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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 would say that Aaron Craft can have my wife if he wants, but at this point I'm pretty sure she'd enjoy it too, so fuck that. She hasn't had this big a crush on a Buckeye since she first laid eyes on Herbie.
 
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CentralMOBuck;2130471; said:
Craft might be one of the best on ball defenders I have ever seen. It seems like he gets beat once early in the game and then he turns it on. I could watch highlight tapes of him shutting someone down.
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I was just thinking about that...I used to let my opponent get a good jab on me when I boxed. It usually pissed me off and got me focused. Seems like Craft is the same (albeit more talented than I :biggrin:).
 
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Dryden;2130446; said:
I would say that Aaron Craft can have my wife if he wants, but at this point I'm pretty sure she'd enjoy it too, so [censored] that. She hasn't had this big a crush on a Buckeye since she first laid eyes on Herbie.
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I'm pretty sure he if wanted to he could steal her easily.


CentralMOBuck;2130471; said:
Craft might be one of the best on ball defenders I have ever seen. It seems like he gets beat once early in the game and then he turns it on. I could watch highlight tapes of him shutting someone down.
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Might? Who is in his league? I've never seen someone like him on defense.
 
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Coqui;2130490; said:
I'm pretty sure he if wanted to he could steal her easily.





Might? Who is in his league? I've never seen someone like him on defense.
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Gerogetown had a guard named Gene Smith on one of Thompson's best teams. He played for Georgetown in the early 80's. He is the only player that I've seen that played with the defensive intensity of Aaron Craft. He was a pure lockdown defender.
 
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Bill Lucas;2130570; said:
Gerogetown had a guard named Gene Smith on one of Thompson's best teams. He played for Georgetown in the early 80's. He is the only player that I've seen that played with the defensive intensity of Aaron Craft. He was a pure lockdown defender.
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I wish that guy was OSU's AD instead of the one we've got.
 
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Bill Lucas;2130570; said:
Gerogetown had a guard named Gene Smith on one of Thompson's best teams. He played for Georgetown in the early 80's. He is the only player that I've seen that played with the defensive intensity of Aaron Craft. He was a pure lockdown defender.
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Gary Grant is the guy I recall when trying to find somebody to compare defensively to Aaron Craft. He was from Canton McKinley, but went to TSUN and was the B1G POY and an All-American in 1988. He did it more with his hands than with body positioning, but Grant was a guy you didn't want guarding you when you had the ball.
 
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Ohio State’s Aaron Craft relishes role as defender
By Michael Whitmer
| Globe Staff
March 24, 2012

ohiostate.jpg

Jason Cohn/Reuters
Aaron Craft impressed teammate Jared Sullinger (0) when he dove to save a ball from going out of bounds in the Buckeyes’ win over Gonzaga.


Building the identity started years ago, when Aaron Craft would join his older brother, Brandon, and some of Brandon’s friends for pickup basketball games in Findlay, Ohio. Younger and smaller, Craft wouldn’t score many points those days, if any. Big brothers typically don’t allow it, especially in front of their friends.

So Craft found another way to make the older boys notice him. He’d make life miserable for Brandon or whoever else he was guarding, the clingy kind of defender nobody enjoys going against. Especially big brothers.

“I could frustrate him if I was playing defense,’’ Craft said. “So that’s what I hung my hat on, and it carried over. It’s something I enjoy doing. I take great pride in it.
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“Being able to play with those older guys and holding my own, I think that’s definitely where the defensive side of my game started, and a little bit of toughness came from, as well.’’

It may have had its beginning on the asphalt courts in northwest Ohio, but Craft’s calling card continues a bit more prominently today, for the Buckeyes. The sophomore point guard knows his role for Ohio State, and embraces it. On a team with enough offensive star power to light up Zakim Bridge, Craft isn’t nearly as famous as teammates Jared Sullinger, Deshaun Thomas, or even William Buford.

Because of his defense, perhaps he should be.

The feisty 6-foot-2-inch spark plug is the player maybe most responsible for putting the Buckeyes in the opportunistic position they find themselves. Ohio State (30-7) faces Syracuse (34-2) Saturday night at TD Garden in the NCAA Tournament’s East Regional final, with the winner advancing to New Orleans and the Final Four.

As always, Craft will devote every last ounce of his ability to get the second-seeded Buckeyes past the top-seeded Orange, determination and focus wrapped in quick feet, quicker hands, a nose for the ball, and the pleasure that comes from the challenge of defending the other team’s best guard.

The soul of the Buckeyes will have part of his heart a world away from the Garden, though. Brandon Craft, an infantryman with the US Army, is making his first deployment to Afghanistan Saturday. Based in Washington state, the 22-year-old hasn’t been able to catch many of Craft’s games this season, but he watched Thursday, when his younger sibling scored all 11 of his points in the final 10:23, leading Ohio State past Cincinnati, 81-66.

Phone conversations between the brothers took place after the Cincinnati game, and again Friday. Brandon might not be close when Craft participates in the biggest game of his life Saturday night, but he won’t be far from his thoughts.

“Obviously I’m going to worry a little bit, but I think he’d be the first one to tell you that you shouldn’t worry,’’ Aaron Craft said. “He’s been trained, and that’s the path he chose. He wants me to focus on basketball as much as possible, and continue to enjoy what I’m going through.

“We wouldn’t be able to do what we’re doing if guys like him weren’t making the sacrifices that they are.’’

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http://bostonglobe.com/sports/2012/...le-defender/WC6cOQjxBVQSVQuMeOkPgJ/story.html

Buckeye Craft?s role model deploys for Afghanistan
March 24, 2012

BOSTON ? Tonight, at almost the exact moment Aaron Craft, Ohio State?s starting point guard, tries to control the opening tip of the NCAA Tournament East Region championship, his older brother, Brandon Craft, a U.S. Army Infantryman, will try to control his emotions as he and his unit fly across the Atlantic for their deployment in Afghanistan.

Yes, smack dab in the middle of America?s Tournament comes a story as American as apple pie and rusty basketball rims.

?Obviously I?m going to worry a little bit, but he?d be the first one to tell you, you shouldn?t worry,?? Aaron said yesterday. ?He?s been trained, and that?s the path he chose.

?He wants me to focus on basketball as much as possible and continue to enjoy what I?m going through,?? he added. ?He?ll just stay in my prayers, and that will be the end of it.??

Really, it?s just the beginning.

Brandon chose the path to serve to assure that Aaron and their younger sister, Caitie, who will play basketball for Ohio State in the fall, can enjoy March Madness, campus mixers and spring days.

?I definitely appreciate that my brother is proud of what I?m doing,?? Brandon told The Post yesterday in an exclusive telephone interview from the Fort Lewis army base in Washington where he is stationed.

?One of my big goals is to do something so my brother and sister will be as proud of me as I am of them. They are the two best people I ever met. They?re the two big reasons it?s easy to put on the uniform and do the job. They?re the two big reasons.??

Brandon, 23, is the single biggest reason why Aaron, 20, is the best defensive guard in college basketball, a player so tenacious and relentless that teammates love him and opponents despise playing against him.

The brothers? love for each other was matched only by the ferocity of their athletic competition. Punches were thrown. Jerseys were pulled. The art of the Crafts is to do whatever it takes to win.

?I was never the best offensive threat playing with older guys,?? Aaron said. ?The one thing I could do is go out there and frustrate those guys as much as possible, get in a couple fights here and there.??

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Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/coll..._in_arms_8oj67a42YNJg8j9EmSHKKP#ixzz1q2FSLdMU
 
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For Ohio State?s Craft, Defensive Mind-Set Was Nurtured at Home
By PETER MAY
Published: March 23, 2012

BOSTON ? When watching Ohio State point guard Aaron Craft on the court, it is easy to imagine that he was born in a defensive position: feet apart, arms up, eyes watching for the slightest sign of movement.

In truth, Craft said he developed his defensive mind-set a little later, while playing with his older brother, Brandon.

?I could frustrate him if I was playing defense,? Craft said. ?That kind of is what I hung my hat on, and it carried over.?

He added: ?At the time, I don?t think I enjoyed it too much, but just being able to play with those older guys, not saying anything, but trying to hold my own. I think that?s definitely where the defensive side of my game started. And a little toughness, too.?

Brandon Craft, 22, enlisted in the Army after playing football at the University of Findlay in Ohio. Aaron Craft, meanwhile, was a promising football player before he stopped playing as a senior in high school to focus on basketball. It paid off. Now a sophomore at Ohio State, Craft is regarded by many as the best defensive guard in the country.

But when Aaron Craft faces Syracuse on Saturday night in the final of the East Region, Brandon Craft will not be there. Brandon, stationed in Washington state, is scheduled to be deployed to Afghanistan on Saturday, according to Aaron.

The brothers spoke Friday, a day after Ohio State?s victory over Cincinnati. Brandon joked with Aaron that ?foul shots are hard.? Aaron Craft, a 70 percent free-throw shooter, went 6 of 10 against Cincinnati.

?He?s the first one to let me know I?ve messed up, and that was a perfect example,? Aaron Craft said. ?He?s always there to lighten the mood and be a jokester. I?m really happy he got to watch the game.?

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http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/24/s...tates-craft-defense-was-nurtured-at-home.html
 
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