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

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I think the Diebs, Buford, Lighty, Sully, Dallas lineup is good for feeling out the opponent at the start. It takes a lot of pressure off Sully on the defensive end, basically taking away the key, and gives OSU a rebounding advantage. Force the opposing guards to take contested shots with little chance of a follow up. The offense is fine with that set. I think it says a lot about Craft that Matta feels the need to get him on the floor, even though the starting five matches up well with most teams. Craft brings a quicker tempo, more on the ball D, and draws another defender away from the basket, opening up space for Sully. I don't consider one lineup to be better than the other, just different looks. It will be interesting to see how the PT plays out once the conference sched starts.
 
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Here and There With OSU Hoops | Bucknuts

* Funny how things work out. Couple of years ago, Aaron Craft was mostly known as an Ohio high school quarterback at Findlay Liberty Benton and Trae Golden was a big time commit to Ohio State?s basketball program as a sophomore in high school. Then Craft committed to Tennessee for basketball, and OSU and Golden parted ways. Later Craft decommitted from Tennessee, looked around for a school closer to home, and decided on Ohio State. Golden? He?s at Tennessee.
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y0yoyoin said:
my pet peeve with deibler is his pump fake...he loves to catch the pass and pump fake the defender to hopefully get them to leave their feet so he can go underneath or step to the side for a open 3...problem is defenders aren't leaving their feet 90% of the time...i wish he would catch and then just shoot...as long as he shoots the ball within 2 seconds of him catching it he can get the shot off no problem and he wont have to pump fake
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you know, i dont know how much basketball you ever played, or really watched. but at the ncaa level the guy doesnt have "2 seconds." that being said the pump fake allows for two things, one a threat, two an extra split second to change floor positioning of his teammates, thirdly it allows for a split second look, which you can see is sometimes used to hit a cutter or a man slow breaking for any easy layup/dunk or easier shot, fourthly, it provides a draw to off the ball defenders-believe it or not dieblers a threat and people respect that, finally most of the time when diebler wants the shot he raises up and takes it-it appears that based on time/possession/shot clock/score and other factors that he uses the pump fake to create an easy shot for himself or his teammates, or just to keep the long ball threat alive. its highly effective for him and his teammates.
 
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Skip ahead on your DVR to about 13 minutes left in the 2nd half, and watch the pass that Craft lands on Diebler's hip on a fast break. Unreal. Craft was falling down as he threw it, and it was charity stripe to charity stripe on a rope. I can't wait to watch the development of this kid, he just may get to the point where he just doesn't come off the floor.
 
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Craft had an excellent line last night with 8 points, 7 assists, 6 boards, and a steal. If he had played the full game he would have probably been looking at a triple double, or at least very close to it.

Like anyone, he has much room to improve, but his surprising play so far has got me excited for the rest of his career. Other Big Ten teams are going to hate him by the time he leaves.

I'm beginning to wonder if his almost seemless transition to college basketball is going to have any effect on other players at the guard positions. Smith and Sibert are both talented with tons of upside and I'm sure there is plenty of playing time in their future, but I hope Craft's dominance over the position this year doesn't make them bitter. Also, there's Shannon Scott coming in next year who will create further depth and competition for playing time. I hope Thad has success in finding the balance between winning games and keepings players happy.
 
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Official Craft for Starter Member. :)

BengalsAndBucks;1833970; said:
Diebs led the team with 36.7 minutes per game in 2008, 37.2 minutes per game last year and is leading the team with 32.5 minutes per game this year. You don't play more minutes than the national POTY and then come off the bench the next season. Besides, Diebs already has "the green light to torch from deep" whenever he touches the ball.
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You do whats best for the team. Period. Coming off the bench isn't some kind of death sentence. This team doesn't lack offensive players. Any night we have 5+ players that can go 20+. What we don't have is too many great defensive on ball guys. Craft does that.

Against heavy guard rotations, full court press/trap teams or a quick driving guards Craft needs to be on the floor from tip.

I would love to know what the teams efficiency is with Craft on the floor and what it is without him. Just wondering if it confirm what my eyes are telling me.
 
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lord vegas;1834948; said:
You do whats best for the team. Period. Coming off the bench isn't some kind of death sentence. This team doesn't lack offensive players. Any night we have 5+ players that can go 20+. What we don't have is too many great defensive on ball guys. Craft does that.
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Leading the team in minutes for 3 straight seasons, including ranking 10th nationally last year in terms of % minutes/game, means that Thad thinks that Diebler being on the floor is best for the team. Period.

I don't really have an opinion for Craft starting one way or the other because as jo4h said, it doesn't matter who starts the game, but who finishes it. But to argue that he should start in place of Diebler seems... naive. Then again, I think Diebler doesn't get nearly enough credit for the things he does on a court that don't show up in the stat sheet. And I've been arguing for Diebler for 4 years now. And he is a cool fucking dude. So I'm sure I am a little biased.
 
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korchiki;1835433; said:
Just my .02.

It seems to me that Thad would want to start Diebs to see if he can get hot (which makes sense). Craft OTOH can come in and just play.

I guess that's the difference between a shooter and a PG...
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The only time Diebler hasn't been hot was the Florida State game. Other than that game he is shooting 54.7% from three point range for the season. Arguing that Diebler shouldn't start is absurd. His range creates opening for other players on offense simply because he IS on the court and he HAS to be accounted for when he's there.

Back to Aaron Craft. I'm tired of the Diebler shouldn't start crap which is just what it is.
 
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korchiki;1835433; said:
It seems to me that Thad would want to start Diebs to see if he can get hot (which makes sense).
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by now, i think we should know that diebler can get hot at any time. this is what scares opposing coaches. just because diebler might have missed his last, say, four attempts does not at all mean that he won't or can't hit his next four in three minutes. teams must always account for that when defending, which presents tremendous difficulties when they're shading to both diebler and sullinger.

BengalsAndBucks;1835323; said:
... it doesn't matter who starts the game, but who finishes it.
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absolutely. i think i've stated just this a number of times on buckeyeplanet and elsewhere. fans place more value on starting than coaches do. furthermore, if craft assumes anyone's starting position, i expect that it would be lauderdale's... if the opposing frontcourt is not imposing.
 
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Craft.

This about the trickle down effect Craft has starting or playing more minutes. Your making my comments about Diebs something theyre not. I just think Craft makes the team better when he's on the floor and is one of the five best players. Nobody said Diebs sucked, wasn't a nice guy/great Buck or wasn't a great asset and weapon. I actually like him as a player. :biggrin:

So if Craft starts and plays more minutes somebody has to sit. I simply suggested that Diebs could come off the bench to make that happen. Sometimes that would be Dallas, sometimes Dieb depending on the matchup. I had a long piece as to why Diebs and how he would be the perfect 6 man but deleted it. We fans become attached to players and while I was thinking more matchup wise against certain teams, I know I would be making the same claims as you all in defense of any of my favorite players regardless of the logic (naivety) behind it. So I'll let it rest.
 
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as much as i love craft's performances, arguing that he should start over diebler is as pointless as arguing that lauderdale should start at the point. diebler's starting spot is as solid as lighty, buford, or sullinger's. he is vitally important to the team and deserves to be a starter who gets a lot of minutes. get used to it. heck, diebler is a multi-year starter and a record-breaker many times over. i think posters should have gotten used to it a long time ago.
 
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I'm just happy that the bench goes at least 7 deep this year and to have a guy the quality of Craft coming off the bench is a huge plus. It seems like it wasn't very long ago were there weren't many minutes outside of the starting 5. I haven't seen the past few games, but I don't remember OSU ever playing man defense in the Matta era until this year.
 
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