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

[MARVYMARV14]

Quesstion: For those who watched the b ball camp video. Am I the only one who thinks Matta could manage a team with 5 players and a spare???

 

[Buckskin86]

Thad Matta reaches out to 'The Master'
February, 28, 2011
By Eamonn Brennan

"The Master," in Ohio State coach Thad Matta's words, is an ESPN analyst, a noted pump-fake enthusiast, the legendary former coach at Indiana and, as of today, a Basketball Hall of Fame inductee. Matta is, of course, talking about Bob Knight.

After Ohio State's dominant, alley-oop-filled romp against Indiana on Sunday -- which featured at least one tense exchange in a typically tense relationship between Matta and Indiana coach Tom Crean -- Matta credited Knight with a drill the Buckeyes used to improve their half-court defense. The Columbus Dispatch's Bob Baptist noted Knight's help in his game story Sunday:

"I reached out to the master," Matta said.

He called Bob Knight, who had no qualms about helping the coach of his alma mater beat the school that fired him 11 years ago after an unparalleled run of success.

"He gave me this defensive drill," Matta said. "Our players hate it, but I think it made us play a lot better." [...] "I've helped facilitate a few things for him, and he's (reciprocated). But he's like, 'Don't you tell anybody that I'm doing this,'" Matta said. "He wants us to do well. It's unbelievable. I love talking to him because, No.1, you get so much basketball-wise. And then you get a lesson in history. And then you laugh your (rear end) off because he's one of the funniest human beings I've ever talked to."


At first glance, all of this stuff seems pretty innocuous. Surely this isn't the first time a current coach has called on Knight -- let alone the other coaching legends still around the game -- for tactical help and philosophical guidance.

Whether it was actually innocuous is another matter entirely. Indiana blogger Kent Sterling saw it differently. To Sterling, "Matta was firing a scud missile right past Tom Crean's ear." It's not hard to parse the reasons for this reaction.

For one, Crean and Matta had that halftime confrontation, which stemmed from Crean's displeasure at Matta's pre-halftime conference with officials. The acrimony between the two coaches has a basis in history, too; Crean notably blew past Matta in the handshake line after Ohio State's win at Assembly Hall last season. During Indiana's decade of turmoil, Matta has recruited the state of Indiana better than any coach in the country, and Crean is now competing for (and getting some) of those elite Hoosier recruits.

Cont...

http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/24438/thad-matta-reaches-out-to-the-master

 

[DZ83CK]

What is wrong with you people? Nobody wants to note here that Coach Matta has now won 4 Big Ten titles in 6 years or offer congratulations or anything like that? Ho hum, another Big Ten title for OSU - they collect these things like dust bunnies these days.

He is one of only four coaches in Big Ten history to win 4 conference titles in his first 7 years in the league - the others are Tom Izzo, Bob Knight and Walter Meanwell (Wisconsin coach about 100 years ago). All he's doing is putting himself among the legends of coaching in Big Ten history.

 

[Steve19]

What is wrong with you people? Nobody wants to note here that Coach Matta has now won 4 Big Ten titles in 6 years or offer congratulations or anything like that? Ho hum, another Big Ten title for OSU - they collect these things like dust bunnies these days.

He is one of only four coaches in Big Ten history to win 4 conference titles in his first 7 years in the league - the others are Tom Izzo, Bob Knight and Walter Meanwell (Wisconsin coach about 100 years ago). All he's doing is putting himself among the legends of coaching in Big Ten history.

He and the team don't want any congratulations until after the Wisconsin game. We're honoring the senitment they expressed. There's a beatdown coming.

 

[LitlBuck]

What is wrong with you people? Nobody wants to note here that Coach Matta has now won 4 Big Ten titles in 6 years or offer congratulations or anything like that? Ho hum, another Big Ten title for OSU - they collect these things like dust bunnies these days.

He is one of only four coaches in Big Ten history to win 4 conference titles in his first 7 years in the league - the others are Tom Izzo, Bob Knight and Walter Meanwell (Wisconsin coach about 100 years ago). All he's doing is putting himself among the legends of coaching in Big Ten history.

I don't think anything is wrong with "

you people

". I think Matta is one of the best college coaches in the United States and I think that many other posters feel the same way. I don't think that you have ever read anything on this board that has reflected negatively about his style of coaching (well, maybe not playing enough guys ) Please go back through this thread and point out the negative posts regarding our basketball coach. I don't think we have to give him props after every game because we know how good of a coach we have and maybe sometimes we do take him for granted but, in my mind, he is no different than our football coach... what's his name

 

[BrutusBobcat]

What is wrong with you people? Nobody wants to note here that Coach Matta has now won 4 Big Ten titles in 6 years or offer congratulations or anything like that? Ho hum, another Big Ten title for OSU - they collect these things like dust bunnies these days.

He is one of only four coaches in Big Ten history to win 4 conference titles in his first 7 years in the league - the others are Tom Izzo, Bob Knight and Walter Meanwell (Wisconsin coach about 100 years ago). All he's doing is putting himself among the legends of coaching in Big Ten history.

We're just holding back and waiting for his first NCAA title in a couple of weeks.

 

[BB73]

He is one of only four coaches in Big Ten history to win 4 conference titles in his first 7 years in the league - the others are Tom Izzo, Bob Knight and Walter Meanwell (Wisconsin coach about 100 years ago). All he's doing is putting himself among the legends of coaching in Big Ten history.

That BTN graphic was incomplete.

Fred Taylor won 5 Big Ten titles in his first 6 seasons in Columbus, as Lee Caryer pointed out in his article today. BN

 

[buxfan4life]

That BTN graphic was incomplete.

Fred Taylor won 5 Big Ten titles in his first 6 seasons in Columbus, as Lee Caryer pointed out in his article today. BN

You know, for a network that is supposed to be dedicated to a single conference, they truly screw up a lot of the history tid-bits.

Sorry, just an observation. Back to Thad.

 

[OSU_Buckguy]

since matta's arrival, ohio state has won 10 of the 14 conference titles in basketball and football.

 

[Mike80]

since matta's arrival, ohio state has won 10 of the 14 conference titles in basketball and football.

JT and Matta have allowed the University's athletic programs assume the position of authority that it has always been capable of but never quite achieved.

These be the glory days people...enjoy them - it likely won't last forever.

 

[OSU_Buckguy]

JT and Matta have allowed the University's athletic programs assume the position of authority that it has always been capable of but never quick achieved.

 

[buckeyeintn]

since matta's arrival, ohio state has won 10 of the 14 conference titles in basketball and football.

So you're saying Matta's influence over the football team is obvious? :)

 

[Dryden]

Video: Ohio State's Thad Matta on Rome

http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/25081/video-ohio-states-thad-matta-on-rome

 

[EidoloN]

Great vid, but dang Thad...how many "funny" things are there to talk about? lol

 

[GeorgiaBuck2]

You know that's funny because...