We Are the Media -- Second-Guessing Is What We Do
Since coach Jim Boylen basically gave us all permission to second-guess him -- "that's why we're all here," he said, only half-jokingly, at his weekly press conference today -- we might as well take him up on it, right?
Right.
So I'll go ahead and say that I still don't quite understand why he would choose to play for one last shot against Brigham Young over the weekend, trailing by one on his home floor.
Not that I'm necessarily opposed to the strategy in every case (sometimes, it's a smart call), but the Utes are so much better on defense right now -- and have been, for several games -- that I can't figure why he wouldn't try to get a basket and the lead as easily and quickly as he could, then rely on that defense against a Cougar team that, like his own, was shooting only about 33 percent in the game.
"In hindsight, we probably should have gone right away," he acknowledged, for probably the millionth time.
Yet while explaining himself (again) at his press conference, Boylen seemed about as tense as we've seen him -- almost defiant, in a way, as if he was feeling an inordinate amount of criticism for his decision. Which seemed odd. While fans and the media have certainly questioned his logic, I don't think anyone has really hammered him for it, especially since the strategy might have worked just fine had point guard Tyler Kepkay made his final shot.
At any rate, Boylen again explained that was worried about his Utes taking a frantic shot if they ran a play too quickly, and that the play he called was something the team had worked on in practice.
"We didn't get it executed and we went too late," he said. "That's my fault. ... And I'll take that. I have to make decisions that I think is best for my team, my group of guys, where we're at at the time. If I had to make that decision over again? It's easy to say now, 'Yeah, I'd do something different.'"
Which makes me wonder how Boylen will approach another similar situation ... say, at New Mexico on Tuesday night? After all, the Utes and Lobos twice went into overtime last season, and both games -- a win at home, a loss on the road -- were decided by a total of six points. It's not a stretch to imagine he might get a chance to try again, very soon.
Right.
So I'll go ahead and say that I still don't quite understand why he would choose to play for one last shot against Brigham Young over the weekend, trailing by one on his home floor.
Not that I'm necessarily opposed to the strategy in every case (sometimes, it's a smart call), but the Utes are so much better on defense right now -- and have been, for several games -- that I can't figure why he wouldn't try to get a basket and the lead as easily and quickly as he could, then rely on that defense against a Cougar team that, like his own, was shooting only about 33 percent in the game.
"In hindsight, we probably should have gone right away," he acknowledged, for probably the millionth time.
Yet while explaining himself (again) at his press conference, Boylen seemed about as tense as we've seen him -- almost defiant, in a way, as if he was feeling an inordinate amount of criticism for his decision. Which seemed odd. While fans and the media have certainly questioned his logic, I don't think anyone has really hammered him for it, especially since the strategy might have worked just fine had point guard Tyler Kepkay made his final shot.
At any rate, Boylen again explained that was worried about his Utes taking a frantic shot if they ran a play too quickly, and that the play he called was something the team had worked on in practice.
"We didn't get it executed and we went too late," he said. "That's my fault. ... And I'll take that. I have to make decisions that I think is best for my team, my group of guys, where we're at at the time. If I had to make that decision over again? It's easy to say now, 'Yeah, I'd do something different.'"
Which makes me wonder how Boylen will approach another similar situation ... say, at New Mexico on Tuesday night? After all, the Utes and Lobos twice went into overtime last season, and both games -- a win at home, a loss on the road -- were decided by a total of six points. It's not a stretch to imagine he might get a chance to try again, very soon.
posted by www.sltrib.com @ 6:13 PM |
7 Comments:
I would have to disagree with you 100% Michael. I think the strategy to play for the last shot is absolutely the only way to play it. Here is the reason: You're (Utes) only going to get one shot anyway [maybe 2nd if you are so lucky as to get an offensive rebound ] but that's not something you want to bank on. Therefore, why get one shot @ say, the 6-8 sec mark... only to have them pull some sort of Danny Ainge against Notre Dame crap [which as we all know, they've done several times in some way, shape or form ]
The bottom line is, why give the cougs a chance to beat you AFTER you've taken the lead? Boylen's way is spot on. You eliminate that possibility.
The play didn't work of course, [the cougs overplayed the stack @ the top of the key very well ] so you can second guess the play call I suppose, but not the time.
Mr Lewis, I agree with you, you make that call in football, not on the hardwood, (see Reggie Miller, 8pts, 11 seconds against the Knicks) We had plenty of time to come down take a shot, if we missed and don’t get the rebound or cause a turnover, then foul someone Tavernari, Lloyd, Collingsworth, etc. 33 seconds left you could have went to Luke on the box or Bryant out front.
If we had to let someone take it off the dribble, it would have been Luka or Brown to take that type of shot to make, dish, or draw a foul and get to the line. This is where court sense and leadership from the guard position is crucial. Letting Kepkay dribble at the top of the key waiting for the sign from the bench to make a move was a disaster.
What in the hell are the assistant coaches doing? Their supposed to be an extension of the head coach ready with a backup play to counter with or step in and say “Hey Coach, maybe we should take it early and foul if we miss, what do you think?
I am so sick and tired of hearing people in stands and on the radio, “We’re doing good, we would have lost this game by 20 last year with Giacoletti.” The newest one, “We’ll be really good in the next 2 or 3 years once Coach Boylen gets h-i-s guys in.” Are you kidding me?
We are losing games once again from the free throw line and rebounding. Basic fundamentals of basketball, all these clichés about grit and toughness, those are feel good words when you talk about teams like Princeton or Brown, gritty little teams that play hard every night and constantly lose, but have no business still playing at the Division 1 level.
This University of Utah Basketball!!
Well, this just goes to show how difficult a decision it can be to call plays down the stretch of a close game. Really, the "good" strategy is simply the one that works, because obviously, the theories on why to play one way or the other can be vastly different -- as evidence by our commenters. (Thanks, guys.) The only thing I would counter to racktorack would be that you have to worry about actually TAKING the lead first, before you can worry about giving the Cougs a chance to beat you AFTER you've done so. And on that score, I would agree that Jim should have told his players to get working on their offense sooner rather than take so much time off the clock.
I don't think they should have called a timeout, simply because the play they ran out of the timeout was too basic, and it gave TDS the advantage, because it allowed them to set up their defense.
Then again, Utah had only made a few transition baskets the entire game and the Utes don't exactly have a Chris Paul-kind-of-guy that can get to the basket and draw a foul. And you can't tell me you want the ball in Luke Nevill's hands in that situation.
The bottom line is our offense was a train wreck that entire game. I think there were three different three-minute stretches where Utah went field-goal free. Boylen's got to do something to counteract the zone defense that everyone has been throwing at us.
I disagree with the strategy of having the ball in the guards hands on the last play. I think you do go with Luke Nevill on the final play. He shoots the highest field goal percentage, is closest to the basket, is taller than anyone out there, and is always worth at least ONE free throw. Everyone harps on how poorly they think Nevill plays, if Boylen had more confidence in him and gave him the ball in the final seconds maybe we would see a more dominating Luke. The defense is much improved, gotta focus on the positive. Hope the offense comes around, GO UTES!
One note on MajerusSweater's comment ... the Utes actually had two separate stretches of 5 1/2 minutes without a basket -- both in the first half. Then, in the second, they went nearly four minutes without a basket, getting just one free throw in that span.
Mike
I hated seeing them call the timeout when they did (those timeouts are so precious). I think that when you are shooting less than 35% then you are crazy to play for the last shot.
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