OHIO STATE--68 TENNESSEE--66 (Final)

[BuckeyeTillIDie]

Matta's "cool guy" character landed Ohio State an unbelievable class. But I wonder whether he's a very good teacher for these kids.

This is a freshman you are talking about. Obviously Matta believes in letting them play through their mistakes. Yes, he should've hustled back, but the Tennessee guy had an obvious lay up. And you had to have seen the whole game, there were several occassions where OSU hustled back to block shots and prevent easy buckets. A credit to Matta and the coaching staff.

I would think twice before questioning Matta as a coach/teacher. His record speaks for itself.

 

[Reebokbigtime]

Stadium,

If you look at the replay when Conley threw the ball away the defender grabbed his arm which caused the ball to come out, I guess he thought the refs would call a foul, they didn't. Conley has never been a guy to be careless with the basketball so to bench him after 1 mistake sends the wrong message IMO. Conley has shown to be a guy who plays hard all the time over the course of the season.

 

[OH10]

This is a freshman you are talking about. Obviously Matta believes in letting them play through their mistakes. Yes, he should've hustled back, but the Tennessee guy had an obvious lay up. And you had to have seen the whole game, there were several occassions where OSU hustled back to block shots and prevent easy buckets. A credit to Matta and the coaching staff.

I would think twice before questioning Matta as a coach/teacher. His record speaks for itself.

You obviously didn't see the play. He could have easily gotten back on defense and made Tennessee work for their points. Instead, he stood there.

I guess I'm never allowed to question any moves by a coach. When a player makes a careless mistake, that's one thing. When he doesn't get back on defense because he's too busy mulling over his last error, that's entirely different. Matta missed a great teaching opportunity for a team that sorely needs some discipline. He seemed to be more concerned with the fact that UT was pressing, and it was more important to keep Conley in to defeat that than to teach.

If you look at the replay when Conley threw the ball away the defender grabbed his arm which caused the ball to come out, I guess he thought the refs would call a foul, they didn't. Conley has never been a guy to be careless with the basketball so to bench him after 1 mistake sends the wrong message IMO. Conley has shown to be a guy who plays hard all the time over the course of the season.

Foul? Now you're telling me it's ok to stand there because you thought there should be a foul. That's even more ridiculous. I think it sends the wrong message to allow something like that to go by without doing something.


I go back to a game against San Diego St. in 2003 in football where Will Smith got back-to-back personal foul penalties, and he wasn't benched. Now I know we all love Tressel, but when your season co-captain does that, you gotta bench him. And he didn't. That team had discipline problems all year long, highlighted by Reynolds' choke job. Was it wrong to question Tressel then, just because his track record is spectacular? I think not.

When you have freshman, first and foremost, you're a teacher. I didn't see anyone teaching Conley about the game of basketball that he didn't already know yesterday. And that's disturbing.

 

[HabaneroBuck]

I did not see the particular play involving Conley, but in general, I don't see the intensity or direction out of this team that great coaching should produce. They are getting by on individual talent alone (of which all of these guys have plenty). I agree that Matta has a great history and that half of this team is very young...but I'm almost getting bored watching them play because of their seeming disinterest in what is going on around them.

FWIW, Conley does not strike me as the one who needs a little more fire in his game as much as Butler, Lewis, and Cook. You could probably throw Harris in there, too, but he is what he is.

Anyway, good win, and I think we all expect to continue to see improvement in these areas as the year goes on. If not, then this team will exit early in a disappointing fashion. These guys have enough talent to avoid most upsets, but there are some traits you can see that lend themselves to one ill-timed poor outing in March.

 

[ohiovol]

It's too bad Oden still has a wrap on his right hand. No telling what he would have done against the Vols with both hands. OSU still goes up by 1 with a two point shot, so I am not sure what your gripe is. Your team took two point shots to tie at the end, so the Buckeye's last basket had no effect on the Vol's last series. Who are you referring to being out of bounds?

Yes it did have effect. If we had the ball with 2 seconds left under their hoop, I would say that is something. We should have hit the free throws though.

 

[jwinslow]

Not to mention Lofton got away with two blatant charges on drives before the final play.

Nope, neither were charges. The first one he slid around Lewis, who slid sideways to maintain contact. The second Lewis set up, Lofton left the ground (flying right of lewis), then lewis shuffled sideways and reset his feet to draw contact.

 

[MaxBuck]

I don't think that last shot you hit was a three, and I am sure your guy stepped out of bounds, but the bottom line is we should have hit those free throws to put it away when we had the chance... That and started the second half better... Anyways, good game, and congrats to OSU.

I agree with you, vol, regarding both the plays you mention; the officiating was interesting to say the least. Oden was basically mugged the entire game with no calls. Crews and Chism could legitimately have fouled out with 10 minutes remaining in the first half.

Tennessee is a very good, though very small, team. Best wishes the remainder of the year.

 

[Steve19]

And that's why this team couldn't put away a clearly inferior Tennessee team. Because they're undisciplined. Matta's "cool guy" character landed Ohio State an unbelievable class. But I wonder whether he's a very good teacher for these kids.

Perhaps Matta is a bit closer to Conley than we are and knows how to motivate him best? Perhaps watching the film with him and handling this as a team is the best way? My thinking is that a guy who wins 20 times a year as regularly as Old Faithful probably knows what he's doing when it comes to motivating young men. Just sayin...

 

[ohiovol]

I agree with you, vol, regarding both the plays you mention; the officiating was interesting to say the least. Oden was basically mugged the entire game with no calls. Crews and Chism could legitimately have fouled out with 10 minutes remaining in the first half.

Tennessee is a very good, though very small, team. Best wishes the remainder of the year.

Same to you... See you guys next year in Knoxville.

 

[ohiovol]

And that's why this team couldn't put away a clearly inferior Tennessee team. Because they're undisciplined. Matta's "cool guy" character landed Ohio State an unbelievable class. But I wonder whether he's a very good teacher for these kids.

Tennessee is not inferior.

 

[Mike80]

The out of bounds thing should be moot anyways, the Tennessee guard traveled his ass off on the first lay-up attempt. Not to mention Lofton got away with two blatant charges on drives before the final play.

And Oden isn't lying about getting held and pulled. It happens every freaking possession, someone is pulling him or pushing him, yet it never gets called.

Oden will have to adjust to the holding and grabbing if he isn't going to get calls. All the greats normally have too.

And if you watch closely, Ron Lewis slid under the Tennessee guard well after the guard was in the air. It was closer to a block than a charge.

 

[Best Buckeye]

This team bothers me. Discipline on both sides of the ball is a BIG PROBLEM. And I'm not so certain it can be attributed simply to inexperience anymore.

In the first half, Conley throws the ball away, and Lewis gets an intentional foul. But if you watch the replay, Conley just stands there and holds his head after the turnover. He was in the best position to force a difficult shot in transition if he just runs back on defense. Instead, he just stood there like this was AAU ball.

Matta leaves Conley in, doesn't say a word to him about it. Conley comes back and hits 2 three-pointers, and it's like it never happened. But that's bullshit. It's one thing to make a mental error... but it's an entirely different thing to not put out the effort to make up for the error. Conley should have been benched at that point to teach the team that effort errors are inexcusable.

And that's why this team couldn't put away a clearly inferior Tennessee team. Because they're undisciplined. Matta's "cool guy" character landed Ohio State an unbelievable class.

But I wonder whether he's a very good teacher for these kids.

I am wondering the same thing because I was expecting more progress.
Only time will tell so i will put My trust in Matta and enjoy

 

[OregonBuckeye]

Tennessee is not inferior.

Yes, they are. There's no shame in it though. Tennessee just doesn't have the size to match up with Ohio St.

And I am amazed that people are questioning Matta's teaching ability. The Ohio St. basketball program was basically in the shitter when he took over. Not a whole lot of talent or depth. Our last two teams overachieved so much it's amazing. Damn, you lose 3 games on the road to top 3 teams(one game without your best player) and people question your coaching abilities. WTF?

 

[BuckeyeTillIDie]

I was watching from the stands, I guess it's a bit different perspective than TV replays :)

 

[jwinslow]

In the first half, Conley throws the ball away, and Lewis gets an intentional foul. But if you watch the replay, Conley just stands there and holds his head after the turnover. He was in the best position to force a difficult shot in transition if he just runs back on defense. Instead, he just stood there like this was AAU ball.

And in the 2nd half, he hustled down court and drew a charge after a turnover/fastbreak.

Which play is more indicative of Conley as a player? I believe that was Reebok's point.

Matta leaves Conley in, doesn't say a word to him about it. Conley comes back and hits 2 three-pointers, and it's like it never happened. But that's bullshit. It's one thing to make a mental error... but it's an entirely different thing to not put out the effort to make up for the error. Conley should have been benched at that point to teach the team that effort errors are inexcusable.

He never said a word to him about it? Ever? Not even at halftime?

As for right after the play, the camera didn't show Matta for the first 15 seconds after the foul. After that, it looked to me like he was spending his time working the ref on the foul call.

And that's why this team couldn't put away a clearly inferior Tennessee team. Because they're undisciplined. Matta's "cool guy" character landed Ohio State an unbelievable class. But I wonder whether he's a very good teacher for these kids.

Just curious, what was the excuse for coaching up his past rosters?

FWIW, Conley does not strike me as the one who needs a little more fire in his game as much as Butler, Lewis, and Cook. You could probably throw Harris in there, too, but he is what he is.

agreed... Conley plays harder and smarter than anyone on the team, imo.