How can these young men learn how to win when…..

[Palindrome]

How can these young men learn how to put an opponent away in crunch time when they are schooled by the coach to stop playing their game and wait for the clock to run out?

I put the game on pause and walked away at the commercial break with about 4:20 left. Paid some bills, loaded the dishwasher, walked around the condo putting stuff away, checked e-mails. Was about to take the dogs out. Then I decided to take a deep breath and force myself to watch the ending. I had a bad feeling from the moment I pressed “Play” again.

I’m no basketball genius, but it seems to me that when everyone KNOWS the Cats haven’t figured out how to close out games some player(s) might just plead with the coach to “let us keep playing, we’re doing okay… let us run our offense, PLEASE”.

They play their butts off for 90% of the game and then for the last 4 minutes we have one guy dribbling on the perimeter and four guys imitating statues along our baseline. Sure, if we bluff a drive, pass once, and make a corner three, we preserve the margin and perhaps stagger across the finish line with a lead, but I don’t like our chances in that scenario.

CCC is going on with post-game coachspeak about how the guys have to keep fighting all the way to the end. So, coach, answer me this: Why ask them to wave the yellow caution flag with a lead and minutes to play? Let them play for God’s sake. They have to be wondering why they have not earned the right to keep playing aggressively all the way to 0:00.

 

[MC_Cat]

Terrific post and totally agree that even if one of those desperation 3's had gone in (only one, Beran's last, was a decent look, his first and Buie's deep contested 3 were not good clean looks), it is not a reliable strategy and sure as hell not one likely to draw a foul and get you to the line when you're in the bonus with 5 minutes to play. I hope the players can convince him to let them actually play to win the game instead of hoping not to lose it by the other team missing shots.

 

[Palindrome]

Terrific post and totally agree that even if one of those desperation 3's had gone in (only one, Beran's last, was a decent look, his first and Buie's deep contested 3 were not good clean looks), it is not a reliable strategy and sure as hell not one likely to draw a foul and get you to the line when you're in the bonus with 5 minutes to play. I hope the players can convince him to let them actually play to win the game instead of hoping not to lose it by the other team missing shots.

On another thread I made this point: considering that this season is simply a learning experience for players and coaches alike, why not find out what guy(s) have what it takes to make something actually HAPPEN in crunch time that will put the dagger into our opponent and ice the game. We don’t need to learn which players can play stall ball for a few minutes. That should be everyone who can dribble and pass, and anyone who can’t do that shouldn’t be on the floor at the end of a tight game, anyway.

 

[MC_Cat]

You are correct, there's really nothing to lose at this point and this team has repeatedly demonstrated that it does not execute well when it goes into stall ball mode. I think it makes it much easier for our opponents, lets them rest up for 25-30 seconds and probably emboldens them to believe they can come back because they know we are playing scared. Let's try something different, how about take that 8 point lead with the ball and 3:25 left and see if you can win by double digits?

 

[TheC]

Collins has been doing this his entire tenure here. It is infuriating. It has led to soooo many losses. He has to see this!!!!

 

[pawildcat]

You are correct, there's really nothing to lose at this point and this team has repeatedly demonstrated that it does not execute well when it goes into stall ball mode. I think it makes it much easier for our opponents, lets them rest up for 25-30 seconds and probably emboldens them to believe they can come back because they know we are playing scared. Let's try something different, how about take that 8 point lead with the ball and 3:25 left and see if you can win by double digits?

Nobody executes well when they stop playing basketball. This stuff where the guard dribbles down to about 7 seconds and then tries to make something happen all started when guys such as Michael Jordan and Lebron took everything on themselves at the end of games. Trouble is, most guards are not remotely Michael or Lebron. Get in your offense and run a damn play. I agree this one is on Collins.