John Beilein vs. Thad Motta
Who would you rather have as a coach?
(a) A guy who recruits like hell but can't coach? (Thad Motta*)
(b) A guy who is an awesome coach but is a mediocre recruiter? (John Beilein)
Now, answer again, assuming that (a) usually will beat (b).
For me, I'll go with (b) every time. Go Blue!
* Ignore for this question the fact that Thad Motta is a prick.
I'll take the guy who gets to the tourney 3/4 years.
Its impossible to decouple Thad's douchebaggery from his coaching style. Impossible to answer impartially.
I'll take the guy that isn't Thad Motta. Every time. You didn't even have to tell me about option B, I was taking it as soon as I got done reading option A.
i think the booster situation at OSU is still alive and kicking. that has certainly helped recruiting.
cant believe M goes down for NCAA violations but OSU bball and fball are riding clean.
I'm pretty sure we are not allowed to throw the "dirty basketball recruiting" stone.
I'm not sure this applies 100%. It would be different if we didn't get caught, but we paid dearly for our "dirty recruiting," and there's no shame in wanting the rules applied consistently across the board.
This isn't to say that OSU isn't clean, because I don't really know one way or the other. I do know that their paper won't be bending over backwards to spark up any investigations, though.
We also profited greatly.
if there were one website free of tools and trolls.
It would be nicer if there was one just for tools and trolls so they could quit polluting the rest of the internet.
It's called the RCMB.
But after today I can't call him an elite coach. He's good but not great.
I'd still take him over Matta any day.
Because his team lost to the #1 seed on a 40-foot buzzer-beater, he's not a great coach? (I mean, there are other potential reasons out there, but this one seems a bit spurious.)
No, because he set up the worst defensive play ever. Matta even said after the game "they didnt press us like we thought they would." Which I interpreted as Matta saying "thats what I would of done" How do you set up a play where you let one of the best players in the country dribble and shoot with no man pressure?
Dude - he dribbed and shot a 40-footer. Calling that the worst defensive play ever is just silly. We made OSU take an extremely difficult shot and unfortunately, they made it.
in that situation you have to pressure the ball and make the ball handler go around you/left or right - not straight up the court unabated.
I would have agressively denied him the ball in the first place.
I'm not saying that what we did was necessarily the best strategy but still . . . forcing your opponent to heave up a 40-footer is not bad defense. It's not like we gave up a layup.
as a point of reference that cocksucker Laettner's shot came w/ what 2.1 seconds left and he had to get a baseball pass 3/4 court to get to where he was..... I would have pressured Turner to get the ball as close to the baseline as possible which would affect how close to the basket his shot attempt would be.
I'm also a hater of the zone in late game - deadball situations too.
Thats just me though.
March 12th, 2010 at 10:25 PM ^
Plus he was 20 ft away from the 3 pt line. I rather take my chances with that and play zone than someone getting an easy shot.
March 12th, 2010 at 10:23 PM ^
Michigan didnt "force" anything, Turner dribbled up set his feet and let it fly. Why wasnt someone on him? pressure him at half court? Deny him the ball? Not only did we not pressure him we didnt pressure the inbounding player. Hes one of the best players in the country. Michigan should of forced him away from the basket so he'd have to take an off balance shot. A lay-up would have at least given us a chance in overtime. I would love for someone to explain to me how that "D" was supposed to work.
Here's how it was supposed to work: we took away the deep pass and dared them to throw it short to Turner, who would have to take an extremely low-percentage shot. That's what happened. Unfortunately, it went in.
Marty Mornhinweg thought that was a bad call.
This is a no brainer. Blame goes completely to Beilein for the last shot fiasco. This was very poor end of game coaching by Beilein in the OSU game. No pressure on the inbound, no one guarding the #1 player in the Big Ten (heck, they could've double teamed him by not putting someone on the inbound pass), and no ball pressure on ET until he was past half court.
Also, how about using a timeout before the last play to talk over strategy? Or to try to confuse OSU or at least make them think about changing the play? This one is debatable because I'm not sure if UM had a timeout at the end or not. If they didn't, then I would retract this criticism.
The final play strategy did absolutely nothing to separate Beilein as a top tier coach. This was just bad all around. It's extremely basic strategy and it's very bothersome that he blundered this big on this large of a stage.
JB has a lot of ground to make up, IMHO, to solidify himself as a quality college coach. I see a lot of 1 on 1, commando basketball from UM and very little toughness overall. This team seems to get pushed by other Big 10 teams very easily. People are absolutely in the right to be questioning him at this point. His performance so far deserves it.
...and the piece of shit school that writes his checks.
I don't want Sloth running my basketball program.
In this day and age - I am very skeptical of one program (Kentucky, OSU, etc.) landing 3-4 top10 recruits in 1 year.
I don't want to be that school.
That and Thad is a grade A dickfuck.
It worked during the Fab Five era. Not so much after, but during.
I can't bring myself to use that group of guys as an example of what I want this basketball program to be again.
I loved the athleticism, the energy, the skill, the flash, the "swagger" and more than anything the wins but.... ya' gotta' admit - it all came at a cost.
Mike Barwis probably doesn't like the high carb fare one gets at Zingerman's. I do, but I like my carbs to come from delicious beer.
I'm stuck at home w/ the boys.
I just sent a desperate text to my to come home early w/ gifts of beer in hand ASAP.
Everyday I find a new low.
I'm going to be there in about six months when we have our first.
being the center of your own universe while you can... that'll all soon change.
The wife just called - she forgot her ID.
No beer for more beer for Z.Barwis tonight.
Now to go to the cupboard and see what I can mix w/ my limited liquor stash.
Sigh.
I want the winner of the intercontinental belt.
Drinking--commenced
I love America too!
March 12th, 2010 at 10:00 PM ^
For $279, it better come with a replica of Ric Flair's robe and boots.
March 12th, 2010 at 10:08 PM ^
I went to a Halloween party (while at law school at USC) a few years back dressed as the Nature Boy. Farrah Fawcett wig, glitter paint on the robe to let the people know who I was, championship belt, the whole nine yards. Sadly, all the girls in law school thought I was a drag queen, but I was redeemed when a bunch of Mexican dudes outside the club immediately recognized me and I'm pretty sure elected me king of something.
March 12th, 2010 at 10:37 PM ^
To be the man, you got to beat the man! (or dress up in a robe and wig)
March 12th, 2010 at 10:45 PM ^
Some times you just have to slap the figure four leglock on people and let them know you mean business.
Stylin' and profilin'!
I take option B because I basically just couldn't look at Thad Matta more than twice a year. Dude is just one ugly gentleman, and I use that term loosely.
With that nose, he reminds me of Gonzo from the Muppets.
Case in point:
http://blog.pennlive.com/patriotnewssports/2009/02/large_ohio_state_tha…
Besides being a jerk, Matta just seems . . . weird. He probably drives 3 hours out of his way to an outlet mall to buy irregular tube socks.
Not Motta. And he can obviously coach pretty well, douchebaggery aside.
he's actually a pretty bad coach considering the talent he gets every year.
If you can put douchebaggery aside, then you sir, are a better man than I. Guy's a classless fucking blowhard. With a temperamental cocksucker like that representing my University, I'd just as soon lose.
March 12th, 2010 at 11:14 PM ^
you should tell us how you really feel!
(edit, in case it isn't obvious: +1 for brutal honesty)
I think I heard in Beilein's first season here that the two dont like each other much, it goes back to their early days at coaches.
March 12th, 2010 at 10:29 PM ^
I believe it goes beyond Matta. The Michigan staff flat out does not like the OSU staff. I don't think there's any program they like less than OSU.
... kinda like a dog doesn't like the owner who constantly kicks the shit out of him. lulz
So, OSU went 2-1 against UofM this season...with the neutral court win coming on a last second half-court shot. That's "kicking the shit", eh? Why bother even posting here?
Matta is 10-2 vs. Michigan, which I think qualifies as "kicking the shit out of" under any reasonable definition.
Your other question, "Why bother even posting here?", may be rhetorical, but I'll answer it anyway.
I stumbled across this website while Googling to see whether Matta was delivering a verbal smackdown to Beilein or arguing with the officials and/or the scorer's table. When I came to this site, I was surprised to find that everyone is on here making childish jokes about Matta's physical appearance, calling him a douchebag, and saying he must be cheating (when in fact Michigan fans must know better than anyone that cheating does not lead automatically to success, right RichRod?)
I thought people would be (a) criticizing Beilein for fucking up the defense at the end of the game (which a few people did); and/or (b) mocking Beilein for refusing to vote for Evan Turner as POY, who is posting a 20/9/6 season despite breaking his back and missing six games (and more importantly, most of two others, when he was injured and his first game back).
Once I got on here, though, I started urging you guys to stop making lame excuses and start demanding accountability from your Athletic Department. Because when it comes down to it, we need you. Ohio State needs Michigan like Batman needs the Joker. And right now, you guys are just a joke. So get your act together so we can have more games like 2006 and fewer like 2008.
No, once you got on here you starting acting like the cockbiting douchebag that everyone in your third-rate trailer park knows you are. You can't sign up with a username like that and post the shit you post and pretend to be Mr. Sensible and just trying to act in our best interest. We're not stupid. I know there are classy OSU fans out there, but a username like that pretty much pegs you as one of the cooler-shitting, couch-burning, trailer-dwelling, Icehouse-swilling, mullet-sporting rednecks that give rednecks a bad name. Your act is pure Bucknuts and zero BP. Either man up and act like you have an atom of class in your body and start fresh with a new username, or stop trying to pull the lipstick on a pig act and go back to making sure your neighbor hasn't seen the extension cord you've plugged in to his double-wide.