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A Rejuvenated Thad Matta - Mark Titus Article

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Dweinz's picture
November 7, 2016 at 10:56am
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Mark the Shark Titus aka BN1994 wrote a great article for The Ringer about Thad and the OSU basketball team for this season

People forget, but Titus used to play for Thad, so I will trust his judgment.  

Some tidbits from the article that I thought I would highlight:

on Thad's health:

“His health, right now, is the best I’ve seen it,” Egelhoff says. “There were some times there, back when stuff [Matta’s back surgery] first went down in the summer of 2007, and then times after that, especially in 2011, 2012, 2013, and maybe even into 2014, when I thought, ‘I don’t know if I can physically get him back out to the court after halftime.’ After games, he’d lay on the locker-room floor to try to alleviate his pain, and we’d have to literally pick him up to get him standing again. He was that bad. He’s since been able to figure things out. He’s prioritized his life and he’s gotten healthy, and I think it’s made a big difference.”

Why Thad is excited for this season:

But Matta sees something special in his returning core of JaQuan Lyle, Marc Loving, Keita Bates-Diop, Jae’Sean Tate, Trevor Thompson, and Kam Williams — a group that he believes ran into problems last year because of inexperience more than lack of talent. He also says the newcomers to the program “fit the puzzle better than the pieces that we lost last year.” Most notable among them: freshman Micah Potter, a 6-foot-9 ball of energy who figures to be the first true stretch 4 Matta has ever coached and whose potential has those around the team foaming at the mouth.

On dealing with fans:

“Lou Holtz once told me, ‘Never stay at a school for more than seven years. Because the longer you stay, the more you fall in love with the place and the more they fall out of love with you,’” Matta says. “And I remember in year [seven] at Ohio State, which was the year we started 24–0. I can remember coming off the floor and we’d win by 12 and people would be like, ‘Hey, Thad! 12 points? That’s it?’

The article is a great read and got me even more excited for this season. You should definitely check it out.

Thank you for letting me post.

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