This photograph is art.
https://t.co/pRioBMJuOT pic.twitter.com/qsddbkPlKX
— Sean Nuernberger (@Sean4Heisman1) February 23, 2021
If Sean hasn't already had a custom painting of this glorious moment commissioned, I don't know what he's even doing.
Word of the Day: Kismet.
#1 SEED ON THE LINE. Even after this week's loss to Michigan (gonna go ahead and wash my hands after typing that horrific phrase), Ohio State is still hanging onto that last No. 1 in pretty much every bracket projection.
And at least up until last night, it looked like they might be having to hold off Illinois until Selection Sunday to keep that top seed.
The Fighting Illini (16-5, 12-3) haven't lost since Jan. 16, a head-to-head meeting with the Buckeyes that is the difference maker right now.
When applying a blind résumé test, Ohio State has eight Quadrant 1 (top-25 home, top-75 away) victories compared to Illinois' seven. But the Illini have a better NET score of 4 compared to OSU's 7, partially due to playing two fewer games, which included a postponement of their scheduled Feb. 11 clash with Michigan (now slated for March 2).
Ohio State has a better strength of schedule, but Illinois could shorten the margin by playing four of its last five on the road – with all of those Quad 1 opportunities. OSU, meanwhile, only has three games in Big Ten play remaining.
Quick aside here – I love the use of the phrase "blind résumé test" immediately before giving the résumés with the team names attached.
Now, back to the very serious sports talking y'all pay top dollar for.
Obviously, the good news is that Illinois got punked against Michigan State last night, which for sure helps Ohio State's chances at a No. 1 seed. The bad news is, Ohio State now has to play that same Spartan team in East Lansing on Thursday as they desperately fight for an NCAA Tournament bid. And then they get to finish the season with No. 11 Iowa, and No. 5 Illinois.
Needless to say, these next couple of weeks ain't going to be easy. But at the same time, "just win, baby!" is kinda what late-season college hoops is all about, right?
SNUBBED AGAIN. It feels like this could have just been a scheduled post at this point, but Mike Conley has once again missed out on the NBA All-Star game, continuing his apparent quest to become the best player in NBA history to never make an All-Star game.
Sources: 2021 NBA All-Star reserves:
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 23, 2021
West: Chris Paul, Paul George, Damian Lillard, Donovan Mitchell, Rudy Gobert, Zion Williamson, Anthony Davis
East: James Harden, Julius Randle, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Zach LaVine, Ben Simmons, Nikola Vucevic
I say this without hyperbole – if he simply played in the Eastern Conference, he would have had like six to eight All-Star appearances by now. Instead, he spent the prime of his career playing in the same conference as guys like Stephen Curry, James Harden, Damian Lillard, Chris Paul, Klay Thompson, Russell Westbrook and Kobe Bryant.
The simple reaction to that could easily be "well then he must just not be very good." But that's just not true.
From 2013-14 through 2018-19, he averaged 18.1 points and 6.0 assists while downing 37.5 percent of his triples. Curry, Paul and Kyle Lowry are the only other players to maintain those benchmarks during that stretch, and not one of them has fewer than four All-Star appearances under his belt.
His true crime is just being too consistently good for too long, I guess.
BASKETBALL SCHOOL THINGS. The bad news is, Ohio State has no McDonald's All-Americans among the 2021 class. The worse news is that Michigan leads the nation with three.
Congratulations to the Boys & Girls 2021 @mcdaag rosters! #mcdaag pic.twitter.com/P1x0sMh6rC
— Paul Biancardi (@PaulBiancardi) February 23, 2021
I can think of only one solution to this problem: sign Chet Holmgren.
Don't worry, Chris Holtmann – this advice comes free of charge. But next time, my interns will be sending you an invoice.
NEXT DIRECTOR OF PLAYER DEVELOPMENT UP. Ohio State's core support staff has quietly been one of the most elite and consistent things about this football team since Urban Meyer came to town almost a decade ago.
But after eight years, Ohio State finally has to replace one of those irreplaceable individuals, and early signs are that they absolutely found the right guy for the job.
Stamper is confident Barnett will build on the foundation he helped set.
“I just think he gets it. In that position, you need a guy that gets it,” Stamper said. “A lot of former players feel like, ‘Oh, I can come in and be in player development.’ But that position isn’t a glamorous job.
“You’ve got to have the pulse of the team and know what’s going on and tell coach Day (about issues) and get players to trust him. That’s how critical it is.”
Barnett knows there will be an adjustment period but is excited about what he can bring.
“I clearly have aspirations to be at the level of Stamp and maybe even exceed it, though I don’t know how you exceed it because he did so much and did such a great job," he said.
“I think one unique thing I can bring is just my experiences and being a former Buckeye player. As these freshmen come in, I'm able to kind of show them the ropes, let them know about the tradition, what it means to be a Buckeye. Stamp was a great college football player and a leader, but he played for the Gators. I was a Buckeye, so I get to add that element to it."
That last part hits different, cause he's right. No matter how great Ryan Stamper was at his job, he could only relate to the players so much because at the end of the day, he was a Gator.
C.J. Barnett is a Buckeye through and through. He knows what it's like to play for this university and this fanbase, he knows the tradition and history without ever having to be thought, he knows what college life looks like at Ohio State, and he knows what it's like to enter the real world in Columbus when his playing days are over. And like Stamp, that law enforcement background sure doesn't hurt, either.
As an outsider, I'm not sure I'll ever know how Barnett's actually performing in the new role, but I don't think I'm going to have to be concerned.
As far as home run hires go, this is a drive into deep left field by Castellanos and that'll be a homerun. And so that'll make it a 4-0 ballgame. I don't know if I'll be putting on this headset again. Whether that be for the Reds or my bosses at FOX.
SONG OF THE DAY. "Mr. Brightside" by The Killers.
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