Men's Basketball
The-Ozone Hoops Note and Quotebook
By John Porentas
Impressed with the Buckeyes: OSU guards Je'Kel Foster and Jamar Butler had their way with the Illini combining to score 40 points. According to Illinois Head Coach Bruce Weber, the Illini had trouble figuring out when and where Foster would hit them next.
"I don't think we realized where he was going to pop up and shoot, whether it was Foster or Butler. They do a good job in their schemes, spread you out, and they get you in ball picks.
"They're shooting big-time shots. They're shooting the ball well. They're playing at a high level right now," said Weber.
Weber was very complimentary of not only OSU guards, but the entire OSU squad despite his team's disappointing loss. In comparing the play of OSU point guard Jamar Butler to his own point guard Dee Brown, Weber not only conceded that Butler is impressive, but also intimated that OSU's talent level may have surpassed that of the Illini.
"He (Butler) just has great feel," said Weber.
"He's playing with a lot of confidence. He uses the ball screens so well. He's just in a groove right now and they have other good players around him, so that makes it much either, where Dee, we don't quite have quite the complimentary players and Dee has to do more. I think right now that's the difference, but you have to give Butler a lot of credit. Man, he's playing like a point guard should."
Delivering the Message: Je'Kel Foster had a tremendous first half for the Buckeyes, scoring 15 of his 18 points before the intermission. Illinois put defensive specialist Chester Frazier on Foster in the second half and Frazier seemed to slow Foster some. What also slowed Foster some was a shot in the schnoz that he took early in the second half in a screen. Foster didn't seem to think that screening him off the ball handler was the real intent of the play.
"The guy hit me with an elbow. I guess they were trying to send a message to us," said Foster.
Foster had to leave the game with a nose bleed, but returned shortly thereafter.
Taking Up the Challenge: Ohio State point guard Jamar Butler had a career-high 20 points against Michigan on Thursday, the followed up with a new career-high 22 points on Sunday against Illinois. Perhaps even more impressively, Butler also put the defensive clamps on two the Big Ten's better guards, Michigan's Daniel Horton and Illinois' Dee Brown.
"I love challenges," said Butler.
"Coach Matta challenges me all the time in practice to get ready for a week like this. I love going against players like that, the top players in the league. It was just fun."
Though Butler has scored well over the last two games, Matta is most pleased with his effectiveness at the other end of the court.
"I think if you asked him or asked me, the thing were most proud of over the last two games is his defensive effort," said Matta.
"I think that ties into his offense and the fact that he has had those type of scoring games. He's one of the toughest kids I ever coached. He doesn't say much, but you always know you can count on him."
Same Result, Different Reaction: Ohio State spoiled Illinois bid for an unbeaten season last year in the Big Ten finale in Columbus when Matt Sylvester hit the game winner to give OSU its only lead of the day and the biggest win of that season. OSU's crowd chanted "Just like last year!" as the final seconds ticked off the clock against the Illini, but though the results were the same as the previous season, an OSU win, the OSU team had a different reaction to the win this season.
"As I told the guys, the jubilation that we had in the locker room last year, and today was very low key after the game, which I liked," said Thad Matta.
"We talked about that was maybe the season finale last year. You look at it now, and we still have six games to play and a lot of work to do.
"I love that about these guys. Their demeanor wasn't going crazy or anything like that.
"They were attentive to what we were saying and knowing that we have another six great challenges ahead of us. I think that's very important that they understood that because last year after the game, and deservingly so, there was celebration, but this year it was just an attitude of having to get ready for Wisconsin and get the game plan."
The Buckeyes do in fact seemed focused on the next task and don't appear to have gotten swollen heads after their win over the Illini.
"It's satisfying, but obviously in the Big Ten anything can happen," said senior center Terence Dials.
"We just want to take care of home court like we've been saying all season. Mission accomplished today.
"Now we have a tough road game against Wisconsin. They rarely lose at home, so it's going to be a tough test for us to go out there and get a win."
"You look at the week and we've beaten two top-20 teams this week," added Matta.
"I think that's a tremendous week for us. Now we go back to work on Monday and try to steal another win on the road," Matta said.
MIA: The OSU bench was short one person for the game against the Illini. Assistant Coach Dan Peters was not on hand for the game. Matta explained.
"He (Coach Peters) is snowed in in Philadelphia. He's in the blizzard. The last we heard, he had tennis racquets tied to his shoes trying to get to the game," said Matta.
No Mistaken Identity: Terence Dials had a very good game against the Illini, but did have one very bad play in which he attempted to throw an outlet pass the length of the floor. The pass was wild and resulted in an OSU turnover. Thad Matta saw a silver lining in the play, however. It allowed him to be was sure that it was still Dials out there on the floor.
"I felt like Terence had a great presence about him today," said Matta.
"He was quick to the ball. He was finding position, he was moving fluidly around the floor, I thought he really positioned himself well to rebound the ball. At one point I thought he was Wes Unseld," Matta quipped, referring to the former dominant NBA center, "then he made that outlet pass and I knew he wasn't."
The 232 Test: The sellout crowd of 18,500 at Value City Arena was lively and supportive for the Buckeyes. All of the Buckeyes, including Head Coach Thad Matta, expressed appreciation for the support.
"The environment, the crowd, it was truly amazing," said Matta.
"Coach Peters couldn't be here today. He's always said that when you walk out of that tunnel and you see people sitting up there in section 232 or whatever it is, he says you know we're doing something right. I called him right after the game and said 'They were sitting there today.' What a tremendous environment that was. As the guys said, it's a great sixth man."
Matta said 232, but was probably referring to 432 which is in the end of the upper deck above section 232, about as far from the action as you can get and still be in the building.
Illinois Game Story