Is Matta elite coach?

[victor2111]

Bucknuts with a great article on it and had a lot of stats:

Here is how Matta compares to other programs/HC during his 10years at Ohio State:

OVERALL WINNING % (OVERALL RECORD)
(Note: there may be other teams with higher winning percentages lower down the list not included but I wanted to include some Big Ten schools and in-state schools)
84% - Kansas (276-50)
82% - Duke (263-57)
80% - Memphis (288-73), Gonzaga (269-67)
79% - North Carolina (263-68)
77% - Ohio State (275-82), Florida (278-84)
76% - Louisville (275-86), Syracuse (271-85)
74% - Kentucky (260-93)
73% - Wisconsin (249-92), Michigan State (258-96)
72% - UCLA (248-97)
71% - Connecticut (241-97), Butler (242-101)
69% - Villanova (233-102), Xavier (231-103), Arizona (236-107), Texas (240-107)
68% - Georgetown 68% (226-103)
65% - Illinois (226-121)
62% - Cincinnati (208-127)
60% - Michigan (204-135)
56% - Indiana (181-142)

NCAA TOURNAMENT APPEARANCES
10 – Kansas, Duke, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Gonzaga
9 – North Carolina, Louisville, Villanova, Texas
8 – Ohio State, Kentucky, Syracuse, Florida, UCLA, Arizona, Xavier, Memphis
7 – Connecticut, Georgetown
6 – Butler, Illinois
5 – Cincinnati, Indiana, Michigan


Only 5 schools 10/10 the last 10 years. Pretty impressive for them. I do want to note for Matta, that we all know his first year, Ohio State couldn't make the NCAA tourney(THANKS JoB). So he is at 8/9 in his years he could, winning the NIT the only time he didn't make it.

NCAA TOURNAMENT WINNING % (OVERALL TOURNAMENT RECORD)
82% - North Carolina (27-6)
81% - Florida (22-5)
75% - Louisville (21-7), Kentucky (18-6)
74% - Butler (17-6), Connecticut (14-5)
73% - Kansas (22-8)
71% - Ohio State (17-7)
69% - Duke (18-8)
68% - UCLA (15-7), Memphis (17-8)
67% - Michigan State (18-9)
64% - Michigan (7-4)
63% - Syracuse (12-7)
61% - Arizona (11-7)
60% - Villanova (12-8)
59% - Xavier (10-7)
57% - Wisconsin (12-9), Illinois (8-6)
55% - Indiana (6-5)
53% - Georgetown (8-7), Texas (9-8)
50% - Gonzaga (9-9), Cincinnati (4-4)


Thought this was a great stat. Winning in the NCAA tourney. 71% is pretty damn good, and better than some great schools(Duke, MSU, Syracuse, etc).

FINAL FOUR APPEARANCES
3 – North Carolina, Louisville, UCLA
2 – Ohio State, Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, Connecticut, Michigan State, Butler
1 – Illinois, Duke, Memphis, Syracuse, Georgetown, Villanova, Michigan (LSU, George Mason, West Virginia, VCU, Wichita State not in breakdown)
0 – Arizona, Wisconsin, Gonzaga, Texas, Xavier, Indiana, Cincinnati


Only 3 schools with more FF appearances, pretty good job. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe UCLA was 3 straight years without winning NC. Florida 2FF were 2NC.



Where Ohio State/Matta ranks during Matta era
T4th with FF appearances
6th in winning %
8th in tourney winning %
9th in NCAA tourney appearances(ineligible first year)





That is pretty damn impressive. Give him his props. We all know he is missing "the last thing" on the list. The title. That is it. I still think he is elite. Where would you rank him in CBB today? Has to be top 10.

In no order. Coach K, Billy Donovan, Bill Self, Tom Izzo, Rick Pitino, Boeheim, Roy Williams.

So #8? That is elite.


Actually we should do a list, because I think Billy Donovan is underrated. He has Florida(not a BB school) great every year. Elite 8, 2NC, always winning, etc. But people never mention him enough.


Matta is right below those guys because he doesn't have the "NC". That is all he is missing, he has done everything YOU COULD do without winning the NC. With different teams, with one and done, etc.

[Deleted]

Define coaching. If we're talking his in-game coaching, then that's iffy for me but if you're just talking winning percentages, then sure.

[victor2111]

If you're starting a program, is he one of the coaches you would want? If not, who over him?

[Deleted]

Mar 19, 2014 22:30:27 GMT -5 victor2111 said:

If you're starting a program, is he one of the coaches you would want? If not, who over him?

Sure, I would take him. He's a solid coach and a great recruiter. It's hard for me to answer your question though because some guys I may prefer, I haven't seen recruit to a high level school. One smaller school guy I would take over him is Celtics coach Brad Stevens. Outside of that, I would take Donovan, Pitino, Coach K, and Self for sure.

Matta would be up there for me though. I can assure you he would fall in my Top 12 and probably Top 10. I would take him over Calipari.

[victor2111]

A little OT: Where does Billy Donovan rank for you?

He has been on the talk on 97.1 radio show I listen to when talking about CBB coaches. Call him the most underrated coach there is.

[socaljd3]

Why has this team struggled to hit free throws? I say that's on him...ya, a lot teams have struggled prolly due to lack of focus by these kids because it's not sexy...which is a coach should emphasize it more.

Great recruiter, but I think some of his teams have underachieved with all the talents he's had...

[victor2111]

Mar 19, 2014 22:48:18 GMT -5 socaljd3 said:

Why has this team struggled to hit free throws? I say that's on him...ya, a lot teams have struggled prolly due to lack of focus by these kids because it's not sexy...which is a coach should emphasize it more.

Great recruiter, but I think some of his teams have underachieved with all the talents he's had...

I listen to his radio show all the time and this question is brought up a lot by fans.

Here is what he has had to say
- They practice free throws, a lot. He also makes them run a lot before shooting FTs at practice so they can make it feel like game situation as much as possible. They also play loud noises so it can be like crowd noise.

- He also stated free throw shooting is mental. It was brought up how he was a great free throw shooter. He said he asked his team "Would you rather shoot a FT down 1 or tied" they answered tied. He asked "Why" they said before less pressure. He then told them it shouldn't matter, you're still doing the same thing in the end and should be able to knock it down no matter what the situation is(something like that).


I agree with him. Sounds like he is doing everything he can possibly do but in the end, it is mental. You go up and hit it like you've done million times.

[Deleted]

Mar 19, 2014 22:47:28 GMT -5 victor2111 said:

A little OT: Where does Billy Donovan rank for you?

He has been on the talk on 97.1 radio show I listen to when talking about CBB coaches. Call him the most underrated coach there is.

Top 5 for sure. Terrific game coach and good recruiter. The thing I like about him is I feel like he doesn't recruit just star ratings but guys that fit what he wants to do. He's in a similar boat as Matta in that he's recruiting basketball players to a football school.

As a whole I think he does a better job than Matta.

[Deleted]

Mar 19, 2014 22:48:18 GMT -5 socaljd3 said:

Why has this team struggled to hit free throws? I say that's on him...ya, a lot teams have struggled prolly due to lack of focus by these kids because it's not sexy...which is a coach should emphasize it more.

Great recruiter, but I think some of his teams have underachieved with all the talents he's had...

Some kids just can't shoot free throws no matter what you do with them. It's mental most of the time.

[victor2111]

Mar 19, 2014 22:57:58 GMT -5 @theurbaneffect said:

Mar 19, 2014 22:48:18 GMT -5 socaljd3 said:

Why has this team struggled to hit free throws? I say that's on him...ya, a lot teams have struggled prolly due to lack of focus by these kids because it's not sexy...which is a coach should emphasize it more.

Great recruiter, but I think some of his teams have underachieved with all the talents he's had...

Some kids just can't shoot free throws no matter what you do with them. It's mental most of the time.

Yep. This is exactly what Matta said. You practice it all the time but you can't make game situation in practice, no matter how hard you try. ANd Matta says he tries to make it like a game situation, and the players hate doing it(running before FT).

At the end of the day, the players has to go up there and make the FT. That simple. Matta can't hold their hand up there. You just have to get in your zone, and knock the FT down, like you've done plenty of times before.

[victor2111]

Mar 19, 2014 22:56:51 GMT -5 @theurbaneffect said:

Mar 19, 2014 22:47:28 GMT -5 victor2111 said:

A little OT: Where does Billy Donovan rank for you?

He has been on the talk on 97.1 radio show I listen to when talking about CBB coaches. Call him the most underrated coach there is.

Top 5 for sure. Terrific game coach and good recruiter. The thing I like about him is I feel like he doesn't recruit just star ratings but guys that fit what he wants to do. He's in a similar boat as Matta in that he's recruiting basketball players to a football school.

As a whole I think he does a better job than Matta.

Great point on how these two, are BB coaches at a big time FB school. BB comes second to FB no matter what.

Donovan is ahead for sure. He has 2NC. Matta has 0. It seems like Donovan is always in the Elite 8. Well I guess they have been 3 straight years and now are the #1 overall seed. Pretty impressive. And then 3 years ago they won B2B NC. I think you could make the argument, top 3 for sure.

[Deleted]

Are his accomplishments elite? Absolutely

Does he belong in the same group as some other coaches? No

[Deleted]

I'm with SoCal and Ref on this one. His numbers are astounding in terms of W/L percentages and he has been on a heck of a run. With that said, until this year he didn't use his bench enough imo and was carried by the elite talent he had around him.

With this years team, I feel like they have hit a wall in terms of getting better as the year progresses and the lack of development at the FT line and by people like Smith Jr reflects on the coach imo. I am very concerned for this team heading into next year with Scott running the PG and still only having Williams and McDonald at C.

Today is game day though! Time to go on a six game win streak and prove I'm an idiot for my above post!

[Deleted]

No, decent coach, very good recruiter, but not elite by any measure

[victor2111]

1. I still don't get how coaches get blame for players bad FT shooting. That is like blaming coaches for players missing lay ups. FT shooting is mental. You either handle the pressure or not. Matta does everything in practice to make FT as close to a game time experience as possible, that is all he can do. Players have to step up and hit them in the game. Our guys have shown they can't do it. Should we say Phil Jackson is a terrible HC because he never made Shaq a average FT shooter?


2. Matta is not in the same category as COach K, Williams, Donovan, Self, Izzo etc. I agree with that. Not many coaches are. There are about 7 coaches that are elite of the elite. Matta is right after them though, top 10 HC in CBB, that is elite in my opinion. His track record proves it. He wins games, gets his team to the NCAA tourney, and wins in the NCAA tourney. He is only misssing the NC. I think what the experts said about him show the most, Jay Bilas calls him a HOF coach and elite. Says he is one of the most underrated HC in CBB and a elite coach.


3. He took over a program that didn't expect much in BB and turned them into a top 10 program. Think about that. Before Matta, Ohio State most times making the NCAA tourney in a row was 3. They had some very good teams in the early 90s, one in the late 90's but that was it. A lot of losing. If Ohio State made the tournament, it was great. Now look at this season, Matta has a 25-8 season or something like that, and gets a #6seed and people are saying that is a disappointing year. Look how he has changed.


4. As for elite talent, Matta has brought in very good talent. I think he had elite talent 1 or 2 years. The Oden year he had a lot of great talent, and he took them to the NC game. Lighty, Buford, Diebler, Lewis, etc are all good talent. They're not ELITE. Kentucky, Duke, UNC, etc still have more NBA talent over Ohio State. Ohio State is close, but not quite there yet. I will say Ohio State has Michigan State talent, very good talent. But it is not like we're sending top 10 NBA picks every year in the program. Only twice and that was Conley/Oden.


5. If Matta wins the NC, his name will be with the elite coaches. That is all he needs. He wins a NC and his name will be very close to the Izzo of the world. That is how close he is.