Welcome back to “You’re Nuts,” the weekly debate where our basketball writers (typically) pick an Ohio State basketball-related topic and debate it to the death or until we hit the word limit, whichever comes first.
Last week, Connor and Justin debated whether the Ohio State men’s basketball team, which is currently sitting just on the outside of the NCAA Tournament field according to many bracket models, needs to start redshirt sophomore guard Taison Chatman going forward.
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Connor said yes, Ohio State had slow starts against USC and Michigan, so they might as well plug in some instant offense into the lineup, starting with last Saturday’s game against Virginia. Justin said no, because Ohio State would miss A’mare Bynum’s physicality and athleticism, especially guarding larger forwards.
We didn’t know it at the time, but one day later, sophomore guard John Mobley Jr. underwent successful surgery on his right (shooting) hand to address an injury he sustained during Ohio State’s win over USC on February 11. Because of that, Chatman was thrust into the starting lineup against Virginia, finishing with four points on 2-for-5 shooting over 31 minutes in a Buckeye loss. He was much better in Ohio State’s next game — a win over Wisconsin on Tuesday — with 11 points on 3-for-6 shooting in 29 minutes. He also went a perfect 4-for-4 at the free-throw line.
This week, we’re stepping away from the current Ohio State men’s basketball team to commemorate a very special and impressive accomplishment — former Buckeye head coach and current Butler head coach Thad Matta won his 500th career game this week with a 93-89 win over Georgetown on Wednesday night. Of course, 337 of those wins came at Ohio State, where he is the winningest coach in program history. His 85 wins at Butler make him the seventh-winningest coach in Butler history.
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For this week and this week only, we are talking about someone who does not play or coach at Ohio State. We are thinking back in the memory bank and sharing our favorite Thad Matta game.
This week’s question: What is your favorite Thad Matta game at Ohio State?
Connor: Thad Matta banner night at the Schott (November 28, 2018)
I know this is cheating because Thad Matta was no longer the head coach at Ohio State in 2018. This was two seasons removed from him being fired by Gene Smith and Chris Holtmann taking over, but for me, it was the most memorable Matta memory I have from my time at Ohio State.
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By the time I started at Ohio State in 2015, the best of Matta’s teams were well in the rear-view mirror. For the final two seasons of Matta’s tenure (which were my first two years of college), the Buckeyes were a combined 38-29 and did not make the NCAA Tournament either year.
And despite Matta’s general tendency to deflect and not want to receive praise or recognition, Ohio State was able to get him to attend the Buckeyes’ ACC/Big Ten Challenge game against Syracuse on November 28, 2018, where they unrolled a banner that said his name and his accomplishments at Ohio State. That banner now hangs high above the arena, next to other Buckeye greats like Jerry Lucas and Evan Turner.
The banner reads:
“Thad Matta”
“Head Coach 2005-2017”
“5 Big Ten Titles”
“4 Big Ten Tournament Titles”
“2 Final Four Appearances”
“337 wins – Ohio State Record”
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Matta said that having the banner hang in the Schottenstein Center was “the greatest honor he has ever received” and also “the most humbling experience” he has ever had in his lifetime.
After being let go at Ohio State, Matta interviewed for a few head coaching jobs — most notably the Georgia job in 2017, but opted not to take it. He was away from coaching for five years before taking the Butler head coaching job — his second stint at his alma mater — in the spring of 2022.
As someone who has never been an NBA fan and whose love for college basketball and the game of basketball in general came from watching Thad Matta’s Ohio State teams, sitting two rows from the court and watching Matta get that honor that he earned and deserved was a special moment.
Matta took the Ohio State men’s basketball program to a peak and a consistent level of success that it really had not ever seen before then, and has not come close to since then. It takes a special kind of coach to confidently navigate a basketball program at a “football school”, but Matta did it with humility, humor, and hard work. For those reasons, he is the greatest coach in program history.
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What a great night for Coach Matta, and what a wonderful memory for me.
Justin: 2007 NCAA Tournament Second Round vs. Xavier
“Conley, five to go, Lewis, he’s been awesome, lets it go….OH!!!!!!
That Gus Johnson call will live in my head forever. Ohio State entered that game 31-3 and one of the top teams in the country, and if it wasn’t for that three-pointer with one second left from Ron Lewis, they would have lost in the second round to Xavier.
As we all know, the 2006-07 Buckeyes would go on to play in the national championship and fall to the legendary Florida Gators, who went back-to-back.
Ron Lewis finished with 27 points on 8-for-13 shooting and 4-for-5 from three-point range. He added eight rebounds and was perfect from the free-throw line.
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The Buckeyes only got 14 points from future number one pick Greg Oden, who fouled out in regulation as well. Ohio State outscored Xavier 16-9 in the overtime period without Oden to secure the win.
The crazy part about this game was that the Buckeyes only had a chance because Xavier’s Justin Cage missed a free throw that would have made it a four-point game with eight seconds left and iced it. Cage was perfect from the field in the game, going 8-for-8 from the field and 3-for-3 from three-point range, but he missed that key free throw.
Without this win, the furthest Thad Matta would have gone with Ohio State would have been a Final Four, and Matta deserved to coach for a national championship.
