Boilermakers head coach Matt Painter doesn’t believe the Chris Holtmann firing had anything to do with Ohio State’s upset win on Sunday.
Asked about the differences between Holtmann’s Buckeyes and interim Jake Diebler’s Buckeyes, Painter had this to say (via The Columbus Dispatch):
Nothing. None. If he was here, the score would’ve been 73-69 Ohio State. They didn’t run anything different. They didn’t do anything different. It’s a players’ game. They have good players.
Painter’s comments got a good bit of reaction from fans on social media.
“They just did the little things better, they played with more energy, their guards were setting screens, and the press was refreshing to see. Oh and the inbounds plays and inbounds defense. I’d say it was a lot different actually,” a user said.
“Does Chris Holtmann have naked pictures of a bunch of Head Coaches?” another asked. “I mean Painter is not exactly someone who has earned my respect post season with his zero final fours considering all the talent they have had….”
“Starting the high screen at 20 seconds instead of 12 is a huge difference,” a fan tweeted.
“Agree to disagree, Matt.”
“Tempo was different, spacing was different, screens were much better executed and by the right personnel, cuts were with purpose, and oh btw the defense against Edey was well done,” another person replied.
“Dude gets paid this much money to say coaches don’t matter?”
“That’s disrespectful of Diebler. Holy crap,” another user commented. “Everything was different.”
Ohio State was able to take down the No. 2 team in the country to record just their fourth win of 2024. With five games to go in the season, all against Big Ten opponents, the Bucks will look to finish just as strong as they started.