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C Greg Oden (All B1G, All-American, Defensive Player of the Year, Butler Assistant Coach)

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i agree with walton. but how do you do it? the kid wasnt in the shape he needed to be in even in march. not that its greg fault at all. but thats the way it is. then you have fould trouble and some other issues. i agree with walton. but how do you implement it? what is a better plan. coaching a big man is the hardest thing to do in basektball imo.
 
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On ESPN Radio this morning, ESPN basketball analyst Bill Walton bashed Ohio State coach Thad Matta, saying Matta had access to one of the most talented big men the game has ever seen -- Greg Oden -- and that he let that talent go to waste.
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Did Walton rip Dale Brown for wasteing Shaq's talent at LSU? What about David Robinson at Navy or Tim Duncan at Wake Forest. Did their talents go to waste? What is his definition of letting talent go to waste? What does Walton want in one year?

Walton added that he was "wholly disappointed" that Matta often ran a slow-down offense and a zone defense, which Walton said did not adequately use Oden's skills.
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Didn't Matta use the zone defense to help Oden not get in foul trouble? I think Walton has been watching too much pro basketball when he is talking about the "slow-down offense" we run. Does he want us to throw it into Oden and clear out every time down the court or does he want us to sprint down the court take a shot and sprint back down? What kind of offense would use his skills better?

Joey: I think you're the greatest, but my dad says you don't work hard enough on defense. And he says that lots of times, you don't even run down court. And that you don't really try... except during the playoffs.

Roger Murdock: The hell I don't. LISTEN KID. I've been hearing that crap ever since I was at UCLA. I'm out there busting my buns every night. Tell your old man to drag Walton and Lanier up and down the court for 48 minutes.
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jimotis4heisman;805733; said:
i agree with walton. but how do you do it? the kid wasnt in the shape he needed to be in even in march. not that its greg fault at all. but thats the way it is. then you have fould trouble and some other issues. i agree with walton. but how do you implement it? what is a better plan. coaching a big man is the hardest thing to do in basektball imo.
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Absolutely JimO. I agree with Walton also in the fact that the half court offense for us shouldn't have gone through Oden but around Oden. He wasn't in the proper shape for the running game and I think thats where Durant definitely has the leg up. These are two totally different types of player though as anyone would agree. I would have like to see us run a little more and when Oden "cherry picks" I would have rather seen it on the defensive end if at all. A full season at full go- would that make a difference in our style of play? I hope we get a chance to find out.

Either way Greg did everything that was asked of him and we couldn't ask for more. Maybe if theres a next time, Matta will ask something different on offense.
 
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Buckeyefrankmp;805775; said:
Did Walton rip Dale Brown for wasteing Shaq's talent at LSU? What about David Robinson at Navy or Tim Duncan at Wake Forest. Did their talents go to waste? What is his definition of letting talent go to waste? What does Walton want in one year?
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Not to agree with the big hippy, but sometimes during the season it seemed that OSU was running plays just to keep the other players happy and with the ball instead of feeding the post. That was a humongous hole in the offense for 2/3rds of the season. While I won't say that it's necessarily Matta's fault, it's mainly because Conley didn't really seem to run the offense on his own until midway through February. Once he did, unless one of the other OSU guards or Harris had a wide open look at a 3, generally the ball went into the post on every other possession.

Didn't Matta use the zone defense to help Oden not get in foul trouble? I think Walton has been watching too much pro basketball when he is talking about the "slow-down offense" we run. Does he want us to throw it into Oden and clear out every time down the court or does he want us to sprint down the court take a shot and sprint back down? What kind of offense would use his skills better?
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He did and you are pretty much right on this. Walton must not have watched very many games this year. Sometimes if Oden breathed on a guy he was called for a foul. Matta had to protect the big guy and a zone is what college coaches do to accomplish that.
 
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official.site

Oden, Wooden Award Finalists Arrive in Los Angeles

Four of Five finalists on hand for Saturday event


LOS ANGELES - Wooden Award finalists Greg Oden of Ohio State, Alando Tucker of Wisconsin, Texas A&M's Acie Law IV and Kevin Durant of Texas spent Friday preparing for the John R. Wooden Award Show Saturday at the Los Angeles Athletic Club in downtown LA.

Oden, a freshman center for the Buckeyes, and Thad Matta, Ohio State head coach, flew west from Columbus Thursday fresh from the Buckeyes' NCAA title game appearance Monday in Atlanta. The Buckeyes finished the 2006-07 season with a school-record 35 victories.

Oden, Tucker, Law IV and Durant spent the afternoon Friday being fitted for tuxedos, signing autographs and acting as head coaches in a basketball tournament for Special Olympians at the LAAC. The four will attend a dinner with their head coaches, families and Wooden Award officials Friday evening.
The Wooden Award Show will be televised at 2 p.m. ET Saturday on CBS. Tyler Hansbrough of North Carolina did not attend the weekend festivities.
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BuckWrestler141;806392; said:
Am I the only person that has their heart stop everytime this thread gets bumped to the top thinking 'noooo, he declared'?
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Maybe I'm just an optimist, but I am always looking to see if he came out and said that he'll be staying another year every time the thread gets bumped.
 
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