(6) THE Ohio State vs. (11) Dayton, Thurs 3/20, 12:15p ET, CBS

[lvbuckeye]

WyoBuck...your summary is on the money, but even more so is the uncertainty of what next year holds. The void at Center is key in my mind. Your big guy HAS to occupy part of the other teams game plan, and this is not the case with Amir or Trey. I also think that LordJeffBuck's stats tell an interesting story. When watching some of these team that are still in the NCAA tourney, they can flat out shoot the ball. After all the team with the most points does win the game.

zero offensive identity.

Well, that is about all you had right.

It all goes back to recruiting. Clearly none of the other things you mentioned were serious problems in 2007, 2011 and 2012 when they had a really good group of talent. There hasn't been one legit future NBA player on the team the past couple of seasons, and you can't really plan on winning big in the Big Ten when you're A) losing guys early to the pros and B) not bringing in NBA talent to replace guys you sent to the pros. At the Big Ten level you can't have a super fast tempo and be successful without a lot of offensive talent, and very few up-tempo teams are good defensively (see: Iowa). Matta simply has not had that kind of talent in most seasons at OSU. Sure he hasn't spotted the diamonds in the rough like Burke and LeVert, but let's be honest it's not like UM knew exactly what they were doing or they would've recruited those guys before they committed to a lesser program.

We may just have to wait for Matta to get some future NBA guys again for the team to get back to the top of college basketball. Even if none of the guys he gets become that kind of player, I have confidence that when he's able to combine the very good 2014 class with what should be an even better 2015 class, OSU will once again have the talent to win big.

i've been watching a team from Gainesville this year that doesn't have a ton of NBA talent, and has run off 28 wins in a row.
talent is awesome. it's not the end-all be-all. the best coaches can take theirs and beat yours, or yours and beat theirs. i'm afraid Matta is not in that category.

 

[Onebuckfan]

You might want to look back and see how many offers Scott and Williams had from some pretty damn good basketball schools before you open your pie hole. I guess no one knows that Williams had an offer from Duke and some pretty other good schools and Scott probably could have gone anywhere.

Im saying you cant hold that against him they were quality recruits..because they don't live up to the hype is not always on the coach.

 

[BUCKYLE]

zero offensive identity.




i've been watching a team from Gainesville this year that doesn't have a ton of NBA talent, and has run off 28 wins in a row.
talent is awesome. it's not the end-all be-all. the best coaches can take theirs and beat yours, or yours and beat theirs. i'm afraid Matta is not in that category.

Because the SEC is comparable to the B1G? Not taking anything away from UF, but it's not like Donovan hasn't had a few rough years now and then.

 

[DZ83CK]

zero offensive identity.




i've been watching a team from Gainesville this year that doesn't have a ton of NBA talent, and has run off 28 wins in a row.
talent is awesome. it's not the end-all be-all. the best coaches can take theirs and beat yours, or yours and beat theirs. i'm afraid Matta is not in that category.

IF ONLY Matta hadn't lost most of his would-be Seniors this year and still had his four best Seniors on the team like Billy D ...

 

[lvbuckeye]

Because the SEC is comparable to the B1G? Not taking anything away from UF, but it's not like Donovan hasn't had a few rough years now and then.

The SEC is most certainly comparable to the Big. They have three titles in the last decade...

IF ONLY Matta hadn't lost most of his would-be Seniors this year and still had his four best Seniors on the team like Billy D ...

I won't disagree with this. But I'm watching this tournament and seeing coaches COACH. No one is going to say that Kentucky doesn't have talent. But Calipari coached them to that win today.

How many times have we watched Matta stand there chewing his gum and not using his time outs?

 

[TDunk]

How many times have we watched Matta stand there chewing his gum and not using his time outs?

And then watch the team come back out and be lethargic on the floor until it mattered. This team lacked that competitive drive or killer instinct you see in teams. I have never yelled at a Thad coached team coming out from a TO or after a bad half. This year, I couldn't tell you how many times I threw my arms up wondering why. Something was just off. And it shaved a few years off of many a lives.

 

[OHSportsFan]

And then watch the team come back out and be lethargic on the floor until it mattered. This team lacked that competitive drive or killer instinct you see in teams. I have never yelled at a Thad coached team coming out from a TO or after a bad half. This year, I couldn't tell you how many times I threw my arms up wondering why. Something was just off. And it shaved a few years off of many a lives.

Agree with this.

I don't think Matta all of a sudden became a bad coach overnight. The philosophies and styles he's developed during his coaching career just did not seem to take hold with this group of guys. I will say then, perhaps he deserves some blame for possibly trying to stick a square peg in a round hole, but I don't know that he didn't try to do something new.

Honestly, with this group, I'm not sure it would have mattered.

 

[lvbuckeye]

The short answer is that they needed to push the ball and play up tempo... And press.

 

[Onebuckfan]

The short answer is that they needed to push the ball and play up tempo... And press.

If Craft and Scott were on the floor together it should have been full court pressure...our half court O was poor we needed steals and run outs.

 

[OHSportsFan]

The short answer is that they needed to push the ball and play up tempo... And press.

Would have liked to see this as well.

Didn't Thad have a killer 2-2-1 press when Jamar Butler was here? I seem to remember it being in his playbook so it's not like it's outside of his coaching realm. Really not sure why it never appeared this season.

 

[TDunk]

Would have liked to see this as well.

Didn't Thad have a killer 2-2-1 press when Jamar Butler was here? I seem to remember it being in his playbook so it's not like it's outside of his coaching realm. Really not sure why it never appeared this season.

Might be because the 2-2-1 is not the most mobile and tends to foul outside shooters for some reason.

But 2-1-2 would have been warranted.

 

[BUCKYLE]

The SEC is most certainly comparable to the Big. They have three titles in the last decade...



I won't disagree with this. But I'm watching this tournament and seeing coaches COACH. No one is going to say that Kentucky doesn't have talent. But Calipari coached them to that win today.

How many times have we watched Matta stand there chewing his gum and not using his time outs?

No, it's not. Titles in NCAA hoops are a fuckin' crap shoot. Also, the SEC doesn't have three titles. UF has two, one of which is because several 1st rounders came back in an era in which that's unheard of, and Kentucky has one with a coach who's left NCAA investigations at every job he's been at. Regardless, we're not going to hire Billy or Cal anytime soon, so again, if not Thad, who?

 

[TDunk]

Can we agree to move whatever collective crap we are talking about to the appropriate thread so this one can die down like a Malaysian Airliner?

Too soon?

 

[jwinslow]

The SEC is most certainly comparable to the Big. They have three titles in the last decade...

It's a 2 team conference and that's only when UK feels like trying, coaching and how long they can dance on the precipice of sanctions.

When the B1G is reduced to a 2 team conference (UM-MSU), we lament just how weak the conference is.

When ANYONE in the SEC is good, it's cause for celebration.

I won't disagree with this. But I'm watching this tournament and seeing coaches COACH. No one is going to say that Kentucky doesn't have talent. But Calipari coached them to that win today.

How many times have we watched Matta stand there chewing his gum and not using his time outs?

Of all the coaches to use as a beacon of true coaching, you went with Calipari, the guy who has been badly underachieving at utilizing his talent lately. Kudos him on to winning - and coaching - better than anyone expected today.

 

[RAMdrvr1]

You might want to look back and see how many offers Scott and Williams had from some pretty damn good basketball schools before you open your pie hole. I guess no one knows that Williams had an offer from Duke and some pretty other good schools and Scott probably could have gone anywhere.

I don't understand what poeple have against Scott. I've never seen when he didn't work hard, he always put the Buckeyes first, and always tried to do whatever was asked of him.