Our Honor Defend

Well, I was way off with my prediction for the Ohio State v TTUN game.

I predicted the Buckeyes would win. That didn’t happen.

I predicted that the team would play defense. Eek.

I predicted that William Buford would show up for the game. I don’t think he is even in the state of Michigan at this point.

Of course, all that being said, it really is tough for the Buckeyes to play a game of 5 against 8. The best referee is the one whose name you do not know.
All three referee’s tonight were set on making sure the entire state Up North knew their names so they could buy them shots afterward.

No, that isn’t the entire reason they lost. It’s simply a PART of the reason. More so now than ever.

But I digress.

Shooting horribly has become the Buckeyes standard operating procedure at this point. That is a fault that could be made up for by playing stellar defense. But they aren’t doing that either. It’s going to be very hard for the Buckeyes to compete for a conference championship, let alone a national championship, playing the way they are at this point.

We really could use a shooter at this point. Paging Jon Diebler.

I’m bewildered. Where is the team that put the butthurt on Duke? DUKE?! There is less passion in this team than in Larry King’s marriage.

Thad Matt’s insistence on sticking with his main 6 or 7 guys is… questionable at best. Surely, the guards clamboring for playing time off the bench could shoot better than William Bufords 3-12 for 6 points.

If the Buckeyes want to fend of another Sweet 16 exit from the NCAA Tournament, they have a plethora of questions that need answered.

Specifically, the question of how to get that curious orange orb into that suspended circular metal ring. At this point, I can’t even offer suggestions on how to make that happen. Shots are just not falling. And Thad Matta is definitely smarter than I am in regards to how to win. His records attest to that.

I guess we can find some solace in Jared Sullinger’s short stretch of empassioned basketball late in the second half, but it was too little too late.

The only purely bright spot was Deshaun Thomas 25 points. However, that could have been more had the rest of the team not been insistent on taking bad jumper after bad contested jumper.

The unselfishness of this team was a point of emphasis and pride that I remarked on in the preview. But tonight, they looked like anything but a “team”.

They looked like spoiled brats. Again. As bad as the officiating was, even I (an admitted ref-basher) has to put this loss on the lack of team effort and pride.