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2009-2010 Men's Basketball (Big Ten Regular Season and Tournament Champions)

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Florida again, maybe, but not at 8 a.m.

Watching Niagara-Drexel this morning as I was getting ready to head to Ohio State for interviews got me wondering how coach Thad Matta would feel about playing a morning game if ESPN repeats its 24-hour marathon of early-season hoops next season. After all, the Buckeyes are practicing in the morning this season.

"No," Matta replied.

But he said the Buckeyes may be part of the marathon next season.

"I think we're scheduled to play Florida next year on that day," Matta said, "but we're playing the 8 o'clock game if I'm not mistaken."

A.M.?

"P.M.," Matta said.

The contract is not done, but it would be a home-and-home series in Gainesville in 2010 and Columbus the season after that, Matta said.

That would put the acclaimed 2010 recruiting class in Gainesville early in its career, just as the class headed by Greg Oden was in 2006. Ohio State was routed by the Gators in that game and lost to them again with a much more respectable showing in the 2007 NCAA title game. The Buckeyes won the return game in Columbus in December 2007.
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Florida again, maybe, but not at 8 a.m. (Hoops & Scoops: an OSU basketball blog)
 
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LitlBuck;1589077; said:
Not sure if anyone thought the Florida State would be a winnable game. In fact, earlier in this thread I said that Florida State, Butler, West Virginia, and North Carolina would all be very tough opponents. Florida State has a very strong from line but we don't play them for a while so let's concentrate on the games in the near future.
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dude whoa chill .. if you look through you will see at least 6 different people say florida st is a winnabale game. please dont try and make me sound dumb when im very right in everything i said........
 
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Frustrating loss providing motivation for Ohio State men's basketball
By Doug Lesmerises, The Plain Dealer
November 23, 200

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Center Dallas Lauderdale didn't want to read it after Ohio State's loss to North Carolina last Thursday, so he turned off his cell phone.

"I got a ton of text messages talking about how you guys played so well, and I'm so proud of you," Lauderdale said Monday. "But I was saying in my head, what are you proud of? We lost."

Coach Thad Matta didn't want to hear it around the neighborhood when he was walking his dog after returning home.

"The neighbor says, 'Man, you guys played North Carolina close.' The next guy says, 'Wow, that was a great effort against North Carolina.' Well, we lost," Matta said. "And for people to celebrate a loss is something I don't want to do. I don't care if we're playing the Lakers."

The No. 17 Buckeyes will be about as far from the NBA champions as they could get Tuesday against 0-3 Lipscomb from the Atlantic Sun conference, but after a 77-73 loss to North Carolina and 76-70 win against California at the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic, they need to remember what worked and what didn't against two pretty good teams.

Mostly, the Buckeyes felt like they took themselves out of the game against North Carolina by not working their offense they way they wanted to.

"It's a greater understanding of how efficient we have to be on offense and understanding timing and doing the job we're supposed to do," Matta said. "When we're efficient offensively, we get pretty good shots, and that's what this team needs."
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Frustrating loss providing motivation for Ohio State men's basketball | Ohio State Buckeyes - cleveland.com - - cleveland.com
Men's basketball: Buckeyes coached to let go of losses
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
By Bob Baptist
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

After Evan Turner had 10 turnovers against North Carolina on the New York stage, coach Thad Matta was asked if the experiment of playing Turner at point guard was over. Some didn't bother to ask and just pronounced it as such.

"That's probably why I don't read or listen to anything," the Ohio State men's basketball coach said yesterday with a smile.

That's possibly also why Matta's teams at Ohio State have hit some early-season potholes through the years only to rebound and fulfill one of his central themes of playing their best basketball in March.

Rather than let his mood swing with each game, Matta maintains an even keel and talks "big picture," as he did about a game tonight against Lipscomb in Value City Arena.

"For our guys, it's an opportunity to play another game," he said. "By no stretch did we think we played perfect in New York. That's one of the big challenges, to build to get better."

Matta's demeanor rubs off on his players, who lost to North Carolina and defeated California on back-to-back nights last week in Madison Square Garden. The Buckeyes, ranked No. 17 this week, rallied from a 19-point deficit against the Tar Heels to lose by four and let a 24-point lead dwindle to six before holding off Cal.

"We knew we let one get away (against North Carolina), but we didn't have time to sit around and pout about it. We had another game the next night, in less than 24 hours," guard Jon Diebler said.

"Coach is always telling us, not just in games but in practice, to move on to the next possession. If you make a turnover, just move on, forget about it, you can't do anything about it now. That's just the mentality we have."
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http://www.dispatch.com/live/conten...1-24.ART_ART_11-24-09_C1_4BFPI2C.html?sid=101
 
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We play Lipscomb ? tonight? I need to look that one up. I wish we would schedule harder teams for our ooc games. This looks like a practice game and we could use a team that would test us more. Just sayin.
 
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Ttown;1604795; said:
We play Lipscomb ? tonight? I need to look that one up. I wish we would schedule harder teams for our ooc games. This looks like a practice game and we could use a team that would test us more. Just sayin.
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LOL...I had to look Lipscomb up because I didn't even know where it was. It's in Nashville in case anyone wondered. :biggrin:
 
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Well, FSU was getting their ass handed to them for much of their first real test of the season, their road game at Florida today. They came back a little bit in the second half but UF still won comfortably. I'm counting the FSU game in the "W" column for OSU - they're one of those paper tigers that people like to hype up because they have Solomon Alabi, who supposedly has an NBA future, and a McD's AA frosh PG, and a lot of guys coming back from last year, but in reality they lost the guy who was by far their best player from last season who also made all the big plays for them. And they lost to Wisconsin in their last game last year. Anyone ranking FSU in the preseason top-25 was buying into the hype too much.
 
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Let me voice my thought of displeasure...

But we have no identity with this team, and players don't know their roles...

If we are to play 4 wing players I would think we would run and press a little more...But to do that you have to play your bench a little more...But guys like Simmons, Hill, Offut (Gone now) don't see the floor...

There is no reason to run Turner this much this early in the season...and no reason not to get Hill, Simmons, etc more time...them playing more is not going to cause us to lose a game to Limbscomb...

Wallace, Crater, Offut and Wright (before he got here) have all been dissatisfied and left early. These are the type of 4 year guys that hold the program together with the early departures...We got Lucky with the Lighty for 5 years...Turner and Buford could easily leave after this year, and we already lose Madsen, Hill, Simmons...That is a lot of turnover...a guy like Offut would only help to get time this year and then more next year...
 
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crazybuckfan40;1605111; said:
Let me voice my thought of displeasure...

But we have no identity with this team, and players don't know their roles...

If we are to play 4 wing players I would think we would run and press a little more...But to do that you have to play your bench a little more...But guys like Simmons, Hill, Offut (Gone now) don't see the floor...

There is no reason to run Turner this much this early in the season...and no reason not to get Hill, Simmons, etc more time...them playing more is not going to cause us to lose a game to Limbscomb...

Wallace, Crater, Offut and Wright (before he got here) have all been dissatisfied and left early. These are the type of 4 year guys that hold the program together with the early departures...We got Lucky with the Lighty for 5 years...Turner and Buford could easily leave after this year, and we already lose Madsen, Hill, Simmons...That is a lot of turnover...a guy like Offut would only help to get time this year and then more next year...
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I totally agree with what you have said but I think if you look back at Matta's good teams before he got here I do not think that he played more then 6-7 guys. I could be wrong but I remember his good X teams and he did not go very deep into the bench.

That being said, like you, I cannot understand why Hill and Simmonds and even Kecman did not see more playing time against Lipscomb especially in the last 10 minutes of the game. You have to reward your bench players for everything that they have given at practice.
 
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rticle published November 26, 2009
Veteran Buckeyes put focus on staying healthy
5 returning starters, Lighty lead OSU to 4-1 start
By MATT MARKEY
BLADE SPORTS WRITER

COLUMBUS - Ohio State's basketball team is 4-1 heading into Saturday's home game against St. Francis (Pa.), and less than a week away from a showcase matchup with Florida State at Value City Arena in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge.

No. 17 Ohio State returns all five starters from last season, plus junior wing David Lighty, who missed 26 games a year ago with a broken bone in his left foot. Five weeks ago, junior center Dallas Lauderdale suffered a broken bone in his hand in practice and missed some time, but has made two starts since returning.

OSU sophomore William Buford thinks that when the Buckeyes are at full strength, they can play with anybody in the country.

So far this season, the Buckeyes have played well against ranked teams, beating then-No. 13 California 76-70 and falling short to then-No. 6 North Carolina 77-73.

"It was tough going all last season without Lighty, but as a result some other guys got more time and more experience - myself included," Buford said recently. "It was tough going through it, but it made us better for this season. Injuries come up - we just have to have the people fill in and do the job."
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toledoblade.com --
 
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Buckskin86;1604334; said:
http://www.cleveland.com/osu/index.ssf/2009/11/frustrating_loss_providing_mot.html

Quote:
Frustrating loss providing motivation for Ohio State men's basketball
By Doug Lesmerises, The Plain Dealer
November 23, 200

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Center Dallas Lauderdale didn't want to read it after Ohio State's loss to North Carolina last Thursday, so he turned off his cell phone.

"I got a ton of text messages talking about how you guys played so well, and I'm so proud of you," Lauderdale said Monday. "But I was saying in my head, what are you proud of? We lost."

Coach Thad Matta didn't want to hear it around the neighborhood when he was walking his dog after returning home.

"The neighbor says, 'Man, you guys played North Carolina close.' The next guy says, 'Wow, that was a great effort against North Carolina.' Well, we lost," Matta said. "And for people to celebrate a loss is something I don't want to do. I don't care if we're playing the Lakers."
http://www.cleveland.com/osu/index.ssf/2009/11/frustrating_loss_providing_mot.html
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This makes one thing is clear to me. We don't lose Matta to Notre Dame. Ever. He clearly doesn't have what it takes to be a success there. I mean, if you can't recognize a "near win" as your greatest victory...
 
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crazybuckfan40;1605111; said:
Let me voice my thought of displeasure...

But we have no identity with this team, and players don't know their roles...

If we are to play 4 wing players I would think we would run and press a little more...But to do that you have to play your bench a little more...But guys like Simmons, Hill, Offut (Gone now) don't see the floor...

There is no reason to run Turner this much this early in the season...and no reason not to get Hill, Simmons, etc more time...them playing more is not going to cause us to lose a game to Limbscomb...

Wallace, Crater, Offut and Wright (before he got here) have all been dissatisfied and left early. These are the type of 4 year guys that hold the program together with the early departures...We got Lucky with the Lighty for 5 years...Turner and Buford could easily leave after this year, and we already lose Madsen, Hill, Simmons...That is a lot of turnover...a guy like Offut would only help to get time this year and then more next year...
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I think some of the statistics and statements in this article go a long way in supporting your argument that Matta plays his starters way too much and I don't see how he is ever going to build up any bench strength by not playing his role players more especially at the beginning of the season against weaker opponents.
Offutt is the third transfer in the last three years, following Anthony Crater and Eric Wallace. Add in five early departures for the NBA in the past four years, and scramble mode feeds on itself. The result is a questionable bench. Offutt is leaving the program in part because Matta used his bench so little in Ohio State's two big games in New York last week, but it's hard to imagine Matta leaning on the bench much more.

Over the past two seasons, according to statistics on the Web site of basketball statistician Ken Pomeroy, Ohio State ranked 308th out of 341 teams two years ago and 299th out of 344 teams last season in using its bench. Stats aren't available for this season yet, but that shouldn't change.

In a 4-1 start for Ohio State, with a home game tonight against St. Francis, Pa., Ohio State's top five players (Evan Turner, David Lighty, Jon Diebler, William Buford and Dallas Lauderdale) have played an average of 145.8 minutes per game and scored 65.2 points. And that's with Lauderdale's early minutes limited as he came back from a broken bone in his hand. The next five Buckeyes, the transfer collection of guards Jeremie Simmons and P.J. Hill, forward Nikola Kecman and big men Kyle Madsen and Zisis Sarikopoulos, have averaged 48.2 minutes and 13.6 points.

Asked about his bench, Matta talks of how Sarikopoulos and Madsen are always in the right places on offense and defense. But they aren't great athletes when they get there. And he talks of what Simmons and Hill have added in the past
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Buckeyes scramble for reserves, Thad Matta calls on transfers when he needs substitutes | Ohio State Buckeyes - cleveland.com - - cleveland.com
 
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