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Men's Basketball
Matta, Knight Share Sentiment on Conference Tournaments
By Brandon CastelThad Matta has always been old school when it comes to conference tournaments.
“I’ve never been a real big fan of them,” Ohio State’s sixth-year Head Coach said Wednesday as his team prepares to head to Indianapolis for the 2010 Big Ten Tournament.
“I think it’s great for fans, I think it’s great for television, but it goes back to the value of your last game as opposed to the body of work you do all the way through the season.”
The fifth-ranked Buckeyes went 24-7 during the regular season and 14-4 in the conference. They rattled off 13 wins in their last 14 Big Ten games down the stretch to earn the No. 1 overall seed in this year’s conference tournament, something Matta considers much more impressive than winning three games in three days.
“I’ve just always been more into the 10-week grind of a conference stretch,” he said.
“I love the fact you’re going in and you’re going to play nine home games and nine away game and it just sort of goes from there.”
In other words, it was a nice way of saying that conference tournaments cheapen regular season titles – like the one the Buckeyes shared with Michigan State and Purdue this season – which are earned over the course of three months as opposed to three days.
Former Buckeye and current college basketball analyst Bob Knight has never been one to pull punches, especially when it comes to things he has no use for. He was far less diplomatic than Matta Tuesday when he spoke with ESPN.
“I have just never, ever thought the conference tournaments were a worthwhile thing,” the Hall of Fame coach said on Sportscenter.
“I’ve always felt that the season conference championship is a great championship for its school, its team and its coaching staff. Then to come along and have another champion who maybe plays to its potential, which it hadn’t done during the regular season, I think is kind of a sham.”
Matta would probably agree, though that doesn’t mean he has any plans to rest on the laurels of his team’s regular season accomplishments when they get to Indianapolis. The Buckeyes went all the way to the conference title game last season before losing to Purdue, and they plan to show up and compete for another Big Ten title this weekend.
“You get into it and you’re like ‘Hey this is another game. This is competition,’” Matta said.
“Your competitive juices take over and then you’re playing for a trophy, you’re playing for a championship. There’s a lot at stake in that regard.”
The Buckeyes have not won the conference tournament since the 2006-07 season when they beat Wisconsin in the championship game. Having shared the regular season title with MSU and Purdue, winning the tournament this season could serve as the ultimate tie-breaker.
“I guess you can say that," said Evan Turner, the Player of the Year in the Big Ten.
“It can be seen as a tiebreaker, but it is an opportunity for our team to keep winning. We definitely want to play our hardest and go out there and compete. We know if we do the things we are supposed to do, we will most likely win games. That's all we are really worried about.”
Winning three games in three days could be enough to push Ohio State over the top when it comes to seeding for the NCAA Tournament. As it stands now, most experts are penciling the Buckeyes as a No. 2 or No. 3 seed in the tournament. A conference tournament title would solidify their spot as a two-seed, possibly propelling them to one of the top seeds, although Matta is not concerning himself with the politics of playing basketball.
“A couple years ago when we won it in Chicago, if Wisconsin would have beaten us would they have gotten the No. 1 seed? I don't know,” Matta said.
“I don't know exactly how that works from the standpoint of where they send you or whatever.”
All the Buckeyes can control is what they do on the court. They will play the winner of the 8-9 game between Michigan and Iowa Friday (noon ET, ESPN) at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. After that, they would face the winner of the 4-5 game between Wisconsin and Illinois on Saturday (1:40 p.m. ET, CBS) before advancing to the title game.
“We are just trying to win,” captain David Lighty said.
“We don't want to go into the NCAA Tournament with a loss. You have to do what you have to do to win. And another championship, you feel good about yourself.”
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