Men's Basketball
The-Ozone Hoops Notes and Quotebook
By John Porentas

Greg Goes Right: After shooting his free throws left handed all season OSU center Greg Oden shot his free throws right handed against the Wolverines on Saturday. Oden hit four-of-five for 80 per cent from the free throw stripe shooting right handed, a percentage that was reflective of his free throw shooting his senior season in high school when he averaged 82 per cent for a period of time.

"It got up there, but I think I ended the season at 79 per cent," said Oden.

Oden said his decision to go with the right hand was made possible by the fact that OSU had no midweek game this week giving him time to practice with his right hand.

"Actually my left hand was getting uncomfortable. It was like my right hand was getting a little bit stronger and my left hand feeling real uncomfortable, so I figured it was time, because I don't want to mess up the game with my left hand and miss a whole bunch of free throws," said Oden.

"I made the decision earlier in the week. I had to get a couple of practices in and that second one (free throw in the Michigan game), I was so scared I was going to air-ball it, the one that bounced around. I haven't air-balled all year," Oden said.

Clamping Down: Michigan guard Dion Harris had a great game against the Buckeyes, scoring a game-high 19 points. Harris, however, was held scoreless over the last 5:11 of the game, and it was over the last 3:54 that the Buckeyes were able to make the winning charge against the Wolverines.

"Jamar (Butler) really stepped it up that last six minutes on Harris," said OSU Head Coach Thad Matta. .

"They were screening and he was running from side to side. Ivan was doing a great job with the ball screens, giving help and Michael had a big deflection. That's what you need those guys to do," Matta said.

Also large defensively in that segment of the game was a block by Greg Oden on Courtney Sims. Oden got the block despite playing with four fouls and despite the fact the Wolverines were definitely trying to foul him out. Oden's defensive play was a big one, but one that had his coach on the edge of his seat a bit.

"I told Greg to stay down, and if he (Sims) could finish over him, so be it," said Matta.

Despite his coaches instructions to be a bit conservative defensively Oden still went after the block.

"I still got a blocked shot, which I looked over and my coach was yelling at me 'Don't jump! Don't jump!'," said Oden.

"I was still playing aggressive and I just wanted to do something to help my team win."

Matta said after the game he was not at all displeased, or surprised, by the play.

"Greg is Greg. All his life he's been in that position. I'll say it again, he's yet to foul out of a game for us at Ohio State," Matta said.

"Greg plays with great intelligence. He knows how many fouls he has and they did a good job of coming at him and I thought Sims did a nice job of finishing. Greg did a great job of staying aggressive on the offensive end as well."

Playing for Pride, Playing to Win: Coming into the game all the talk was about the fact that the Wolverines had a lot to play for, but the Buckeyes had little in the way of incentive since they had already locked up the Big Ten regular-season championship and the number one seed in the Big Ten tournament. What they were playing for however, may be the best motivator of all, team pride.

"It's about pride. We didn't want to lose. That was our only thing, we didn't want to lose. We just wanted to come out and win. We knew we had to get stops and that's what we did," said senior guard Ron Lewis.

"We're going to come out and play to win. That's what we do. We don't care about anybody else's objectives but ours," said Lewis.

"Pride. It was strictly pride," agreed Matta as to the key to the win in Ann Arbor.

"That's a very key word in our program. To let down now, we're into March, and there's two types of team, those that are trying to do something special an those that are trying to stop somebody from doing something special. We have to keep that perspective in mind," Matta said.

Matta seemed particularly pleased after the win, almost as if he felt his team had turned some sort of corner in Ann Arbor.

"I think this was a great win," he said.

"I think in today's college basketball world every win is a great win, especially when you go on the road. Going 7-1 in the Big Ten on the road and going 15-1. To me there's a huge difference between 14-2 and 15-1. I thought that they got that," Matta said.

Jamar Butler kind of summed up what his coach is seeing right now.

"We're going in the right direction. We're going up right now. Right now we have the type of team that doesn't go down," he said.

Calling on Tress: You really did get the feeling in the post-game interview session that Matta saw something special in the win over the Wolverines. He recalled an earlier part of the season when he was a little worried about his team's overall attitude and recalled that OSU Head Football Coach Jim Tressel came in to give him a hand with keeping his team's priorities in order.

"I felt like after the Tennessee game our guys weren't having fun. I told them up front that I had never coached a basketball team that was expected to win every game and I wanted to get back to having fun. I wanted to get back to enjoying playing basketball and quite honestly Coach Tressel came in and delivered probably one of the greatest speeches I've ever heard to our players at that point on getting them to enjoy and play and what we're playing for," said Matta.

Tressel's message?

"Just staying the course and keeping in perspective what we were trying to accomplish as a team and understanding the moment and enjoying each other along the way," Matta said.

"When he talks, nobody blinks. Our guys, every time he comes in our guys are zoomed in on him. He's done a great job for us."

Avoiding the Upset: The Buckeyes were able to do in Ann Arbor what many of the top teams across the country have been unable to do, avoid the upset, despite the fact that going into the game it appeared that the Wolverines had so much more to play for. Matta was extremely proud of that fact.

"Ohio State has beaten everybody we were supposed to, and I know that's extremely difficult to do," said Matta.

"We didn't let our guard down in the Big Ten on the road. The night we played Wisconsin they were better than us," Matta said.

How hard it that to accomplish, especially with a young team?

"Extre-e-e-e-emly," said Matta "with a lot of e's in there."

Matta saw his team's ability to accomplish that feat as a sign of the maturing process and sign of a team coming together a the right time.

"I think it is," Matta said.

"I think that now as you go into the Big Ten and NCAA tournament, so much of it is pairings and matchups and getting into your rhythm. You've really got to hit your stride. I think that is something that is vitally important, trying to create an atmosphere where guys are getting better every single day and staying fresh. That's where the challenge comes."

Avoiding the Rush: It was clear when the game tipped off that the Wolverines and their fans wanted badly to win the game with the Buckeyes. Matta anticipated that and in a sort of tongue-in-cheek manner got that point across to his team during preparations for the game.

"I was kidding those guys yesterday. I told them we need to practice getting off the court in case they storm the court, and they told me it wasn't going to be the case, and I left it at that," said Matta.

With the memory of the fans storming the court after OSU's win over Wisconsin still fresh in their minds, Matta's comment made the intended impression on his players.

"I'm glad everybody stepped up and we won that last war or else they would have been storming the court," said a smiling Greg Oden after the game.

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