Give the coach this loss

[ctchamps]

I decided to let the game sink in before posting anything. Sure, if we fouled, possibly we could have won. But then Marquette makes 2 free throws, we inbounds, get fouled, maybe make both, then the same situation is set up again.

I think a bigger problem was our offensive sets the last 2 minutes. Way too much 1 on 1 stuff by Boat. Sure he made some big shots as well, but dribbling the ball around for 25 seconds trying to find an opening before turning the ball over is not offense. It's one guy trying to win the game for us. And he failed.

No biggie as hopefully they will learn from this, but our offense the last few minutes was just as much to blame for the loss as the last second prayer that they jacked up that went in...

Outside of the first couple of minutes and the sequence you are pointing out, I thought that second half was a significant upgrade for this team. It would have been even better if DD didn't aggravate his injury.

 

[Gurleyman]

There's always the fear in the last two minutes that if you run a set and put the ball in the hands of a guy you don't really want having it - beyond a catch and shoot (Giffey or Omar), the other team might turn up the defensive pressure and you might not be able to get it back in the right player's hands. We've always been conservative in those spots - give it to Khalid, Caron, Ben, Marcus, AJ, Kemba, Shabazz/Boat and let them try to make something happen late in the clock. When your "A" guy misses, at least you can take solace that you had it in the right guy's hands (this is a coaching thought, moreso than a fan's).

Saying Boat "failed" when he scored - even on a difficult shot - is a bit of an extreme choice of words. He killed the whole shot clock and scored, which was almost the ideal scenario we could have hoped for (ideal would have been a 3 to make it a 4-point game). Although the irony is that a miss might have actually worked out better for us, since the made basket stops the clock -- and maybe that second or two difference benefitted them. That's just hindsight, of course, since obviously I wanted the shot to go in when it was in mid-air.

 

[mauconnfan]

Geno really said it best:

"The only right decision," Auriemma said, "is if it turns out right."​

 

[ctchamps]

Geno really said it best:

"The only right decision," Auriemma said, "is if it turns out right."​

Exactly. And it's only paranoia if no one kills you.

 

[60'sfan]

I think the odds of MU getting the first FT and the put back were a whole lot higher than any player from MU hitting their first 3 of the game, not to mention a real deep one.

I think it would make little sense to foul in that situation. First the Marquette player is a great free throw shooter. If you fouled him in the act of shooting you would dramatically increase the odds of a tie. Second, if you fouled him and he shot two, he could make the first, miss the second and hope for a put-back (We are not a great rebounding team). In either case, the odds of them tying are greater than that three point heave that went in. Marquette had not made a three all night and the ball handler was a poor outside shooter. I think the highest percentage chance for the win was exactly what happened. Sometimes "the best laid plans of mice and men oft will go awry."