OHIO STATE 49, WISCONSIN 48 (Final)

[John R.]

Did anyone notice the scene with Oden cutting down the nets at the end of the game? He came to one side of the court, cut off a piece of net, and left for the locker room while the entire team was at the other end of the court cutting down the nets together. Does anyone know why he was ushered off the court so quickly?

 

[jimotis4heisman]

What you want an award or somethin'...

BTW those shoes you didnt like that Lewis had on were designed by LBJ...

no, i dont like awards. i dont believe in them...
just interesting how things have begun to come full circle in 3 years. matta touched in that in his post game speech. 2 b10 titles are great, back to back better. now its time to go after the big one.


design? you mean slap two gray stripes on a red shoe

"tiime and change will surely show..."

to this

 

[OSU_Buckguy]

I will question why the CBS channel in Chicago (home of the Big Ten) showed the end of the Duke-St John's blowout, rather than the opening 3 minutes of the first #1 vs #2 regular season matchup in the history of the Big Ten.

it wasn't just chicago, though. dookland is nationwide.

 

[John R.]

This might be a stretch and I dont know if its been mentioned before, but does anyone think Matta might play Cook based somewhat on Cook's plans for next year, even if it a subconcious thing.

I really didnt understand why he had Cook on the bench the last 10 minutes of the game, sure he missed some shots, but when you get only 5 and youre constantly looking to the sideline for when youre coming out its kind of a lot of pressure on each one of those shots.

I am just wondering because after the first Penn State game, Cook said he was definitely coming back. He then started at Minnesota and played 32 minutes against Penn State at home. This game he barely got to play at all even though I thought he was playing strong defense and playing smart, his shots just didnt fall and his great look to Terwilliger just missed. The only thing I could think of is that I bet Matta (and i know hed never say this) didnt like seeing in the dispatch that Cook was now going back to considering the NBA and his mom said that he feels like hes being punished by his limited minutes.

I know it was senior day and Cook's shots werent falling, but there didnt seem to be a reason to me why to sit him. Im sure people would say matchups, but it looked to me that Cook matched up better with Wisconsin than Lewis and should have at least gotten some minutes with the way he was playing defense and the way he rebounds. I dont think Matta was out to punish Cook, but possibly he just would rather play people who played or will play out their eligibility at OSU (with Oden he has no choice).

Edit: Also did anyone who was at the game notice that in the last minute when all bench players were standing Cook was still sitting on the bench, leaning forward to see down the floor?

Axl: I noticed Cook's displeasure during the 2nd half as well. He looked pissed the entire time even after they won the game. I really would hate to see him leave because of displeasure with his amount of minutes. The fact was, he was 1-6 from the floor and shots weren't falling for him. Harris was playing well so Matta went with him down the stretch.

If Cook stays next year he has the opportunity to be a go-to guy. I hope he realizes that.

 

[schwab]

Axl: I noticed Cook's displeasure during the 2nd half as well. He looked pissed the entire time even after they won the game. I really would hate to see him leave because of displeasure with his amount of minutes. The fact was, he was 1-6 from the floor and shots weren't falling for him. Harris was playing well so Matta went with him down the stretch.

If Cook stays next year he has the opportunity to be a go-to guy. I hope he realizes that.

I would hope that Cook would be smart enough to go to the draft when he is ready, based on ability instead of minutes. IMO he is not ready for the next level, and I think he is smart enough to realize that. This will be the strongest NBA draft in many years, simply because of the top-end talent. DC needs another year at tOSU, and if he leaves now, it would be quite a risk.

 

[BuckeyeTillIDie]

Did anyone notice the scene with Oden cutting down the nets at the end of the game? He came to one side of the court, cut off a piece of net, and left for the locker room while the entire team was at the other end of the court cutting down the nets together. Does anyone know why he was ushered off the court so quickly?

Oden came back out and cut the final piece off after Matta.

 

[crazybuckfan40]

Oden came back out and cut the final piece off after Matta.

He had to go file the police report after the mugging he took...

 

[lvbuckeye]

these morons on another board that i frequent are dogging the Big Ten in general and Ohio State in particular. i guess these yahoos don't realize that no one else has played 3 top 5 teams on the road this year. the Buckeyes have ZERO bad losses. one cannot say that about any other program this year.

 

[808 Buck]

really didnt understand why he had Cook on the bench the last 10 minutes of the game, sure he missed some shots, but when you get only 5 and youre constantly looking to the sideline for when youre coming out its kind of a lot of pressure on each one of those shots.

Think the NBA is going to be any different? That's life, as you move to each level.

 

[OSU_Buckguy]

these morons on another board that i frequent are dogging the Big Ten in general and Ohio State in particular. i guess these yahoos don't realize that no one else has played 3 top 5 teams on the road this year. the Buckeyes have ZERO bad losses. one cannot say that about any other program this year.

the last time the big ten was "dogged," the conference had three teams in the elite eight, two in the final four, and one in the championship game. last year, the big ten was considered to be very strong. the tournament showing was pitiful. this late in the conference schedules, the actual abilities of teams become difficult to determine. i think that msu, purdue, and indiana are going to surprise many.

let them get in their shots about ohio state. this is year one of a long run of superiority.

 

[schwab]

these morons on another board that i frequent are dogging the Big Ten in general and Ohio State in particular. i guess these yahoos don't realize that no one else has played 3 top 5 teams on the road this year. the Buckeyes have ZERO bad losses. one cannot say that about any other program this year.

I would put our losses this year up against any team in the history of NCAA D1 basketball that had 3 losses. At UNC, at Florida, and at Wisconsin are the 3 best collective losses any team could claim at any point in my opinion. We weren't expected to win any of those games, and we didn't. That is it, we have not been upset period. No other team has used this many freshman and owned the conference to the point of being #1 in both polls (see this Monday). Fast forward 13 wins later, and we have avenged one of those defeats already. I say we are primed to play anybody. Anybody.

 

[Axlrose4eva]

Think the NBA is going to be any different? That's life, as you move to each level.

At least in the NBA he would be getting paid to sit on the bench if he was benched. I really thought Cook was playing well. He took 6 shots and none seemed bad, he was a bit short today, but I just think that was nerves from not playing. Harris was hot, but Lewis wasnt. Yeah Lewis got the block, but he also got blocked 2 plays before and it is pretty telling when the second loudest cheer of the night was when Lewis help up during transition and passed the ball to Connely. I felt bad for Cook because I think he should be getting more minutes.

It also seems to me that Matta's a lot harder on him. Lewis is shooting far under what Cook is, but if Cook makes one mistake he is benched. Matta always seems in his ear when he comes off the court. I would think he was giving advice as to what to do, but he often benches him for the rest of the half.

Fact is Cook could practice more in the NBA and if he isnt playing he might as well go get paid and not have restrictions on time with coaches. His ambition is to start a clothing line he says... I dont really think he needs a degree for that.

 

[Steve19]

I don't care how you get to a season, such as this team has produced. It is, so far, a body of evidence of a well-coached team of extremely talented players.

However, that same body of evidence points to players that, one and all, could benefit from more experience and maturity. They have been guilty of rushing shots and poor shot selection at times. They have made silly errors, such as Oden travelling so many times yesterday. There have been obvious lapses on defense, repeatedly.

I know that this will sound like a perception of an Ohio State homer trying to keep talented kids from going pro, but I sincerely believe that all of these kids would benefit immensely from another year in college. This would give them a chance to work on building their physical strength and endurance, give Oden especially a chance to really show what he can do, and help them all build better mental/experience skills to take to the next level.

I have no doubt that at least three of these freshmen can go to the pros next year and contribute. I just think that if they wait at least a year, they will go there and have a much greater chance of success.

Congrats on a great win against Wisconsin and on the outright Big Ten title.

 

[toby34a]

I know that this will sound like a perception of an Ohio State homer trying to keep talented kids from going pro, but I sincerely believe that all of these kids would benefit immensely from another year in college.

Yeah, Steve, I think the same thing. the only problem is that will they? Oden's been great, and he's guaranteed top-2 pick this year, with tons of money coming out. But he hasn't been DOMINANT. 15.5 points, 9.3 rebounds and 3-4 blocks per game is nothing to sneeze at, really, it's not. But, I'd love to see him come back and average 20-25 points, 10-15 rebounds, and 5-6 blocks as he could if he had another year under the belt, and then be the consensus #1 pick, instead of the 1/2 that he could be now.

Plus, then we'd probably win another Big Ten championship... because the majority of these boys (only losing Lewis and Harris, which are definitely made up for by the combo Cook and Lighty and Hunter) aren't going anywhere.

On another note, Ivan played the best defense of his career today. For someone who was a role player for years, that would just come in and hit a few threes, him picking up the D this year has been awesome, and was cleary visible in this game.

 

[osugrad21]

DDN

Fans made it feel like the Horseshoe

​

By Kyle Nagel

Monday, February 26, 2007

COLUMBUS ? In the two hours before college basketball's version of the fall's Ohio State-Michigan football game, it was serene in the Schottenstein Center.
The nation's top two teams would be playing soon, just as the country's two best in football met in Columbus last November. Still undisturbed was an awe-inspiring collection of white rally towels, one hung over each of the arena's 19,500 seats. The scene was as calm and impressive as a field of undisturbed snow.