tOSU +3.5 at Wiscy (ov/un 119.5) Sun 1 CBS

[LitlBuck]

Some quotes from players and Matta after the game. It sounds like, and it certainly looked like, the team did not come ready to play again. Same thing happened at Illinois. I don't know how guys cannot come ready to play in February. Maybe they are just making excuses for their poor shooting but this game and some of our other losses might have been a lot more competitive if we would have played defense and played with some intensity.

Also, I really don't understand this football/basketball stuff. I do not think that one affects the other whatsoever. Maybe it might affect the fan base but that would be about it. I could just see this thread if this had been a football game

Craft

?I think we all have got to go around and talk about what we need to do,? point guard Aaron Craft said after the Buckeyes? 71-49 loss in the Kohl Center yesterday.

?We can?t play like this in February. This (was) beginning-of-the-year mistakes (and) mental errors. We need to hold each other accountable and find a way to get better.?

?If we want to go in the right direction, (defense is) the first thing we have to address and the first thing we have to get back,? Craft said. ?We can?t be giving up wide-open shots, wide-open layups and things like that and expect to be in ballgames at the end. It?s just not going to happen.?

Matta

?You?ve got to have ownership now,? he said. ?You?ve got to (play) at the level you need to need to play at every you take the floor.?

?We?ve got to get back to that. There?s no if, and or but,? Matta said. ?We?ve seen the results. If we?re not going to play defense, we?re not a good basketball team. If we?re going to rely on outscoring people, that?s not going to happen. We have to play defense. Every time we?ve played good basketball, we?ve defended well.?

Thomas

?He said, ?What is there to do to help you guys get ready for a game??? Thomas said. ?He said it?s the first time ever being in a situation like this.?

http://buckeyextra.dispatch.com/con...coops/2013/02/02-17-13-wisconsin-sidebar.html

 

[BayBuck]

Five Big Ten titles and two Final Four's in eight years. What's broke?

No, OSU is not an elite basketball program. We are not Kentucky, Kansas, Duke, UNC or even Indiana. But we have a fine program which, like most schools, will have down years. This is a relative down year. But we will still make the tourney (something Kentucky and UNC are struggling to do) and finish in the top half of the conference.

And I have never understood the concept that football has anything to do with how good our basketball team is. We are an elite football school. Failure to match that status on the hard-court neither subtracts from one or adds to the other.

We create our own expectations and I see no reason that OSU should be criticized for achieving a level of excellence the past eight years that may not be in evidence now.

All that said - season isn't over yet.

And I have a hard time imagining we could have a better coach leading the program than Thad Matta. So it's a down season after a couple Sweet Sixteens and a Final Four, and so it was a really bad game against a team we all hate. We've lost a lot of guys to the pros and had a few recruiting misses, and Matta gets paid the big bucks to salvage something out of this season and bring it back up next year.

As for the idea that Matta has disappointed for *only* making Final Fours (and winning B1Gs) without winning the big one, sure I'd love for OSU to win a title as much as anyone, but for me that's a level of success I can live with--very happily.

 

[BayBuck]

The "mentality" of the fans has very little to do with whether the hoop program "elevates to elite status." It's all about the on-court talent and the coaching. We'll get back there in terms of talent within the next few years, I feel certain, and our coaches are fine.

...

Recruiting has fallen into a bit of a slump for Coach Matta recently. The game against the Whosyers revealed what team is currently atop the B1G when it comes to young talent; Buckeyes are no better than third and possibly as low as 5th, with little hope of moving upward in 2013 or 2014.

Okay.

 

[ORD_Buckeye]

And I have a hard time imagining we could have a better coach leading the program than Thad Matta. So it's a down season after a couple Sweet Sixteens and a Final Four, and so it was a really bad game against a team we all hate. We've lost a lot of guys to the pros and had a few recruiting misses, and Matta gets paid the big bucks to salvage something out of this season and bring it back up next year.

As for the idea that Matta has disappointed for *only* making Final Fours (and winning B1Gs) without winning the big one, sure I'd love for OSU to win a title as much as anyone, but for me that's a level of success I can live with--very happily.

I'm quite happy with Matta. I lived through the perpetual mediocrity of Eldon Miller and then watched the Fredoite (worst Ohio State coach in any sport......ever!) almost destroy the program. We're fortunate to have him.

The point that I was making had more to do with the historical inability of the program to close adding to the frustration level of a rebuilding season like this. Had we won one of those Final Fours, 2013 would probably be going down a lot smoother.

 

[jlb1705]

Some quotes from players and Matta after the game. It sounds like, and it certainly looked like, the team did not come ready to play again. Same thing happened at Illinois. I don't know how guys cannot come ready to play in February. Maybe they are just making excuses for their poor shooting but this game and some of our other losses might have been a lot more competitive if we would have played defense and played with some intensity.

I suspect the bolded remark gets pretty close to the heart of the matter. I think the first reaction from fans when the team isn't doing well is to say that they're "flat" and that they need to "wake up". Maybe they just aren't good enough though. Few teams will ever admit something like that, and will more quickly point to effort because unlike ability, that's something that can conceivably be fixed in short order. I understand why that's the go-to excuse, but sometimes I have trouble reconciling it because for me lack of ability is always more forgivable than lack of effort. I've seen teams before that don't care about results or how they play. This doesn't look like one to me, and I think it's a mistake to think that the lack of output is a result of a lack of effort. Ceaseless effort does not always overcome a lack of skill and execution.

 

[Bestbuck36]

Sounds to me that there are several guys on this team that need to mature and start acting like men need to act as Ohio State basketball players. Defense is all effort and the offensive end needs to be mentally tough. Figure it the hell out whichever needs to be fixed.

 

[Onebuckfan]

Florida has won NC in football and Basketball recently..Being a football school is more about the fans than the teams. Its not like Matta and his players came hear thinking.."we can just put in our time because no one gives a MarK May about basketball. Believe you me Thad would like to win as many NC's as possible and if Urban and Co. were moved to the back burner for a week or two he would be SMILING.

 

[buckeyesin07]

Sounds to me that there are several guys on this team that need to mature and start acting like men need to act as Ohio State basketball players. Defense is all effort and the offensive end needs to be mentally tough. Figure it the hell out whichever needs to be fixed.

Agreed. This team got down early and rolled over and died. Watching tonight's Notre Dame-Pitt game showed the opposite end of the spectrum--ND was down 19-3 early on the road to #20 ranked Pitt. Instead of rolling over and dying, ND fought back and not only made the game close, but won by 9. It was a hell of an effort, no doubt a combination of coaching and some real grit by the kids. Wish OSU could've shown that kind of fight yesterday at UW.

 

[MaxBuck]

... ND fought back and not only made the game close, but won by 9. It was a hell of an effort, no doubt a combination of coaching and some real grit by the kids.

Ehhhhh ... had you forgotten that was Mike Brey on the bench?

 

[buckeyesin07]

Ehhhhh ... had you forgotten that was Mike Brey on the bench?

Discredit the guy if you want, but coming back from down 16 early to win against #20 on the road is impressive. A lot of coaches' teams would've folded in that situation.