When given the opportunity Amir Williams has performed admirably. This is probaly the wrong time , but the questions needs to be asked. Why hasn't Matta given him more opportunities? He is a defensive force who hasn't been utilized. I am amazed that he performed the way he did against Syracuse considering his lack of experience.I hope he doesn't decalre for the NBA draft.

For the most part I agree, but Im guessing the two drives down the lane that went untouched are examples of why he is behind Ravenel. He is going to be fun to watch in years to come, especially if he develops some skills around the rim on offense.

All the talk about Amir makes me want to watch the first half of the game. I missed about 95 percent of it because I attended the DII State Championship game at the Schott and when I made it home it was almost halftime. But the way people are talking, sounds like he really did a good job.

Prescott;1127089 wrote:When given the opportunity Amir Williams has performed admirably. This is probaly the wrong time , but the questions needs to be asked. Why hasn't Matta given him more opportunities? He is a defensive force who hasn't been utilized. I am amazed that he performed the way he did against Syracuse considering his lack of experience.I hope he doesn't decalre for the NBA draft.

LOL, the NBA? R you serious? He wouldn't get drafted. Amir has talent, NO question. And in 2yrs, I think he will be a first round pick. But as Sully stated last nite after the game, Amir just began to practice hard not long ago. Right there tells you why he hasn't gotten more time. Last nite was great, and he could be good in short spurts I am sure. But i have also seen him get completely lost on defense at times. He is still fairly raw on offense as well. Sometimes talent overcomes those defincies, in short spurts. In extended time, it gets exposed big time.
OSU is in final four, with a team MOST on here said would be lucky to make the sweet16. So ya, u shouldn't be questioning this right now. lol

centralbucksfan;1127107 wrote:LOL, the NBA? R you serious? He wouldn't get drafted. Amir has talent, NO question. And in 2yrs, I think he will be a first round pick. But as Sully stated last nite after the game, Amir just began to practice hard not long ago. Right there tells you why he hasn't gotten more time. Last nite was great, and he could be good in short spurts I am sure. But i have also seen him get completely lost on defense at times. He is still fairly raw on offense as well. Sometimes talent overcomes those defincies, in short spurts. In extended time, it gets exposed big time.
OSU is in final four, with a team MOST on here said would be lucky to make the sweet16. So ya, u shouldn't be questioning this right now. lol

Yeah I doubt he would be selected in the first round of the NBA draft. But ain't it funny B.J. Mullens was and he too was just an unpolished big man off the bench lol.

mallymal614;1127110 wrote:Yeah I doubt he would be selected in the first round of the NBA draft. But ain't it funny B.J. Mullens was and he too was just an unpolished big man off the bench lol.

BJ was MUCH more polished, and did have a decent year while at OSU. Not like he could have. But still much better than Amir had. Mullens was selected in first round as well. Not sure thats a real good comparison to be honest.
Amir has the potential to be a top 10 pick down the road.
But lets not go overboard after he gave OSU a few minutes of quality time last nite.

mallymal614;1127110 wrote:Yeah I doubt he would be selected in the first round of the NBA draft. But ain't it funny B.J. Mullens was and he too was just an unpolished big man off the bench lol.

Mullens only has made it onto court for his inside/outside abilities. He had regular time at OSU...Williams has been destined to the bench. Crazier things happen, but I highly doubt he chooses that route.

I'd like to see him on the floor more to free Sullinger up a bit in the middle. This would allow Sully to play more from the wing and hopefully keep him out of foul trouble.

september63;1127121 wrote:I'd like to see him on the floor more to free Sullinger up a bit in the middle. This would allow Sully to play more from the wing and hopefully keep him out of foul trouble.

Maybe if the officials wait until there is actually contact before calling a foul, then Sullinger wouldn't be on the bench.

Prescott;1127089 wrote:When given the opportunity Amir Williams has performed admirably. This is probaly the wrong time , but the questions needs to be asked. Why hasn't Matta given him more opportunities? .

surprisingly, nobody brought it up at Thad's post-game presser

He has played good defense at times, but at other times he is completely lost on defense. I think people are excited about his future, not necessarily that he is ready to be on the floor right now for extended minutes.

M Plant;1127140 wrote:surprisingly, nobody brought it up at Thad's post-game presser

The presser I saw Thad was asked and talked about Amir's minutes. Maybe not why he hasn't gotten more but reading between the lines it was pretty apparent that his practice intensity has picked up as the season has progressed.

ytownfootball;1127150 wrote:The presser I saw Thad was asked and talked about Amir's minutes. Maybe not why he hasn't gotten more but reading between the lines it was pretty apparent that his practice intensity has picked up as the season has progressed.

Bottom line is this. Matta and coaches see these guys every day in practice. They know what the hell is going on. During this season, many on here and media were begging for changes, bench Buford, play Ross, do this or that with Scott and Craft, now we are questioning why Amir didn't play more.
People give me crap for sticking with Matta decisions. I don't ever claim to know it all. But again, we are not there everyday. If a kid is good enough to play, he will play. Its not like Matta hasn't given frosh time on the floor. Quite often, if they are not playing, there is a VERY good reason to it, that we probably don't know.
As far as changes once the season is in full swing. Minor ones are ok. But there are rarely any coaches, successful ones at that, who are going to make drastic decisions. There is more to basketball than just rolling out the ball. Off season preparation, preseason prep. They work MANY hours to prepare for a season. Unless the season becomes a disaster, a good coach will stick with things. Adversity is always going to hit at some point in a season to every team. I heard Gary Williams talk one time. He said if you change things everytime something isn't going well, you send a bad message to your team that you have no confidence in the system or them to get it done. To Matta credit, he sticks to his system, and took a team that most on here thought wouldn't make it to the final four, to the final four!

centralbucksfan;1127157 wrote:Bottom line is this. Matta and coaches see these guys every day in practice. They know what the hell is going on. During this season, many on here and media were begging for changes, bench Buford, play Ross, do this or that with Scott and Craft, now we are questioning why Amir didn't play more.
People give me crap for sticking with Matta decisions. I don't ever claim to know it all. But again, we are not there everyday. If a kid is good enough to play, he will play. Its not like Matta hasn't given frosh time on the floor. Quite often, if they are not playing, there is a VERY good reason to it, that we probably don't know.
As far as changes once the season is in full swing. Minor ones are ok. But there are rarely any coaches, successful ones at that, who are going to make drastic decisions. There is more to basketball than just rolling out the ball. Off season preparation, preseason prep. They work MANY hours to prepare for a season. Unless the season becomes a disaster, a good coach will stick with things. Adversity is always going to hit at some point in a season to every team. I heard Gary Williams talk one time. He said if you change things everytime something isn't going well, you send a bad message to your team that you have no confidence in the system or them to get it done. To Matta credit, he sticks to his system, and took a team that most on here thought wouldn't make it to the final four, to the final four!

Love the arm chair coaches response to Williams providing some quality minutes as justification for their earlier calls for him to play more. The fact of the matter is that Amir did EXACTLY what was being asked of him. Had he been pressed into nine minutes half way through the season, the Bucks fall behind, perhaps significantly, by halftime. My opinion of course but I have little doubt in it as truth.

This season has been much more about the mental side of things than the x's and o's or talent utilization. Thad has done a great job in that regard, of that there is no question. We're going to the damn final four. But rest assured, there will still be the critics that question minutes etc...never fails.

The player I wanna know about is Laquinton Ross, is he not eligible again? Because if hes not and hes not being used...Matta is droppin the ball on that one. Hes gonna be a damn good player

Hb31187;1127167 wrote:The player I wanna know about is Laquinton Ross, is he not eligible again? Because if hes not and hes not being used...Matta is droppin the ball on that one. Hes gonna be a damn good player

He probably will be a good one. Dude just started in the middle of the season, missed a lot and obviously has yet to catch up. You probably haven't seen his playing time when he's gotten in in some blow outs, but he was pretty selfish and chucking it up from all corners...trying to do too much to prove he should be on the floor. Hopefully he stays and doesn't transfer, but the possibility exists.

Hb31187;1127167 wrote:The player I wanna know about is Laquinton Ross, is he not eligible again? Because if hes not and hes not being used...Matta is droppin the ball on that one. Hes gonna be a damn good player

He was ineligible for preseason, and not eligible to practice or play until after the fall quarter. Thus he missed everything up until December. Thus, him not seeing the floor as I said he wouldn't. And yes, I expect him to be VERY good...starting next year.

ytownfootball;1127169 wrote:He probably will be a good one. Dude just started in the middle of the season, missed a lot and obviously has yet to catch up. You probably haven't seen his playing time when he's gotten in in some blow outs, but he was pretty selfish and chucking it up from all corners...trying to do too much to prove he should be on the floor. Hopefully he stays and doesn't transfer, but the possibility exists.

I wouldnt be surprised at all if he did transfer. I know he hasnt been playing the whoel year, but its nto like OSU runs complex offensive sets or anything. And they could really use the depth for teams lke UNC ect who like to push the tempo. I just wonder if hes in the dog house for some reason or another

centralbucksfan;1127170 wrote:Do the research. He was ineligible for preseason, and not eligible to practice or play until after the fall quarter. Thus he missed everything up until December. Thus, him not seeing the floor as I said he wouldn't. And yes, I expect him to be VERY good...starting next year.

But if hes eligible now, and been practicing...why not play him? Hes had months to get into game shape, and learn OSU's simple offense. Makes no sense to sit him really

Hb31187;1127172 wrote:I wouldnt be surprised at all if he did transfer. I know he hasnt been playing the whoel year, but its nto like OSU runs complex offensive sets or anything. And they could really use the depth for teams lke UNC ect who like to push the tempo. I just wonder if hes in the dog house for some reason or another

Actually, they do run a fairly complex system that depends quite a bit on reading the defense. Its something Jent put in from his days in the NBA as an asst. Ross isn't going anywhere. That you can take to the bank. He just started too late to be able to contribute. Probably more defensively than anything.
I feel if he had been there to practice in preseason, he would have given OSU some minutes. But he was much too far behind to throw him in, in middle of season when the team was running along pretty good at that point in time.

Hb31187;1127173 wrote:But if hes eligible now, and been practicing...why not play him? Hes had months to get into game shape, and learn OSU's simple offense. Makes no sense to sit him really

I dunno, I just don't see that kind of change being made going into the final four, just sayin'

Hb31187;1127173 wrote:But if hes eligible now, and been practicing...why not play him? Hes had months to get into game shape, and learn OSU's simple offense. Makes no sense to sit him really

Read what I said about about making drastic changes this late in the year. On top of that, maybe he still hasn't bought into some things that are needed. Again, at this point, I think I'll trust what Matta is doing. We are in the Final Four next weekend.

Been asking this all year. I actually thought playing him alongside Sullinger could do wonders for each of their games. What's done is done, but I'll never understand why he didn't get more PT this year.

With that said, it's great to see him ready to contribute when his number is called.

thedynasty1998;1127191 wrote:Been asking this all year. I actually thought playing him alongside Sullinger could do wonders for each of their games. What's done is done, but I'll never understand why he didn't get more PT this year.

With that said, it's great to see him ready to contribute when his number is called.

For someone who said they played the game at a high level, your lack of understanding certain things befuddles me at times.

:laugh::laugh::laugh: