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(6) THE Ohio State vs. (11) Dayton, Thurs 3/20, 12:15p ET, CBS

Folks done lost they damn minds. Probably the greatest stretch of Buckeye hoops success in history, and definitely the best run since Hondo and Lucas, and people on the least crazy stupid Buckeye message board are calling for Matta's job and blaming fans for a 25 win season and a NCAA tourney appearance.

What the fuck

People criticizing Matta are out of their minds. This could've been the best coaching job he's ever done. The team has great talent and great coaching, and yet still lost 10 times, which leads me to think this is all the mental aspect of the game--mostly not playing with fire and not understanding the game enough to keep from making dumb decisions at critical junctures.
 
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Well, I can't say I'm too surprised at the loss. This game just showed that this years team was average at best. Too many turnovers, and poor shooting. Not the recipe for success. Gonna miss AC and Smith Jr, and wish them the best. Thad...you have to find some aggressive big men, and for goodness sakes, work on the shooting. See ya next year.
 
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Disagreeing with me is usually a safe bet.
Usually.
Heres the deal...a well know and successful pro golfer once was asked why he kept finishing in the top 10 but had not won. His reply was that while he may not have won, the fact that he was in a position to win was just as important. This is the difference between Matta and others like Ayers, Miller and others. He gets them in a position to win the big prize, eventually it can happen. Matta is the right guy...just an off year.
 
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This team is a very good team.. you don't win 25 games in B1G unless you are
but IMO to be elite, you need to hit your free throws, have a lights-out shooter, with a middle presence
If you don't have middle presence, you need 2-3 lights out shooters
Marc Loving, come on down
and I wanna borrow Tommy Brown (who might not get much field time and we could use an enforcer)

I think Craft knew there were shortfalls.. so he just tried to do too much at times
Not sure if I get more excited with a star point guard or pit-bull in the middle

Banners for 'sale' .. contribute anything.. and get your banners
 
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People criticizing Matta are out of their minds.
Here are some combined offensive numbers during Matta's tenure at Ohio State:

FG %: .471 (9266-19687)
3PT%: .363 (2463-6785)
FT %: .698 (4839-6931)

Here's how the combined Matta team would rank compared to all NCAA teams for this season:

FG %: #38
3PT%: #89
FT %: #176

By the way, if we take Jon Diebler out of the equation, the Buckeyes' 3-point percentage drops to .355, which would place them at #118 compared to this year's NCAA teams.

We all loved Jim Tressel, but we eventually had to admit that his teams had some offensive shortcomings, and that those shortcomings were somehow inherent in his system. I think that we can say the same thing for Matta: For some reason, his teams struggle beyond the arc and especially at the line.

This could've been the best coaching job he's ever done. The team has great talent and great coaching, and yet still lost 10 times, which leads me to think this is all the mental aspect of the game--mostly not playing with fire and not understanding the game enough to keep from making dumb decisions at critical junctures.
Isn't that the essence of coaching, especially at the college level? Isn't it the coach's job to get the team to play with fire, to make them understand the game, to keep the kids from making dumb decisions?
 
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Dunno... THE most important stat is 275-83 (a 77% W/L rcd).. what place would that make him?
It's tough to win the recruiting battle with schools that are known for 1-and-done with zero expected in the class room...
When I look at the top 25 recruits year after year... seems that too many are deemed 1-and-done from the onset

I think Matta needs to recruit tougher minded kids... B1G is a man's league... if you're not an hombre, B1G schedule is gonna ruin your ego
 
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I have waited to comment about this year because i wanted to watch it play out. I wanted to see what Matta could come up with in a year where there was no "elite" talent on the team, and overall, I thought it was a decent year. Yeah, it's disappointing to lose in the first round, but, realistically, who didn't at least feel like it was entirely possible that this team could lose in round 1? They just weren't very good. There are no "special" players on this team. Craft is a phenomenal defender, but I think asking him to shoulder the load as a creator, and then scorer was too much. Q is, generally, a scorer, but doesn't really create his own shots, he is improved,but still marginal as a good defender, and those were the best players on the team. LSJr, is a great kid. I admire his commitment to the team, and making an effort to step up his game this year, but he is what he is. A good defender, with a somewhat limited offensive skill set. The biggest disappointments to me are Thompson, who had a good game offensively yesterday, and Williams, who has apparently forgotten what a basketball looks like, and even maybe to a lesser extent, Scott, who just can't seem to come around to being a creator or consistent. I think that Slam T. was expected to be a major contributor in this offense by now, and has shown some ability at times, but he's hardly reliable. Amir though, I just don't know. It's seems like he either doesn't know what to do, or just doesn't care to do it, which leaves a gaping black hole at the post position, and essentially makes it a 4 on 5 game every game. Honestly, I woud have benched him by now.

At the end of the day, it is really hard to win games when you have absolutely no post presence, don't rebound, and struggle to score points. I would like to believe that Matta is doing the best with what he has, and I think that even using LJB's stats that you can make that argument. Having said all of that, it looks to me like there are a lot of very good complimentary pieces to a great team, even with Craft and LSJr. leaving. we need a center, or we need be able to run a smaller, high octane offense. I think Loving is going to be instrumental. Beyond that, i's hard to tell what the future holds for this team.
 
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We all loved Jim Tressel, but we eventually had to admit that his teams had some offensive shortcomings, and that those shortcomings were somehow inherent in his system. I think that we can say the same thing for Matta: For some reason, his teams struggle beyond the arc and especially at the line.
Tressel was one game from becoming the premiere dynasty in cfb.
Tressel was at a program with the tradition, resources and talent to be that dynasty.
Meyer brought offensive aggression and defensive history to Columbus and so far is not as close as tressel was to satisfying fans.


Matta is at a football school that wasn't close to the top of the league let alone the National powers in basketball. The accomplishments from fifty years ago don't really hold water with kids. He has had a host of strong League campaigns and multiple final four runs with varying squads.


Of course there is room for criticism but it needs to be kept within context of what school he is accomplishing these things at .
 
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