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2012-13 Men's Basketball (B1G Tourney Champs, NCAA Elite Eight)

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First time I've seen this comment, but it makes a lot of sense:

Which NCAA head coach would you like to see get a shot in the NBA?
Chad Ford (1:21 PM)

Brad Stevens. First of all, he's a basketball genius. Second, he has the demeanor that I think would work in the pros. He motivates with reason, not with screaming and power plays. I think GMs are crazy not to bring him in.
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Chat with Chad Ford

The more I think about it, the more I see Stevens as a perfect NBA coach.
 
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LOS ANGELES — The move was made for one simple reason six weeks ago, in a game against Northwestern that was either team’s for the taking with five minutes to play.

Ohio State coach Thad Matta put his five quickest defenders on the floor together to try to get more hands in the faces of Northwestern shooters who were killing the Buckeyes with three-pointers.

A star was born that night, although no one knew it at the time.

Ohio State’s “small lineup,” without a true center on the floor, has become one of the signatures of the Buckeyes’ 11-game winning streak that has carried them to the brink of a second consecutive appearance in the Final Four. They play Wichita State tonight in the West Regional final, with the winner advancing to a national semifinal next Saturday in Atlanta.

“That group has really gained a lot of confidence in terms of what they can do,” Matta said yesterday after the Buckeyes practiced at Staples Center.

Matta likes to say that who starts games is not as important as who finishes them, so it is instructive to note that he has gone exclusively with the small lineup for basically the final 10-plus minutes of the past three close games Ohio State has played: against Wisconsin in the Big Ten tournament final two weeks ago, against Iowa State last Sunday in Dayton, and in a regional semifinal against Arizona on Thursday night that the Buckeyes won on a three-point shot by LaQuinton Ross with 2.1 seconds left.

Ross, a 6-foot-8 face-the-basket forward who can shoot and drive, was in the game because a back-to-the-basket center was not.

“They put you in a predicament,” Arizona coach Sean Miller said. “You try to match up with them, and as you do, they end up sometimes getting the advantage.”

After the Buckeyes closed out Northwestern with a 12-2 run and won by 10 points Feb.14, coaches saw the benefits of the lineup for their offense as well as their defense.

“We were having trouble scoring the basketball,” assistant coach Chris Jent said. “Putting another versatile guy out there on the floor obviously is going to help you, and having someone in LaQuinton who can shoot it and also put the ball on the floor definitely helped us in that area.”
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more
http://buckeyextra.dispatch.com/content/stories/2013/03/30/buckeyes-go-small-to-get-big-results.html
There was some concern at first how the lineup would fare against bigger lineups, but that started to dissipate in the Big Ten tournament final against Wisconsin.

“Wisconsin made a substitution and went back big, and we said, ‘Hey, let’s give this a couple of possessions and see what happens,’ ” Matta said. “That’s when Aaron (Craft) was guarding (6-10 Jared) Berggren in the post and they threw the ball (away) and we scored in transition the other way. It was like, ‘Hey, this could be problematic on both ends.’ ”

Wichita State, with its size on its front line, poses somewhat the same challenge as Arizona did with its size and rebounding ability. But although Ohio State coaches were concerned about it, the Buckeyes ended up negating it by forcing the Wildcats to play smaller themselves.
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When this Ohio State team couldn't find themselves mid-way through the season, they ended the year on a heck of a streak and was on the brink of the Final Four.

I'm not content with not winning a national championship, but I'm proud that the team ended strong.

We'll find that championship one day.
 
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I thought we had better teams the 3 prior years..dare to say this team may have over-achieved. The Sophs have work to do and even Craft has a few weaknesses. If Jent is our shooting coach..I don't think he should put that on his resume,
 
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Onebuckfan;2323736; said:
I thought we had better teams the 3 prior years..dare to say this team may have over-achieved. The Sophs have work to do and even Craft has a few weaknesses. If Jent is our shooting coach..I don't think he should put that on his resume,
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Cuz of one game?! That's kinda harsh. We got beat by a solid solid team, hence why they are in the Final Four. At some point, you have to think if everyone is having an off night, WSU defense has to play a role.
 
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VBSJ;2323729; said:
When this Ohio State team couldn't find themselves mid-way through the season, they ended the year on a heck of a streak and was on the brink of the Final Four.

I'm not content with not winning a national championship, but I'm proud that the team ended strong.

We'll find that championship one day.
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Amazing how fickle the tournament can be. This team showed heart to win all those games from late February on, but fell back into its old ways for one game, and out of the tournament. I will remember this team fondly for how much better they got and the heart they showed to even get to the Elite 8.
 
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NastyNatiBuck;2323890; said:
Amazing how fickle the tournament can be. This team showed heart to win all those games from late February on, but fell back into its old ways for one game, and out of the tournament. I will remember this team fondly for how much better they got and the heart they showed to even get to the Elite 8.
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Exactly how I felt about the game....back to it's mid-season shooting slump. I thought Thomas was pressing too early and the offense was stagnant. Shame. It was a great year, IMO. I hope Thomas comes back.




____________________
7 National Championships
7 Heisman Trophies
"It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog"
-Archie Griffin
Houston vet
 
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Memphis Tranfer - Tarik Black

I read today where he is graduating from Memphis and plans to transfer and play one more year. 6'9 260 C, do you guys think he would improve the Buckeyes next year?

I thought he might be a good addition if nothing more than to toughen up Amir Williams. The guy slipped a bit this year and fell to 8ppg and 4rpg for Memphis. He hasnt had the best of times down there but he has experience and huge size that we will be sorely lacking.

Any thoughts on this guy? I know there hasnt been any speculation that he might joing Matta's guys right now but I thought we have some time here in the offseason and we're losing an all time great on this years squad.
 
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Bestbuck36 said:
I read today where he is graduating from Memphis and plans to transfer and play one more year. 6'9 260 C, do you guys think he would improve the Buckeyes next year?

I thought he might be a good addition if nothing more than to toughen up Amir Williams. The guy slipped a bit this year and fell to 8ppg and 4rpg for Memphis. He hasnt had the best of times down there but he has experience and huge size that we will be sorely lacking.

Any thoughts on this guy? I know there hasnt been any speculation that he might joing Matta's guys right now but I thought we have some time here in the offseason and we're losing an all time great on this years squad.
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According to Bob Baptist on his Twitter account Ohio State is looking for a big man transfer who can play right away. I do not know how much Black would be better than Williams or McDonald. Only saw him once or twice and the only thing that I know about him is that he cannot shoot free throws:)
 
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I would start a 2013-14 basketball thread but it is probably a letter early to do that but here are some preliminary preseason rankings with some information.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sport...he-ncaa-basketball-top-25-in-2013-14/2061989/

Top 5 of Kentucky, Duke, UNC, Louisville, and MSU. The Buckeyes are preliminarily ranked #13.

So much depends on who goes Pro and who does not. OlaDepo:) is supposed to announce today.

I think when the 2013-14 season starts to be talked about we should have a Ohio State thread, a B1G thread, and a College basketball thread which would be similar to the Football forum.
 
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