If I told you Ohio State was going to hire a new basketball coach, someone that, over the next 8 years would go on to:
- Win 20+ games a year
- Win 5 B1G regular season championships, the last 3 in a row (when it had been 12 years since the team last won a title)
- Make 6 B1G tournament title games, win 3 of them, more than any other team during that time
- Qualify for the NCAA tournament 6 of the 7 (eligible) years, and win the NIT championship the season he didn't. With 4 new starters for the 3rd season in a row
- Make 2 Final Fours, and one national championship
And do it the right way, never once committing and NCAA violation (nor will he) and starting the run stated above when the program was on NCAA sanctions for the last asshat of coach.
would you be happy then? I don't know why there is so much hate for Thad Matta today. The man is a top 5 coach in college basketball, hes resume speaks volumes. If winning national championships was easy, everyone would do it. Took Coach K 17 years as a coach, 12 at Duke before he won his first. Took Roy Williams 16 years to win his first, Coach Cal is still searching for his first, Boeheim took 27 years.
If you want to hate on Thad, and everything he's done as a coach for the buckeyes, quit cheering for them. Our program was an afterthought until Thad arrived. He has won and won with class. Give me Coach any day of the week.
Anyone who is calling for Matta to be fired is just stupid and ignorant, guy makes a Final Four and people actually want him fired?
-I'm assuming that these people are a very small amount, or at least I'd hope so.
Favorite Buckeye: Obviously BJ Mullens
I haven't seen it on this board. I have just heard from buckeye fans since last night. I think it is a small portion of the fan base, but even one fan is one too many.
I know everyone is entitled to their own opinion but this one stings. Thad is pure class, true buckeye, who puts a dangerous team on the floor every single year capable of taking down the nations best.
Like i said above, if winning a national title was easy, everyone would do it.
really, really hard to complain about a final four run, no matter how it ended.
Well, with those credentials, no way I'd want him!!!
It boggles my mind how people can blame Matta for last night. Not to pick on Deshaun, as he was a HUGE part of this tournament run, but it was him, not Matta, who went 3-14 from the floor last night. It was Sully, (again, he was also a big part of this run) not Matta, who went 5-19 from the floor. Idk about you guys, but I always have a hard time blaming coaches when teams have a poor shooting night. The gameplan in the first half was great. They didn't allow Kansas to get out into transition, and the result was a 9 pt lead. Then, we started jacking up terrible shots and they led to run-outs and easy baskets. Is that on Matta?
Thad's a great coach and the stars pretty much have to align for any team to win the national title - that being said lets be honest about this; Kansas came out a more motivated and determined team in the second half which does have something to do with coaching. I know Thad can't control Sullinger from taking bad shots and DST from reverting back to his old selfish ways on the floor, but he could have made adjustments druing timeouts.
Also - the bench issue bit us again. It's been a re-occuring theme throught his tenure at OSU. Yes - we get good defensive contribution off the bench but thats not eneough. The team was gassed at the end of the game and we didnt have anyone who could come in and score.
If everyone returns next year except Buford we could easily find ourselves in the final four again next year with a shot to win it all. Personally I think DST and Sullinger will return.
- Respect the Rivalry -
I dont think its that they will return more that they should return. These guys are good but they really just dont look ready for the NBA right now. Still have some fine tuning to do and they were SO CLOSE to the big dance. I know these guys want to get out injury free and make some money playing but they could really help their stock if they stayed for one more year to show these guys how they have upped their talents.
What happened last night was pretty much everyone's fault. I blame it more on the players for some borderline insanity of continuing to do the same things that weren't working, and hoping that they eventually would. That and the fact that we can never put anybody away.
You can only hate on Thad if the only thing that's good enough is winning national championships. But if that's your standard, then you're an idiot, and you're going to be disappointed in 99% of seasons. It's incredibly hard to win a national championship in college basketball. The most talented team usually doesn't win it all. It takes as much luck as it does skill with the one-and--done format. Thad has won multiple Big Ten titles, regular season and tournament, and has been to the NCAA tournament 6 out of 7 times that Ohio State has been postseason eligible. The one time that he didn't, we won the NIT championship. I'm not going to bitch and moan. I do wonder what he says at halftime though when we have leads, because obviously we came out flat against UC with a 12 point lead and KU with a 9 point lead.
Class of 2010.
@CAROLINA BUCKEYE
I HAVE seen it on this board....not a lot, but you know there were plenty of people who thought the success the football team with Tress wasn't good enough.
Also understand about Coach K, he had 2 losses in the national semifinals and 2 losses in the national championship game before he won his first title. People said he "couldn't win the big game". Now he has 4 titles.
This. ^^
I love DT but he had a bad night. Not only offensively but there were some fast break defenses where he was already running back on offense before Kansas had shot the ball. When he tries, he is OK defensively, maybe even good ... but when is the key word. Regardless I'm not hating on anyone. It was a frustrating year but it was a good year, I really like Willie Buckets and sad for him to go out like that. Even more so than last year for some reason. Maybe because the fans beat up on him more and he got the brunt of things for so long.
Proud of the team and the coaches ... I don't know what the internal problems were this year but hopefully next year the guys have grown out of it or they have departed for the NBA.
GO BUCKS
With the way the team played the last month or so of the season up to msu I didn't think this team would go far.....From at msu on the final game of the year through the final four they really came together....while being disappointed they lost last night....Proud of this team and the way they played throughout the tournament....can't believe some are calling for Matta's head...seriously people get a grip.
No matter how you look at it the truth is Kansas came with fire in the second half and caught us flat footed. There is no excuse for this especially with Kansas's historical point differential in the second half vs. the first. Furthermore, when DST was in foul trouble we should have been feeding Buford who had a hot hand all night instead of forcing Sullinger to take bad shots in the post. Lack of effort in the second half and poor decisions are what lead to this loss. Self had his team motivated in teh 2nd half - why didn't Matta have his?
And for everyone on this forum trying to rationalize the loss IT'S ABOUT WINNING NATIONAL TITLES. Thats the whole point especially at schools like OSU. Big ten titles look good but I'm sure anyone on any team would rather win a national title than a big ten title
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^^Good points, Fail. 1 national title in 10/11 final four appearances...on % alone that is horrible (i.e. 50/50 shot in every semi-final game leads to 50/50 shot in every title game appearance....we've made the title game 5 times and are 1-4 in those games). I would have been more OK with this loss if Kansas had played all 40 minutes like they did the 2nd half.
The bench problem came up again...0 shots taken by the bench. Thompson played out of his mind defensively in the 1st half and never came back in (did you see those blocks??).
A lot of poor execution, especially the end of the 1st half and a majority of the 2nd. At some point, Sully's prayers in the post have to stop happening and go to Buford - the only guy who was shooting 50%+ for the game. Yet, he only takes 10 shots. Sully - 19, Thomas - 14, Craft - 11. Buford finally got hot but we went away from him in the 2nd half.
So yes, it's frustrating, that game was right there. But honestly, fire Matta? If you get rid of him, who are you going to bring in? Shaka Smart? Brad Stevens? Everyone is going to have small gripes with a blown 13 point lead, but fire him all together??
I like sullinger and wish he would stay. But in all honesty, the longer he stays the more he is going to hurt his draft stock. I know im gonna catch flack for this, however, I see sully getting EXPOSED in the NBA.
mark may wins douchebag of the year... again
Think he, Sully, will have to find his way for sure. One thing is he will not have to deal with double teaming all the time like he has had to in college and unless he has someone with a 3" or more height advantage he does fairly well one on one. Be interesting to watch for sure.
Dwight howard vs. jarred sullinger lol get serious
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