Around the 'Shoe

I'm happy they made the Final Four, so in that regard, thee season was a success. But, if I'm being honest, this game was a complete failure. I wanted to win it all.

I honestly didn't think this team would get past the sweet 16 and posted it before the Tournament started so they went beyond my expectations. But now I'm pissed, Thomas played terrible and Sullinger refusing to pass the ball back out is what lost this game, they both need to stay for another season they need the experience.

Personally, I think Sully will be back.

LOL!!! That's all i could do was laugh at the first sentence

Making the final 4 but not advancing is kind of like winning a BCS game in FB, but
not the BCS title game. Satisfying in one sense, and definitely a successful season, but
fell short of the ultimate goal.

But, hats off to our guys for getting this far because at one point this season it looked
like we would not get this far. Too bad we could not finish last night.

Could you imagine, Amir at center, Sully and Thomas at the fwd positions, Craft and Smith at the guard positions!

HHhmmmmm..... oh...it's Sunday morning.....must of been having a dream!

Agree....last year it was Buford (who step up last night with Craft and Smith), this year it was Sully and Thomas that let us down in the Big game by underachieving and not understanding the flow of the game. Hopefully both these guys will think long and hard about leaving early as they both have a fair amount of walk today. Last night's game is every night in the NBA. Sully struggles mightily against length and height, that is his offseason focus like the jumpshot last year. Thomas, needs to learn to play defense without his hands and learn the game instead of relying on his exceptional athletic talent.

If both go early, will they get drafted----absolutely. But both hurt their stock last night against similar talent and coaching........both need to return to work on weaknesses and desire to bring it every night. Question is....do they declare. Thomas.....I say yes as he doesn't get it and sees $$$. Sully, I'm 50/50. He enjoys the college atmosphere and his buddies, and doesn't need the money as bad. He is a star in college, he will be Danny Ferry in the NBA.....around for a decade with good and ugly nights, but far from the star he was in college.

Go hang out on 4chan.

anyone who says "butthurt" is a douchebag.

We coulda/ shoulda won...but not once this year did this team play a full game. We always left something on the table. This game, while we were the better team (Maybe)...we also were the team that, with the lead resorted to shooting three after three. Mistake. A huge mistake was at the end of the half as well. Also based on the beginning of the second half...I thought we were going to get killed. We looked scared. Bad. What I am saying is while this team had a chance to win a championship, we simply were not a championship team. If this groups stayed together like the old days, we would be very very good next year. Overall the group has talent, but makes tons of mistakes. UK and KU don't and that is why they will decide it Monday. It hurts but at least its not football. As a Brown, Reds, Buckeyes, and any other team fan....I'm used to this.

This season was a COMPLETE FAILURE. We lost to a team that we should have beaten. We had a HUGE lead. We are a better team than KANSAS. I know that, because I saw it. For the season to have been a success we would have had to get to the NC game. We would have been underdogs, but that is right where you want to be, win or lose.

This season was a great success! Anytime my alma mater can field a good basketball team that gets me through the duldrums between signing day and spring football it is a success.

Firstly, I would say this was a successful season. Anytime you make it to the big stage where 300+ other D-IA schools are watching you including 64 of the 68 teams who were in the tournament at one point, how could that not be considered a success.

With that said, I was somewhat disappointed too. As other posters have commented, I think we should have won that game last night if Matta would have done one thing differently: rested Sully for a few more minutes with Amir Williams in his place.

39, 5, 19 says it all. Those are Sully's minutes, shots made, and shot attempts, respectively, in last night's game. Sullinger wore down as the game went along. Towards the end, how many jumpers did he take from around the 3-point line? I believe he was at least somewhat fatigued by banging with giants down low so he stepped outside and avoided the paint towards the end. And Ravenel was ineffective when he went into the game.

So to your point bigtree, I wholeheartedly agree; however, it was not because we did not have a center. We had one, but all year Matta apparently thought he was better suited for the bench. I've seen enough of Amir Williams to know that he needs more coaching, but he is no bum. He definitely has more upside to offer than Withey, yet Bill Self realized that although Withey is not that skilled, he is tall -- and you cannot teach height. Withey had seven blocks last night just by virtue of being tall in the paint with his arms straight up as big men are generally taught to do.

Against Syracuse, Amir clearly made a difference when he was in the game. Last night, Kansas dominated our Buckeyes in the paint because we had no shot blocker for most of the game. Even if his stats were not stellar, I think Amir's mere presence would have been a difference maker down low.

Which leads me to Matta. I think he is a good coach but he has a glaring weakness: he will only give significant minutes to polished players which usually are his starting 5. No one can convince me that Amir, LaQuinton Ross, Thompson, Witherspoon, and Shannon Scott would not have seen more significant minutes at UNC, Kansas, Kentucky, Indiana, Syracuse, or other top teams. At Ohio State, those players languished on the bench while Matta rode our starters for roughly 33+ minutes a game. Who knows the impact Ross could have made had he been given a chance. That came back to bite us when we struggled all season and in the end with length and outside shooting -- which could have been supplied by Amir and Ross had Matta shown more faith in them.

Until Matta shows more faith in developing players like Amir and Ross and spreads the minutes, national championships will elude him. In this day and age, you cannot expect all-american-caliber players to willingly ride the pine when they can show off their skills on ESPN at a Miami of Ohio or VCU. Imagine the difference Offut might have made had Matta given him a chance his freshman year.