Thad Matta better recruiter than coach?


Note: I like Thad Matta and he has provided a winning program ... but could there be more with the talent recruited

I'm cool with Matta. This team surprised me at the end of the season.

We were ice cold against Wichita State, right? How does he fix that?

Matta is a great coach IMHO. (I'm not arguing he is the best in the world or anything like that. But I am extremely happy to have him at OSU.) At the beginning of the year, nobody expected OSU to win the B1G tourney or make the elite eight. I thought he did a pretty good job coaching the players up and they were a lot better team by the end of the year.

He really improved this team as the season went on. He went thru a lot of rotations until he found one that really clicked for this team. He had individual players take huge leaps throughout the season. The fact that Matta didn't give up on Q after his terrible first half against Arizona and went back to him in the second is a sign of his trust and belief in his players. My biggest gripe with Matta are OSU's last second plays but, in the tournament we did hit 2 game winners.

I actually think Matta better coach than a recruiter, currently.How else could you explain a Sweet 16 run with absolutely no post presence (Amir Williams is the worst MCD All-American in the history of the sport and I question what the staff saw in him), one scorer (Thomas) and, what I consider to be alot of role players (talented, but role players this year)?Sure, we have a couple of great defenders in Craft and Scott, a good shooter in Ross and a great athlete in Thompson. Ross is just starting to get a clue how to play college basketball, so he is a recent addition to this comment.I really think you have to give Matta kudos for leading this team as far as it went this year. He and the staff certainly have coached up Ross and push the right buttons most of the time to maximize what they have to work with.

sportchampps;1417908 wrote: My biggest gripe with Matta are OSU's last second plays but, in the tournament we did hit 2 game winners.

I've always had that gripe as well. At the same time, i am glad that he doesn't change his offensive philosophy just for a final shot.

I have no complaints with him. He's brought OSU to be a nationally relevant basketball program and has established us as one of the top programs in the B1G every year despite the B1G being one of the best conferences annually.

I hope one of the teams gets over the hump and takes down a title eventually. But he came into a program that wasn't very good and has completely changed it for the better.

Belly, stick to politiacs

I like Matta. Agree that they were ice cold on Saturday, and there is nothing you can do to change that.

I think Belly would have had a lot more people agreeing with him mid season.

I think 11w summed up the run perfectly

Let's face it. This team was not going to win the NCAA championship. Were any of you really looking forward to an Amir Williams-Gorgul Dieng matchup in the Final Four?

ernest_t_bass;1417928 wrote:Belly, stick to politiacs

He had the team playing some of the best basketball at the end of the season. They peaked at the right time and just went cold in the biggest game of the season. Cannot really blame that on the coach.



Doesnt matter though...I think Lvill or SYracuse wins it. When you watch them play they harass the other team on every possession and pass. Even when duke was staying with them I was confident to say the cards were going to win.

Early on in a game just watch how contested the shots are for either team. Cuse and LVille just make it so difficult for the opponants that it eventually will create enough havoc and bad shots.
The bad thing...it could be a very ugly and low scoring final.

I think the only way that those two teams dont advance and one win it all is if the officials start to call the game extremely close. Those defenses are so hands on, contact and such that early in the game if the refs call it tight and the teams have to play more conservatively then that could cause them issues

FatHobbit;1417934 wrote:I think Belly would have had a lot more people agreeing with him mid season.

Yeah. That's how sports are. He's had a couple seasons where I've felt they didn't advance as far as they should have, but this year, they were looking like a pretty mediocre team a good ways into the season with only a sometimes-erratic Thomas being their only real scoring threat. And then won 11 straight games before the offense went ice cold again in the Elite 8.

It sucks losing to a team that was an underdog going against them, but I have no complaints about this season and how it ended.

No. As was alluded to by 11W, he did the best he could do with what he had. It was a pleasant surprise winning the B1G tourney, and an even bigger one getting to the EE. Now, next year's another story, as my expectations will be much higher, even without DT.

Thoughts on the chances Thomas will return?

Earlier I thought he was a lock to be gone, but you never know. This surprising run towards the end of the season might sway him to come back.

Automatik;1417956 wrote:Thoughts on the chances Thomas will return?

Earlier I thought he was a lock to be gone, but you never know. This surprising run towards the end of the season might sway him to come back.

I'm honestly not so sure now. If he comes back, he likely goes down as the all-time leading scorer in OSU basketball history, and will have a legit chance to win a National Championship. If he goes pro, he's a 2nd rounder. There will always be money for Thomas in basketball, so it might not be the no-brainer we thought it was at the beginning of the year.

se-alum;1417960 wrote:I'm honestly not so sure now. If he comes back, he likely goes down as the all-time leading scorer in OSU basketball history, and will have a legit chance to win a National Championship. If he goes pro, he's a 2nd rounder. There will always be money for Thomas in basketball, so it might not be the no-brainer we thought it was at the beginning of the year.

Ya, he does have a lot to come back for. But he does have a kid. If he doesn't have a kid, I think he most likely stays. But I really don't see him improving his draft stock much and he does have a family to think about at this point.

Fly4Fun;1417965 wrote:Ya, he does have a lot to come back for. But he does have a kid. If he doesn't have a kid, I think he most likely stays. But I really don't see him improving his draft stock much and he does have a family to think about at this point.

Yea, the kid thing could change things, but he could've gone pro after last year and likely been a 2nd round pick to, so I'm not sure how much that will play on it.

Seriously? In my honest opinion I did not think OSU had elite 8 type talent as a whole team. Thad did an excellent job of getting the job done, especially 2nd half of the season.

Fly4Fun;1417965 wrote:Ya, he does have a lot to come back for. But he does have a kid. If he doesn't have a kid, I think he most likely stays. But I really don't see him improving his draft stock much and he does have a family to think about at this point.

My thoughts exactly.

And if Thomas does decide to go he will most likely be late 1st round. From the 3 mocks I just looked he is low 30's in all of them, but there is about 4-6 guys in the top 30 that will return to NCAA and not declare.

vball10set;1417975 wrote:My thoughts exactly.

He had a kid at the end of last season to, but opted to come back.

se-alum;1417960 wrote:I'm honestly not so sure now. If he comes back, he likely goes down as the all-time leading scorer in OSU basketball history, and will have a legit chance to win a National Championship. If he goes pro, he's a 2nd rounder. There will always be money for Thomas in basketball, so it might not be the no-brainer we thought it was at the beginning of the year.

Could yesterday's injury to the Cards player change his mind?

It is rare to see that happen but man, that could change the mind of a player on the fence.

I hate stuff like that or what happened to Barkely for the Trojans in football..come back for your sr season only to see your stock DROP a ton for whatever reason (injury..poor play..etc)

se-alum;1417984 wrote:He had a kid at the end of last season to, but opted to come back.

He wasn't going to be drafted AT ALL last year. Can't find one mock draft with him in it....

I think he neeeds to go, for family reasons (kid) and because the flaws in his game are not going to change by staying. He is not a great athlete, he will be a liability on defense at the next level because of his lack of speed. He is a tweener in size, too small for a 4 and too slow for a 3. He will be able to score though so he should make a roster. I would like to see him stay to help the Buckeyes make another run next year but if he does stay he will stifle the development of Ross and Thompson as scorers, as well as the incoming freshman Loving. I've enjoyed watching him play but it's his time to go get paid.