Men's Basketball
Buckeyes Head To Chicago for Big Ten Tournament
By John Porentas

The Big Ten tournament gets under way in Chicago tomorrow when first-round play begins. The Buckeyes have an opening-day bye, then Friday will play the winner of the Minnesota vs. Michigan game which kicks off the tournament on Thursday.

OSU advanced to the tournament title game last season before falling to Iowa. That OSU team was one that started the season short of depth and then got bad news late in the year when Matt Terwilliger went down with appendicitis. Additionally, at the end of the season Matt Sylvester was battling through a back condition that limited his minutes as well. In short, the Buckeyes were woefully thin by the time tournament time came around. In the Big Ten tournament, the physical demands of playing three games in three days caught up with the Buckeyes. Every aspect of that team's game suffered, from shooting to rebounding.

"I know last year playing 120 minutes with six-and-a-half players guys, it took its toll on us a little bit," said OSU Head Coach Thad Matta of last year's Big Ten tournament experience.

Matta is heading to Chicago with a different situation this season. For one, he can and has played nine players all season.

"I hope that the fact that we've played so many guys, I've never played as many as we're playing now, will give us a little extra as we go through the Big Ten tournament or into the next round," said Matta

OSU junior guard Jamar Butler, who played through the grind of last season, sees a difference this season.

"I think we're set up great. The bench is really deep. We play a lot of guys who can go out there and get the job done," said Butler.

Matta tried to prepare his team for the three-games-in-three-days format of the Big Ten tournament earlier this season when OSU hosted the Black Coaches of America tournament last November. In that event the Buckeyes played VMI, Loyola and Kent State on November 10, 11 and 12. Matta pointed out the similarities in that event to the Big Ten tournament when his team played in the BCA classic.

"We talked about that going in (to the season)," said Matta.

"With the tough practices going in (to the season), why are we doing this? Because we're playing 120 minutes in three days. We'll have to do the same thing at the end of the year," Matta told the Buckeyes last November.

Matta reminded his squad of that experience this week.

"Coach delivered that message today, that it's going to be three games in three days. It does wear your body down but you have to be mentally tough and play through it," said Butler.

The Big Ten tournament is a challenge, but it carries an extra challenge for the Buckeyes, another thing Matta has pointed out to his team this week.

"Coach talked about that at practice, that the target on us is getting a lot bigger. Everybody is aiming at us in the Big Ten," said freshman point guard Mike Conley.

A win over the Buckeyes could equate to an NCAA bid or better seeding for a Big Ten team that could pull off an upset over the Buckeyes in the Big Ten tournament, and Matta wants his team to understand that they will get everyone's best shot. To that end, he wants his Bcukeyes focused not on winning the tournament, but on winning the next game, because if you do that enough times, the tournament takes care of itself.

"We don't have to be better than anyone except whoever we're playing that day," said Matta.

Matta's team should be fresher than they were last year. On Wednesday they also appeared to be very loose when they met with the media. Players joked with one another about OSU's new uniforms which will debut in the Big Ten tournament and will feature tight-fitting jerseys, BIG pants, and a LeBron James logo.

"I like that they're tight .It makes me look strong," quipped Daequan Cook bringing groans from teammates Ron Lewis, Mike Conley, Jamar Butler and Greg Oden.

Lewis asserted that he would probably look best in the uniform, bringing more chuckles, but Butler insisted he would fill it out best, drawing a good-natured groan from Cook. Conley, however, was not quite so braggadocios.

"I'm kind of skinny, so I don't know," Conley said.

Beside looking good, Matta saw other benefits to the new uniforms.

"They're not as tight as you think they are from what I heard, but it's a great incentive for the new guys to make sure they hit weight room and watch what they eat," Matta said.

He's also hoping the tight jersey will make it tougher to grab and hold Oden.

Big Ten Tourmament Brackets

Return to the-Ozone Columns and Features

Return to the-OZone Front Page