Men's Basketball
The-Ozone Note and Quotebook
By John Porentas

NBA?: Now that the season has ended the big questions surrounding the basketball Buckeyes will be who, if anybody, will declare for the NBA draft.

The names that have been mentioned as possible early-outs have been Daequan Cook, Mike Conley and, of course Greg Oden. Following the Florida game Conley made is sound an awful lot like he will be back. He also let it be known that he hopes all of his teammates return as well because if they do, he sees the Buckeyes as a juggernaut next season, particularly if Oden comes back.

Mike Conley
Photo by Jim Davidson

"It would be a really special team if he decides to come back," said Conley.

"We have a lot of guys like David Lighty coming back and hopefully Daequan and the rest of the guys, we'll be a pretty deep team especially with the recruiting class coming in," Conley said.

"I'm hoping he comes back, that's my thing, but I'm hoping that's going to happen," Conley said of Oden.

Oden himself has steadfastly maintained that he has not yet begun to think about that decision. Conley indicated that as far as he knows, that is in fact the case. When asked if has discussed the NBA question with Oden Conley said "Not at all. We've been worrying about the tournament."

Conley wouldn't conjecture on Oden's intentions, but said that the loss in the national championship game left unfinished business for Oden.

"Definitely," said Conley. "He wanted to put this on his resume, to win the national championship, and we fell short. This will maybe be a key factor in making him come back," Conley said.

Conley also added that he will definitely lobby Oden for a return if he gets a chance, but ultimately will respect whatever his former high school and AAU teammate decides.

"I want to play with him," said Conley. I haven't played without him in a while. I don't know if he wants to lose that or what. It's just whatever his decision is," said Conley.

David Lighty
Photo by Jim Davidson

Fellow freshman David Lighty is also hoping Oden returns.

"I wouldn't be surprised if it happened," said Lighty.

"Greg loves the program, Greg loves campus, Greg loves to be around us and we love to be around him. Mike and Daequan are the same way. We all live together. We all have fun and we all love each other. It wouldn't be a surprise at all to me if we had the same team next year."

"I don't know what to think," added Conley.

"Right now I'm trying not to think about this possibly being my last time and last moment with him. If it is the last moment we gave we all we had together on the court to try and win the game. Hopefully he'll be back next year."

While the focus is on the NBA for the players, there is also some possibility that the Buckeyes could lose and assistant coach. Buckeye assistant John Groce's name is often mentioned in connection with open jobs. Conley knows that coaches move on and advance, but would love to see Groce stay for the duration of his career.

"That would be totally different without him as an assistant coach. He's done a great job this year. He's really made me into a better player," said Conley.

So would Conley like to see Groce get a head coaching job someday?

""Eventually, but I hope it's not next year or the year after that. He does a great job at Ohio State. We need him," said Conley.

Do They Ever Miss?: A lot of Buckeye fans were asking themselves that question as the Gators nailed one three after another in the national championship game. So were the Buckeyes, and watching the shooting display took its toll.

Daequan Cook
Photo by Jim Davidson

"It was just one of those nights. They just came out and made everything. Some of them were tough shots. We got a hand in their face and they were going down. At our end they weren't going down," said Daequan Cook.

"It was very deflating, just to know that we keep putting forth that effort and every time we we put forth an effort they would knock down another big shot. It was just very devastating," Cook said.

"I was like, 'Man, what can we do?'" said Othello Hunter. "I was talking to the guys and saying 'Don't worry, the next three is going to go in, ' but they just weren't falling and that was it," said Hunter.

One of the main perpetrators of that deadly shooting for the Gators was Lee Humprey who was four-of-seven from three and always seemed to bail out the Gators with timely threes. That was particularly deflating to forward Matt Terwilliger.

"Loose balls they'd dive on the floor, take it out to him (Humphry) and as soon as he puts it up I just look away because I know it's going in," said Terwilliger.

Despite the constant discouraging plays by the Gators, the Buckeyes never thought they were really out of the game.

"We felt there was a chance throughout the whole game," said Mike Conley.

Good Zebras?: Basketball fans, 99 percent of them, love to complain about officials. It's as regular and predictable as the setting of the sun and rise and fall of the tides. One guy who was not upset with the officials after the national championship game was OSU center Greg Oden who had praise for the officials who worked the game.

Greg Oden
Photo by Jim Davidson

"I really like those refs, but I was conscious of fouling, so I really tried now to foul, but those refs, they were great," said Oden.

"They talked to us the whole entire game and told us 'Don't hook,' or 'I'm going to get the guys off my back' and when I didn't they called the fouls," Oden said.

Oden was happy with the officials, but obviously disappointed with the outcome of the game despite the fact that he played perhaps his most complete game of the season against the Gators.

"It feels really bad because we wanted to win," said Oden.

"Coach told us that when we get older we're going to look back and say this was one of he greatest years we ever had, but right now I'm just so disappointed that we lost. I wish we could have that game back and we could do something different. If we could play again I'd play right now," Oden said.

Oden did not take any questions regarding his NBA intentions after the game, but did say this.

"I just tried to help contribute to my team. It wasn't enough actually. We just have to keep on working at it."

It will be tough to work at it if he's gone.

Closing the Gap?: The Buckeyes were beaten very soundly by the Gators in December, but this time were much more competitive. While the Gators were clearly better, the Buckeyes definitely closed the gap between December and April. The 26-point deficit in the first meeting was reduced to nine in Atlanta.

"We played a better game. We came out and played our game," agreed Daequan Cook.

Jamar Butler agreed that the Buckeyes were closer, but couldn't take much comfort from that after the game.

"A loss is a loss. They beat us and that's all you can say," said Butler.

What's Next?: Obviously, the season is over, but the Buckeyes won't take too much time off before beginning to prepare for next year's season.

Jamar Butler
Photo by Jim Davidson

"Right now I need a couple of weeks off," said junior guard Jamar Butler.

"I'll take my two weeks off and then we go back to spring workouts and then this summer when that class comes in we're going to go back to work and try to get back here again," Butler said.

Like most the other Buckeyes, Butler was pretty low after losing the last game of the season, but not ashamed of how the overall season went.

"We lost. We had a great year, but we lost the national championship game," said Butler, but then ticked off OSU's accomplishments.

"Big Ten Champs, Big Ten Tournament Champs, Final Four, National Championship game, I think that's enough," Butler said.

Buckeye Basketball Back?: This season OSU basketball rose to a level not seen in a long time. Mike Conley thinks that it is not just a one-time deal.

"I feel like Ohio State's on the map now," said Conley.

"We have a pretty good recruiting class coming in and some players after that coming in. If everybody sticks around and wants to be involved with this family that we've grown and come together with it would be a great thing to be a part of," Conley said.

OSU Head Coach Thad Matta was understandably happy with this Buckeye team.

"I don't think anyone can understand how proud I am of this team," said Matta.

"They came together, they played unselfish, they made it happen, my job was to get them to the arena on time.

"Those guys, the family that they formed, the bond that they formed, you don't see that every day. That is a special group of guys," said Matta.

The season was of course capped by a fantastic run in the NCAA tournament. It was a thrill for the fans. It was also a thrill for the players involved despite its bittersweet ending.

"It was real exciting," said Conley.

"We tried to enjoy it and have fun. We made a fantastic run this year. We came up short but it was a good run. I'm going to remember it for the rest of my life," Conley said.

"We want to be proud and we definitely did a great job.

"People had us not making it this far, not being this good and we definitely shocked a lot of people, but within the team we still felt like we were a team that could win this and we're very hurt over losing. Knowing it would be the last game playing with Ron and Ivan, it really hurts," said Conley.

Like Matta, Greg Oden was also proud of how the group evolved.

"Just how our guys stepped up and we started to play for each other. Just guys taking different roles than what they usually do. We all adapted to each other and we all became a tight group," Oden said.

Why Was the Three Point Shooting the Way it Was?

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