ShareTweet(Photo Courtesy of Yahoo Sports) Last season, Ohio State rolled to a 24-11 record and made it to the 2nd round of the NCAA’s. That was then.. With an experienced lineup and an unworldly talented play (D’Angelo Russell) the Buckeyes sat at 8-1 at this point last season. Now, going into Wednesday’s game against NIU, they are 4-5 and have a very real chance of; a) not winning twenty games and b) not making the NCAA’s. Jess Eisenberg of Yahoo Sports points out that; In 15 seasons as a head coach at three different schools, Thad Matta has been to the NCAA tournament 13 times and has won at least 20 games every year. He makes a good point. In his career in a challenging profession, Thad Matta has a sustained level of accomplishment. This season will not be one of those year, in terms of “Wins & Losses”. So, what is different? For starters, Thad lost a lot of players due to graduation and early NBA draft declarations. Last season’s box score was populated by the likes of D’Angelo Russell, Sam Thompson, Shannon Scott, Amir Williams, Anthony Lee and Trey McDonald. This group represented 70% of OSU’s playing time, 64% of the rebounds, 85% of the assists and 67% of the scoring. That’s a lot of “on court” presence that Thad needed to replace. The triumvirate of Marc Loving, Jae’Sean Tate and Kieta Bates-Diop accounted for a combined 55 minutes per game, but that number is a bit deceiving. …
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