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Men's Basketball Tidbits 2008-'09 Season

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Dispatch

Scrimmage at Miami on Sunday

Thad Matta and his coaching staff get their first chance to see how their team looks against someone else this weekend.
Matta eschewed a second exhibition game against a non-Division I team this season in favor of doing what a lot of other coaches are -- scrimmaging another Division I team. The Buckeyes will bus to Oxford, Ohio, on Sunday, do battle with Miami behind closed doors -- as required by NCAA rules -- and bus home afterward. No results will be available, also per the NCAA?s arcane rules.
Asked if he nixed one of the public exhibitions this season because he felt the upset loss to Findlay last year might have done more harm than good to his young team?s psyche, Matta said no.

?I think in some ways it heightened an awareness, probably the same thing that happened to Michigan State? after its loss to Grand Valley State, he said.

Continued..............
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Dispatch

OSU men's basketball: College teams adjust for longer three-point shots

Monday, November 3, 2008 3:11 AM
By Bob Baptist


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
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NEAL C. LAURON | DISPATCH
"Most of the threes that were taken in college (last season) were from behind where the (new) line is now." ? Thad Matta


The new three-point line in men's college basketball will "separate the real shooters from maybe the wannabes," Gonzaga coach Mark Few said.
Or it won't.
"I looked at it," Ohio State coach Thad Matta said. "Most of the threes that were taken in college (last season) were from behind where the (new) line is now. A lot of our shots were from 22 feet."
It remains to be seen how shooting percentages are affected by the line moving a foot farther from the basket, to 20 feet, 9 inches, this season.
That won't be the only part of the game that is affected, though. Bigger changes could result inside the arc: more room for post players and more distance to cover for defenders trying to double-team inside and recover in time to get a hand in the face of a three-point shooter.
"I think it's going to make the game that much more interesting," new Indiana coach Tom Crean said. "I don't think it's a negative, moving it from where it was. I think it's like anything else, you adjust to it."

Continued................
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ozone

Men's Basketball
Buckeye Hoops Outlook
By John Porentas


The OSU Men's basketball season begins with an exhibition game November 13, and for the second-straight season OSU Head Men's Basketball Coach Thad Matta has welcomed a team that is dominated by new faces.
The faces may be new again, but if there is a difference between this year and last it is the sheer number of quality players Matta will have at his disposal. Matta will have 12 scholarship players available in 2008-09. A 13th scholarship player will practice but will not be eligible to play due to transfer rules.
Matta will have not only more numbers, but a far more athletic team that in theory will be able to play in ways that last year's team could not.
"Hopefully we'll have more depth and be able to play a little bit faster and bring more pressure defensively than maybe we were last year," Matta said.

Continued...................​
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I think it is very difficult to tell right now who would be the #1 players in both of those lineups because they both have Simmons as the starting PG and by the time they start to play games all indications are that Crater will probably be the starting PG.

I would think that when they go with the bigger lineup, Turner probably could play the #2 and Lighty play the #3. It's interesting that they do have Diebler in the lineup and Lighty out when they go big. Maybe Diebler is the only guy shooting the ball well right now from the outside which would be very nice.
 
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Miami scrimmage

Miami Hawk Talk (free)

The two teams played 2 halfs. We lost both of them. I am not very familiar with Miami's program but from the guy who posted the information it sound like we got outrebounded pretty badly. We also did not score that many points. The guy posting was not very familiar with the Ohio State players.
 
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Dispatch

spy at Miami
For what it?s worth, someone posted on a Miami RedHawks message board last night that he covertly watched the scrimmage against Ohio State from the top row of Millett Hall and that the Buckeyes lost both 16-minute halves, 24-15 and 24-23.
The poster?s observations are mostly on Miami but confirm what little I?ve heard last night and this morning, that Ohio State looked like you would expect a young team to look in its first time out against a veteran Division I team. Now, coaches have another week or so to address the issues before raising the curtain on the 2008-09 Buckeyes in an exhibition game against Walsh on Nov.13.
Miami returns four senior starters and about 70 percent of its scoring and rebounding from last season. The RedHawks were picked by Mid-American Conference coaches and media to finish second to Kent State in the MAC East Division and received the second-most votes among favorites to win the conference tournament.
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Dispatch

Club Trillion

Thanks to my buds at Eleven Warriors -- and to the fact I?m surfing on my lunch hour, boss -- I just discovered another source of legitimate (I use the term loosely) information on the team I attempt to cover as much as coach Thad Matta will allow me (which doesn?t remotely approach Blue Jackets access, by the way).
It?s a blog named Club Trillion and it was co-founded last month and being written (so far) by two guys with whom you may be familiar -- Mark Titus and Kyle Madsen. Titus, you no doubt remember, caused exhalations of exultation throughout Buckeye Nation in April 2007 when he announced at the post-Final Four celebration in Value City Arena that he had decided to return for another year. The three freshmen he had played AAU ball with didn't, but who cares about them, right?
Anyway, Club Trillion also includes a third proud end-of-the-bencher, Danny Peters, who has yet to check in with his thoughts. As for why they have anointed themselves Club Trillion, read Titus? debut entry from Oct.24 -- and all the rest, for that matter. There's some entertaining stuff.
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Dispatch
Ohio State men's basketball: Run and shoot
Diebler hopes Buckeyes' new offense that stresses transition game helps with his accuracy
Monday, November 10, 2008 3:11 AM
By Bob Baptist


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
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CHRIS RUSSELL Dispatch
Jon Diebler found the transition from the high school game to college difficult, shooting just 29 percent from three-point range.




During summer, when his players have more free time, Thad Matta likes to give them books to read. "Try to get 'em a little smarter," the Ohio State men's basketball coach said with a smile. "Helps the APR."
Or, in the case of Jon Diebler, maybe the PPG and FG%.
Diebler said he has read a couple of Matta's suggested titles in recent months: Phil Jackson's Sacred Hoops, which delves into the veteran NBA coach's philosophy of basketball, and How to Play the Game, a compilation of stories about "different athletes and how sports have affected their lives," Diebler said.
"It's interesting to read books on lives of athletes and see how they sort of put things in perspective. I try to (learn from them), hearing different motivational things to try to help myself out."
Diebler's freshman season with the Buckeyes challenged his ability to maintain perspective.
The Ohio record-holder for points scored in a high-school career, he entered the season fostering high expectations and left it questioning whether college rims are smaller. He shot 29 percent behind the three-point arc, where four of every five of his shots came from. He did make 78 percent of his free throws but attempted fewer than two per game because taking the ball to the basket in a half-court game is not his forte. He averaged 5.9 points per game compared with 41.2 as a senior at Upper Sandusky.
"Last year was a rude awakening for me," Diebler said recently.
Cont...
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