmmmmmmmmmm.....

Please note that I think Shannon Scott is a tremendous addition to this team. It's just that I think he's more likely to play the 2 spot than Aaron Craft.

But then again, Craft is a point guard but he may not be a true point guard.

 

[GrizzlyBuck]

But then again, Craft is a point guard but he may not be a true point guard.

True dat ((sorry if that's wrong, I'm not to up on the new slang)

The worst thing is that not only does this team not have a true point guard, but we don't have a true Center (Sully doesn't block shots, and Dallas doesn't score well enough from the post) and definitely don't have a true power forward (too small, or slow, or limited defensively or offensively) and as far as a true #2 or 3, who would know as they are pretty much interchangible in Mattas system

 

[OSU_Buckguy]

Excuse me if I don't want people to get expectations too high for a kid who's only played 4 college games and didn't come in with the reputation of a Sullinger or Thomas.

and yet you're pegging shannon scott, who is very good but will not arrive with the reputation of sullinger or thomas, as a freshman starting point guard next year in spite of that season being almost a full year away. talk about setting expectations too high. hypocrite much? much too much?

 

[OSU_Buckguy]

Whatever your personal viewpoints are about Matta in terms of personnel, style & skillsets, you are not going to live down the 'happy just being a part of the team' line. That was way out of line, and people are going to have a hard time moving past that.

well put. for a poster who thinks so highly of himself as a buckeye fan and basketball cognoscente, dz83ck placed himself one step above a troll for claiming that craft should be happy just being a part of the team. that stuff flies on bucknuts and scout, but almost all buckeyeplanet members know better. more importantly, almost all buckeyeplanet members wouldn't even entertain such a thought.

 

[MaxBuck]

okay, after looking through your previous posts in this thread, i have deemed that you are at least a step or two above being a mouth-breather.

edit: now that you bring it up, tomorrow will be a great day to find some awesome deals on those sarcasm meters.

Black Friday, baby! All kinds of great deals out there. Maybe Matta can run out before lunchtime and grab himself a true point guard or two. Maybe a true center, and a true 4-man while he's at it.

Then again, maybe he's figured out he can win a lot of games with this motley bunch of misfits he's managed to assemble this season - guess we'll find out by the time they're filling out brackets. (By the way, Ken Pomeroy predicts a final Buckeyes record of 29-3 going into the BTT.)

 

[DZ83CK]

I said my concerns about him not playing a lot appeared unwarranted a couple weeks ago. If you all want to keep criticizing me for something I've already commented on and more or less said I was wrong, go ahead and waste your time, beat a dead horse. It doesn't really bother me if you call me out when I'm wrong on something that I was actually wrong about. The playing time issue, I've already conceded that. But I do think it's sad that some people have so much venom that they would spend their Thanksgiving criticizing me, bringing back up an issue that hadn't really been discussed for a couple weeks. I guess Thanksgiving brings out the combativeness here.

Scott right now is a lot more well regarded than Craft was coming out of HS. Craft is a good role player. You think he's a true PG and going to start there, go ahead and keep posting it. My opinion is he's a combo guard who can play PG or the 2, and that he's likely to slide over and play more 2 when Scott gets here (heck, there were times he was playing the 2 tonight), have a Butler circa '07 role.

 

[MaxBuck]

I said my concerns about him not playing a lot appeared unwarranted a couple weeks ago. If you all want to keep criticizing me for something I've already commented on and more or less said I was wrong, go ahead and waste your time, beat a dead horse. It doesn't really bother me if you call me out when I'm wrong on something that I was actually wrong about. The playing time issue, I've already conceded that. But I do think it's sad that some people have so much venom that they would spend their Thanksgiving criticizing me, bringing back up an issue that hadn't really been discussed for a couple weeks. I guess Thanksgiving brings out the combativeness here.

Scott right now is a lot more well regarded than Craft was coming out of HS. Craft is a good role player. You think he's a true PG and going to start there, go ahead and keep posting it. My opinion is he's a combo guard who can play PG or the 2, and that he's likely to slide over and play more 2 when Scott gets here (heck, there were times he was playing the 2 tonight), have a Butler circa '07 role.

One of the things about finding yourself in a hole you have dug: the more you use the shovel, the deeper the hole gets.

 

[Mike80]

I said my concerns about him not playing a lot appeared unwarranted a couple weeks ago. If you all want to keep criticizing me for something I've already commented on and more or less said I was wrong, go ahead and waste your time, beat a dead horse. It doesn't really bother me if you call me out when I'm wrong on something that I was actually wrong about. The playing time issue, I've already conceded that. But I do think it's sad that some people have so much venom that they would spend their Thanksgiving criticizing me, bringing back up an issue that hadn't really been discussed for a couple weeks. I guess Thanksgiving brings out the combativeness here.

ok...so why did you include the following:

Scott right now is a lot more well regarded than Craft was coming out of HS. Craft is a good role player. You think he's a true PG and going to start there, go ahead and keep posting it. My opinion is he's a combo guard who can play PG or the 2, and that he's likely to slide over and play more 2 when Scott gets here (heck, there were times he was playing the 2 tonight), have a Butler circa '07 role.

So you admit you're wrong, yet you continue with the argument. Way to go.....

 

[DZ83CK]

There are different points to be made. Playing time is just one. Others are about what type of player he is, and what his position should be. I am not backing off my claims that IMO he is a combo guard, and I think it would make more sense next year for him to be in a role similar to what Butler played in '07, starting off the ball and being the backup PG, with Scott starting at PG. I admitted I was wrong about one thing - an important thing, but certainly not everything.

 

[Bill Lucas]

So, in your IMO he is a combo guard. Time will tell. I don't see it your way.

 

[DZ83CK]

And BTW, saying he's a combo guard is not some sort of inherently negative statement. Everyone gets classified by position. Being able to play on or off the ball is a good thing. Don't look at everything so negatively.

 

[OSU_Buckguy]

And BTW, saying he's a combo guard is not some sort of inherently negative statement.

how about stating that craft should be happy just being on the team? is that an inherently negative statement?

 

[OHSportsFan]

So, in your IMO he is a combo guard. Time will tell. I don't see it your way.

I'm going to disagree as well. Craft can handle everything that is asked of a PG. He's got the dribble, he's got the vision, he's got the IQ, he's got the D to match most PGs, and his shot is there too.

However, because this comparision has already been made throughout this thread, I'll go ahead and throw out the Chris Kramer role. In his junior season, Kramer, who handled a lot of Purdue's PG duties before, started alongside the smaller and quicker Lewis Jackson. I see a ton of similarities between Kramer and Craft- though I believe Craft will have a much larger impact on the offensive end, which may be what keeps this combo guard/Kramer role from happening- Craft can handle his own offense so the Bucks won't need 2 players out there when Craft can do what both Jackson (create offense, break press) and Kramer (leadership, D) did. And Scott doesn't really compare to Jackson, imo.

So yeah, in the end, I still disagree. :p