Matta Believes This Year's Team Could Be One of His Most Versatile

By Tim Shoemaker on October 2, 2014 at 7:30 pm
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For the first time in four years — although it really feels like 15 — Aaron Craft and Lenzelle Smith Jr. were not present for Ohio State's Basketball Media Day.

Two of the winningest players in school history, Craft and Smith have since moved on after the Buckeyes had an underachieving 25-10 season that ended in a heartbreaking 60-59 loss to Dayton in their second-round game in the NCAA Tournament.

Ohio State head coach Thad Matta, now entering his 11th season with the Buckeyes, admitted Thursday it's a little different not having Craft and Smith around, but having a strong freshman class — featuring David Bell, Keita Bates-Diop, D'Angelo Russell and Jae'Sean Tate, along with graduate transfer big man Anthony Lee — has helped ease the pain.

With several guys on the roster who can play multiple positions on the floor, Matta believes this year's version of the Buckeyes could be one of his most versatile he's ever had.

"I think so. I do believe that. That's something we're banking on is guys being able to shift and do different things from posting our guards to whatever it may be," Matta said. "I think that's kind of the exciting thing and I think these guys know this: I hope we're one of those teams where if you come in and take a day off in practice, you're gonna slide down the depth chart quickly."

Year in and year out, Ohio State has been one of the top defensive teams in college basketball. Matta said that won't change, but he'd like to try and get out in transition more with this year's more versatile group.

"I would love to. That's what I always tell the guys is that everybody wants to play fast, but nobody wants to run hard," Matta said. " ... That is something we would love — I think every coach today is gonna say that. Yeah, I think that plays to our advantage if we can get out and go."

Before heading out on a recruiting trip, Matta addressed the media and answered a bevy of questions from reporters Thursday afternoon.

Notes:

  • Matta was asked about the effort, at times, of last year's team: "Their level of playing hard and my level of playing hard may have been on opposite ends of the spectrum."
  • Matta expects a lot of growth from sophomore forward Marc Loving in his second year in the system. Loving was a highly-recruited player out of high school, but played sparingly as a freshman and averaged 4.4 points per game. "I think we need Marc to be the player Marc's capable of being," Matta said. "Eliminating the ups and downs and if there's a game where even though the shot may not be going in as well as we want it to, he's still going to defend, he's still going to rebound and he's still going to make guys better."
  • Matta said he's intrigued by the "newness" of this year's team. He mentioned a key part of the team's success will be how quickly the freshmen can adapt. Matta said he's not sure yet exactly how much impact this freshman class will have, though.
  • On graduate transfer Anthony Lee, Matta said: "The thing that you love about Anthony Lee is: A, he's a college graduate. He's been through four years of college, one being a redshirt. He's played in some really, really big games."
  • Matta on McDonald's All-American D'Angelo Russell: "Time's gonna tell on that. D'Angelo is a very talented basketball player. I think one thing that he has is a tremendous mind in terms of knowing the game of basketball, understanding the game of basketball."
  • Matta on the identity of this year's team: "I think we have to be a scrapping, extremely hard-playing team and really having a level of intelligence to how we play."
  • On this year's senior class: "I think these guys understand that a lot has been accomplished in this program. For these guys, when you look at our program and we lose these seniors, the next year we have no seniors and the next year we only have one senior in Marc. So I think these guys do have a chance to improve themselves, their worth to our program because they've been involved with some great, great basketball players during their time here and now it's kind of their opportunity."
  • Matta was asked about LeBron James' return to the Cleveland Cavaliers. "I believe LeBron coming back to Ohio affects the entire state from pee-wee basketball on Saturday to CYO basketball on Sunday to whatever league it is on Wednesday night."
  • Matta said he doesn't know who will be this team's top scorer, but said he would like to see several guys in the eight-to-12 point range.
  • Without Craft, it will be Shannon Scott's team to run at the point guard position. "I'd be lying if I didn't say I was expecting a lot from Shannon," Matta said. "In terms of not only his play-making ability but that consistent level of play. Shannon's had some great moments at Ohio State and that's kinda what I'm hoping for as we go into this year."
  • On life without Craft, Matta said: "What Aaron is meant to this program, I think over time it will even prove itself greater of what he achieved here."
  • Matta talked about last year's close losses: "There's been a lot of studying going on, trust me on that. Our percentages down the stretch were not good. ... We've got to find ways to put the ball in the basket at crucial times.
  • On this year's non-conference schedule which features Louisville, North Carolina and Marquette, Matta said: "I think the challenges that lie ahead are gonna be huge. Hopefully those are motivational factors for our guys and I think the spacing of days in between games, that sort of thing, really kinda fell into what we're gonna see in January, February and March."
  • College basketball teams are allowed to begin their 30 pre-season practices Friday, but Matta said he's going to hold off until next Thursday to begin workouts. He said he wanted practices to flow more instead of having two days of practice then two days off like Ohio State did last year.
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