OSU MEN’S BASKETBALL
Iowa State offers Matta a chance to check list
Saturday, December 17, 2005
Bob Baptist
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
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This being mid-December and a basketball team being a work in progress, Ohio State coach Thad Matta was asked this week what was next on his to-do list.
"Our to-do list right now is like my daughters’ Christmas list," he said. "That thing is as long as can be."
It might be too much to expect the Buckeyes to check off all the items by next weekend. They are less than onefourth of the way into the season.
Tonight should provide the most legitimate reading yet, though, of where they stand in three areas that will weigh heavily on their prospects for a happy new year in the Big Ten: the guards’ ability to handle pressure, the defense’s ability to limit opponents to one shot per possession, and Terence Dials’ ability to reassert himself as a scoring threat near the basket.
Any or all of the three could tilt the outcome when Ohio State (6-0) puts its unbeaten start on the line against an athletic Big 12 opponent, Iowa State (6-2), in Des Moines, Iowa.
"We’re still not where we need to be," Matta said, "which is exciting as a coach because I think we can play better basketball."
The Buckeyes have played hard most of the time and very well sometimes, such as their first halves against Butler, Virginia Tech and Saint Joseph’s. But they have not sustained a high level for 40 minutes, allowing all three of those teams as well as Belmont on Wednesday to produce anxious finishes.
"The one thing with this team that I’ve been pleased with is our level of competitiveness," Matta said. "Putting the hard and smart together is the next step we’ve got to get better at."
After the Belmont game, Matta said turnovers and opponents’ offensive rebounding have become a "a consistent issue" that the Buckeyes must do a better job of containing.
Ohio State is averaging 15.8 turnovers and had 21 at Saint Joseph’s last Saturday in its only road game. St. Joseph’s built its rally on full-court pressure. Iowa State is expected to do likewise. The Cyclones are forcing an average of 20 turnovers and scoring nearly 24 points off them.
"It’s on us," OSU point guard Jamar Butler said. "We have to slow down and not let the pressure rattle us and get us out of control."
The best way to neutralize the pressure might be for the Buckeyes to defend effectively, force missed shots, rebound and get out in transition before the Cyclones can set their defense. Matta said after the Belmont game that "we’re at our best" running rather than executing half-court sets.
To run, however, they must rebound, and the second, third and even fourth chances they too often give opponents cause Matta as much concern as does their ball-handling. It’s a credit to their effort on defense that the opponents have managed to convert the extra chances into fewer than nine points per game.
"When we become a good team, things like that won’t happen," forward J.J. Sullinger said. "Until then, we’re going to be at risk. It’s a loose end we need to tighten up."
Then there is the issue of Dials, who hasn’t had the start that was envisioned for him because most opponents have chosen to focus their defenses around him and dare the perimeter players to beat them — which they have. Ohio State is shooting 45.8 percent on three-pointers and 51.6 percent overall despite Dials being less than 50 percent from the field.
"So many teams are consumed with him that they’re saying, ‘Hey, you can beat us from the outside.’ Fortunately for us in the first six games, we’ve been able to do that," Matta said.
"Hopefully, people will start playing us a little bit more honestly, which should put him in better situations down low. We’ve definitely got to get Terence back and playing to the level he’s capable of playing because we need him at his best to play our best."
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