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

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jwinslow;2037917; said:
such a force for this team. as for the running joke about combo guards, he doesn't really have the consistency as a shooter to be confused for one.
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I don't know. I would need to see more of him taking 15-18 foot jump shots before I would completely rule him out as a combo guard. He certainly can play the point and he does have the quickness to play the #2. He might lack the heighth to play the #2 guard and still be able to get off his shot. However, if he has some room he does have the outside shot as was proven last night.
 
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he is a cat quick, suffocating defender, lane slasher, facilitator who can occasionally hit an open 3 but is far more comfortable with runners and attacking the rim.

he is the epitome of a big ten point guard.

he isn't a poor shooter, but for now the opposition would rather live with him shooting outside instead of Buford or Sibert.

My point was that "combo guard" doesn't merely sell him short... it is completely backwards.

I agree about his work ethic and expect him to bring that same intensity to improving his jump shot. he may become a combo guard, but he is a pure point guard so far.
 
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NINJA BUCK13;2037928; said:
I think he's a lot better shooter than he's shown so far. He's going to shoot close to 50% from the field, 38-40% from 3, and 80+% from the FT line.

This kid works hard at his game. He's got a good looking shot. It will start falling at a higher rate soon.
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I agree. FLA has a ton of talent at guard. The way AC shut down their best perimeter players (and, effectively, FLA's offense), I think 13 pts is more than adequate. He can easily score in the 16-24 range when playing against weaker competition. If he can hold an all-conference level player to 10 points under their average and force multiple turnovers, I don't care if he breaks double digits on the scoreboard.
 
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It was interesting that the pundits said before the game that this would be a matchup of Florida's excellent guards and the Buckeyes' frontcourt strength. But as it turned out, Florida's bigs arguably outplayed Sully and Thomas, while Florida's guards admitted that Craft et al "dominated" them.

I think our backcourt this season will be just fine.
 
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I am impressed with what Donovan said. My Iowa and Illinois friends have told me Craft has their respect and consider him on the level of Scott Skiles on how he disrupts their teams. I think that I underestimated his physical ability..hard work is fine but his lateral movement and quick hands show me he isn't short on fast-twitch muscles.
 
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Craft is a great defender at the point guard position, possibly the best in college basketball at guarding the point, and plays the point guard position really well. He could be one of the top-10 point guards in college basketball this year. Jay Williams on ESPN's preview show put guys like Josiah Turner on his list of top-10 PGs this year and did not include Craft - that is a mistake.

I did overestimate how big of a role Scott would have this year. Although I still really like Scott and think he is a purer point than Craft, Craft is clearly a better player right now, and when you combine that with Smith's emergence at the 2, you have eliminated the need for Scott to start. However, you could say the team doesn't have enough guys who can hurt defenses with the dribble drive with the starting lineup as is, because really Craft is the only guy they have that is driving the lane. There will be times where Craft plays the 2 while Scott is at the point this year, although it will not be one of the primary lineups, it can give them more dribble penetration ... perhaps it will be a more prominent combination in future years.

So yes, I was wrong about projecting Craft to start at the 2 with Scott starting at PG this year. Craft deserves to start at PG this year.
 
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looking at the ohio state steals records, i see that they haven't been updated since last season. an updated list would have craft tied with ransey for 2nd in single-game steals at 7 and tied with several players for 3rd with 6 steals. in fact, craft had 6 steals twice last year.

and guess what? craft is the only player in ohio state's history to have at least 3 games of 6 or more steals. guys, we're talking about a player who hasn't even played a 10th of his sophomore season. he will obliterate all of the steals records.

by the way, craft already has 4 steals tonight.
 
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OSU_Buckguy;2039469; said:
looking at the ohio state steals records, i see that they haven't been updated since last season. an updated list would have craft tied with ransey for 2nd in single-game steals at 7 and tied with several players for 3rd with 6 steals. in fact, craft had 6 steals twice last year.

and guess what? craft is the only player in ohio state's history to have at least 3 games of 6 or more steals. guys, we're talking about a player who hasn't even played a 10th of his sophomore season. he will obliterate all of the steals records.

by the way, craft already has 5 steals tonight.
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Kid is a stud and nothing but game. I hope he keeps flying under the radar so we get him for 2 more years. Yeah, I'm selfish. :biggrin:

Seriously though, I want a #4 jersey for Christmas. I love his effort, game, and attitude.
 
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scarletmike;2039475; said:
Kid is a stud and nothing but game. I hope he keeps flying under the radar so we get him for 2 more years. Yeah, I'm selfish. :biggrin:

Seriously though, I want a #4 jersey for Christmas. I love his effort, game, and attitude.
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[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zX2LEdEIbGM"]Aaron Craft jersey 3 year old excited - YouTube[/ame]
 
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Craft finished his freshman year with 73 steals, and after tonight has 11 in three games in his sophomore year.

The OSU career leader is Jay Burson, with 204.

The Big Ten career leader is Bruce Douglas with 324.

Most recently, Chris Kramer had 274.

Obviously, Mike Conley has OSU's single season steals record at 87. I wasn't able to find the Big Ten single seasons steals mark, however.

So, if Craft plays four years, he has a shot at being the all time B1G steals leader, and should easily be the OSU career leader.

Edit: The NCAA career record is 385, and single season record is an unbelievable 160.
 
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