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Iowa @ Ohio State, Tues 12/30 @ 1p ET, ESPN2/WatchESPN

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Another decent (are they even decent?) opponent, another poor first half, another below average shooting night, another terrible shooting night for Russell. So many offensive rebounds allowed. Gross.
 
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I think it's too early to declare this team anything at this point. There's not only room for improvement, there are reasons to expect it with young guys playing regular minutes.

How much improvement occurs and how quickly it happens will determine the course of the season.
 
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I've been quick to call out Amir for his play but our other Sr McDonalds AA aren't going to be All Big 10 much less All American. It was reported the team was upset with all the press Craft received...well now its YOUR TEAM Scott Thompson..Let's go...No way Deangelo can be 4 for 15 while our seniors stand around and WATCH. Rant over..that felt good.
 
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There is a long season ahead in the B1G - either by number of games or just because these games are going to be grueling.

There is a ton of room for improvement, but switching to man seemed to change the pace of the game. It's absolutely time to ditch the zone. I don't think this is a tournament team currently unless they improve somewhere - last year's team did not improve anywhere as the season went on.
 
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muffler dragon said:
First post of BB season. Any reason in particular that Thad wanted to go to that [Mark May] zone this year?
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Offense was so bad last year that he was going to use the zone as a way to get some lesser defenders on the court in favor of their offensive talent. Zone would help hide those offensive threats on the defensive side. Doesn't seem to be working in any aspect so far this year.

I'm not ready to declare this team dead, but it is frustrating that I think a lot of people could see this coming. The team hasn't really changed their stripes this year. Still early, but almost leads one to just think "they are what they are" at this point.

Matta has his work cut out, but there's not many better so I still believe.
 
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OHSportsFan said:
Offense was so bad last year that he was going to use the zone as a way to get some lesser defenders on the court in favor of their offensive talent. Zone would help hide those offensive threats on the defensive side. Doesn't seem to be working in any aspect so far this year.
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I agree with your opinion on that the zone was a way to hide better offensive players on the defensive end, which I think has kind of worked. Where it has failed is that those offensive players who are not as good on the defensive side of the ball are not also not good rebounders and have help contributed to way to many offensive rebounds being given up.

The zone has baffled me. We have three senior starters, two of which are top-notch defenders and playing a zone eliminates the so much of what they do well on that end. Loving played man-to-man last year so him being in the lineup should not be an issue. Plus the freshmen (red-shorts too) that are playing are all good athletes and likely are at least decent defenders playing man-to-man.

I wish Matta would mix up zone and man-to-man more in the game instead of sticking with one stye for a majority.
 
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osugrad21 said:
This squad is soft overall. Frustrating to watch some of the players' efforts.
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Agreed - until this team has a post presence, it's not going anywhere. This team has talent but is a giant disappointment. They will be a very low seed come tournament time if they even make it as their resume will consist solely of a down trodden B1G. 0 OOC impact, the scheduling has been the equivalent of Baylor football scheduling and should rightly be ridiculed. It did nothing to get this team prepared.

Amir Williams.....6'11, 250 and should dominate the post but he is a mouse out there. 32 minutes and 5 boards....Tate had the same in 15 minutes. If Williams had half the drive or fire that Tate does, look out.

Matta isn't using his bench enough - only 2 guys off the bench got more than 4 minutes. Tate needs to be out there more. At this point I just have to hope Thompson next year gives us something more than what we're getting now.

I also won't even begin to discuss the let down of Anthony Lee...../rant over
 
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I think Matta, as any good coach, can have a stubborn streak. It appears that this is the case with using the zone - he made the decision to go that route (with probably some very valid reasons), and doesn't want to admit it was the wrong decision.
 
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