that’s on the staff too. Personally, I would have called a timeout on the last possession and called a play for AK, and sent everyone not the screener to the boards.
At the moment the last play was unfolding I liked the idea of not calling a timeout. Do not let the defense get set, and you can find mismatches better that way. HOWEVER, that was until I saw how the possession played out. Once I saw how it played out, it was obvious we should have called timeout. That last 10 seconds was a perfect example of the greatest flaw in Dan Hurley's coaching combined with the biggest weakness on this current team.
There is no one who is a leader for this team. In addition, it is obvious that no matter how many times they practice end-of-game situations, it is not enough. Because they have not executed a play to get a high percentage shot at the end of a close game yet this year. NOT ONCE. At the end of the 1st half? Yes. So why not at the end of the game? Because we don't have anyone (maybe Karaban eventually, but certainly no one else at this point) who has the "alpha mentality" to take the moment by the throat and go win it.
Why is this also Hurley's fault? Because by now he has to recognize that he doesn't have anyone on this team who seizes these highest stress, make-or-break moments. Which means he must take it upon himself to do it. He has to call timeout there, and draw up a play with several options so we at least get a high-percentage opportunity.
Not understanding this and having a feel for this when so many of the rest of us can see it is really his greatest flaw. Hurley continues to struggle at having a feel for how to handle different scenarios in-game as they are unfolding. If you want to argue this point, I will give you another truly awful decision last night that ended up really hurting us: Start of the 2nd half he put Newton on Kolek. Yes, I understand why... because he wanted to keep AJ from picking up more fouls. But why Newton? Newton has proven he is one of our worst perimeter defenders, and he showed in the game at Marquette that he could not defend Kolek 1-on-1... unfortunately he showed it again last night, and it was a big reason Marquette jumped out to the lead at the beginning of the 2nd half. That was a ridiculously stupid decision, and I said it as soon as I saw it and then then Johnson and Jackson mentioned it on the broadcast.
That is where a feel for the game tells you put Newton on the bench and have Alleyne, a much better defender, start the 2nd half on Kolek. Oh, and on top of that, Alleyne was also already playing better than Newton, who actually played a really poor game on both ends of the floor last night. Hurley has to stop being so inflexible with things like "my 5 starters have to start the 2nd half also!" Why???? Bad decision that put us at a deficit at the beginning of the 2nd half and we were trying to climb out of (but never did) for the rest of the game.
