Post by mauricxe on Mar 21, 2015 18:48:13 GMT -5
I think Thad Matta is a great coach. OSU has been competitive on the national stage. We have a couple of final fours, elite eight appearances, sweet16s, great recruiting classes, and a bevy of classic wins. Who could forget his dominance of the Big Ten...it wasn't long ago when the Buckeyes were constantly at the top of the Big Ten and a staple in the Big Ten tourney championship game.
He has grown as a coach too. Matta was known for playing his starting five 90% of the game. He's starting to depend on his bench a little more. He makes more adjustments than in previous years.
He hasn't really developed an offensive identity and personally, despite the high ratings, I think his recruiting is a bit meh.
The last two years have been rough....relatively speaking. The Buckeyes are still competitive but it's obvious we aren't competing for national titles. We aren't competing for Big Ten titles....and the league is 'down'. Next year will say a lot about our direction under Matta. We have a great recruiting class coming in and Russel MIGHT return to play with his friend.
So my question is....if Matta can't get us back to the top of the conference next year, or the year after, will it be time to move on? For simplicities sake, let's assume OSU is about where they are now over the next two years. 9-10 seed in the NCAA, 4-5thish in the B1G, and NO conference tourney title. Seems like a crazy question given what Matta has done for this program. However, I think if we are serious about winning a title, it might be the right question.
Before letting go of Matta, I would like to see him shake up his coaching staff....especially on offense. We NEED an offensive identity. I'm sick and tired of this rogue backyard basketball that dooms our Buckeyes.
wrt recruiting, I would like to see a bigger focus on Ohio. I'm not only talking about the 3 star kids that excel as upperclassmen, but we got our butts kicked by Duke, Kansas, UK, etc. for our top recruits. He needs to draw up an offensive system and recruit to it. He needs to offer kids in Ohio early. I read an article on 11W about a top Ohio player that went out of state. His dad was insulted by the late offer by Matta. Matta didn't pay any attention to the kid...Matta's attention came AFTER Duke and co. offered him.
Perhaps his health has something to do with our declining performance? He may retire before we have to make 'the choice'.
The other question is...who would replace him? Matta is a tremendous coach. We aren't poaching a coach from KU, UK, etc. unless we pay them a Nick Saban salary. I can only name 2 coaches that COULD be lured to OSU. One of them beat us in the Elite 8 two years ago, and the other beat us tonight.
So those are my thoughts. TLDR: I like Matta but I'm worried about our direction. If we are serious about winning a title, we need to make changes on his coaching staff, his recruiting strategy, and perhaps maybe think about replacing the head man down the road.
What are yours thoughts?
He has grown as a coach too. Matta was known for playing his starting five 90% of the game. He's starting to depend on his bench a little more. He makes more adjustments than in previous years.
He hasn't really developed an offensive identity and personally, despite the high ratings, I think his recruiting is a bit meh.
The last two years have been rough....relatively speaking. The Buckeyes are still competitive but it's obvious we aren't competing for national titles. We aren't competing for Big Ten titles....and the league is 'down'. Next year will say a lot about our direction under Matta. We have a great recruiting class coming in and Russel MIGHT return to play with his friend.
So my question is....if Matta can't get us back to the top of the conference next year, or the year after, will it be time to move on? For simplicities sake, let's assume OSU is about where they are now over the next two years. 9-10 seed in the NCAA, 4-5thish in the B1G, and NO conference tourney title. Seems like a crazy question given what Matta has done for this program. However, I think if we are serious about winning a title, it might be the right question.
Before letting go of Matta, I would like to see him shake up his coaching staff....especially on offense. We NEED an offensive identity. I'm sick and tired of this rogue backyard basketball that dooms our Buckeyes.
wrt recruiting, I would like to see a bigger focus on Ohio. I'm not only talking about the 3 star kids that excel as upperclassmen, but we got our butts kicked by Duke, Kansas, UK, etc. for our top recruits. He needs to draw up an offensive system and recruit to it. He needs to offer kids in Ohio early. I read an article on 11W about a top Ohio player that went out of state. His dad was insulted by the late offer by Matta. Matta didn't pay any attention to the kid...Matta's attention came AFTER Duke and co. offered him.
Perhaps his health has something to do with our declining performance? He may retire before we have to make 'the choice'.
The other question is...who would replace him? Matta is a tremendous coach. We aren't poaching a coach from KU, UK, etc. unless we pay them a Nick Saban salary. I can only name 2 coaches that COULD be lured to OSU. One of them beat us in the Elite 8 two years ago, and the other beat us tonight.
So those are my thoughts. TLDR: I like Matta but I'm worried about our direction. If we are serious about winning a title, we need to make changes on his coaching staff, his recruiting strategy, and perhaps maybe think about replacing the head man down the road.
What are yours thoughts?