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Thad Matta (OSU's All Time Winningest Coach & 3x B1G COY, Butler HC)

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Oh, sure I do. I still think he was treated unfairly. Even so, Matta's a good guy and a good coach, and I just want these boys to win. So, pining for O'Brien? Not really. Although getting to the Final Four was nice.
 
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Thad Matta (Official Thread)

I just wanted to put something on here about the way coach has handled the team and the way they've come together this year. After the team found out the other day they had no chance at a post season game they could have folded the tents. There are quite a few players on this team that will never play organized basketball again after this season and a post season game would have meant everything to them. Coach Matta has done an exceptional job at preparing this guys and getting them to play hard. Even if they don't get to go to a tournament at the end of the year they have already achieved more than a lot of people their age and hopefully being aroung coach Matta this season will instill some positive characteristics in them for the rest of their lives.

Coach Matta we salute you!

Go Bucks!
 
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yes we salute you Coach Matta...the man that could very well put Buckeye Basketball back on the map

and he has done a great job handling this...he's got the team focused and ready..I was listening to his show on 1460 and he said the season is gonna be like the ncaa tourney for them now....and you gotta like that attitude...they could spoil a lot of team's seasons....and wouldn't it be sweet if they could somehow pull out a victory over Illinois? even sweeter if they are still number 1!
 
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hate to be negative, but its still early, i will give him props as the season progresses. after a good win over a terrible portland state team i dont give them credit for not giving up. granted come big ten play if they are still going 100% and scrapping i will give as much or more praise than anyone, especially after getting theri asses kicked a few times in in big ten play if they respond and get better and play hard
 
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Haven't seen them play too much, since little has been on TV, but this Matta coached bunch looks like they are having more fun, and the basketball itself is more exciting that the O'Brien run offense. Not saying OB sucked or anything, just that Matta's O is (or so it appears) much more up tempo.
 
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i really thought o'brien had turned around all the damage Ayers reaped....but could it have been permanent? jesus...when are we gonna be a big ten powerhouse again?!?!

when i was in high school..the man JJ was lighting it up...we were going far in the tourney every year (granted never the final 4)...and were a top big ten team. even when o'brien took us to the final 4 and then 8?/16? i forget we weren't dominant in the big ten those years...not that i remember....and trust me, my memory sux..especially from the college years...
 
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First things first, the recruiting has to get better and I think that this will happen. Matta is attracting the attention of big name recruits in a way that O'Brien never did. Second, he preaches defense and taking good shots. Everyone knows that is what wins basketball games, getting it done is something else entirely. This, I think is where Matta will shine. I think Matta has the kind of personality that fires kids up and makes them want to play for him. I think Matta is the right guy at the right time. There are good things are in the future for OSU basketball.
 
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Thad Matta (Official Thread)

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Halfway through his first season as Ohio State's head men's basketball coach, Thad Matta is still working without a contract.
Ohio State's legal affairs office confirmed Tuesday that it does not have a signed contract with Matta. Nonetheless, he has already had a year added to what was originally a seven-year agreement with Ohio State.

"It's not like we're having any unusually heated negotiations on issues or anything," said Julie Vannatta, Ohio State's associate legal counsel for athletics. "It's typical."

http://www.sportsline.com/collegebasketball/story/8092291
 
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Thad Matta (Official Thread)

http://www.dispatch.com/bball/bball.php?story=dispatch/2005/02/25/20050225-D1-01.html&chck=t

not really, but he can't

OSU MEN’S BASKETBALL
Transfer season has been good for Lewis
Ex-Falcon hopes to make big impact next season
Friday, February 25, 2005
Bob Baptist
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH


The best-dressed man on the Ohio State bench sometimes is at the end of it.

Ron Lewis wears long-cut suits that have more panache than the dark, conservative models favored by his coaches. His pants could stand to be hemmed a little higher, but then again, maybe he plans to grow another couple of inches.

It is what’s inside the suit, though, that has gotten the attention of coaches and teammates on the OSU men’s basketball team as Lewis, a transfer from Bowling Green, bides his time until he can play next season.

"Ron’s an animal," said J.J. Sullinger, who goes toe to toe with Lewis in practice. "He’s going to be a great addition to our team."

He already is.

Word out of Ohio State’s closed practices since they began in October has been that Lewis, a 6-foot-4, 195-pound Brookhaven graduate, often is the best guard in the gym. He is said to be aggressive and tenacious on offense and defense, qualities the Buckeyes have not had enough of the last two seasons.

Coach Thad Matta planned to have "ultracompetitive" practices this week to help the Buckeyes maintain their edge during their bye week leading up to their next game, against Wisconsin on Sunday in Value City Arena. Matta had a willing participant in Lewis, who has treated practices as his games during his forced layoff.

"Ron has passion for the game," Matta said. "He wants to be a really good player. He brings toughness to our practices and he makes our guards better just by going up against them."

Lewis left Bowling Green last summer despite averaging a team-leading 17 points as a sophomore. After two losing seasons, Lewis said he wanted to play on a winning team.

Bowling Green is winning without him this season, and coach Dan Dakich and some players have made veiled references to better chemistry being the reason. But Miami coach Charlie Coles said Bowling Green would be even better had Lewis stayed.

"If Ron was playing at BG now, they’re a top-25 team," Coles said. "He would have been the best player in our (Mid-American) conference."

Coles was one whom Matta consulted when deciding whether to offer Lewis a scholarship. While coaching at Xavier, Matta had not recruited Lewis. Much of what he knew he saw on a couple of videotapes: a big, slashing guard who got to the line enough to average 7.5 free throws — half the number OSU averages as a team this season.

How does a player with Lewis’ apparent potential fly so far under the radar that he was not even offered a scholarship out of high school by his hometown university?

"A lot of times guys don’t develop until late," Matta said. "And for Ron, playing on that great high-school team . . . you look at teams that have great players across the board and those third and fourth players sometimes turn out to be the guy."

Lewis led Brookhaven’s 2002 state championship team in scoring but often did not start. The Bearcats’ top six players that year ended up with scholarships to Division I schools, but major programs were not interested in Lewis.

"Guys like that, it seems like they maybe work harder sometimes than guys (who go directly) to the Big Ten level," Ohio State center Terence Dials said. "He put in his dues at Bowling Green and worked hard, and I think he got a lot better."

Lewis agreed with the characterization.

"I feel I can make it here. I feel I can make a statement in the Big Ten," he said. "I view the competition every day on tape and in practice and I feel I can be one of the star players in this program."

In the meantime, Lewis works away from spotlight to improve his strength, his ball-handling, his outside shot.

"He has taken optimum advantage of his transfer year," assistant coach John Groce said. "He’s been so disciplined and so focused. I can’t imagine another player in the country getting more out of his transfer year than Ron."

[email protected]
Click to expand...
 
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