cockhrnleghrn said:
For sure, I mean the Reds are 19 games out in the NL Central and Baseball Prospectuts gives them an 0.1% chance of making the playoffs, so if I'm the GM I trade away any future prospects for a will-o'-the-wisp shot at getting in, because fighting to the end against all sense and all odds is the American Way, as we learned from Hoosiers and a bunch of other stories that supposedly come true most of the time. Looking valiant right now is all that matters.Yep- the game's never over. His run through the ACC and the NCAA tourney was not unlike Kemba Walker's UConn squad in 2011. In any event, the excellent 30 for 30 Survive and Advance covers Jimmy V's run in '83. Available on Netflix to any subscriber.
I'm not sure why Muffet didn't try at all, but I was about to have a heart attack had that game been extended. Maybe she was just trying a to save some lives by letting the game end mercifully in favor of the deserving national champions.
I remember that thread, it gave UCONN 8 (eight) acceptable FT shooters in their history.
Well, yes, and most of us just have very low standards, and UConn would likely have a few more NCs if that lax coach of theirs enforced an "80% FT mark or you don't play" rule. As the learned pundit noted in his defense of the 80% mark, FTs are FREE, so you have no excuse for missing ANY. Personally, I'm always a little wary of free stuff and only accept them more like 60% of the time in recreational play.I remember that thread, it gave UCONN 8 (eight) acceptable FT shooters in their history.
As A fan of WCBB and “occasional” defender of McGraw (it’s a Philly thing) I was disappointed that she chose not to foul primarily because this was the National Championship game -IMO you go down swinging. As much as I was disappointed in the last 1.5 minutes of the game I was more disappointed in her management of the last 6:30 of the NC game. Briana Turner hit a bank shot at the 6:30 mark to bring ND to within 6. That turner shot attempt was the last shot attempt by a ND post player. Even more inexplicably, Turner was subbed out at 5:51 until 4:06 during which time the UCONN lead went from 6 to 11 points. I’m sorry but I’m not taking Turner out of the NC game at that point.
Not even close. There have been many last minute turnarounds, even last half minute turnarounds that have been fueled by steals and turnovers that probably never would have occurred if the opponent was sent endlessly to the FT line. How are you sure that their is NO chance for ND when eschewing the fouling has been a staple of many late comebacks?
Wow is this getting silly. So the answer is always just to keep playing no matter what? Forget that custom of dribbling away the last 29 seconds "when the game is won" because lordy lordy the losing team always has a chance if teams can come back from 10 down with 37 seconds to go. Never give up, never give in, never say die, never concede, never throw in the towel, play to the last second, don't surrender, you always have a chance.
Ah yup, I'm sure Shoni Schimmel tosses and turns all night fretting about how she might have won an NC if Louisville had fouled to the end down 35 with two minutes to go back in 2013, and as the clock ticked off the last 23 seconds why wasn't she fighting to the end and leaving it on the floor instead of watching UConn dribble down to the buzzer? Sure she wonders what would have happened if the Cards fought to the max to the very end. Makes perfect sense.
U hit the nail on the head with the - losing by 10 looks a lot better than 15-20 pts. IMO that's it in a nutshell- end of story! Not saying it was the right thing to do. I think that was Muppet's Motivation!With an hour to kill before fueling up and fishing, I indulged in one of my favorite pleasures... watching UConn WBB. And beating Notre Dame. Especially in National Championship games.
Regarding NC #10, one question has long puzzled me. It even got the attention of the blockhead Dave O'Brien- Why didn't McGraw have her team foul at game's end? Down 11 with over 4 minutes to go (61-50), I get it, there's enough time left for McGraw to reasonably feel she can still win it. At that point, no need to intentionally foul, put UConn at the line and stop the clock.
- But with only 1:33 left, Mabrey's 3 pointer made it 63-53. A relatively huge ten point margin, given there's only a minute and a half on the game clock. Doesn't McGraw have to realize at that point that there's pretty much no other way to win it without fouling, stopping the clock, and hoping UConn chokes at the line, giving ND the additional offensive possessions they'd need to possibly win? But ND sat back in what was a soft-ish man, and THEY DID NOT FOUL.
- Why not foul? The game is otherwise surely over. What's to lose by fouling?
- A loss is a loss is a loss. By 10 or 15 or 20 points, what's the difference? Especially in Championship games. It's all about the "W," and though it may look better, a close final score (or a rout) really means squat. The only reason I can think of for ND NOT fouling is that McGraw sensed the game could not be won, and she preferred, at that point, to have a 'moral' victory, a respectably close 10-point game, rather than give UConn another 6 or 7 points at the line which would allow the final score to belie the actual closeness and competitiveness of the Championship.
Or perhaps there's another explanation of the ND strategy for the last 2 1/2 minutes of that game?
I don't think they had any misconceptions that they could have pulled it out. It would seem some here aren't quite dealing with reality.
We all have, just taking your absurd logic to the inevitable conclusion. Still the rant about "You're a loser and quitter unless you start fouling with 1 1/2 minutes down by 10 against an excellent shooting FT team," which makes as much sense trying to feed your twinkie to a starving lion in the hope that he won't chomp you down next. Contrarily, I would say to Muffett if she did that that she had panicked and given up if she had said, "Our only hope is that Jefferson, Stewart, and Mosqueda-Lewis miss their FTs and we hit all our 3s." That is a losing strategy that she sensibly didn't use, even if certain clueless fans have been brainwashed by ignorant announcers into thinking that's the only way to go, even if pressure defense is the only real hope. So ND did get a pretty quick miss, and then had two shots at 3s with over a minute left to cut the lead to 7. They didn't make them. They then got a turnover and tried another 3 that missed. That doesn't make them quitters, just errant shooters in the last minute plus.
