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During the past Ohio State men’s basketball season, a pregame video was played before home games featuring many past Buckeyes, such as Michael Redd, Greg Oden and Evan Turner. One player who was not included was Mike Conley Jr.The former Buckeye point guard was part of a trio, along with Oden and Daequan Cook, who left OSU after one season following the 2007 NCAA Tournament runner-up campaign. Conley was drafted No. 4 by the Memphis Grizzlies in the 2007 NBA draft.Since then, it seems like Conley has been forgotten by Buckeye faithful. Maybe it is because many fans did not agree with his decision to turn pro, particularly after he promised to return following the championship game. Maybe it has something to do with playing for a small-market, perennial lottery team like Memphis. For whatever reason, it never seems to me that Conley gets recognition as a Buckeye legend with others such as Oden and Turner.Now in his fourth season as a professional, the 23-year-old Conley is starting to establish himself as a solid NBA player. After receiving a five-year, $40 million contract extension before this season, Conley set career highs in points, assists and steals. He is one of the leaders of a young Grizzlies team that is contending in the NBA Western Conference playoffs.The Grizzlies entered the postseason as a No. 8 seed and upset the top-seeded San Antonio Spurs in the first round in six games. Memphis is now battling the fourth-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder in the conference semifinals. The series is tied, 2-2.For the postseason, Conley is playing 39.4 minutes and averaging 15.9 points and 6.2 assists per game. Going up against two of the NBA’s top point guards, San Antonio’s Tony Parker and Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook, Conley has held his own.Still, Conley is going largely unnoticed. Most basketball analysts and pundits have been raving about the play of forward Zach Randolph and center Marc Gasol, two of Conley’s teammates — and rightfully so. Randolph and Gasol have been putting up gaudy numbers throughout the playoffs.The orchestrator of those performances is Conley.As the point guard, he makes sure the Memphis big men are getting the ball in places and situations where they can take advantage, just like he did with Oden during their time together at OSU.He can take matters into his own hands, as well. During Game 4 against the Thunder on Monday night, Conley made a game-tying 3-pointer with three seconds remaining to send the game into overtime.Remember the 2007 second round game against Xavier?Conley scored 11 points in overtime, single-handedly closing out the game for the Buckeyes when Oden fouled out on the bench.Memphis coach Lionel Hollins understands the importance of Conley to his team.”Mike’s our head,” Hollins told the Memphis Commercial Appeal. “Mike controls the game for us. He’s our director.”With a slew of young talent, the Grizzlies are on the rise and could be a formidable contender in the West for the next several years, and with Conley signed to the long term, he should get plenty more opportunities to showcase his abilities on the big stage.Now showing: Mike Conley, the best OSU player in the NBA right now.

The Buffalo Bills didn’t fall into the all-too familiar starting quarterback draft day trap in 2011.  Instead the addressed the took a logical look at their team and addressed their biggest need, their god-awful defense.
The Bills passed on shiney offensive objects Blaine Gabbert and AJ Green and used six of their eight picks and every one of their first four on defense.
In the first round the Buffalo used the third pick to take Alabama’s dominant DT Marcell Dareus to sure up their league worst run defense.  Dareus is a great pick for the Bills because , unlike Blaine Gabbert, he is more likely to succeed as an NFL player and he can come in and have instant impact on the team.
In the second round the Bills picked up Texas CB Aaron Williams.  Williams was one of the biggest corners on the board and will add much needed physicality to the Bills’ defense.
Buffalo’s other intriguing pick was their 7th round choice, NT Mike Jasper from tiny Bethel University.  Jasper tipped the scales at 448lbs in January and, regardless of his actual football skills, will help the Bills’ run defense by clogging the middle with his considerable girth.

When the Rangers needed an elite scorer two years ago, they signed Marian Gaborik away from the Wild on the first day he was available as a free agent.
Now, as he comes off a sub-par season and the Rangers are desperate for a top-line center and more offensive production, Gaborik believes the Rangers again will be active this summer.
“There are a few free agents out there that are top guys, so I’m sure,” Gaborik said Monday as the Rangers conducted their breakup day after being eliminated by the Capitals in five games in their Eastern Conference quarterfinal.
“You know that they are going to — they always have — try everything to get guys and I’m sure Glen will definitely try to do something,” Gaborik added of general manager Glen Sather.
Gaborik vowed to train hard over the summer, “come back in great shape and bring it to the next level.
“It’s disappointing but it’s not tragedy,” Gaborik said of his season.
For now, he’s headed back to his native Slovakia to play for the host country in the 2011 IIHF World Championship starting Friday.
“It wasn’t a good year for him, it certainly wasn’t up to his standard,” coach John Tortorella said. “He needs to re-commit himself to make this work and to get into a better mind-set. The first year that he was here, I saw it. And, hopefully, he comes back and does it again.”
Gaborik completed the second season of a five-year deal worth $37.5 million with 22 goals and 26 assists after tying his career high with 42 goals and setting a career high with 86 points in 2009-10.
Gaborik played 62 games this season as he missed 12 games with a separated shoulder, one game due to the flu, one game with a sore groin and six games with a concussion. He insisted injuries played no part in his decreased offensive production.
But it was obvious Gaborik needs help.
“Management obviously has to decide that,” Gaborik said. “I think more skill would help.
“The lines have always changed, it would be definitely great to have someone you could click with,” Gaborik added.
The other part of the equation is that Gaborik played for a team whose entire identity revolved around its grinding, blue-collar, forechecking system.
Gaborik, at his best, is a free-skating sniper.
So the trick, Gaborik admitted, is finding the correct balance between the two.
“Yeah, yeah, for sure,” Gaborik said. “I think we played differently as a team this year. But I think I bought into it and I think I did a lot of good things differently, more battle and stuff. We played more grinding hockey.”
Tortorella certainly isn’t going to change the team’s style to suit one player. But he does acknowledge that Gaborik’s return to top form is crucial to the Rangers.
“Yes, and I think that’s motivation for him,” Tortorella said. “We need to be able to be more consistent skillfully, too. Gabby has that. I don’t want to speak out of turn with Glen but I think if we can — and if it’s there — we need to add some skill to our lineup.
“There’s skill in our hockey club,” Tortorella added. “The top-end skill, that’s something we need to add and Gabby is top-end skill.”As Gaborik said that Sather would try to woo free agents, Tortorella, too, suggested the Rangers would explore “all avenues” to improve.

Kobe Bryant scored 30 points Friday to lead two-time defending NBA champions Los Angeles to a 100-86 victory over New Orleans in their Western Conference first-round playoff series.The win gave the Lakers a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series, which continues with game four in New Orleans on Sunday.Pau Gasol broke out of his playoff slump with 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Lakers, who had 14 points and 11 rebounds from Andrew Bynum and 13 points from Lamar Odom.Chris Paul had 22 points and eight assists for New Orleans, who managed to keep it close for much of the game but never really threatened after the Lakers took an early lead.”They just had a collective effort tonight,” Paul said. “Everybody pitched in and that’s what we really can’t let them do.”We fought,” Paul added. “We played a great first half. It’s just, in the second half it got away from us.”Bryant, who was held to 11 points in the Lakers’ game-two victory on Wednesday, showed early that he was upping his intensity, knocking an attempted shot by Carl Landry out of bounds and then driving into the lane himself for a one-handed dunk. Bryant scored 15 points in the first quarter.It took Gasol longer to warm up. The Spaniard, who had scored just eight points in each of the first two games, had only four points in the first half but hit a key three-pointer early in the fourth that gave the Lakers a 78-70 lead.It was only Gasol’s second three-pointer of this season and the second of his career in the playoffs.”It was a low shot clock, Steve (Blake) got the ball there and I was open,” Gasol said by way of explanation of the unexpected shot. “So I caught it, looked at the rim and made the shot.”Gasol’s return to form was a welcome development for the Lakers, not to mention for Gasol himself.”It was just about playing my game and being assertive and being comfortable out there,” Gasol said.”Don’t try to overthink it. Don’t try to think about the last play. Just try to make the right play. It was a much better game on my part.”The three-pointer launched a 10-1 scoring run that included seven points from Gasol, and the Lakers enjoyed a double-digit lead for much of the final period.”The big aspect is Pau having that two, three minutes of offensive display there in the fourth quarter. It helped establish the lead and give us some room,” Lakers coach Phil Jackson said.”He is just too good a basketball player. He can shoot, he can handle the ball, he can do a lot of things. It’s just a matter of him finding a comfort zone out there.”I didn’t expect him to find it out on the three-point line,” Jackson added. “But we are not surprised when he makes those shots.”

St. Charles, Mo. — A $5 basketball net became a priceless piece of jewelry for Northern Iowa women’s basketball coach Tanya Warren on Sunday.
For the second straight season, the Panthers won the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, this time blowing away Missouri State with surprising ease in a 69-41 victory.
That gave the Panthers the right to cut down the net, and after slicing the final thread, Warren draped the net over her neck as a nylon necklace.
“That feels great,” Warren said. “I’d like to wear this as some jewelry.”With the win, Northern Iowa (27-5) earned a berth to the NCAA Tournament, whose 64-team field will be announced tonight. The Panthers had never won the MVC Tournament or made the NCAA Tournament prior to last year, when they were an upset winner as the No. 5 seed.
But the second time was even sweeter than the first, said forward Amber Kirschbaum.
“It’s back-to-back, so it’s definitely sweeter,” Kirschbaum said.
Box score: Northern Iowa 69, Missouri State 41The win was the Panthers’ 19th straight, a school record and only four shy of Southern Illinois’ conference record. Since losing 69-60 on Jan. 1 at Illinois State in its second conference game of the season, Northern Iowa was unbeatable the rest of the way. It won the regular season title with a 17-1 record.
“It feels amazing,” Northern Iowa guard Katelin Oney said. “The first one was pretty awesome, but to be able to do 19 games in a row on top of a (regular season) championship, I’m speechless.”
The game, featuring the two highest-scoring offenses in the Valley, figured to be a shootout, but Northern Iowa quickly made it a runaway before a crowd of 1,598 at Family Arena.
Two Jacqui Kalin 3-pointers sparked a 17-0 run that gave Northern Iowa a 22-5 lead with 9:19 left in the first half. The Panthers stretched their advantage to 33-11 following a pair of Kirschbaum free throws with 4:57 left in the half.
Northern Iowa led 35-15 at halftime and led by as many as 35 points in the second half.
“We had to limit their 3-pointers and their transition points,” Warren said. “The game, in my opinion, was won in transition. They had no transition points.”
Kalin was named the tournament’s most valuable player and was joined on the all-tournament team by teammates Lizzie Boeck and K.K. Armstrong.
The Panthers had four players score in double figures, led by Oney’s 16 points, 14 from Armstrong and 13 from Kalin. Kirschbaum had 12 points and 11 rebounds.
“Last year was so emotional,” Kirschbaum said. “This year we played amazing the whole tournament. Everyone played great.”
Northern Iowa was a No. 16 seed in the NCAA Tournament last season and lost its opening game to top-seeded Nebraska. This year the Panthers figure to have a better seed. Charlie Creme’s bracket projection at ESPN.com has the Panthers as a No. 12, meaning they would play a No. 5 seed in the first round.
“Last year we were just excited to be there,” Warren said. “This year we’re excited, but we want to get there and make some noise.”
Like her players, Warren said the title was even sweeter than the first.
“Yes, it is, but it really hasn’t sunk in yet,” Warren said. “I’m really happy for these kids and what they’ve done start to finish. Everyone kept asking, ‘If you don’t win, are you in (the NCAA Tournament)?’ I think we answered the question — we’re in.”
The selection show starts at 6 p.m. on ESPN. Northern Iowa will have a pre-show gathering with fans at 5:30 p.m. in the alumni suite of the McLeod Center.

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