You could say Greg Oden is one win away from “pulling a Carmelo,” only it’s not like Oden is really carrying Ohio State the way ‘Melo carried Syracuse in ‘03. Is he clearly the best player on the team? No doubt. But how many Buckeye games has it been now where Oden’s foul trouble is a primary storyline? Last night against Georgetown, Oden barely played in the first half after picking up two fouls with the quickness, and while he was a presence in the second half (13 pts, 9 rebs, 1 blk), it was the rest of the team pulling together and getting it done that sent OSU to the title game. Mike Conley keeps making himself famous, putting up 15 points and six dimes … Maybe it was because of Oden being out, but Thad Matta was sweating like prime-of-his-career Patrick Ewing in the first half. It was kinda gross … The game turned with about 8:45 to go, right after G’Town had rallied to tie. Roy Hibbert (19 pts, 6 rebs) picked up his fourth foul and had to sit — incredibly, this happened about 1.6 seconds after Billy Packer said John Thompson III should take Hibbert out because he looked tired and was about to commit a silly foul. After Hibbert went out, Oden came back in, Ohio State went off, and the Hoyas never recovered … Think Oden doesn’t have the fire? It showed a couple times: once when he yelled after a dunk, did a chin-up and slapped the backboard. And again when Oden caught it coming down the lane and tried to eat Jeff Green’s children. If Oden makes that dunk it would have been the play of the tournament … Being our resident G’Town fan (despite hailing from Seattle and going to college out there — figure that out), here was Austin’s reaction to Hibbert hitting a jumper from right inside the three-point line: (shot goes up) “What are you doing?!?” (shot goes in) “Wooooo!” … Depending on the day, Hibbert’s nickname in the office is either “The Hibbeast” or “The Vagrant.” With that Willis Reed thing he has going, it looks like JT3 brought in a 7-footer off the street. Roy should start seeing Jeff Green’s barber … Florida/UCLA wasn’t as hyped-up or, ultimately, as competitive as Hoyas/Buckeyes. Corey Brewer scored 19 and locked up Arron Afflalo, who didn’t get a bucket until the game was decided and finished with the most empty 17-point game ever. Joakim Noah (4 blks, 11 rebs) and Al Horford (17 rebs) had their way inside as expected … The main question for UCLA now becomes, did Afflalo and Darren Collison (3-for-14 FGs) play bad enough to make them come back next season and team with Kevin Love to form an absolute juggernaut? … Kevin Durant copped CBS’ Player of the Year at halftime of the G’Town/OSU game. KD looked pretty clean in his suit. And how many NBA GMs were looking at him and fantasizing about their team’s logo cap sitting on Kevin’s dome? … Cavs/Bulls was pretty simple in the end; LeBron made plays when he had to in OT and Ben Gordon didn’t. ‘Bron ended up with 39 points, 9 dimes and 3 steals (and 7 turnovers), while BG scored 37 but had a crucial turnover and missed a three in crunch time … Monster game for Tyrus Thomas, who scored 27 on what seemed like all dunks. During a sequence where Tyrus crowned Zydrunas Ilgauskas and threw down a tip dunk on the next possession, Bill Walton said people in the organization think the rookie is the most athletic Bulls player of all-time. And that includes Mike, Scottie and Rodman. Can you imagine if Tyrus had stayed in school this year? Him and Big Baby would have wrecked shop at LSU … Did Walton really say Tyrus and P.J. Brown are “Louisiana soul mates?” … LeBron said in a taped interview shown during the game that Kobe is the best player in the League … At least the Bulls made it a game in OT. Knicks/Hornets went to an extra frame after Nate Robinson hit a trey with 10 seconds left in the fourth, and then New York left the building. They got outscored 11-2 in overtime, wasting a 34-13 night from Eddy Curry … Chris Paul went for 16 points, 6 dimes and 4 steals, and got this quote from Isiah Thomas: “I think he’s a little better than what I was. He seems to get the basketball, and he’s at your foul line and he’s standing there bouncing the basketball. He moves just like a hummingbird.” … Question: If the Hornets somehow sneak into the playoffs, pull off some major upsets and get into the Finals, will this be their version of “Super Bowl Shuffle”? Or do we bring the rest of the squad into the studio for the remix? … Without their best offensive player (Zach Randolph — out for the season with a hand injury) and arguably their best defensive player (Ime Udoka), and losing their best available big man (LaMarcus Aldridge) in the first quarter to dizziness, how do you think the Blazers did last night? Exactly. Cat Mobley dropped 25 on Portland in a win for the just-as short-handed Clippers, who were playing without Sam Cassell and Corey Maggette … The rosters for the Portsmouth pre-draft camp are out. The list includes D.J. Strawberry (Maryland), NIT MVP Frank Young (West Virginia), Kammron Taylor (Wisconsin) and Reyshawn Terry (North Carolina) … We’re out like the Bruins and Hoyas …

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