• Changing RCF's index page, please click on "Forums" to access the forums.

2015 NCAA March Madness

Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Chris said:
To be honest, did anyone expect us to get to the sweet 16? I didn't...

Maybe if they get rid of one and done, programs like OSU will have a better chance. Until then it's a sport that's going to be dominated by the Uconns and Kentuckys I imagine. I mean, look at Kentcucky. Just absolutely ridiculous what they field every single year. In a sport where one or two great players can make you a favorite (as opposed to football where you have a huge roster and many facets), it's hard to compete with the basketball powerhouses the way smaller football programs still manage to compete with the big ones.
Click to expand...
The one and done trend is not Ohio State's problem. If anything it has helped them since Thad now has the reputation of being able to get freshman ready for the NBA draft, fair or not.

The problem, at least in the past few years has been OSU's inability to develop the guys, mainly role players, who do stay.

No reason to fire Thad though. He has his limitations but the strengths outweigh the weaknesses.
 
Thad Matta has won 20 games every year with Amir Williams, the last 3 years with him playing a fair amount of minutes...that alone is an amazing feat.
 
elcheato said:
The one and done trend is not Ohio State's problem. If anything it has helped them since Thad now has the reputation of being able to get freshman ready for the NBA draft, fair or not.

The problem, at least in the past few years has been OSU's inability to develop the guys, mainly role players, who do stay.

No reason to fire Thad though. He has his limitations but the strengths outweigh the weaknesses.
Click to expand...

Okay, but that seems like a double edged sword. Wouldn't it be great to have Russell back next year to team with some of the guys we have coming in? That would give us a chance to actually build a team with multiple stars combined with experience.... Not saying you're wrong about developing the role players that stay for 2-4 years, though. That is definitely a problem too, but I feel like it's a problem that exists because of one and done.

Either way I agree we're not getting anyone better than Thad. he's doing a good job with a second tier basketball program, I'm not sure what else we could be expecting him to do.
 
Akron330 said:
Bucks have one guy that can hit a perimeter shot and no size, tough to beat a Zona with huge holes in the roster
Click to expand...
They do have guys who can hit perimeter shots, they just never play.

It's hard to overcome how terrible Thompson and Scott are as shooters at positions where you would want shooting though.
 
Chris said:
Okay, but that seems like a double edged sword. Wouldn't it be great to have Russell back next year to team with some of the guys we have coming in? That would give us a chance to actually build a team with multiple stars combined with experience.... Not saying you're wrong about developing the role players that stay for 2-4 years, though. That is definitely a problem too, but I feel like it's a problem that exists because of one and done.

Either way I agree we're not getting anyone better than Thad. he's doing a good job with a second tier basketball program, I'm not sure what else we could be expecting him to do.
Click to expand...
Part of the reason Russell came here was because Pitino wouldn't guarantee a starting spot to a one and done freshman (I'm sure he would to certain ones, but I guess he just wasn't willing to with Russell). Some coaches still don't like depending on one and done guys, while Matta does, which helps him a lot when it comes to recruiting and getting stars he most likely would not be in contention for if kids were forced to stay more than a year.
 
Well we never have to watch Amir Williams play basketball again, so there's that.
 
This team would go as far as Russell was able to take them.

Russell was terrible from a scoring standpoint.

More annoying because the team actually came to play today.
 
Will be interesting to watch how next year plays out. The only rotation plays returning are Tate, Kam Williams, Diop (although he was barely in the rotation), and Loving, but they have a pretty talented 5 man recruiting class coming in.

David Bell is also returning and Trevor Thompson will be eligible after sitting out the year for transferring, but I doubt either of those two ever make an impact

Obviously not all of the incoming freshman will have big roles, as usually one or even two seemingly never craft a role early on Matta's teams as of late, but they might all have to be given significant roles given what is coming back. A.J. Harris and Giddens seemingly have to start out of necessity, and they're also going to need Grandstaff's shooting and Mitchell's playmaking ability. Ultimately I think Lyle gets left off the rotation if his commitment sticks.
 
Trevor Thopson is absolutely making an impact next year. He and Giddens will make a nice 1-2 punch as athletic bigs they so desperately lacked this year.

That team with Russell would be a championship contender.
 
Only positive is that I don't have to watch Sam Thompson and Shannon Scott gun contested threes ever again.

What's the team looking like next year?

D'Angelo is 99.8% gone.

- Marc Loving
- Trevor Thompson
- Kam Williams
- Keita Bates-Diop
- Jae'Sean Tate
- David Bell
- JaQuan Lyle
- A.J. Harris
- Mickey Mitchell
- Austin Grandstaff
- Daniel Giddens

Probably a lineup of:

PG - JaQuan Lyle / A.J. Harris
SG - Kam Williams / Austin Grandstaff
SF - Jae'Sean Tate / Keita Bates-Diop / Mickey Mitchell
PF - Marc Loving / David Bell
C - Daniel Giddens / Trevor Thompson

EDIT: I know Mitchell isn't a third string, but I don't know where to slot him in.
 
Last edited:
I picked NC State to beat Nova, so it'd be great if they could keep playing at a high level.
 
I'm looking forward to seeing how they utilize Lyle. He's going to need to drop some weight, but he's very talented. We're talking about a guy that was rated as a 5 star by most services last cycle. He'll move right into that secondary ball handling role Russell occupied (granted, I don't think he makes the same massive impact, but you catch my drift).
 
Odd year. Russell carried the team on his back most of the way, but repeatedly fell flat in big games. His shooting numbers against Louisville, UNC, Iowa, MSU, Wisky and Zona were brutal. I don't know how concerning that is for scouts since the talent around him was incredibly marginal if not worse.

This was a horrible matchup. As soon as the brackets were unveiled, you knew it was over the first weekend. Cant compete against size given the awful bigs and lack of perimeter shooting.

Matta was handcuffed by a senior class that made almost zero improvement over the years. My main gripe would be not be working Keita and Kam in more earlier in the season when it became obvious that finding points was going to be troublesome against the good teams. Always felt he tightened the lineups up too much once conference play started.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Rubber Rim Job Podcast Video

Episode 3-14: "Time for Playoff Vengeance on Mickey"

Rubber Rim Job Podcast Spotify

Episode 3:14: " Time for Playoff Vengeance on Mickey."
Top