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2013-14 Ohio State Men's Basketball (Official Thread)

Land Grant's Breakdown of the Walsh Game.

Interesting that Matta put Shannon Scott in the starting lineup over Thompson. I like the fact Matta seems to not be as rigid as he once was with the lineups and rotations. Even stated in his presser his lineup might be dictated on match ups.
I think Smith brings a little more to the table than Thompson and that is probably why Matta decided to start Smith plus the fact that he is a senior and Thad has always shown a preference towards a senior player. I know that Scott really pushes the ball and is an excellent defender but he needs to show me more at the offensive end to win me over. I know they did not show me much offensively in the Walsh game.

I would not be surprised, as others have mentioned, to see Matta go with a smaller lineup at times with Ross playing the #5. I guess that will all depend upon match ups but it sure would be nice to see Smith, Thompson, Scott, Craft, and Ross on the floor together. That would be some real firepower.
 
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Scott-Craft-Smith-Thompson-Ross is a bit on the thin side, and they'd have to be playing against a pretty small team for that to work. I would think that is where Loving's role could be, coming in and playing the 4 when they want to go small, as he's bigger and longer than Thompson, so he's got more of the size for a 4-man than Thompson, who has struggled trying to guard bigger players in the past.
 
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Scott-Craft-Smith-Thompson-Ross is a bit on the thin side, and they'd have to be playing against a pretty small team for that to work. I would think that is where Loving's role could be, coming in and playing the 4 when they want to go small, as he's bigger and longer than Thompson, so he's got more of the size for a 4-man than Thompson, who has struggled trying to guard bigger players in the past.
Well, there were size mismatches last season when Thomas played the #5 but I do realize that this lineup would not work against a team who had a pretty good scoring 6'10" or taller center. I realize that Thompson is not the strongest guy on the team and I know that Loving was a very good high school basketball player. What I do not understand in quite a few of your comments is why you keep wanting to play freshmen over equally talented upperclassman who had been through the Big Ten wars. That is an entirely different game than high school.
 
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As I said, Thompson is thin and he is also not as big as Loving in terms of length. Bigger guys can kind of push Thompson around - not as easy to do with Loving. Loving is pretty close to the size you would want if you're going small at the 4. Thompson struggled trying to guard bigger wings like Sam Dekker and Will Clyburn when they got close to the basket last year and he doesn't look to be much stronger this year, so I just don't think he is an answer at the 4 defensively.
 
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Ohio State men's basketball | Keys to the season: Ross, Williams vital on both ends of court
By Bob Baptist
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH FRIDAY NOVEMBER 8, 2013


  • KYLE ROBERTSON | DISPATCH
    Forward LaQuinton Ross, right, showed flashes of scoring ability late last season, but he also could be a crucial defensive player this season.

    Key offensive player
    LaQuinton Ross succeeds Deshaun Thomas in the starting lineup, and many assume he will flourish as a scorer after how he teased everyone during the NCAA tournament. Maybe. But the Buckeyes have talked throughout the preseason about sharing the ball and scoring collectively, and that is who they were in their exhibition victory over Walsh on Sunday. This could be a team with a different leading scorer each game depending on the matchups that can be exploited. “The best teams I’ve ever had have been four guys (averaging) in double figures,” coach Thad Matta said. Can this be another?
    cont..
 
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As long as Ohio State has Thad Matta and Aaron Craft, they're going to win 25 games and advance to the NCAA Tournament's second weekend.

The Buckeyes are completely locked in. The biggest thing I noticed about this team during its 76-60 win over Maryland on Wednesday night in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge? The only thing that matters is the final score. Ohio State has no one looking for their own offense and a big reason for that is Craft's presence. The Buckeyes' floor general directs his team on both sides of the floor like a maestro conducting a symphony in Central Park. He knows exactly when to get his teammates a touch on offense or when to attack things from a certain angle a defense to create a turnover. With Matta's terrific defensive principles in tact and Craft at the core of everything on both sides of the ball, Ohio State looks once again like they'll right in the mix at the top of the Big Ten. Last year people wondered how this team would replace Jared Sullinger and William Buford and they reached the Elite Eight. Now this season, people question how they're going to fill the void left by Deshaun Thomas and they've responded early by having six different players averaging 9.0 points per game or more. Another thing about the Buckeyes? They're getting solid mileage out of both of their five-men -- Amir Williams and Trey McDonald.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebas...bservations-rankings-still-a-shaky-enterprise
 
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Certainly Matta has built OSU into a very consistent winner. He deserves a lot of credit for that. I know this 2013-14 team probably isn't among the top-3 teams he's had at OSU (2007, 2011 and 2012 are the top-3), but this year it looks like the race for the NC is pretty wide-open. KY, KU, Duke, Carolina all rated in the teens according to Gary Parrish's latest top-25 and 1. Syracuse and Arizona appear to be the most formidable foes from a national perspective at this time and each of those programs had more to replace from last year's team than OSU did (Michael Carter-Williams, James Southerland, Brandon Triche for SU; Mark Lyons, Solomon Hill, Grant Jerrett for UA).
 
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#3 in AP, #2 in Coaches with a first place vote. Thad Matta just needs to win one championship to be the best ever here in my book. Yeah we had great teams before but Jerry Lucas would have made any coach look good. Thad just keeps on, business as usual. Well done coach.
Well, I really like your post except for the little snub you gave to Fred Taylor who was a tremendous basketball coach And man and would have been even without Jerry Lucas.
 
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Matta is a much better coach than Fred Taylor was IMO. Taylor couldn't recruit black players, and it really hurt him in the last few years. Man, did we field some pale teams.

Plus, the whole mugging incident in Minnesota pretty much took all the stuffing out of the guy.
 
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Matta is a much better coach than Fred Taylor was IMO. Taylor couldn't recruit black players, and it really hurt him in the last few years. Man, did we field some pale teams.

Plus, the whole mugging incident in Minnesota pretty much took all the stuffing out of the guy.
Taylor wouldn't recruit outside the rules. That and the failure of the Big to respond to the Minnie incident did him in.
 
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Consistently winning in the one-and-done era is a tremendous accomplishment. Had Oden and the rest of the Thad 5 not had to play the defending champs he'd already have a National Title. Imo, he's the best coach in tOSU history. The most consistent winner for sure. This is the golden age of Buckeye Hoops, and I'm enjoying the shit right out of it.

I never thought I'd see the kind of run tOSU has had. Thanks to Thad and Andy Geiger.
 
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