I've Just About Had It II

[rachelcreek]

Eh, good point about the turnstile spinning with a program like Ohio State
and one or two year guys hitting the bricks. ESPN News just commented
on the (winning) Wisconsin upperclassmen who showed up for the mandatory
NCAA postgame press conference.

But, how many times did Ohio State literally walk into the half court trap Sienna threw at them? Every Buckeye length of the court possession looked the same...
the Buckeye dribbler went left to midcourt and pinned themselves against
the boundary line. Time after time. Then almost throw the ball up in the air
hoping a teammate would get it...oops!

Can you imagine what Louisville's trapping/pressing pressure would have
done to the Buckeye ballhandlers? Maybe Sienna did OSU a favor.

[LICKING COUNTY FAN]

I thought I read somewhere, where only the player who was leaving early from this team was, Mullins, the 7 footer who is as soft as bread.

[BubbleGumTiger]

Eh, good point about the turnstile spinning with a program like Ohio State
and one or two year guys hitting the bricks. ESPN News just commented
on the (winning) Wisconsin upperclassmen who showed up for the mandatory
NCAA postgame press conference.

But, how many times did Ohio State literally walk into the half court trap Sienna threw at them? Every Buckeye length of the court possession looked the same...
the Buckeye dribbler went left to midcourt and pinned themselves against
the boundary line. Time after time. Then almost throw the ball up in the air
hoping a teammate would get it...oops!

Can you imagine what Louisville's trapping/pressing pressure would have
done to the Buckeye ballhandlers? Maybe Sienna did OSU a favor.

this post kind of sums it up, not much else to say........did Sienna do OSU a favor is the understatement of the day. They did me a big favor as I will save 30 bucks I would have spent at BDubs watching Louisville have a field day against the Buckeyes.........sad indeed.......

[Amen Corner]

OSU, had a good year. They are pretty young for the most part and imo, had a good season...


Yeah, they made alot of mistakes against Sienna but that's what makes this the BEST tournament,playoffs or etc. there is in sports...

GO BUCKS

[Amen Corner]

By the way, Louisville didn't exactly tear the Eagles up

[frank-n-beans]

I feel your pain but OSU had a coach who wouldn't recruit possible one and done's.(O'Brian) How'd that work out for your blood pressure? Until the NCAA modifies the rule, every big name team will have to deal with this issue, not just the Buckeyes.
BTW, that was a great game last night.

[Orestes]

I could be wrong, but I'm thinking that players who leave for the NBA early do not hurt graduation rates anymore unless they do not finish the quarter after basketball season. Koufas did not finish, which is why OSU and Matta were upset with him. Oden and Conley did finish, and I'm not sure about Cook.

Also, it "sounds" like only Mullens may leave early. I can't blame him if he does. He had a very rough childhood. Whether he is ready or not does not matter. The money and assurance is what matters.

I too think that Matta should start recruiting a few more guys who are good players but not big time NBA prospects because of size or style. However, he recruited Mullens when he was in the 8th grade. He could not have known that he was a 1st round/1 and done type guy at that time.

Despite last night's loss, I think this is the best coaching job Matta has done at OSU. Originally, OSU lost Butler, Koufas, and Matt Terwilliger. Each of those guys were starters. So, OSU was coming into this season with 3 Juniors (2 of them Juco), a bunch a sophomores, and some freshmen. The expectations were for a top 5 Big 10 finish and an NCAA appearance.

Then, Lighty goes down. He was the second best player on the team. The leader. The experience. The best defender. Also, Crater left the team. He would have been the starting PG for sure during the 2nd half of the season. Finally, Kecman came back from suspension and was injured for the year during his first game back. PS. He played minimally in that game to ease him into the rotation, and yet still had 6 or 7 rebounds. Wow he could have helped on the glass.

So, that is three guys taken from the every day rotation, from a team that was already young and inexperienced.

Supposedly after Lighty went down, Matta had a coaches meeting and wrote "20" on the chalkboard. The goals had changed and he was asking the staff to just find a way to get to 20 wins. They did it.

Matta has his weaknesses, but he is still young. Let's not forget that.

[qualified101]

are you guys serious about mullins and the nba? laughable at best. mullins needs to learn how to play in college and then worry about the nba. if he leaves, he will follow in the footsteps of oden and koufas, Bust. Really, you guys are joking right.


matta lost that game last night for them. couldnt adapt to a lousy 1-2-2 trap. thats taught at 8th grade level. why did the osu players keep dribbling into the trap at half court?

[Orestes]

are you guys serious about mullins and the nba? laughable at best. mullins needs to learn how to play in college and then worry about the nba. if he leaves, he will follow in the footsteps of oden and koufas, Bust. Really, you guys are joking right.


matta lost that game last night for them. couldnt adapt to a lousy 1-2-2 trap. thats taught at 8th grade level. why did the osu players keep dribbling into the trap at half court?

Oden has had injury problems. He has been very productive when has been able to play.

Koufas from a player standpoint should have stayed, but when you make first round money, you can't call it a mistake.

It must be rough being a multi-millionaire bust.

Mullens does have a lot to learn. From a purely basketball standpoint, he should stay. However, this isn't a basketball decision. It's a business decision. Apparently the NBA will take him in the first round, so his future is secured financially. You need to grasp this concept.

As for Matta, last night was not his finest hour. However, OSU only has long wing men and Juco-level PGs. Until they upgrade at the PG spot, they will struggle against pressure.

I am hoping Frosh Walter Offut comes along, as he has shown some flashes and had to sit out much of his JR and SR seasons in high school because of knee injuries. He has a high ceiling IMO.

[avalanche]

This thread is ridiculous. Ohio State is two years removed from a National Championship appearance.

[biggdowgg]

I think in last nights game, if I was up 3, with 9 seconds in the game, sienna would have been shooting "2" fouls shots, and putting me bak at the foul line still up 1....at the worst.

[Orestes]

I think in last nights game, if I was up 3, with 9 seconds in the game, sienna would have been shooting "2" fouls shots, and putting me bak at the foul line still up 1....at the worst.

Yeah. If you watch the game again (haha probably won't and I don't blame you) Matta was jumping up and down calling for the foul.

Matta just won't throw his players under the bus at a press conference and say they didn't do what they were supposed to do.

[The Flying Dutchman]

The solution is , the NCAA should adopt a new policy that says a player can turn pro after High School but if he goes to college he has to stay 3 years. I don't think Matta ever dreamed all those guys would be one and done.It is easy to say recruit kids that are going to stay 4 years but you need to remember the Coach has to win also. If the Coach loses he has to answer to the alumni, media, and school officials. Sad but true the bottom line is a Coach wins or he hits the highway.

[Orestes]

An OSU insider on Scout has said that the NBA, the NBA Player's Union, and the NCAA want to change the rule to 2 years. So he thinks it will happen. As for 3 years, he thinks they may get there gradually, but won't leap from 1 to 3.

[Orestes]

Some of you misunderstand my gripes.

IMO Matta is the best coach in college basketball hands down. I've said it before....he wins 20 games in a BAD year, and while no one could all this a bad year, he and the team had to overcome a lot of adversity to get to 20 in what was a very balanced Big Ten.

Neither do I blame kids for taking the carrot that the NBA continually wags in their faces. Mullens will be a lottery pick, not for his readiness for the NBA, but because he is a 7 footer with a tremendous upside down the road. IOW he is a project player and the NBA will give him millions because he has an NBA body.

I just wish that the NCAA and the NBA would quit the hypocrisy and the pretense of looking out for the kids with the rules they have in place. And until they do, I wish Matta would pass on those who are only looking to bide their time for a year at OSU until the next NBA draft. Many excellent colleges and programs have one thing going for them that is becoming increasingly rarer at THE OSU; four year players who stay until they earn their degrees.

I agree.

If it's an Oden or a Conley, you take them and win with them for one season.

If it's a guy who is a better NBA "prospect" than current player, pass.

I just wonder how hard it is to judge such a thing while watching high school and AAU basketball.

[Tartanblue]

Just counting 7 footers alone we could be looking at our third straight one-and-done if Mullens follows in the footsteps of Oden and Koufos. Im not only left to wonder what might have been...I'm wondering what will be when these early departers lower our graduation rate to an unacceptable level?

I have one small problem with that...Oden even though he left early I believe he still attended OSU over the summer I believe taking summer classes....so if he is still doing that then he will graduate.


As far as Mullens goes....someone better remind him of Koufos and what a big mistake he made in leaving early...he needs to stay atleast another year if not two.

[Amen Corner]

If i'm Matta, i get kids who i think can win in 1 yr. or 4 yrs.

I saw the irony in that the Ohio State defense's weakness all year long has been the inability to defend the three ball, and it was one trey that got Siena to the 2nd OT and another undefended trey that won it.

I'll say it again...now we are left to wonder how many will return and how many will leave early and how many scholarships the low graduation rate will cost OSU because of the one and dones.

OSU is not the only school who has to worry about who is coming back

Worry about the Browns..

[avalanche]

Matta is not the best college coach in America. Coach K, Roy Williams, Rick Patino, Gary Williams, Jim Calhoun, John Calipari, and Billy Donovan would probably have something to say about that. I would have to think that Tom Izzo would not agree that Matta is the best coach in the Big Ten alone.

There should be no rule that kids should have to stay period. The NBA game is no better because of the one year rule in college. Why should someone who is ready to make a living playing in the NBA at eighteen have to go to college? LeBron James would not have benefited from playing a single game in college.

Every coach in America has to deal with players leaving early, they have adapted.

[Orestes]

Matta is not the best college coach in America. Coach K, Roy Williams, Rick Patino, Gary Williams, Jim Calhoun, John Calipari, and Billy Donovan would probably have something to say about that. I would have to think that Tom Izzo would not agree that Matta is the best coach in the Big Ten alone.

There should be no rule that kids should have to stay period. The NBA game is no better because of the one year rule in college. Why should someone who is ready to make a living playing in the NBA at eighteen have to go to college? LeBron James would not have benefited from playing a single game in college.

Every coach in America has to deal with players leaving early, they have adapted.

Well, while I agree that Matta is probably not the best coach in America, I will point out a few things.

One, MSU is a basketball first school and this year was Izzo's first Big10 title since 2001. Matta has won two in his five years. But yes, longevity-wise, Izzo has done a lot.

As for Coach K, Duke has been to one Elite 8 in seven years. Matta has been to two in that time period (Xavier, OSU). Matta just doesn't have the longevity, again.

I respect those coaches, I really do. However, after some time I think Matta will be in that league. He always wins over 20 games and he is one of only two coaches who have started their careers like that. Roy Williams even mentioned Matta as an elite college coach.

So, I'm not really arguing with you. I was just pointing some things out.

[qualified101]

are you really comparing matta to coach k? lets wait a while, like 600 more wins and at least one national championship before we make that comparison.

osu plays in the big ten for cryin out loud.

i hope we can all agree that mullins is no eric montross from unc right now at this moment.(i chose him because im not a unc fan to be fair). before we go on i understand that this is more of a personal/business decision than it is a learning decision. mullins=montross in the pros. montross in the pros=below avg good luck to the kid, get a nice long deal because its gonna be the last with big money.

as for the comment about oden being injured alot, thank you for proving my point. he was injured in college and has been injured in the pros for his first two years. i dont care how great anyone thinks he is, if he doesnt get on the floor it doesnt matter. look for portland to trade him soon before he gets hurt again.

1 year in college? it probably helps a little in the right program. i think it should be 3 years or a certain age like the nfl.