Somewhere there should be 
for all the world to see 
a statue of a fool made of stone.

An image of a man
who let love slip through his hands
and left him to stand here all alone.

— David Ruffin, "Statue Of A Fool"

I found your statue, Mr. Ruffin.

It depicts Dan Dakich watching Aaron Craft attempt this shot.

[Hit THE JUMP for the rest of the GIFs, including lots of Derrick Walton, "Plastic Man," John Beilein giving dap in the run of play, sad Ohio fans, and more.]

As usual, click the stills/links to open each GIF in a lightbox, and don't forget to vote for your favorite at the end of the post.

HONORABLE MENTION

Stauskas plays possum, hits triple. Beautiful crossover and dish to Horford by Walton. Stauskas needs thismuch space. Somehow, this is a foul on Jon Horford. In less surprising news to everyone but Aaron Craft, this is a foul on Aaron Craft. Wait, where's everyone going? WIN THE GAME, non-McGary edition.

10. The Future

The Future doubles as a pretty solid Present.

As usual, don't forget to watch the bench; Andrew Dakich (front and center) has Mitch McGary's roll the dice celebration down cold. Nik Stauskas also slips in a quick three monocle on his way back up the court.

9. Aaron Craft Meets Plastic Man

I'm trying to get "Plastic Man" to stick as a nickname for Caris LeVert, a player whose unusual physique and style beg for a good nickname. This totally works:

He can contort his body into various positions and sizes impossible for ordinary humans, such as being entirely flat so that he can slip under a door or using his fingers to pick conventional locks.

Plastic Man. It is known.

8. Stauskas stepback/Beilein low-five

Which Stauskas's opening stepback three wasn't the most high-percentage shot he could've attempted, he found a way to knock it down, and his coach approved...

This won't be your last look at the, er, variety of life in Ohio.

7. Tréjà Vu

As Brian pointed out:

The word "Burke" was uttered, in comparison instead of deficit, when Walton took a mishandled dribble and exploded to the basket for an and-one against a seven foot shotblocker. He extended his body past applicable limits and crashed to the floor after. It had to be mentioned. It was like seeing a ghost.

This is not that shot, nor the one Brian screencapped in his post.

This is Trey Burke.

Whenever John Beilein decides he's worked enough magic, "LaVall Jordan, Coach in Waiting" has a nice ring to it. 

6. Rise and fire, Derrick Walton

This is when one should hold their shooting form. Chest thumps, given the situation, are also appropriate.

5. Salute My Shots

1. I'm telling you, LeVert is Plastic Man.

2. This goes right into the pantheon of nononononoYES NEVER A DOUBT shots.

3. The interaction between GRIII (saluting, just visible above the scoreboard graphic) and the bench (Dakich, again, stars here) is great.

4. For some reason, the cheerleader closest to the basket giving a final, hesitant clap just before the ball goes in makes me laugh every time.

4. Amir Williams, SMDH

Zooming in on the foul and the fan reactions, in slow-mo, produces a panoply of submission cobras and facepalms, with perhaps the best one coming at the very end just to the left of the basket:

Here's the foul again with a fan reaction shot that needs further breakdown below:

1. SMDH lady is the star, both for her befitting reaction and THAT 'DO.

@AceAnbender @rodiard I'm from Ohio, and my mom had that cut until at least 2010.

— Jane Coaston (@cjane87) February 12, 2014

2. Unnecessary Accessory Guy.

@RossWB @AceAnbender I also might add that the "sleeve" on his right arm is definitly an Adidas sock.

— Joe F. (@tallshmo) February 12, 2014

3. The girl on the other side of UAG has come to a horrible realization and is looking to the heavens for answers. BiSB dubbed her "Just Realized The Futility Girl".

4. Lower left corner: "Sorry I'm late! Did I miss anythi-- oh."

5.. Everyone else. Their sadness fuels me.

For all-purpose use: just the SMH/submission cobra/general schadenfreude portion.

3. F*** yeah, Derrick Walton

Ghosts, man.

2. Island in a sea of Ohio

JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT THE FAN REACTION SHOTS COULDN'T GET ANY BETTER.

FRAMES OF THE GAME: AARBALL

Credit to our own BBrown for coining "Aarball" immediately after the game, beating out "3-lol" and "Crairball" for the gold medal of naming this GIF. Also, props to Guyism for mashing this up with the crowd exodus.

This wins forever, but I guess I'll let y'all vote anyway.

VOTE