My favorite sports is starting and I couldn’t be more excited to be writing about it this year. I have a love for football and anything Scarlet and Gray but I truly have a passion for basketball and March Madness is my favorite time of year. The last two years I was able to watch all of the games being unemployed but since I finally have a job it looks like this year I’ll be missing some until I can catch up on them on DVR haha. Anyways enough about me and lets talk Buckeye basketball specifically the guards that will be playing for Ohio State this season.
First player I will discuss with you is someone you might have heard of. He is 6 ft 2 inches tall and will be playing his final season for the Buckeyes. Wow that was hard to say. Aaron Craft who is one of the best defensive guards in the nation will be leading the Buckeyes into the 2013-2014 season.
Craft currently isn’t the major offensive threat but he does average 10 points per game, hes a decent passer averaging 4.6 assists per game and has a knack for getting some rebounds averaging almost 4 a game.
Aaron’s strength is his defense and his hustle and man is he good at it. He can take an opponent’s best guard out of rhythm and make him have a long night. Craft averages 2.1 steals per game but will have to adjust his game defensively because the NCAA has put into place the Hand Check Rule. He is definitely athletic enough and smart enough to overcome this obstacle. During an off season camp it was reported that Craft was doing a great job shut down the Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving:
Apparently Aaron Craft has been really holding his own defending Kyrie Irving here. Picking him up full-court and making him work.
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) June 26, 2013
For those of you that don’t know who Kyrie is well lets just say you are about to hear more and more of him he is going to be one of the best point guards in the NBA and Aaron Mr. Shutdown Craft made him realize that he thinks Craft can play in the NBA.
Craft has proven this last season in the NCAA tournament he isn’t shy from taking the last shot and nailing it or dishing it off to a teammate to win the game. This is the guy you want on your team when the game is close and it is so much fun watching him play for a purist like myself its a thing of beauty.
Next Guard on the roster is 6 foot 1 inch Shannon Scott. Scott is a junior who is another defensive gem for the Buckeyes.
Scott who is a junior is averaging close to 5 points and 4 assists per game.
Neither Scott nor Craft are flashy offensive players they are very good at defense and when Craft needs a breather Scott is great at filling in for Craft and the Buckeyes defense doesnt loose a step for their backcourt.
Lenzelle Smith Jr is a senior also this season, the 6 foot 4 inch guard has been improving his game. The hard work he has been doing really showed up in the NCAA Tournament last year with Smith avearaging 17.5 points per game. During the regular season he averaged 9.2. Smith’s game has continued to improve each and every year so look for another jump this year, he has the ability to hit the three or take it inside and “throw the hammer down”.
Smith is also very good on defense and an excellent rebounder probably one of the best rebounding guards in the B1G.
Fan favorite Amedeo Della Valle is looking to be more involved for the Buckeyes this year. Look for the 6 foot 5 sophomore to get a lot more playing time and making his presence known.
Over the summer, Della Valle starred for his home country, Italy, in the Under-20 European Championships. In the event, which took place in Tallinn, Estonia, Della Valle led the Italians to the gold metal at the event. After averaging 13 ppg and 3.7 rpg, he was named the tournament’s most valuable player. In the fourth quarter of the championship game he took over scoring 13 points and a 3 to seal the victory.
The last upper classman to discuss at the guard position is walk on Andrew Goldstein. The 6 foot 3 junior will get to play this season after having to sit last year due to his transfer. o be honest couldn’t find much on him other than he was a pretty good high school player so it will be interesting to see what he brings to the table this year for the Buckeyes.
Last but not least is the freshman Kam Williams. The 6 foot 2 4 star recruit out of Baltimore Maryland. The knock on this kid is he is to skinny and needs to put on some weight. Hopefully since he made the right choice coming to Ohio State he will be able to bulk up in their new multi-million dollar facility and learn how to play defense from the best that are in front of him this season.
Its going to be another exciting year for the Buckeyes and the guard play is just one of the key components needed for another deep run into the tourney and the Scarlet and Gray have the talent to be able to do that. This is an extremely hard working team and their hard work will hopefully be rewarded this season.
