OT: Aaron Craft

[thewolverines24]

I'm sick of every commentator calling him an "outstanding PG". 8 points per game and 5 assists per game is not "outstanding". It's between serviceable and good. With the talent around him, his assists per game should be much higher. There are 58 other PGs in Div. 1 basketball that average more assists per game than OSU's "outstanding PG".

 

[allshouldbleedblue]

they try to say how he does so well for how young he is and how well he plays d. but the reality is that his age really shouldn't effect how they look at him considering plenty of pg's come in and contribute as a young age. he also fouls a lot and gets away with it because its o$u. He really isn't that impressive.

 

[thewolverines24]

they try to say how he does so well for how young he is and how well he plays d. but the reality is that his age really shouldn't effect how they look at him considering plenty of pg's come in and contribute as a young age. he also fouls a lot and gets away with it because its o$u. He really isn't that impressive.

He really isn't impressive. I've definitely played against guys that would run circles around him.

 

[wolverine304]

Even if he didn't play there. Id still say he looks like an asshole/douche

 

[allshouldbleedblue]

Even if he didn't play there. Id still say he looks like an asshole/douche

yeah and his play on the court coincides with the way he looks.

 

[lostleader]

Even if he didn't play there. Id still say he looks like an asshole/douche

Yeah but Red and Gray makes it stand out.

 

[dubbsco]

I cannot fucking stand Aaron Craft. Even if he was on Michigan, I'd be like, "eh, he's kind of a dick." He gets away with so much.

 

[hungry]

I thought they said, "He's one of the best on-the-ball-defenders for pg's out there"

which is different than calling him one of the best pg's out there. Funny thing I heard last week was that they said that the Penn St pg was one of the best pg's in the nation. I was like, "What?>!??!!?"

Aaron Craft was good last year, because of the talent around him. He plays body-up d and gets away with in the b1g, because they love OSU. They won't let him play like that in the tournament and then OSU will flame out...again. Then SUllinger and Buford will leave and we'll finally get to see how good he really is.

 

[silverbullet97]

Let's see Aaron Craft has an assist to turnover ratio of 2.48 which is good for 26th in the country and 3rd in the conference (Behind Jordan Taylor and Roy Marble).

He also currently leads the conference in steals with 2.4 per game.

His averages are certainly lower than what you might expect but then again he has played less than 30 minutes in 12 out of 22 games this year while Matta tries to get minutes for Shannon Scott. He is currently shooting at a 49% clip which should tell you that he is capable of scoring more but he has a different role on a team that has William Buford, Jared Sullinger, and Deshaun Thomas.

So he takes care of the ball, forces turnovers, has developed into a reliable shooter, and even chips in 3 boards a game. Seems pretty solid to me.

 

[silverbullet97]

And as far as Ohio State getting "all the calls".... Tough to believe when you consider our best player had to sit out a large chunk of the first half and ended up with 4 fouls. It is not surprising to see such a wide discrepancy between foul shots for the two teams.

Michigan has shot a whopping 14.3 free throws per game which ranks 342nd in the country (2nd lowest). In this particular game they took 53 shots but almost half were 3 pointers (25) which indicates they were not attacking the rim as much and thus do not get fouled as much.

On the other hand, Ohio State averages 2 1.8 which ranks them at 102 in the nation. In this particular game Ohio State took 54 shots only 15 of which were 3 pointers. A relatively high percentage were "put backs" at or near the rim. While Belein's strategy did a good job holding Sully in check it allowed for the Buckeyes (Specifically Lenzelle Smith) to get to the glass almost untouched on multiple occasions forcing your defenders into poor position. Ohio State shot 18 free throws (Below its season average) all but 2 were by Sully, Thomas, Ravanel, and Smith who were all spending a lot of time by the rim.

 

[hungry]

And as far as Ohio State getting "all the calls".... Tough to believe when you consider our best player had to sit out a large chunk of the first half and ended up with 4 fouls. It is not surprising to see such a wide discrepancy between foul shots for the two teams.

Michigan has shot a whopping 14.3 free throws per game which ranks 342nd in the country (2nd lowest). In this particular game they took 53 shots but almost half were 3 pointers (25) which indicates they were not attacking the rim as much and thus do not get fouled as much.

On the other hand, Ohio State averages 2 1.8 which ranks them at 102 in the nation. In this particular game Ohio State took 54 shots only 15 of which were 3 pointers. A relatively high percentage were "put backs" at or near the rim. While Belein's strategy did a good job holding Sully in check it allowed for the Buckeyes (Specifically Lenzelle Smith) to get to the glass almost untouched on multiple occasions forcing your defenders into poor position. Ohio State shot 18 free throws (Below its season average) all but 2 were by Sully, Thomas, Ravanel, and Smith who were all spending a lot of time by the rim.

This has been discussed. You don't just shoot foul shots when you attack the rim. There is this thing called a 1n1. Its when you get a non-shooting foul, but still shoot free throws, because your team is in the bonus. OSU got away with murder in the game on sunday, just like they usually do. Burke drove to the hole several times and got fouled, but there was no foul called. There were several over-the-backs that were not called. Aaron Craft was committing a blocking foul every time that Burke got the ball. These fouls were not called which led to OSU never even getting close to being in the penalty.

This isn't just Michigan fans. I saw a study on foul shooting discrepancy and OSU shoots a lot more foul shots than all of their opponents.

They're #3 and the B1G is protecting the higher ranked team. They won't get these calls in the tournament and that is why they flame out every single season, see loss to Burnt Sienna.

Michigan got several (like 10) offensive rebounds. You can't tell me that they didn't attempt any putbacks and that they weren't fouled on these putbacks that were in the paint. You can't tell me, because I saw it happen.

Then when OSU has a 10+ pt lead, the refs will start calling a foul here and there to make the totals appear closer than they would've been, even though they still are far apart.

 

[silverbullet97]

And as far as Ohio State getting "all the calls".... Tough to believe when you consider our best player had to sit out a large chunk of the first half and ended up with 4 fouls. It is not surprising to see such a wide discrepancy between foul shots for the two teams.

Michigan has shot a whopping 14.3 free throws per game which ranks 342nd in the country (2nd lowest). In this particular game they took 53 shots but almost half were 3 pointers (25) which indicates they were not attacking the rim as much and thus do not get fouled as much.

On the other hand, Ohio State averages 2 1.8 which ranks them at 102 in the nation. In this particular game Ohio State took 54 shots only 15 of which were 3 pointers. A relatively high percentage were "put backs" at or near the rim. While Belein's strategy did a good job holding Sully in check it allowed for the Buckeyes (Specifically Lenzelle Smith) to get to the glass almost untouched on multiple occasions forcing your defenders into poor position. Ohio State shot 18 free throws (Below its season average) all but 2 were by Sully, Thomas, Ravanel, and Smith who were all spending a lot of time by the rim.

This has been discussed. You don't just shoot foul shots when you attack the rim. There is this thing called a 1n1. Its when you get a non-shooting foul, but still shoot free throws, because your team is in the bonus. OSU got away with murder in the game on sunday, just like they usually do. Burke drove to the hole several times and got fouled, but there was no foul called. There were several over-the-backs that were not called. Aaron Craft was committing a blocking foul every time that Burke got the ball. These fouls were not called which led to OSU never even getting close to being in the penalty.

This isn't just Michigan fans. I saw a study on foul shooting discrepancy and OSU shoots a lot more foul shots than all of their opponents.

They're #3 and the B1G is protecting the higher ranked team. They won't get these calls in the tournament and that is why they flame out every single season, see loss to Burnt Sienna.

Michigan got several (like 10) offensive rebounds. You can't tell me that they didn't attempt any putbacks and that they weren't fouled on these putbacks that were in the paint. You can't tell me, because I saw it happen.

Then when OSU has a 10+ pt lead, the refs will start calling a foul here and there to make the totals appear closer than they would've been, even though they still are far apart.

Per CBS Michigan got 6 Offensive rebounds to Ohio State's 14. Also per CBS Michigan was whistled for 16 fouls to Ohio State's 13 which is hardly a huge discrepancy. The difference being Ohio State was being more aggressive going to the rim while Michigan was settling more for jump shots.

The Buckeyes lost to Sienna three years ago that was an eight seed versus nine seed game. Hardly a flame out. The last two years they lost in the sweet sixteen. In each case the games were exptremely close. In each case, they lost in large part because they were playing six players. Bruce Pearl said after their game that we had a great starting 5 but their 10 players were better than our 6. Which was evident when Lighty got in foul trouble that game and we could not recover. In the Kentucky game they had more fouls than we did. We just could not overcome a horrible game by Buford (2-16) and did not have the depth to bench him.

 

[thewolverines24]

Let's see Aaron Craft has an assist to turnover ratio of 2.48 which is good for 26th in the country and 3rd in the conference (Behind Jordan Taylor and Roy Marble).

He also currently leads the conference in steals with 2.4 per game.

His averages are certainly lower than what you might expect but then again he has played less than 30 minutes in 12 out of 22 games this year while Matta tries to get minutes for Shannon Scott. He is currently shooting at a 49% clip which should tell you that he is capable of scoring more but he has a different role on a team that has William Buford, Jared Sullinger, and Deshaun Thomas.

So he takes care of the ball, forces turnovers, has developed into a reliable shooter, and even chips in 3 boards a game. Seems pretty solid to me.

Solid does not equal outstanding. I said he falls into the serviceable to good range. Solid would be in that range.

 

[josh200612]

He's WAY OVERRATED.

 

[hungry]

This has been discussed. You don't just shoot foul shots when you attack the rim. There is this thing called a 1n1. Its when you get a non-shooting foul, but still shoot free throws, because your team is in the bonus. OSU got away with murder in the game on sunday, just like they usually do. Burke drove to the hole several times and got fouled, but there was no foul called. There were several over-the-backs that were not called. Aaron Craft was committing a blocking foul every time that Burke got the ball. These fouls were not called which led to OSU never even getting close to being in the penalty.

This isn't just Michigan fans. I saw a study on foul shooting discrepancy and OSU shoots a lot more foul shots than all of their opponents.

They're #3 and the B1G is protecting the higher ranked team. They won't get these calls in the tournament and that is why they flame out every single season, see loss to Burnt Sienna.

Michigan got several (like 10) offensive rebounds. You can't tell me that they didn't attempt any putbacks and that they weren't fouled on these putbacks that were in the paint. You can't tell me, because I saw it happen.

Then when OSU has a 10+ pt lead, the refs will start calling a foul here and there to make the totals appear closer than they would've been, even though they still are far apart.

Per CBS Michigan got 6 Offensive rebounds to Ohio State's 14. Also per CBS Michigan was whistled for 16 fouls to Ohio State's 13 which is hardly a huge discrepancy. The difference being Ohio State was being more aggressive going to the rim while Michigan was settling more for jump shots.

The Buckeyes lost to Sienna three years ago that was an eight seed versus nine seed game. Hardly a flame out. The last two years they lost in the sweet sixteen. In each case the games were exptremely close. In each case, they lost in large part because they were playing six players. Bruce Pearl said after their game that we had a great starting 5 but their 10 players were better than our 6. Which was evident when Lighty got in foul trouble that game and we could not recover. In the Kentucky game they had more fouls than we did. We just could not overcome a horrible game by Buford (2-16) and did not have the depth to bench him.

In your opinion, it was because OSU went to the rim and MIchigan didn't. That's nice. I already pointed out that the refs called some fouls on OSU late after the lead was double-digits that would have no effect on the game to bring about balance to the stat sheet. There are more to fouls than 'going to the rack!!" Michigan was whistled for several touch fouls going over the back, meanwhile Sullinger laid across people several times and was not whistled. Michigan was called for several blocking calls and illegal screens, meanwhile Craft is a blocking machine, but its just 'good defense.' Its, also, the timing of the fouls. Michigan would get the game back within 1-3 points the refs would start the whistles on Michigan. OSU gets doubledigit leads, time to even things back up. You point out that Sullinger had 4 fouls, but ignore that he probably should've had about 15...same with Craft. They aren't going to foul out those players, though. OSU might've lost if that happened.

OSU shouldn't have been an 8/9 seed the year they lost to Sienna. They had the talent to get a higher seed and were much better than their seed. Well, maybe they weren't considering they lost to Sienna. Don't give me crap about depth. There is no excuse for OSU to not have more depth and be able to play more than 6 players. Whose fault is that really? The years they went to the sweet 16, all i heard about was how they were going to go to the final 4, so don't just blow it off as 'not flaming out.' WHen a team is expected by many to make the final 4 and they lose in the sweet 16, its a flame-out.

 

[hungry]

Let's see Aaron Craft has an assist to turnover ratio of 2.48 which is good for 26th in the country and 3rd in the conference (Behind Jordan Taylor and Roy Marble).

He also currently leads the conference in steals with 2.4 per game.

His averages are certainly lower than what you might expect but then again he has played less than 30 minutes in 12 out of 22 games this year while Matta tries to get minutes for Shannon Scott. He is currently shooting at a 49% clip which should tell you that he is capable of scoring more but he has a different role on a team that has William Buford, Jared Sullinger, and Deshaun Thomas.

So he takes care of the ball, forces turnovers, has developed into a reliable shooter, and even chips in 3 boards a game. Seems pretty solid to me.

Solid does not equal outstanding. I said he falls into the serviceable to good range. Solid would be in that range.

exactly!

he's good

He's not "one of the best pg's in the country"

 

[silverbullet97]

Per CBS Michigan got 6 Offensive rebounds to Ohio State's 14. Also per CBS Michigan was whistled for 16 fouls to Ohio State's 13 which is hardly a huge discrepancy. The difference being Ohio State was being more aggressive going to the rim while Michigan was settling more for jump shots.

The Buckeyes lost to Sienna three years ago that was an eight seed versus nine seed game. Hardly a flame out. The last two years they lost in the sweet sixteen. In each case the games were exptremely close. In each case, they lost in large part because they were playing six players. Bruce Pearl said after their game that we had a great starting 5 but their 10 players were better than our 6. Which was evident when Lighty got in foul trouble that game and we could not recover. In the Kentucky game they had more fouls than we did. We just could not overcome a horrible game by Buford (2-16) and did not have the depth to bench him.

In your opinion, it was because OSU went to the rim and MIchigan didn't. That's nice. I already pointed out that the refs called some fouls on OSU late after the lead was double-digits that would have no effect on the game to bring about balance to the stat sheet. There are more to fouls than 'going to the rack!!" Michigan was whistled for several touch fouls going over the back, meanwhile Sullinger laid across people several times and was not whistled. Michigan was called for several blocking calls and illegal screens, meanwhile Craft is a blocking machine, but its just 'good defense.' Its, also, the timing of the fouls. Michigan would get the game back within 1-3 points the refs would start the whistles on Michigan. OSU gets doubledigit leads, time to even things back up. You point out that Sullinger had 4 fouls, but ignore that he probably should've had about 15...same with Craft. They aren't going to foul out those players, though. OSU might've lost if that happened.

OSU shouldn't have been an 8/9 seed the year they lost to Sienna. They had the talent to get a higher seed and were much better than their seed. Well, maybe they weren't considering they lost to Sienna. Don't give me crap about depth. There is no excuse for OSU to not have more depth and be able to play more than 6 players. Whose fault is that really? The years they went to the sweet 16, all i heard about was how they were going to go to the final 4, so don't just blow it off as 'not flaming out.' WHen a team is expected by many to make the final 4 and they lose in the sweet 16, its a flame-out.

Ohio State absolutely should have been an 8 seed versus Sienna. We lost David Lighty to injury and our PG to transfer mid season. We had to Juco PGs and neither one could make the switch the big time basketball. That was the year Evan Turner had to switch to PG out of necessity. Back then he was still known as Evan Turnover. People forget how much Evan had to develop to become an all American, he came to the program as a solid defender with a shaky offensive game. He was not even the highest rated player on his high school team (Demitri McAmey).

Last year's loss was the only one that would come close to a flame out and that one could have been averted maybe by having someone else able to step up when Buford so obviously needed to come out of the game.

As for our depth problems. It is tough to build depth when you have early departures every single season like transfers Walter Offut, Anthony Crater, and Eric Wallace coupled with a bunch of guys that leave early to play professionally like Oden, Conley, Cook, Kuofos, Mullens, Turner, and even big Z. Any of those players (except Z) certainly would have made a difference and all of them combined made it impossible for Matta to develop quality depth.

As far as the fouls go. There is now way you can argue the refs were "Protecting Ohio State" when our All American Player of the year candidate had to sit out 8 minutes of the first half due to foul trouble and ended the game with 4 fouls. A game where we had 13 fouls to your 16 and our best player was forced to sit out long stretches of the game is simply not an example of our players being protected. It just plain isn't.

The real culprits for the Free throw discrepancy were Morgan (who admittedly had his own foul trouble to deal with) and Hardaway for not challenging our defenders. Or at least not challenging them enough.

 

[silverbullet97]

Back to the original topic of the thread... What makes Craft so good is that he tends to make plays just when we need them the most. When our offense gets stagnant it is nearly always a nice assist or a drive to the basket that pulls us out of it.

 

[tomdalton22]

they try to say how he does so well for how young he is and how well he plays d. but the reality is that his age really shouldn't effect how they look at him considering plenty of pg's come in and contribute as a young age. he also fouls a lot and gets away with it because its o$u. He really isn't that impressive.

He really isn't impressive. I've definitely played against guys that would run circles around him.

I would LOVE to hear the names of these guys that would run circles around him. I am sure they were DI players...right?

 

[thewolverines24]

He really isn't impressive. I've definitely played against guys that would run circles around him.

I would LOVE to hear the names of these guys that would run circles around him. I am sure they were DI players...right?

Yes they were. Chris Thomas and Jason Gardner. Two of the best guys I've played against. Hell I think Petey Jackson from Ball State was better than Craft is now. Some people here have played against D1 talent in their lives. Amazing concept.