I leave o take my wife to a concert tonight with Arizona up DD and about 5 minutes to go and find out they lost? WTF - Did Roy come in from Syracus to pinch-coach?
Is this right?.........
- Thread starter Sun Tzu
- Start date
watched the last 5 minutes and OT (love ultimate tv)...
Ultimate choke job. Cant get the ball inbounds, dont choose to foul when other team firing and needing threes, dont use timeouts to stop mo (or design an inbounds play) , and what was that play call at the end of OT - gotta lay a bunch of this one on Lute.
Ultimate choke job. Cant get the ball inbounds, dont choose to foul when other team firing and needing threes, dont use timeouts to stop mo (or design an inbounds play) , and what was that play call at the end of OT - gotta lay a bunch of this one on Lute.
Think you need to give "some" credit to Illinois lockdown defense.
Illinois came up with a bonehead play as well after a timeout when they were up by 1 with 40+ seconds left in game.
I though AZ should have gone to FRYE or Salim (even though he wasn't clicking). Those 2 have been your heart and soul all year, win or lose with them. Especially when Illinois couldn't stop Frye ALL NIGHT.
Illinois came up with a bonehead play as well after a timeout when they were up by 1 with 40+ seconds left in game.
I though AZ should have gone to FRYE or Salim (even though he wasn't clicking). Those 2 have been your heart and soul all year, win or lose with them. Especially when Illinois couldn't stop Frye ALL NIGHT.
This has nothing to do with Lute. . . it has to do with the fact that nobody was a consistent ball handler this year. . . Shakur was a little off sometimes and we all know about Stoudamire. What I don't get is the fact that when Arizona got in any trouble at all they could have called timeouts instead of forcing questionable and low percentage passes such as the inbounds pass with 45 seconds left and up by 3. Why throw a jump ball to Frye when you could call another timeout?
Lute had nothing to do with this one. . . the players on the court simply didn't get it done.
Lute had nothing to do with this one. . . the players on the court simply didn't get it done.
You can call timeout from the bench for starters - that would be Lute. They ended regulation AND OT with timeouts left. Lute designed the last play. Dont even have to say anything else - sure players play the game, but he did a bad job when it counted.
I think its safe to say the AZ players can't think/react under pressure. Superb athletes but nothing upstairs. Everyone has been touting how intelligent the Illinois guards were and how they make great decisions going full speed. Well it showed!
Also, the last play of the game was supposed to be a drive by Hassan Adams as he had success the ENTIRE game with it. . . but he simply didn't go to the basket like he was supposed to. Can't blame Lute for that either. . . it was a good call but Adams failed to execute.
This loss hurt a ton but at the same time how does a team that lets up the final few minutes in such a big game deserve to win? Certainly not Arizona in the end and Illinois figured out how to get it done incredibly enough.
This loss hurt a ton but at the same time how does a team that lets up the final few minutes in such a big game deserve to win? Certainly not Arizona in the end and Illinois figured out how to get it done incredibly enough.
Again, I think the last play call by Lute was brilliant because Adams had a nice mismatch the entire game and took advantage of it. . . but he didn't do what he was supposed to and what was designed by Lute and the other coaches. . . the fault rests with him on that one
You would choose to put the ball in Adams hands? What is he - your 3rd or 4th beast player? He obviously didnt want it. A coach should see that. You give it to Frye or Stoudamire - period.
Also you guys are bullshitting me if you thought Arizona should have fouled. . . no way you stop the clock when you have the lead. That's just a golden rule. . . sure its convenient to second guess them and say oh, they could have fouled to prevent those three pointers but then you would have turned around and said "Why did they foul" LOL
And if Lute calls even one timeout or designs one good inbounds play it doesnt matter. Like I said, players are to blame. But you are giving far more defense to Lute than he deserves.
On this day he was our best player and one of the reasons we were even up by 15 at a certain point before blowing it. And everyone was expecting Stoudamire. Have you seen Adams explode to the basket before? I assure you it was in fact a brilliant call but Adams didn't execute then it was too late so he had to throw up the prayer.
If you want to blame Lute, blame him for not working on finding (or creating through coaching) a consistent ball handler during pressure situations. . . I would say that is his fault because I noticed it the entire season.
Nickelback
Adams was prob. the best player on the court tonight and he is SIMPLY amazing at driving the ball to the hoop. You also are right that he had major mismatch the whole night and was taking advantage of it. But everyone knows scoring "late" in the game vs scoring "during" the game is completely different. This is what separates good players from great players. Salim and Frye have been the 2 best players for AZ all year and EVERYONE knows both would get a good shot off.
Its Lute's job to know which players will execute down the stretch. After watching the play unfold, we all know now Adams was the wrong guy. It is Lutes job to know that. Frye and Salim are proven winners! They are the leaders! Why not win or lose with the ball in their hands? Sorta like what AZ did against OSU on thur. night.
I agree with Sun Tzu Lute deserves part of the blame.
Adams was prob. the best player on the court tonight and he is SIMPLY amazing at driving the ball to the hoop. You also are right that he had major mismatch the whole night and was taking advantage of it. But everyone knows scoring "late" in the game vs scoring "during" the game is completely different. This is what separates good players from great players. Salim and Frye have been the 2 best players for AZ all year and EVERYONE knows both would get a good shot off.
Its Lute's job to know which players will execute down the stretch. After watching the play unfold, we all know now Adams was the wrong guy. It is Lutes job to know that. Frye and Salim are proven winners! They are the leaders! Why not win or lose with the ball in their hands? Sorta like what AZ did against OSU on thur. night.
I agree with Sun Tzu Lute deserves part of the blame.
Bottom line he started way too long to start his move. It never ceases to amaze me the stupidity of some of these last second looks. I understand that you want to take the last shot of the game, but WHEN YOU ARE LOSING, YOU BETTER MAKE SURE YOU AT LEAST GET A DECENT LOOK OFF. He started WAY too late. Just an absolutely ridiculous finish to a great game, but unless Lute told him to not start his move until 3-4 seconds were left, you can't really blame the last play on him.
I have been to a lot of Carolina games and it seems to depend on the team. When they are considered good - like this year or 93 - the fans are among the worst to be around. When less is exected - like the 200 team that went to the Final Four - they are great. perhaps it is the "front-running" element that explains it, dont know. Once went to a Carolina-Puke game once and left dislikng pretty much all of them!
Sorry -wrong thread.
Sorry -wrong thread.
Just checked into some things. . . I thought Adams was to drive to the basket and take the final shot but actually the play was designed for him to drive and take the shot if open or pass it off to Frye with hopefully an easy look for him. Again, in my opinion and knowing this team, it was a good way to go especially if Frye was could have been involved. The problem with Stoudamire is that he doesn't always handle the ball well and he wasn't shooting well tonight. So sure maybe the percentages would work out and his shot would have gone in but the play call wasn't a bad one on Lute's part. It was execution that he couldn't do anything about.
Anyways, I'm done with this discussion for the night for obvious reasons. . . still pissed off and shocked at the same time. But things happen for a reason and hopefully Illinois finishes what they have started because they deserve it after their great season. Arizona played their heart out before making stupid mistakes at the end and clearly not as deserving as Illinois due to their regular season play and final minutes of such a big game.
Anyways, I'm done with this discussion for the night for obvious reasons. . . still pissed off and shocked at the same time. But things happen for a reason and hopefully Illinois finishes what they have started because they deserve it after their great season. Arizona played their heart out before making stupid mistakes at the end and clearly not as deserving as Illinois due to their regular season play and final minutes of such a big game.
scott, you cant have it both ways, when you won on Zona on thursday in white knuckler vs Ok St. they werent dumb (they made many huge plays) ... but 48 hours later they are?
hmmmmm ... I get it :shrug:
Nickel, Im with you, Lute doesn't deserve blame, the players turned the ball over 4 times in 2 mins, and they broke the press by getting ball in middle of court to Frye a few times, then last pass shouldnt have been made; the player should've called time when he saw it was dicey length (not even sure frye wasnt fouled) ... I tell my players all the time if there's any doubt, call time in those situations ...
gl, gregg
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pt1gard said:
I never said AZ players were intelligent before OSU or after they beat OSU. I said AZ creates major mismatch advantages against OSU and that was why I bet AZ over OSU. OSU is not Illinois and IMO Illinois plays better defense. AZ has bunch of super talented athletes. Usually you can win with talent alone but against Illinois AZ needed more than just talented players. But in a close game or pressure situations, you need to be smart and make quick decisions. AZ came up short repeatedly towards the end of the game and end of OT. I also think that is a reflection on coaching and Lute should be partly blamed. His team didn't look prepared or organized.
