Keeping up: Ohio State Buckeyes in the NBA, week of 12/11-12/17

It seemed as if the more playing time former Buckeyes saw last week, the more likely their team was to lose. In games where a former Ohio Stater played over 30 minutes, their teams went 2-7 during the week. While Buckeye shootyhoopers that played less than a quarter (12 minutes) of gametime or did not play (in Daequan Cook's case most of the week) had their teams go 4-2 last week. Hopefully this isn't a trend that continues as we all want to see former Buckeyes on the court and excelling.

Mike Conley - PG - Memphis Grizzlies: Conley had been in the middle of a 7-game slump, where he shot 25-76 (33%) from the field before hitting 6 of 12 shots on Monday as Memphis downed Chicago 80-71. As Conley struggled earlier in the week so did the Grizzlies. The loss on Friday night to the Nuggets gave Memphis their first 3-game losing streak on the season. Wednesday night's Milwaukee/Memphis game will be on ESPN at 9:30 PM EST if you want to catch Conley in action.

Daequan Cook - SG - Houston Rockets: There isn't a lot going right for Daequan in Houston right now. In the four games the Rockets played last week, Cook only appeared in Monday night's game against the Knicks for three minutes. In nine games since starting against the Thunder and playing 38 minutes, Daequan has only appeared in three games for a combined 18 minutes.

Kosta Koufos - F/C - Denver Nuggets: Koufos continues to start and give the Nuggets 20 to 25 solid minutes a game. His numbers aren't flashy but he does the dirty work. Blocks have been a strong part of Koufos' game this year, ranking in the top 20 in the NBA with 1.6 blocks/game. Kosta's tough defense makes up for his lack of scoring. On the season Koufos has only scored in double figures in 5 of 24 games.

Byron Mullens - F/C - Charlotte Bobcats: After seeing decreased playing time due to an ankle injury the previous week, Mullens saw his minutes on the floor return to what they had normally been for the most part last week. Mullens played over 35 minutes in two of Charlotte's three games. On Wednesday night Mullens scored 19 points, which was his highest output since scoring 27 against the Wizards on November 24th. After surprisingly starting the season 7-5, the Bobcats have fallen on hard times and dropped their last 11 games.

Evan Turner - G/F - Philadelphia 76ers: While the 76ers lost all three games this week, but it wasn't from a lack of effort from Evan Turner. The Villian played 40-plus minutes in all three games, and his numbers were a shade above his season averages. Turner registered another double-double, 22 points and 10 rebounds, in his strongest game a week, which was a 10-point loss to Indiana for the 76ers. That was Turner's seventh double-double in 24 games this season.

Jared Sullinger - PF - Boston Celtics: Sully continues to learn the ropes in his rookie year in the NBA. There wasn't much time on the floor last week for Sullinger, but what he is learning from Paul Pierce, Rajon Rondo, Kevin Garnett, and coach Doc Rivers in his first season in the NBA can only help to shape his game for years to come. It will be interesting to see how what sort of minutes Sullinger gets going forward in the season and in any possible playoff series that the Celtics play in.