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Late Game Strategy

citygriz

Well-known member
I can forgive a team having an off-shooting night. Going 0-15 from deep after halftime is a-l-m-o-s-t unforgivable, but it happens. Teams, even stars, have rocky stretches.

I can also forgive a team being too over-confident. It's hard to get up for a game when you're favored by 30 points. Exhibit A: The Warriors. I don't think they'be been up for more than three or four games so far this year. Talk about hubris!

But late-game strategic blunders? This is what had me up and screaming.

Situation: Thirty seconds left on the game clock in OT; thirty on the shot clock. Portland State ball out with a one point lead. Here's what I've told my team in the last huddle.

First: We HAVE to foul. Otherwise they dribble out the clock and win.

Second: If we have to foul, foul as SOON as possible. We'll need the time to run a final play, or at worst, prolong the foul game. But...DON'T foul Number 3. That kid is having a career night. He's money at the line. If we can, foul somebody else.

SO: Portland State tosses it right in to Number 3. But then Number 3 makes a huge mistake: He passes the ball to a teammate in the backcourt, very close to the Montana bench. I'm up screaming: FOUL THAT GUY! NOW! I don't care who this guy is, or what his free throw percentage is. He's NOT Number 3. FOUL HIM NOW!

Our bench should've, couldv'e, been screaming that too.

Instead, our defender continues to guard, until his man passes the ball back to Number 3. Then, of course, we had to foul.

So two parts of the strategy ruined: We don't foul as quickly as we could; and we let Number 3 shoot free throws.

Of course, by not fouling as quickly as we could have, the time element rears its ugly head. With about ten seconds remaining, Oguine fumbles the ball, and has to scramble for it as precious seconds run off the clock. Luckily, we get the ball back with four seconds left, but only time for an unanswered prayer.

I know what you're sayin': We lost this game because of our poor shooting.

But here's what I'm sayin': In basketball, late-game strategy is critical. All the great coaches are masters of late-game strategy. It can definitely mean the difference two or three times a season. No matter you've had a bad game shooting, you have to deal with the PRESENT moment.

And in the last few precious moments, when we were still down only by one point, our team played stupidly. The last 30 seconds were an embarrassment.

I stalked out of the room to grab a beer, shouting profanities at the only thing I could: That mongrel dog, Pluto.
 
Lost of stupid to be passed out after this loss:
--Travis goes with only a six-man rotation in the second half. Guys (especially Akoh) had to be gassed near the end of regulation and then the OT.
--A 7 point lead with 2 minutes to go play smart. The PSU center has fouled out, take some time off the clock and work the ball inside for easy buckets and/or foul shots. Instead Rorie and Oguine put up 3's on a night neither can come close to making one, and Michael's for sure was early in the clock.
 
maroonandsilver said:
Lost of stupid to be passed out after this loss:
--Travis goes with only a six-man rotation in the second half. Guys (especially Akoh) had to be gassed near the end of regulation and then the OT.
--A 7 point lead with 2 minutes to go, play smart. The PSU center has fouled out, take some time off the clock and work the ball inside for easy buckets and/or foul shots. Instead Rorie and Oguine put up 3's on a night neither can come close to making one, and Michael's for sure was early in the clock.
 
citay said:
I can forgive a team having an off-shooting night. Going 0-15 from deep after halftime is a-l-m-o-s-t unforgivable, but it happens. Teams, even stars, have rocky stretches.

I can also forgive a team being too over-confident. It's hard to get up for a game when you're favored by 30 points. Exhibit A: The Warriors. I don't think they'be been up for more than three or four games so far this year. Talk about hubris!

But late-game strategic blunders? This is what had me up and screaming.

Situation: Thirty seconds left on the game clock in OT; thirty on the shot clock. Portland State ball out with a one point lead. Here's what I've told my team in the last huddle.

First: We HAVE to foul. Otherwise they dribble out the clock and win.

Second: If we have to foul, foul as SOON as possible. We'll need the time to run a final play, or at worst, prolong the foul game. But...DON'T foul Number 3. That kid is having a career night. He's money at the line. If we can, foul somebody else.

SO: Portland State tosses it right in to Number 3. But then Number 3 makes a huge mistake: He passes the ball to a teammate in the backcourt, very close to the Montana bench. I'm up screaming: FOUL THAT GUY! NOW! I don't care who this guy is, or what his free throw percentage is. He's NOT Number 3. FOUL HIM NOW!

Our bench should've, couldv'e, been screaming that too.

Instead, our defender continues to guard, until his man passes the ball back to Number 3. Then, of course, we had to foul.

So two parts of the strategy ruined: We don't foul as quickly as we could; and we let Number 3 shoot free throws.

Of course, by not fouling as quickly as we could have, the time element rears its ugly head. With about ten seconds remaining, Oguine fumbles the ball, and has to scramble for it as precious seconds run off the clock. Luckily, we get the ball back with four seconds left, but only time for an unanswered prayer.

I know what you're sayin': We lost this game because of our poor shooting.

But here's what I'm sayin': In basketball, late-game strategy is critical. All the great coaches are masters of late-game strategy. It can definitely mean the difference two or three times a season. No matter you've had a bad game shooting, you have to deal with the PRESENT moment.

And in the last few precious moments, when we were still down only by one point, our team played stupidly. The last 30 seconds were an embarrassment.

I stalked out of the room to grab a beer, shouting profanities at the only thing I could: That mongrel dog, Pluto.

I agree with most of your post, Citay. The ONE point that I think you are critical of that may deserve a second look, and almost worked for the Griz, was NOT fouling immediately and we damn-near got a back-court violation on PSU. PSU assumed we would foul immediately too and did not try to advance the ball beyond half-court until the last second. I don't know if that was something Travis told the Griz to no foul but it almost worked.
 
I was also confused by the late game/OT strategy. In the last 4.5 seconds when we had the ball out I would have gone with Falls and Freddy Brown. Brown seems to have ice in his veins when it comes to putting up threes. Timmy on the other hand seems to have found his stroke. Regarding the failure to foul the off guard when he had the ball and waiting to foul #3 was also a mistake too.
It’s always easy to second guess a coach’s decision after the fact.
 
Sport said:
I was also confused by the late game/OT strategy. In the last 4.5 seconds when we had the ball out I would have gone with Falls and Freddy Brown. Brown seems to have ice in his veins when it comes to putting up threes. Timmy on the other hand seems to have found his stroke. Regarding the failure to foul the off guard when he had the ball and waiting to foul #3 was also a mistake too.
It’s always easy to second guess a coach’s decision after the fact.

Freddy Brown? Seriously? That's who you really wanted to shoot a game-winning shot? Nothing against him, but he's a mop-up guy right now.
 
Why not, the starters couldn’t hit their ass with both hands. Thursday night they couldn’t miss from 3 pt. line. Last night they couldn’t even shoot it in the ocean. But that’s basketball.
 
Good comments citay - I agree.
One point that I wish to add - great players like Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Kobe Bryant, Oscar Robertson, Jerry West had off-shooting nights too. When they realized that the mid-to-long range shot was off, they shelved the jump shot temporary and aggressively drove the ball to the basket and scored/got to the line.
The team's star can't play 43 minutes and contribute 4 points, without adjusting and evolving his game.
Just my two cents worth. :ugeek:

citay said:
I can forgive a team having an off-shooting night. Going 0-15 from deep after halftime is a-l-m-o-s-t unforgivable, but it happens. Teams, even stars, have rocky stretches.
 
How can this team run the court so little? Watching vs. PSU press....Griz almost always beat it only to pull back and go to half court offense. Beat the press and have Rorie Oguine or Pritchett take it hard to the basket. This team often has 4 guys 6'4" and under on the court. Seems ideal for running the court much more often than it does.

Run the court. Monty's retired.
 
I have zero concerns about this loss.

As horribly as we shot in the second half, we were up by seven late in the game. We took some questionable shots hoping to extend the lead, but if even one of those shots had dropped, we'd be celebrating another home win.

We will see how the team responds to adversity. I think we'll be fine.
 
AllWeatherFan said:
I have zero concerns about this loss.

As horribly as we shot in the second half, we were up by seven late in the game. We took some questionable shots hoping to extend the lead, but if even one of those shots had dropped, we'd be celebrating another home win.

We will see how the team responds to adversity. I think we'll be fine.

Co-sign.
 
PeauxRouge said:
AllWeatherFan said:
I have zero concerns about this loss.

As horribly as we shot in the second half, we were up by seven late in the game. We took some questionable shots hoping to extend the lead, but if even one of those shots had dropped, we'd be celebrating another home win.

We will see how the team responds to adversity. I think we'll be fine.

Co-sign.
Saturday we will find out when the Griz go to Northern Colorado. They have prolific shooters. Could be a foul fest.
 
AllWeatherFan said:
I have zero concerns about this loss.

As horribly as we shot in the second half, we were up by seven late in the game. We took some questionable shots hoping to extend the lead, but if even one of those shots had dropped, we'd be celebrating another home win.

We will see how the team responds to adversity. I think we'll be fine.

Do you also have zero concerns after tonight's EWU loss?
 
GrizLA said:
PeauxRouge said:
AllWeatherFan said:
I have zero concerns about this loss.

As horribly as we shot in the second half, we were up by seven late in the game. We took some questionable shots hoping to extend the lead, but if even one of those shots had dropped, we'd be celebrating another home win.

We will see how the team responds to adversity. I think we'll be fine.

Co-sign.
Saturday we will find out when the Griz go to Northern Colorado. They have prolific shooters. Could be a foul fest.

Was the team looking past EWU to UNC too? Because they looked like SHIT tonight after the first 10 minutes.
 
AZGrizFan said:
GrizLA said:
PeauxRouge said:
AllWeatherFan said:
I have zero concerns about this loss.

As horribly as we shot in the second half, we were up by seven late in the game. We took some questionable shots hoping to extend the lead, but if even one of those shots had dropped, we'd be celebrating another home win.

We will see how the team responds to adversity. I think we'll be fine.

Co-sign.
Saturday we will find out when the Griz go to Northern Colorado. They have prolific shooters. Could be a foul fest.

Was the team looking past EWU to UNC too? Because they looked like SHIT tonight after the first 10 minutes.
"too?"..I wasn't even aware they were playing EWU tonight..Guess, I'm still on Hawaiian time.
 
I liked Saturday's late game strategy. Put into play with about 10 minutes left in game.....Should we win by 35......or dial it back to 24?
 
Yes, my favorite "late game strategy" is preserving a lead that we got by shooting 60% earlier in the game. :lol: :lol:
 
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