Nah, that strategy is for timid teams and coaches, afraid to lose. It's not about jacking up the score; it's about playing your game no matter what. Keep doing what got you there. Fear of failure seldom leads to optimum performance. Geno (usually) plays to a standard, not a score. Everyone knows that. He just got a little, shall we say conservative, in this one instance. But if he did want to tone it down a little he could have played his reserves a little more.
Nah I don't agree at all.
It has nothing to do with being scared. It has to do with ensuring that you are going to win.
Playing your game no matter what" is for coaches that eventually lose their job. Playing to win is the best formula. I'd rather see my team win more than anything else. Sure once in a while - if the coach needs to make a point. But in this case- the seniors are playing for an undefeated season. You can't blow it for them because you want to imprint your ego and style over winning vs a top 2/3 team.
Geno does usually play to a standard not to a score but it doesn't mean he does it all the time which imo is the trap many fans/media might fall into believing. When he plays for example Baylor, do people really think he is going to play the standard way of "inside-out?" When they played at Baylor - I recall Geno said at halftime that the team that figures out a way to score is going to win. That's not playing "to a standard."
A coach trying to win - and when his team wins by over 10 points in which the lead never gets below 10 in the 2nd half playing the number two in the country is NOT too conservative.
Jim Calhoun once was asked why he didn't play a German center - a guy that was real big- more minutes. He said to paraphrase "I can have the kids share minutes and concentrate more on each player sharing minutes or .... I can coach to the best of my ability for the team to win. Which do you want?" In this case - sure Geno could have played his reserves. And he could have lost . . . The way he coached in the 4th quarter, he had no chance to lose. The opposing team never came close despite horrid officiating.