[Cider Jim]

Mic, if Porter was in the game, I would have pulled him: everyone in the building knew that Porter wasn't going to take the last shot, but Baker (at 6'9") would have been a good option inside for a short jumper.

[Bronx Bombers]

LB

[TallyW]

I was at the game this week in the front row (red seats) right in front of Barber. When we played prevent defense and we put them on the line, Blair asked the coaching staff if they wanted him to call a TO... Another player standing directly across from him at the free-throw line told LB "We don't have any..." This was well before the inbounds play so I can only assume that they had no clue that they held an extra Timeout.

Mistakes do happen... a big one.. but still a mistake none the less. All it takes in the heat of the game is to mark one down the wrong way... or is it possible that the scorer's table got it wrong during a TV timeout or something? Who knows.

Anyway... My concern was more about how we played D in the last 45 seconds... it seemed like we were playing 'not to lose' instead of to win... Our aggressiveness seemed to slump when we were up 1. It felt like the team was instructed not to foul b/c they were in 1 and 1.

[LUconn]

I think TB should have been inbounding personally. Maybe not him but somebody tall.

[SuperJon]

I think TB should have been inbounding personally. Maybe not him but somebody tall.

That's what I thought. Put someone tall there to throw the ball in so he could see over the defender.

[Hold My Own]

was UNCA playing?

[Sly Fox]

I admit I was surprised by the lineup on the floor on the last play and having Anthony inbounds because he was oen of the guys I could see hitting the shot in a pinch.

But let's focus on the basic premise of Chris' story. A new coach will have a huge recruiting job right away to convince our core group of players to come back. It sounds to me like Brew & Ace want to return based on that story. That's a much better scenario than some were implying recently who reportedly know the guys.

Much like the Rocco situation where he came in to find a terrific core of young but experienced players, whoever we wind up hiring is going to have the tools to win right away if he can get certain players to buy into his philosophy.

Sorry for the football-hoops comparison, Lib. But that is where I see JB's comments on a Rocco-esque coach being applicable.

[SuperJon]

JF's comments, not JBs.

[Sly Fox]

My apologies. You are correct.

[kel varson]

Lets not make to big a deal about the timeout. After all the game should have never even been that close. Even if we had a called a TO, there no guarantee of anything. We were much better than VMI and it just didn't play out.

Great Story. Answered a lot of questions.

[WWJFD]

The game means nothing because the program was going in a different direction regardless, time to move forward

[paradox]

We don't need to beat a dead horse here on this in bound stuff. But if Smith saw a problem getting the ball in to the #1 option, Brewington, then it would have been his job to call the time-out. I don't think that Anthony panicked. He saw that Brew was covered and Larry had an open look, so he went with Larry. He could have called the time-out, but I'm sure that VMI would defend it much the same way with Brew covered and giving Larry an open look from 3. Think about it, Brew is money in the paint, and he's a gaurd who makes 60% of his shots! Larry Blair makes 30% of his three point attempts and sometimes forces up bad shots. So, if you're VMI, where are you going to place your wager.

We can second guess this to no end. If someone other than Anthony throws the in bound, and someone other than Larry misses the final shot, then everyone's gonna say, why didn't Baker didn't throw the ball in to Larry who had an open look from three.

Personally, I give the VMI coaching staff a lot of credit. They came out with a great plan and executed it well, all the way up until the final play. They basically seduced us into having LB shoot that three on the final play, and the odds were in their favor.

[paradox]

I think that the assumption that LU had the best athletes or talent in general this season is a misnomer and a discredit to Winthrop who clearly has the best overall talent accross the board.

We may have a nice group of guys who suited to play the 2 and 3: Brew, Blair, Smith, Jenkins, and even Baker and Hubbard. However, LU in no way compares to the talent level accross the board of a team such as Winthrop. They actually have a point guard and depth in the post. Other than Mclean, who had a nice first season and should see better days ahead, we had nothing in the low post. And the point gaurd situation was an utter fiasco. Again, we may have been the most atheletic and had the most depth at the 2 and 3, but our point gaurd situation and depth in the low post ranks near the bottom. Since when did stockpiling 2's and 3's ever win anything?

[Fumblerooskies]

Since when did stockpiling 2's and 3's ever win anything?

...and who was responsible for the stockpiling
(sorry, it was begging to be said).

[pbow]

We don't need to beat a dead horse here on this in bound stuff. But if Smith saw a problem getting the ball in to the #1 option, Brewington, then it would have been his job to call the time-out. I don't think that Anthony panicked. He saw that Brew was covered and Larry had an open look, so he went with Larry.

Larry was in no way open for a three, there was a guy stuck to him like glue and larry caught the ball behind the 3-point line...that's not exactly what I would call an open 3.

[flameshaw]

We don't need to beat a dead horse here on this in bound stuff. But if Smith saw a problem getting the ball in to the #1 option, Brewington, then it would have been his job to call the time-out. I don't think that Anthony panicked. He saw that Brew was covered and Larry had an open look, so he went with Larry.

Larry was in no way open for a three, there was a guy stuck to him like glue and larry caught the ball behind the 3-point line...that's not exactly what I would call an open 3.

Don't ever confuse paranormal with the facts, it messses up his logic.

[LUconn]

I think he meant he was open for a pass.

Anyway, who wants to feel terrible for a few minutes (thanks to the Lynchburg fishwrap)?

[paradox]

We don't need to beat a dead horse here on this in bound stuff. But if Smith saw a problem getting the ball in to the #1 option, Brewington, then it would have been his job to call the time-out. I don't think that Anthony panicked. He saw that Brew was covered and Larry had an open look, so he went with Larry.

Larry was in no way open for a three, there was a guy stuck to him like glue and larry caught the ball behind the 3-point line...that's not exactly what I would call an open 3.

Well, maybe Anthony did not see it that way from where he stood, but I think that we can all agree that he should have called the timeout.

[paradox]

SHAW likes to just type the words, facts and logic, as a sustitute for actually making a counter argument. Kinda makes me wonder if he even knows how to distinguish the differences between empirical fact, logic, and conjecture.

[PAmedic]

anyhooooo


STILL sitting here thinking about Brew's comment: "If the whole team comes back, I do believe we'll be 10 times better than we were this year "

not- "I'm not sure if I'M coming back"

color me optimistic- but seems like he's not going anywhere and hopes no one else is either.

[hurricane fan]

Since when did stockpiling 2's and 3's ever win anything?

...and who was responsible for the stockpiling
(sorry, it was begging to be said).

That seems like a good question that never got answered

[Fumblerooskies]

Let's see...
...St Joe's did reasonably well with a guard-oriented line-up, as did Nova last year...in much better conferences than the Big South.

[paradox]

Let's see...
...St Joe's did reasonably well with a guard-oriented line-up, as did Nova last year...in much better conferences than the Big South.

Both of those teams that you mentioned had great leadership from the point gaurd position and both Nelson and Lowry are currently playing in the NBA.

You actually made a good point in favor of my argument: You can't win without real leadership and play-making from the point gaurd position.

[Brokeback Flamer]

Can I at least get SOME props for waiting to post???? I think this article gets to the heart of the matter.
1. There are several things about the whole time out scenario. Every coaching staff has one person designated to keep track of time outs. The home book as time outs. The official book has the timeouts. And I am fairly certain, and GMTM and PH can help me with this one, aren't officials supposed to always tell the teams how many time outs they have? That is an INEXCUSABLE error and mistake. Also, the coach is right by and official and can and should get their attention to call a TO. I put this up there with "The Steal" from Norfolk State as dudnerheaded moves.
2. The recruiting/retention job for the new coach should be a piece of cake. If one of your supposed star players say that the new coach will make this team 10 times better speaks volumes about the mental state of the team.
3. Did someone just take a jab at Larry Blair? Saying he thought he DESERVED the ball? Let's see, all time leading scorer would be a good qualification to have the opportunity to take the winning shot. He acts like he knows more than the coach? How did he do that?? And maybe he did.
4. I also was not at the game (There was a great show on the Oxygen network I HAD to see) but it sounds like not all your offensive weapons were on the floor. It seems, and it could be board propoganda, that this TB lad is a pretty good outside shooter. Plus at 6'9 he would make a great penetrate and kick option. Why would you NOT have your 5 best offensive players on the floor for the last OFFENSIVE possesion?
5. I see in RD's run down of his "success" he conveniently leaves out the fact that the year they went to the tournament BSC was the conference champs and handled us pretty easily in both match ups. Plus, when the "other" coach went to the tournament it was couched around several ABOVE 500 seasons.

[paradox]

anyhooooo


STILL sitting here thinking about Brew's comment: "If the whole team comes back, I do believe we'll be 10 times better than we were this year "

not- "I'm not sure if I'M coming back"

color me optimistic- but seems like he's not going anywhere and hopes no one else is either.

Excellent point.

Hopefully, Sherard will get his opportunity.