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#2 Ohio State 64, Penn State 62 (Final)

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Buckeyeskickbuttocks;751797; said:
Absolutely agree with the suggestion that youth played the biggest part here (in 2nd half collapse) And even more with the opinion that people bashing Matta is off base. Perhaps the Matta bashers would prefer to have O'Brien back? Randy Ayers? I mean, I suppose I liked 16 - 10 as much as the next guy...
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Exactly.

Our team has a lot of talent, a lot of youth, and a dearth of senior leadership. As such, there are going to be lapses no matter the talent level. There's only so much the coach can do from the sideline.

We could make a run deep into March or we could get bounced the first weekend. Neither would surprise me.
 
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Traveling and playing the same day has to be exhausting: Especially when your flight is delayed 2 1/2 hours. I'm happy to get another Big 10 road win. Routines were broken and a lot of distractions the last couple days for a young team. They got the win. Good enough for me.
 
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- This game was crap, but don't forget how the Buckeye footballers looked against two-win Illinois. 17-0 lead, cruise control, letdown. I didn't like it then, either, just sayin'...

- Anyone who asks for veteran leadership from the Bucks is sorely mistaken. The problem with the Buckeyes is the collective attitudes of Butler, Harris, and Lewis. Realistically, Lewis' minutes and shots should have been decreasing from the midway point of this season. Harris, I should say, looks like he cares who wins, but we all know he is sporadic. Lewis and Butler always look uninterested, and I don't think the freshmen feel comfortable taking charge.

- The team should be better next year without Lewis and Harris, but I wonder what Butler lingering around will do. I don't know if I'd call him a cancer, but he gives me bad vibes. This team, plain and simple, has chemistry problems, and we can all see it on the court.
 
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StadiumDorm;751900; said:
I don't agree. It's not a coincidence that this team can build a big lead. The problem is why they are losing it.

And I have to agree with whoever stated earlier that Matta has been continuously getting outcoached in the second half.
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I don't think that he is getting out coached, osu just can't seem to keep a lead which mostly having to do with lack of expreicence. They don't seem to play as aggresive seems like they play to keep a lead instead of just playing. Conley doesn't seem to drive as much they settle for a lot of quick shots, or after a drought they will force they ball inside which leads to turnovers. All TOSU needs is a leader!
 
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Yertle;751823; said:
Bashing Matta!?!?! HA! I didn't notice any "bashing". I simply said (or wrote) that he has a long way to go to be one of the great in-game coaches. Just because he's a Buckeye and a hell of a recruiter doesn't make him flawless. If someone would like to step up and argue that he can go toe to toe with Coach K and other greats, then point out some of his in-game coaching highlights. There's no question in my mind that he wins on a preconceived gameplan and outstanding talent. If the talent slips off, the team doesn't make the proper adjustments.

North Carolina - double digit lead... no adjustments - 9-point loss
Florida - close game... no adjustments - crushed.
Tennessee - It almost seemed that they adjusted away from a dominating Oden...
MSU - blow out... no adjustments - easily could have lost
Purdue - no fire, no adjustments - down 5 with 7 minutes to go.
Tonight - 24 point lead against THE WORST TEAM IN THE BIG 10! No adjustments - ugh.

I'm not bashing Matta. However, I'm pointing out an area in which he could improve. I'm not sure how that makes me an O'Brien fan, but whatever.

I do want to add that he's only 38 or something really young like that, so I'm confident that he'll improve.
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I will give you highlights...The guy has won 20 games in every season that he has coached...Has been the tourney everywhere he has coached...He took an overacheiving Xavier team to the Elite 8...He took a team that was not the most talented and won the big 10 last year...

As for the games this year, was it his fault that we just plain and simply didnt have an answer against UNC in the paint when we played them...No Oden no paint presence = UNC coming back, it was amazing that we played them as well as we did especially in such an emotion packed game like it was.

Florida, we came out in the second half and tied the game up, then we Oden damn near died running up and down the court had just got back from injury, and UF played amazing in the second half...

Tennesse he led a young team over an experienced team, even tho we struggled during the stretch...

This team was in total dissaray mid season...There was talks of guys transfering, guys unhappy with the way they were being used, unhappy with some press clippings and all the rest, well we Matta has got these guys to start playing as a team, but they are still young and have issues of complacency...

MILI said:
I'm not sure that folks are expecting blowouts every game (I know I'm not)...just don't let shit teams back from a 20+ point halftime deficit to almost beat you.
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I can agree with this, but sometimes things just don't go your way, they will look at the tape understand they can't let things happen and they will deal with it...I would rather go thru a 2nd half like this against PSU and MSU and still come out with wins than against a team like Wisky or a good team in the tourney...

I will just chalk this up as a game that just wasnt exciting to the team and they are preparing themselves for the big game against Wisky and on into tourney time, much like the football team when playing against Illinois...
 
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Buck88;751868; said:
Exactly.

Our team has a lot of talent, a lot of youth, and a dearth of senior leadership. As such, there are going to be lapses no matter the talent level. There's only so much the coach can do from the sideline.

We could make a run deep into March or we could get bounced the first weekend. Neither would surprise me.
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I haven't read the whole thread but came to post my .02 and find someone beat me to it almost exactly.

Young teams are just going to have these mental lapses. Lucky for us, really talented young teams like ours are going to have them after they build huge leads and get bored.

As far as Matta's control over the lack of focus, look at the issues coach K and Roy Williams are having with their youngsters. Donovan had 2 very up and down years with the same talent that has grown into the team he has now. Untill the players grow up mentally/emotionally the coach is only going to be able to do so much.

I have made my peace with the lapse thing, this team is what it is. I am just going to sit back and enjoy because like he said, this team is capable of a deep run or an early exit.
 
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TRON;751906; said:
23-3.

Leardership problems? of course.

Chemistry is not the problem.
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23-3 because we have four McDonald's All-Americans and an unbelievably mediocre Big Ten slate. That is all. We are too talented to lose to the level of comp in the Big Ten. We would not do so well in the Pac-10 or ACC, IMHO. We would be like all of the other teams in college basketball outside of Florida. We are not really any different than Carolina or Kansas, maybe a little worse than both of them.

We've faced three good teams and lost to them all. We've beaten some "solid" teams (and even then, not by a great margin).
 
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Jaxbuck;751913; said:
I haven't read the whole thread but came to post my .02 and find someone beat me to it almost exactly.

Young teams are just going to have these mental lapses. Lucky for us, really talented young teams like ours are going to have them after they build huge leads and get bored.

As far as Matta's control over the lack of focus, look at the issues coach K and Roy Williams are having with their youngsters. Donovan had 2 very up and down years with the same talent that has grown into the team he has now. Untill the players grow up mentally/emotionally the coach is only going to be able to do so much.

I have made my peace with the lapse thing, this team is what it is. I am just going to sit back and enjoy because like he said, this team is capable of a deep run or an early exit.
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Get this guy a GPA...

I couldnt agree more...
 
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The young guys played well in this game it was the upperclassmen who struggled. The young guns (Oden, Cook and Conley) all were shooting 50 percent or better the upperclassmen were all below 50 percent. It blows me away to watch Butler and Lewis combine for 23 shots and Oden only gets 8.
 
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It's not like this is the first time this has happened this season. In fact, this is the second time in a span of just six games where we went totally Medieval on a team in the first half only to go '60s-love-in in the second. It's as if they come to prove to just who they are in the first half and play like the virtual all-star team that they are, and then almost feel sorry for the other team in the second half. They shoot lights-out in the first and can't hit the ground by dropping the ball in the second...they seem to throw all semblance of mental focus out the window.

HabaneroBuck;751914; said:
23-3 because we have four McDonald's All-Americans and an unbelievably mediocre Big Ten slate.
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Spladam!
 
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