[font=Arial Narrow, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The Bobcats' coach says
the Bucks are chickens [/font]
By Aaron Marshall / March 17, 2005
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[font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]"I don't think they want to play us, but they really should": Ohio University's Tim O'Shea [/font]
Done properly, smack-talking can be a beautiful thing.
For evidence, look no farther than Athens, where Ohio University basketball coach Tim O'Shea was preparing for the NCAA by taunting his scarlet-and-gray neighbors to the north.
"Tell Ohio State to take the Sisters of the Poor off the schedule and put us on it," O'Shea said Tuesday. "Just look at the games that they schedule in the early part of the year. Who are those teams?"
Forgive O'Shea if he talks as if somebody replaced all his Gatorade with Red Bull.
His baby-faced Bobcats are headed for an improbable NCAA showdown against the Florida Gators Friday at 12:25 p.m. They won the MAC tourney championship with a team led by a sophomore and two freshmen—including 6-8 Leon Williams, the conference freshman of the year.
They figure to be better next year, when Boston College transfer Johnnie "Don't Call Me Scoonie" Jackson joins the squad, said O'Shea, who seems to think a good whuppin' at the hands of the Bobcats would build some character for the Buckeyes next fall.
"I don't think they really want to play us next year, but they really should," O'Shea said. "I think they really need to challenge themselves more in the non-conference than they do right now. We'll take a two-for-one."
Not surprisingly, Ohio State isn't taking the bait. Coach Thad Matta was out of town Tuesday, but hoops spokesman Dan Wallenberg said no in-state games—against Ohio or anyone else—are planned for next year or the immediate future.
"I've talked to Coach about it recently," said Wallenberg. "I think his feeling is we're not going to look at scheduling in-state in the immediate future, but that down the road it might be something we will look at."
Translation: Matta, like Jim O'Brien before him, couldn't care less about giving fans some early season rivalries to relish. The Buckeyes will keep tuning up on Samfords, Furmans and Towsons—and then scratch their heads when everybody stays home.
If they ever come to their senses, O'Shea will make room on his dance card.
"Wouldn't you like to see that?" asked O'Shea. "I think they should do it for the good of basketball in Ohio. It would be fun."
The last time Ohio State had that kind of fun was 1994, when the Bobcats whipped the Buckeyes 78-67 on the way to a pre-season NIT title. The teams haven't played since.
Fears of flipping
O'Shea remembers the instant this year's Ohio University team caught fire. He should; one of his players was upside down at the time.
It came at the end of the Feb. 19 game at Detroit. Down five points in the last minute, freshman starting point guard Jeremy Fears sunk a three-pointer to pull within two and then hit another long ball at the buzzer to win the game 66-65.
"He's falling out of bounds and hits the three, and after he hit it, he does a cartwheel into a back flip," O'Shea remembered. "I've never seen anything like it. He used to be on a gymnastics team as a kid, and let me tell you, he stuck the landing. He looked kind of like that Paul Hamm guy."
Fears put on a repeat performance Saturday night as the Bobcats clawed their way back into the MAC title game against Buffalo. This time, Fears did his head-over-heels work after Ohio—which had trailed by 19 in the second half—tied the game.
O'Shea said such unorthodox play is standard for his athletic team, which makes them odd men out in the MAC.
"A lot of MAC teams are half-court orientated and run a complicated passing offense. My team, we play a little wild. You don't know what we're going to do, but you know it's not going to be boring."
Northland to juco to OU
Somewhere in the shadow of Ohio's fantastic freshman is steady, heady junior Mychal Green, a Northland High School graduate.
Green took a winding road to Athens that began with an academic scholarship to Louisville, where he didn't play basketball. Missing hoops, he headed for mighty Ohlone College, a California juco.
"He's got great grit and determination," said O'Shea. "He's a very good scorer, a solid shooter, and just a very smart and heady player."
O'Shea said Green fits the mold of the current Bobcats.
"Our philosophy is to recruit hard-to-guard guys who can get their own shot," he said. "Our guys are unorthodox. They may not look like much, but they are game-effective. We get guys with a lot of toughness that didn't go the normal route."
