Boozer Breaks Silence

[uconnblueinky]

I feel like the Boozer turnover with a minute left , up 4 with a chance to go up 6 or 7 with 55 seconds left was such a pivotal moment. Up 6 with 55 seconds , most likely means UConn would have needed two 3's and a two or some combination of 8 points and probably changes the outcome. UConn could have lost by 10 if that happens. He turns it over and Silas hits Karaban who didn't waste any time coming off a curl and hit the 3 pulling us within 1. Obviously, there were multiple big plays over the last 10 minutes but I feel like this was the one that really changed the game.

 

[Stinger92860]

I’m sorry but no way I will ever feel sorry for Duke or a player wearing a Duke uniform, unless its a devastating injury.

 

[Deepster]

Yes it does. And they don’t train hard, try to win or even send their mothers flowers on Mother’s Day. They are just rotten SOB’s, and losers that we should hate. Right?

What difference does that make?

That's like the pitcher that thanks god for striking the batter out, assuming the batter wasn't praying for a hit as much or more. They choked in historical fashion. I don't feel the least bit bad for them and I'd love to see all the Duke fans in 1990 feeling bad for us.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

I’m sorry but no way I will ever feel sorry for Duke or a player wearing a Duke uniform, unless its a devastating injury.

There us absolutely no reason to feel sorry for them. They easily could have tapped out before getting this far, as their 2011 team did, and then been spared the inevitable result that facing us brought.

They wanted this game, they got it.

 

[huskyjawz]

I feel like the Boozer turnover with a minute left , up 4 with a chance to go up 6 or 7 with 55 seconds left was such a pivotal moment. Up 6 with 55 seconds , most likely means UConn would have needed two 3's and a two or some combination of 8 points and probably changes the outcome. UConn could have lost by 10 if that happens. He turns it over and Silas hits Karaban who didn't waste any time coming off a curl and hit the 3 pulling us within 1. Obviously, there were multiple big plays over the last 10 minutes but I feel like this was the one that really changed the game.

Evans and Boozer both had similar turnovers at top of key without being heavily pressured. Fatigue? And then lazy defense by Boozer that gave Alex open 3.

 

[Kolumbo]

I think this is entirely on Scheyer and he should have called a timeout.

They had 2 sophomores and 3 freshmen on the court in the most high-pressure situation they have ever faced. They seemed confused during the free-throws. They probably had no idea whether UConn would go for a steal, a foul or a tie-up. Demary and Mullins closed very quickly probably thinking to foul until they saw boozer start to throw the ball. puke needed a timeout to remind the players what to do and what not to do. For all we know boozer was going to maintain a dribble but saw Scheyer motioning to throw the ball down court so he rushed it. It is much more likely a player is going to get flustered in that situation than make a perfect split second decision, especially for a freshman.

Any number of things could have happened or have been planned differently. Ross could have tipped the inbounds or the second pass, #12 boozer could have traveled (in fact his left foot stuttered) or fumbled it to AK. Maybe instead of 2 players at the far end duke should have kept Evans near midcourt and the deflected pass would have went to him. The play fell apart and it is all on Scheyer.

Mullins is also a freshman but I think he knew as the ball was coming to him he had no choice but to catch and shoot with his usual lightning quickness. And he's freakishly gifted.

edit: I have a hard time remembering what I was thinking in those last 2 seconds. I think it's because I was looking for the foul and realized they were not going to catch up to anyone with the ball with no time to foul. and then BAM!!!!

 

[Kolumbo]

There's no way you do call a timeout there with only one left. You keep that in your pocket of the inbounder can't get it in or if a guy gets trapped and is in trouble. The true malpractice would have been burning his final timeout after the made FT.

Their press break was standard. Every team goes over this every day in practice. You don't need to call a TO there to draw up something. If you have two timeouts left then absolutely, use one there. With one timeout, no way.

There was nothing wrong from a coaching perspective.

1. Inbound the ball.
2. Accept the trap.
3. Pass back to the inbounder.
4. Look middle to the flasher.
5. Flasher looks opposite to break the press.

This has been how you break pressure for decades. You can see Scheyer motioning to look/pass opposite.

The problem was that Boozer broke a cardinal rule: he caught it and went right into a dribble instead of a controlled catch and turning to face the defense and assess the situation. He's a freshman, he rushed, he made a mistake, and his team paid for it.

Holding the ball wasn't the answer either. No coach in basketball history would tell a player to hold the ball with 7-8 seconds left. 2-3 seconds, sure. You don't risk the tie up or the strip with that much time left.

Your two statements are exactly why they should have called a timeout:
1. Freshman mistake which could have been avoided with a timeout
2. Raftery and Hill immediately said he should have held the ball and they know a little something about hoops. If they are wrong, freshmen could easily get confused too

 

[Mike Honcho]

Little Boozer got the ball with nobody really near him (but obviously Demary and Mullins rushing at him). In a parallel world where he just holds the ball and waits for the foul, then misses the front end and UConn wins on a three, people are posting the screen shot of two guys wide open and absolutely killing him for not throwing the ball ahead for the winning dunk.

100% this.

Agree with all of your analysis. In retrospect it was such a high risk/high reward strategy. Feels like the percentages would have been better had we fouled Cam Boozer immediately and hoped he missed at least one.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Honestly, I started to have faith with 10 seconds left when Cam Boozer fumbled the first pass. I just had a feeling like, these guys are a little frazzled, we could do this. Then the way Cam passed and then Sarr passed again was so fast, they seemed to be in a hurry when they didn't need to be. All Cayden had to do was fake the pass and then with Mullins and Demery in the air, pass around them.

Actually Sarr was probably the only one who played it correctly. Made himself available for the return pass, got rid of it to a wide open teammate before he (a bad FT shooter) could get fouled (which Ross tried in vain to do). The issue was probably Evans not coming to the ball to make for an easier pass for little Boozer.