Are we a victim of our own success?

[maddoggy]

Since it seems like a slow day on the board, I wonder how wiser minds than mine would respond to something I've been wondering about for a couple of years.

UConn rarely seems to score in the last few seconds of a first half, and it usually doesn't need to in the second half. I know the coaches put the team through lots of last-second scenarios in practice. But I wonder whether the lack of game-time experience ends up hurting on those rare occasions when it DOES go down to the wire.

Do any of you track the number of times UConn has the last possession of the first half but doesn't score? It feels like the vast majority to me. And does anyone else thinks this could be making a difference somehow?

 

[cferraro04]

I believe the answer to this question lies in the kids who are on the floor at the time a must have basket is needed. Geno and staff can run all the last-second scenario drills they want, but, you have to have a kid who wants the ball in their hands to take that last shot. She has got to want to be in that position, have the clarity of mind to remain cool and collective and the competitive instinct to be able to bury that shot. No one was better in those situations than DT. She relished being in that situation and she had the goods to deliver what was needed. Renee loved being in that situation too but she didn't deliver with the consistency that DT did. It is possible that no one ever will be able to duplicate DT's competitive killer instinct and ability to deliver under pressure. I think that KML has the same kind of mental toughness, the same kind of competitive spirit...but, she hasn't yet delivered in that situation. It was a shame that she was sporting a fresh knee injury when she had the chance in the ND game. I believe that if she gets the chance a again that shot is going in.

 

[Shenandoah]

Last play of the 1st half against Kentucky last year...

 

[HuskyNan]

If you go to the UConn Athletics official web site you can click on the box scores of games and get the play-by-play for each game.

However, I would like to point out that certain players don't underperform because they get fewer minutes, it's actually the opposite. Those players get fewer minutes because they underperform in practice. See recent articles on Moriah Jefferson about that.

 

[alexrgct]

I am not sure, but the past two losses at Gampel, both Bria and KML had wide open shots to win games and didn't hit them. I believe we will need some late game heroics to win an NC this season.

 

[baggerbob]

The Notre Dame game at the time I pointed out the fastbreak, where Bria made the correct pass to Stef who had an easy path for a layup, and Stef passed back to KML who missed a jumpshot. The layup would have put UConn up 74-71 and probably game over. No matter how good a shooter is Stef should never pass up a chance at a layup, especially at the end of a game.

 

[Bestiarius]

There are many erroneous notions in sports, and I believe the concept of the clutch shooters is one of them.

First, there are so few instances where the situation might occur. At most, an average of one per team are possible in a game (barring overtime). That means 30 something situations in a season. Of those thirty, not all result in a shot.

Certain players have reputations of being “clutch”. But, those who have looked at the results of these players have found that they do not live up to their reputations, typically shooting much worse than their season stats would indicate. There are many reasons for this. Opponents usually have a good idea who will be taking the shot, and defensive pressure is concentrating on that player. Even with a completely unchallenged shot, players typically perform in line with their season percentages. Coaches would probably be better off setting up a play for one of the lesser players because they would likely be open for a better shot. Unfortunately, the fans would be apoplectic if this happened, and most coaches would not expose themselves to this criticism. It’s safe to have a Diana or Kaleena take the shot.

The problem is that we tend to forget the misses and over emphasize the makes. It only takes one or two “clutch” makes to create the reputation of a Diana even if the rest of the career is just average in the clutch situations. Now, I didn’t look up Diana’s actual stats, because whatever they are, there aren’t enough of them to form a statistically valid body of data.

 

[VAUConnFan]

Fortunately or, sometimes as a teaching tool, unfortunately UConn rarely finds themselves in need of a clutch basket.

Hopefully, someone with a long memory and acess to stats can list the games in which Diana Taurasi actually made a clutch basket. Three come to my mind:
1. 2003 against Tennessee, the shot that took it into overtime. Taurasi was, pretty much, a one man show in that game. It did not help Tennessee that Kara Lawson went 5-19.
2. 2003 against Texas in the national semifinal. Cannot find stats to back up this claim but this was a very close game that UConn was awfully lucky to win. One of Taurasi's better tournament performances if not the best.
3. 2004 against Duke, the game UConn would lose on the last second shot, but Taurasi hit the running jumper off the backboard that put UConn ahead with under 10 seconds to go in the game. It says a lot more abut Taurasi that she was not at all hesitant to tae the shot despite being 4-15 prior to making that shot. Duke had no business winning that game.

 

[cferraro04]

It doesn't always have to be a last second shot...it could be a last second defensive play or a last second pass...those are still clutch plays made by what can be considered "clutch players". The DePaul game comes to mind...when it looked like Doug Bruno was finally going to escape a UConn game with a victory...well, to everyone but Maya Moore. I believe it was Quigley who was out in the open floor heading towards her basket with what would have been the dagger and the game winning lay-up. Maya looks at her and decides in a micro second that she is not going to let her do it...then she runs her down in the open court steals the ball...setting up Keisha Swanier for her coast to coast 5 second lay-up that wins the game...improbable victory snatched from the jaws of probable defeat...