Ohio State Men's Head Coach Thad Matta.pdf

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An Interview With:

OHIO STATECOACH THAD MATTA

THE MODERATOR: We're joined byCoach Thad Matta.

COACH MATTA: Obviously exciting time,getting ready to get started in what's going to be

hopefully another not only great Big Ten seasonbut great college basketball season, and I thinkwe're all kind of in the same mode of anticipation,nervous anticipation of how our guys are going toplay.

But that's what we're up against right now.THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. I had a question about Aaron Craftand the way he defends. How will the newrules impact the way he is on the ball or will itat all?

COACH MATTA: From what I've seenthus far, I don't think it's going to affect him. I thinkif they stay with what they're saying, it's going toaffect the bad defenders, because they can't movetheir feet as well. And I say that in the mostcomplimentary way to Aaron because I think thething he does better than anybody in the country ismoves his feet.

He's got the ability laterally to really move.He's got great lower body strength. So I don'treally see that being an issue for him in terms ofhe's not a guy that grabs and holds, because he'salways there with his feet. So I think he should bein pretty good shape.

Q. What's the dynamic of your offensethis year? Obviously you're losing a guy whoshot the ball a lot and scored a lot last year inDeshaun.

COACH MATTA: I think you're exactlyright. Deshaun Thomas had the ability to makedifficult shots, and we gave Deshaun a lot of

opportunities to score. The thing that I've seen tothis point so far is everybody on the team hasmade drastic improvements offensively. And that'sexciting for me.

I think the dynamics of our offense will bevery unselfish play. Ball movement, a lot of bodymovement. We've got length. We've got size.We've got different guys that can post. I think both

Amir Williams and Trey McDonald have been a lotmore productive down low, which obviously addsstrength to our offense.

Q. Twice in the last two years, playersafter games, talking to your players, havementioned Jeff Boals, your assistant. Couldyou talk about what he brings to the Ohio Stateprogram, please?

COACH MATTA: I think Jeff is a terrificcoach. He's a guy that has great passion for theuniversity, has great passion for the kids, andthat's something that I look at as I'm putting a stafftogether. His knowledge of the game. He's a lotlike myself, have been a lot of different places andhave had the opportunity to learn from a lot ofdifferent people.

But he's a tireless worker. He's one ofthose guys that truly enjoys every phase of collegecoaching on a daily basis. Guys like mesometimes get real tired of certain things. It neverfazes him. And I think that's kind of the beauty.

And the other thing I've always said, Jeff'sa very intelligent person. I like intelligent people.

And he was a biology major from OU, and just agreat family man as well.

Q. What are the first couple of thingscoming into this season that you are looking toestablish with your team and the personnelinvolved?

COACH MATTA: First and foremost,trying to figure out how the game's going to beplayed. I say that coming off a deal we had lastSaturday where I didn't know what to tell them interms of how it's going to be. I think that's going tobe an issue for everybody across -- but once that's

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figured out, I think our defense has got to be ourstaple. We've got to rebound the basketball.

I think with our ability to score in transition,getting stops is something that's important. Wecan't score when we're taking the ball out of thenet.

And then I think the other thing with thegroup that we have, a very hopefully intellectualoffensive team, I'm hoping with this team the abilityto take care of the basketball is a huge priority andwe do a great job with that.

Q. Maybe assess the way you feel theBig Ten will shape out this year. I know it'svery early, but how do you see it turning out?

COACH MATTA: Well, somebody askedme the other day, they said, What do you thinkthis year? And I said, Honestly, being in theleague nine years, I don't think it's going to be anydifferent than it has been in the past, just in terms

of the grind. And I've said this about the Big Ten.I think the Big Ten's about having the ability to getknocked down and getting back up and fightingagain. Because it's such a great league. You'vegot great players. Great coaches. Great fans.There's going to be challenges.

You look at teams that can get on a roll.Teams that can stay healthy. You gotta look athow the schedule plays out, who plays who, thosetypes of things. But I think you're looking at a lotlike it's been the last couple of years in terms of ithas the potential to come down to the wire thelast -- I know for sure two years, because we've

been involved, and both of them have come downbasically to the last shot to determine -- an18-game season for 12 different teams, the title isdetermined on the last second of it. How fitting isthat for a great league?

Q. John Groce was an assistant foryou. Are you surprised by anything he's doneas a head coach? Was there anything thatstuck out when he was an assistant that youthought he could coach this well at this level?

COACH MATTA: No, I think -- I've beenfortunate to have a lot of coaches go on and

become head coaches and are doing very wellright now.But John had all the characteristics that I

felt -- not that I'm the judge of it, but the things thathe would do on a daily basis. And I always say tomyself, if he gets the opportunity, I think he's goingto be a heck of a head coach.

And obviously that's what he's done. Imean from OU to now Illinois, I couldn't be happierfor him and the job he's doing. And you know thisabout John: He's going to grind it out and findways to keep the Illinois basketball where it's been.

Q. How do you think the new rules aregoing to affect the game, short term and longterm?

COACH MATTA: I don't know yet.Honestly, I don't want to avoid the question. I'vegotta see it -- I've gotta see it for a couple ofweeks. And I want to see it across the board, ifthat makes sense. And then I think the coachesthat I've spoken with, we have to take -- if it's goingto be this way -- now some guys are saying ourexhibition game wasn't that way, it was just like italways is. Others are saying, oh my.

So for all of us, I think we're looking atsaying, okay, we've got about a two-, three-week

window where we have to look at this and analyze.It may be subtle changes, it may be big changesthat we have to make just in terms both offensivelyand defensively to adjust and as all coaches try todo gain an advantage.

Q. You got a lot of questions on MediaDay in Columbus about who is going to makeshots for you guys. After the last three weeksof practice and the scrimmage you had lastSaturday, how are your percentages and what'syour impression of how your guys are going toshoot?

COACH MATTA: It's always -- in practiceit's that double edge, because when thepercentages are high, I'm mad at the defense.When the percentages aren't, I'm mad at the guyshooting.

So I like the way we're shooting the ball,just in terms of percentage-wise of where we'vebeen in the past going back, looking, analyzingnumbers. Now obviously you guys do it when thelights are on.

But I think guys have appeared to thispoint to have a different demeanor, differentapproach in terms of how important shooting is to

me and the welfare of this team's success.

Q. If these rules kind of stay as theyare, how can that possibly affect recruitingmoving forward as far as what kind of playersyou need to win?

COACH MATTA: I haven't thought aboutthat one. I'll go back to Tom's question, I need a


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couple of weeks to figure this out. I didn't even -- Igotta see it through. And like I say, we're going toadjust to it. And we want everything that's best forthe game. And if the higher powers above believethis is going to help the game, I'm all for it. I'd loveto score 90 points a game on average. If that wasthe case, then I'm going to need some offensivefirepower I guess in recruiting.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach.FastScripts by ASAP Sports

Ohio State Men's Head Coach Thad Matta.pdf

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