Our Honor Defend

Armani Reeves

Under Jim Tressel, Ohio State was rather notorious among Buckeye recruitniks for having very uneventful buildups to signing day.  The approach by Ohio State was mostly satisfied with recruiting players (and good players) they felt could credibly commit early in the process.  Further, many of us just assumed that those that would hold out until the 11th hour perhaps wanted to hear something in particular that Tressel and company just couldn’t tell them.  So, Buckeye fans are not terribly accustomed to getting good recruiting news so late into the process.  The verbal commitment of Armani Reeves — via Twitter, no less — is peculiar for Ohio State fans, but certainly welcome.

Reeves is yet another former Penn Shtate verbal that Ohio State has snatched from the Nitts, joining Joey O’Connor, Tommy Schutt and high school teammate Camren Williams.  That said, the recruiting battle that emerged late was between Ohio State and That State Up North.  Reeves had already formally decommitted from Penn Shtate, though well after we knew he was going to be shopping for a new college.  Though Camren Williams, whose father is Reeves’ godfather, had firmly committed to Ohio State in advance, there was a real threat of the Wolveereenies getting him.  That Team Up North even sent Greg Mattison to his West Roxbury home, no small gesture considering Mattison might be the Wolvereenies’ best recruiter (in addition to being far and away their best assistant coach).  Still, Reeves to Ohio State seemed like the safe pick to make and it was the one that Reeves ended up making.

Though a bit undersized, Reeves is well-regarded as a cornerback prospect.  Scout.com is more keen on him (#6 overall CB) than Rivals (#17 overall CB), but the Buckeyes get a quality cornerback to factor into a rotation that lost Dominic Clarke and Pee Wee Gambrell to team rules violation and will lose Travis Howard to graduation.  With Camren Williams also in the fold, it appears Ohio State will have more players on scholarship next year from Massachusetts than it probably had in the past 40+ years.

Film is below.

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Come At Me Beilein!

In front of a sellout crowd during a “gray-out,” the Men’s Shooty Bucks took down their hated rivals in what can be described as a defensive slobberknocker. Both teams recorded more turnovers than assists, and as I noted in my preview, Craft shut down Trey Burke almost completely, limiting Burke to 13 points, 5 assists and causing 5 turnovers from the Columbus native.

Building off his performance against the Illini, Lenzelle Smith Jr. went HAM today, scoring 17 on 6-12 shooting while grabbing 12 boards including 8 on the offensive end. After the game, Smith noted “when Sullinger went out of the game (in the first half with two fouls) it was go time for me.” And go he did. Leading 4 starters with double figure scoring totals, Smith was the offensive spark plug in a game that featured very little offense.

TTUN seemed to adhere to the “prevent Sullinger from scoring in the post” gameplan, and executed it to perfection in the first half, holding the big man to just 5 points and a single rebound in the opening period. It was when Sully went to the bench in favor of Ravenel that Smith put this team on his back and brought the lead to 24-21 at the half, when the Buckeyes honored former team captains including JJ Sullinger, Matt Terwilliger, Jay Burson, and Scoonie Penn.

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Tayler Hill and company could not come up with enough steals like this to pull out the win.

I want to start off today’s recap by first thanking the person responsible for scheduling today’s women’s game at Minnesota at the same time as the men’s game against Michigan; that is how you maximize viewers for the games.  Now that the sarcasm is out of the way, let’s talk about the game.  Today’s game was a homecoming for Tayler Hill who played high school ball just 4 miles south of the Gophers’ Williams Arena; Hill finished her high school career as the leading scorer in Minnesota girls’ history.

Minnesota got out to an early 12-6 lead thanks to 9 straight points.  Ohio State came back and cut the Gopher lead to 14-13 with twelve minutes remaining in the half.  The Gophers were not impressed though and used an 11 to 0 run to take a 25-13 lead with just under eight minutes remaining in the half.  OSU took advantage of some turnovers and fouls by Minnesota to spark a 9 to 0 run that cut the lead to 25-22 but the Gophers quickly extended their lead back to seven points.  The teams traded baskets for the rest of the half and the teams headed into the locker room with Minnesota leading 34-28.

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Richard Diestch - Knight-Wallace Fellow and one of my inspirations. Not everything UM is all bad.

The past few years, That Team Up North hasn’t had much to hang their winged helmets on in the world of shooty hoops. That all changed when Trey Burke, high school teammate of Jared Sullinger, committed to the Wolverines and brought his particular spice to the point guard position. Many have wondered why OSU never offered Burke. The simple reason is that they already had His Rosiness as well as Shannon Scott, and therefore no more room for another PG.

A resurgent squad from the Mitten State out of Ann Arbor makes for a better Bee-One-Gee, so long as they keep a watchful eye on their timeout situation. With Burke and Hardaway in the backfield, they have risen to 3^rd in the conference standings, which is a massive improvement. Burke is far and away the best shooting PG in the conference and is a major reason why the Wolverines are in a position to make a run in the B1G Tournament and perhaps even into the NCAA Tourney.

This game looks to be a game of matchups, which should work out in Ohio State’s favor. Craft was able to stifle Penn Shtate’s Frazier, a feat in and of itself that may solidify Aaron’s stature as the pre-eminent lockdown defender in the country. Shutting down Burke would elevate him to Bruce Bowen status.

The Game (Shooty Hoops Version) will be broadcast on CBS at 1PM EST, 10AM PST. Kevin Harlan and Bill Rafferty will have the call for the sellout crowd at VCA. The OSU Athletic Department has called for a gray out of The Schott, likely to correspond with the team wearing the sassy gray unis. I will be sporting my Scarlet Greg Oden Jersey on the couch with a large bowl of snacks and several frothy beverages. Before that though, let’s dive into the analysis.

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In the Hive

GOOD MORNING VIET-HIVE! We hope you stayed up late enough to see the Lady Buckeyes complete a huge 48-19 second half, destroying the Indiana Lady Hoosiers, 73-55 last night in Bloomington. The OSU shooty lady hoops team continued its outstanding start to the 2011-12 season, improving to 20-1 on the season (7-1 in the B1G). Charles brought you all the details last night. Sammy Prahalis and Tayler Hill are quite a pair, each scoring 18 last night. Sammy added nine assists, five rebounds, three steals and a block. Just filling the stat sheet, that’s all. Ashley Adams went double-double with 15 points and 12 rips. This women’s team is fierce, y’all. Show them some love if you’re in the 614 and go to some games.

Shooty hoops Hate Week is here, with the Buckeyes hosting TTUN on Sunday at 1 p.m. You can catch the game on CBS. This is the start of a true gauntlet for Ohio State to close out the regular season. There are two games each remaining against TTUN, Wisconsin and Sparty, as well as home tilts against Purdue and Illinois, a visit to Minnesota, and a trip to Evanston to play Nerdwestern. The Wolvereenies will be without reserve guard Eso Akunne for both contests. Akunne will miss 6-8 weeks following surgery on his left foot scheduled for today. Speaking of the shooty hoops, take a moment each day to vote for William Buford for the Senior Class Award, won’t you? OK, let’s get Hiveward.

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