Men's Basketball Buckeye Tidbits 2006-2007 Season

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

CPD

Today's Game Plan

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

The future looks bright

Ohio State is No. 1 in the coaches' poll.

And this is without their best player!
How good will the Buckeyes be when Greg Oden is healthy?
And how good will OSU be next year, and the year after that? The Buckeyes keep getting top recruit after top recruit after top recruit.
If only the NBA's minimum age requirement was 22.
LeBron could have been a senior.
Didn't happen, but don't put anything past coach Thad Matta.
In 15 years, he could get LeBron Jr.

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Official Site

Men's Basketball Quotes - Nov. 28, 2006


Nov. 28, 2006
Thad Matta, head coach
On the progression of the team
Going into the season, there were so many unknowns. We were apprehensive and quite honestly we still are a little bit. The guys have done a nice job of adapting to how we want to play offensively and defensively, but it is still very early. I give our veterans credit for the job they have done and the new guys for keeping their eyes and ears open and trying to learn.
On the football and men's basketball teams being ranked No. 1 nationally
I haven't talked to coach Tressel since the Michigan game. I like his position a lot better with one game left to play. I think it's exciting times now. Our team can continue to get better and it's a unique situation for our program. They know they have to prove their worth and we have a long way to go to do that. It was great motivation to go to the football game Saturday and see the enthusiasm and motivation of the football team and we just try to piggy back off the success coach Tressel and Ohio State had.
On playing North Carolina
With the recruiting classes, we had a sneaky suspicion we would be playing North Carolina (in Big Ten/ACC Challenge). Our kids have played against and with kids at North Carolina. So, there was no secret we were going to play them in that regard. The NBA age restriction makes a game like this more possible. It helps college basketball. North Carolina is a program I looked at when I took this job and wondered how Dean Smith built his program and what they have been able to do over time. Their talent is always high.
On the underclassmen's progress
I want everyone to lead on this team and have an invested interest. The younger guys look at the older guys and see they have a Big Ten championship ring and so they look to them for guidance. On Greg Oden's rehabilitation from wrist surgery
He is doing great. Things are going as planned. He is getting more time at practice and letting mother nature run its course. There is no question he is anxious to get out there and play. He has been diligent in his work ethic and rehab. I think he knows he will be able to help the team and do his part.
On playing in Chapel Hill, N.C.
When we leave North Carolina tomorrow night, I know we will be one step closer to being able to play in any environment. The majority of the `upsets' were on neutral sites. A lot of returning players have played in environments like this, as well as the incoming guys. It will be a good start for us tomorrow night.

On the progress of Daequan Cook and Mike Conley, Jr.
I have been pleased with their progress. As a coach, it is enjoyable to watch guys get better over time. Cook has made the effort to learn the defense and Michael is growing into the point guard position at the college level.
On playing against North Carolina's depth
The depth they have at all positions is obviously a challenge. Those guys inside are a force you have to be concerned with and guys on the outside on the perimeter. That's what makes them special. You have to pick you poison and hope they don't have a breakout game.
On the freshman for Ohio State and North Carolina having an immediate impact
It's a unique situation and North Carolina went through it last year kind of like we did where we lost four starters. Both teams are fortunate to have the ability to recruit and have them have an impact early in their careers. The biggest challenge is to get guys who fit into our system and so far we have had great success with that.
On chances of beating North Carolina and improving throughout the season
It will take a great effort on our part to have a chance to win the basketball game. I know from my standpoint the process of building a team and building the individual to play within a system. We have a long way to go, but we will become a much better basketball team at both ends of the floor. Playing North Carolina is a great opportunity for our kids to go down there and get better.
Jamar Butler, junior guard
On playing North Carolina
"Just the chance to play in that great college basketball environment is exciting. I've never played in a game like this. As a team, we try to prepare like it's any other game, but in the back of a player's head it's always a great opportunity. This year we have the mindset that we can beat anyone and that we are going to be hard to beat. We're ahead of where we were last year and are continuing to head in the right direction."
"Once the ball goes up in the air, I think we'll settle down and play our game. This game is about being smart and taking care of the ball. I know (Greg) Oden wants to get out there and play. If it was up to him, I know he'd be out there playing. North Carolina pounds the ball inside, so our defense is going to pack the middle to cover (Tyler) Hansbrough. But we know they also have guards that can shoot from the perimeter."
Ron Lewis, senior guard
On playing North Carolina
"You don't put too much pressure on any game because then you are too nervous to play. We haven't played a road game yet, so it's important we stick to our game plan. Scouting has helped us because it is key to help secure a win. This is the peak for me. Going into North Carolina, you know it's a facility where everyone wants the chance to play."
Mike Conley, Jr., freshman guard
On playing North Carolina
"I think since we are familiar with some of the guys, we aren't as intimidated. We are just trying to come in and stick to our game. In this game we will see if we can bounce back from a run with the away crowd behind them. It's exciting to go there and play with the traditions the arena holds. It's a great opportunity to play there and the No. 1 ranking is going to make the environment hostile."
Othello Hunter, junior forward
On his position
"When I was recruited, I was recruited as a forward. I play a lot of the 4 position (forward) in practice and the 5 (center) in the games. It has been kind of tough, but if that is what coach wants me to do, I'll do it. If he wants me to go get the rebound I'll go get the rebound."
On how he find out about No. 1 ranking
"We didn't hear about it. We knew when we were watching the Florida game that if they lost we would be No. 1. "
On Greg Oden's return
"It will be a whole different game. The one thing I can say is it will be really hard for opponents inside." On his position
"In junior college I played the 5 position. Playing the 4 position is a new thing for me. I am excited about playing forward because I like a new challenge."

[MuckFich06]

COMMENTARY: Basketball Bucks prove there's life after football

By Scott Woods, The Lantern

November 27, 2006

(CSTV U-WIRE) COLUMBUS, Ohio -- We can breathe now, folks.

The 12-week roller coaster ride that hit its peak with a twirling touchdown pass and dove to its plateau with an onside kick is finally over. I can relax now -- sit back, kick up my scarlet and gray Nikes and drink my Budweiser without worrying about paid-off refs, Mark May and the oh-so-obvious anti-Ohio State media bias. Smooth sailing for seven straight weeks.

Or so I thought.

Ladies and gentlemen, the 2006-07 OSU men's basketball team.

This time of year, I really miss the days of Randy Ayers and Jim O'Brien. Back when John Cooper was making every coach in the SEC and Lloyd Carr look like the spawn of Albert Einstein and Bill Belichick, Ayers' ballers were distracting us from our end-of-the-year football futility by getting drunk, breaking into cars and shooting out tires. Now those were the good old days.
Then came O'Brien. The raspy-throated Irishman refused to recruit players with egos or possies, instead preferring Matt Sylvester, a man named Scoonie and pay-for-play Serbian role players.

The Tressel-era football Bucks were the only game in town between late November and early January, and that's the way I liked it. When Brent Darby leads your basketball team to a 30-point loss at Duke and 5-point defeat at San Francisco, I want to hear about how many junior bacon cheeseburgers Nick Mangold can eat, how many times A.J. and Laura Hawk had sex last week or what Teddy Ginn does in his free time while the Buckeyes chill in a Phoenix-area water park. (By the way, Teddy is spending his time now looking for stuff to buy after the NFL Draft in April.)

But then came Thad Matta. Who the hell does this guy think he is? OSU football is king in this town, followed by the Browns, Bengals, Reds, Indians, Cavs and Blue Jackets. Can't forget about the Clippers or the Crew, either. Buckeye basketball really, truly hasn't meant that much to us since 1998-99 -- you know, the Year that Never Was. Before that, it was '91-'92, which is quickly becoming so long ago I can barely remember it, and I've been in college for eight years.

So here comes Matta, with his beet-red face, his wasp-like energy and his kangaroo-like players, most of whom are so young Jimmy Jackson is old enough to be their father. They play with a pizzazz that mirrors that of their coach, just as they had in the previous two seasons -- you know, back when Je'Kel Foster and Terrence Dials were considered the athletes of the team. They posses the ability to jump out of the gym at any given moment, but play with a poise and a knowledge for the game very few 18-year-olds can boast.

They are the real deal folks, and they will win a national title. And this year isn't out of the question.

We all know the beast sporting the snappy wrist brace on the OSU sideline will be trading in his sweater for a gray jersey soon, definitely after North Carolina this Wednesday and probably before Florida on Dec. 23. But Greg Oden isn't the answer to the championship puzzle this winter.

The answer lies with the hummingbird-on-crack quickness of Mike Conley Jr., the John Holmes-like scoring skills of Daequan Cook and the flies-on-s--t defensive ability of David Lighty. Throw in the raw but talented Othello Hunter, the experienced and heady Jamar Butler and the silky-smooth Ivan Harris, and you have one hell of a college basketball team. Just make sure to keep them away from bars, firearms and parking garages. Until after the National Championship, at least.

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

OHIO STATE MEN?S BASKETBALL
OSU knows where it stands
7-foot Oden would have been presence against Tar Heels

Friday, December 01, 2006

Bob Baptist
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

</IMG> KARL DEBLAKER ASSOCIATED PRESS North Carolina?s Tyler Hansbrough, pursuing a loose ball with Ohio State?s David Lighty, top, spent most of his time around the rim during the Tar Heels? 98-89 win Wednesday. He had 14 rebounds.



Coach Thad Matta was disappointed to lose, obviously, but he was philosophical in defeat.
It helped his perspective to know what might have been had the big kid a dozen seats down from him on the bench been able to play for the Ohio State men?s basketball team. Instead, all 7-foot freshman Greg Oden could do Wednesday night was watch and, like everyone else, wonder what difference he could have made against North Carolina.
"I think this was a very good test for our guys," Matta said after the No. 3-ranked Buckeyes lost 98-89 to the No. 7 Tar Heels in the Smith Center. "I think we can come from here and say these are the areas that we?ve got to get better at, these are the things we?ve got to do better.
"The encouraging thing for us is, we?re waiting on Greg, and where they got us tonight were some areas where he?s going to help us a lot."
Oden, touted as the most intimidating defensive presence to enter college basketball since Patrick Ewing two decades ago, has yet to be cleared for games because his right wrist has not fully recovered from ligament surgery in June. Clearance could come in the next several weeks.
Without him against the Tar Heels, Ohio State (6-1) battled the best it could in the post with Othello Hunter and Matt Terwilliger. But North Carolina (5-1), which trailed by as many as 10 points in the first half and by four at halftime, scored nine of its first 11 field goals in the second half ? and 13 of 19 overall ? within 10 feet of the basket.
Bullish Tyler Hansbrough, who missed eight of his 11 shots from the field in the first half, made all five in the second, when he scored 14 of his 21 points. He had five of the Tar Heels? 16 offensive rebounds.
When the 6-9 Hansbrough and Oden matched up in high school two years ago, each had 16 points and Hansbrough outrebounded Oden 12-5. But Oden?s team won 56-40 as he exploded for 14 points after halftime, 10 on dunks.
Hunter and Terwilliger totaled six points, eight rebounds and three blocks Wednesday and incurred foul trouble while battling Hansbrough, who finished without a foul.
"They were bigger than us down low and they took advantage of that," OSU forward Ivan Harris said. "When Oden comes back, that will be a big key for us."
Ohio State neutralized Hansbrough in the first half by fronting him in the post with Hunter or Terwilliger and helping from behind with another defender or two. Matta said Carolina "did a better job of clearing out" space for him after halftime.
Hansbrough was the main force in two second-half runs that gave North Carolina control of the game.
He scored the first two baskets in a 9-0 getaway that gave the Tar Heels their first lead, 53-48. Later, with the Heels down 68-63, he muscled through a triple team to start a 17-2 run in the next four minutes. His three-point play midway through gave them the lead for good, 70-68, and he capped it by driving past Terwilliger for a layup and an 80-70 lead with 6:33 remaining.
Ohio State rallied to six points with 3:29 left and five at 1:54, but it could not get the stops it needed at the other end.
"I don?t ever like to lose," Matta said, "but the barometer here is, we can play. This was good for us."
bbaptist@dispatch.com

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BSB$ (Adam Jardy)

More coverage of the UNC game and Coach Matta striving to take the program to the next level.

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

DDN

Carolina shows OSU's strengths, weaknesses

By Mark Gokavi
Staff Writer

Friday, December 01, 2006
Almost every move Greg Oden made Wednesday seemed to say, "Man, if I was in there."
The 7-foot Ohio State freshman basketball player had no cast while watching the Buckeyes' 98-89 loss at North Carolina.
He worked a towel with his two hands ? sometimes around his neck or on his head ? as he saw the Tar Heels take advantage of his absence.
"There's no question that he is, I don't want to say down," OSU coach Thad Matta said this week. "But a better word would be anxious to get out there and play."
What was reinforced:
1. Ohio State's perimeter talent matches up well with North Carolina's ? a good measuring stick for any team in any year.
2. Without Oden, the Buckeyes may struggle against anyone with an inside force, which could lead to foul trouble and that zone which can't always locate 3-point shooters.
3. With Oden, this team could be scary good. It won't necessarily be a Final Four team, but it could be.
Tar Heels coach Roy Williams said he doesn't know what effect Oden's entrance will make.
"I have no clue. I've never coached a team and had a guy like Greg Oden coming in," Williams said this week. "It's a Lone Ranger rides in on Silver kind of thing. He's going to bring some bullets with him, I can tell you that.
"I think he's one of the greatest prospects in, gosh, 30 years or whatever it is I've done this stuff. I don't think anybody can tell Thad what's going to happen except for the fact that he's going to get to be a helluva lot better coach."

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-6951 or mgokavi@DaytonDailyNews.com.