MBB: West Regional Discussion

[Troublemaker]

Discuss the West Region here. What upsets do you see? What interesting matchups? Who will go to the Final Four?

[Troublemaker]

West Region, unlocked and loaded.

[MarkD83]

I can't believe I have to vote for UConn.

[superdave]

Uconn is a tough matchup against bigger teams, but not teams with outside shooters and athleticism, not unlike ourselves.

[RainingThrees]

So freakin weak!!

[BlueintheFace]

Weakest by far

[jipops]

Weakest by far

I disagree, the Midwest is the weakest. This one is the toughest to pick in my opinion. UConn lost their best defender but is still very tough. Their only two season losses are to Pitt and it took 6 OT's for Cuse to take them. Memphis plays a frenetic suffocating defense but is pretty young and mostly untested, they do have 30+ wins though. Mizzou can run teams out of the gym and Purdue is very, very solid.

I'm going to have to wait awhile before picking this one and put more thoughts together.

[ncexnyc]

UCONN and Memphis are the class of this bracket and I really don't see anyone upsetting either of these two teams.

The final between these two teams will come down to Thabeet and Price being better than their counterparts on the Tigers.

[jv001]

As much as I hate to say it. I believe u-conn will win this bracket. Memphis may be better than I think but I just don't consider this a strong bracket. Go Duke!

[jipops]

UCONN and Memphis are the class of this bracket and I really don't see anyone upsetting either of these two teams.

The final between these two teams will come down to Thabeet and Price being better than their counterparts on the Tigers.

I'd take Missouri over Memphis. Memphis has never faced anything remotely like them in their schedule.

[ice-9]

By far the region with the most question marks. The West can either be wide open or a battle at every round.

#1: Just how good is UConn without Dyson? We don't have a very good benchmark because their three losses since then were against Pittsburgh, who had a good chance of beating them even with Dyson, and Syracuse in an epic 6 OT match. I submit that we don't know just how good UConn is today compared to the UConn that had Dyson in the lineup.

#2: Memphis is a huge mystery. They did not do well in nonconference play when they had to face good teams. They did extremely well in conference play where they had to face lousy teams. Which Memphis is the real Memphis?

#3: Sure, Missouri did well in a weak Big 12, but this is also a team that lost to Nebraska and Illinois out of the Big 12. I'm also generally suspicious of teams that rely on the press in the NCAA tournament. No clue really just how good this Tigers team is.

Beyond the top three seeds, this bracket is definitely tough. You have Maryland, a giant killer that Memphis may have to deal with in the second round. Purdue is the Big 10 tournament champ and Washington is the best the Pac-10 has to offer. Marquette may have lost one of its leaders but it's still good enough to lose to Villanova by only 1 point in the Big East tournament.

IF the top three seeds are strong teams, then this region is tough.

IF the top three seeds turn out to be weak teams, then this region is wide, wide open, because there are a lot of lower seeded teams that can cause the upset.

For my bracket I'm assuming that Memphis is a contender while UConn is the pretender.

[DoubleDuke Dad]

Anyone notice the Memphis - CS Northridge score (64-63 CS Northridge with 7:20 left in the game)? I guess a 2 seed does have to worry about an upset.

[InSpades]

Not watching but am watching the gamecast... Memphis has gotten 29 points of Roburt Sallie (who?), a guy who had a season (and career) high of 13 coming into the game. You'd think getting a career game out of a 5 PPG scorer would propel you on to an easy victory over a 15 seed...

Memphis has shot as many 3s as 2s, which really isn't their game. Is Northridge packing the middle?

[snowdenscold]

Awww, CSN just went 0-8 and now the game appears to be slipping away - they're down 6 w/ 4 to go.

Edit: well, made it w/in 4 before the break - exciting to watch though. Who cares if my bracket gets wrecked, I'd love to see an upset like this. Besides, what are the chances of two different 15-2 upsets the same day??

[DoubleDuke Dad]

Too bad there won't be an upset. Memphis leads by 11 (81-70) with 32 seconds left in the game.

[Mal]

Memphis has shot as many 3s as 2s, which really isn't their game. Is Northridge packing the middle?

Northridge ran a 2-3 the entire game, letting Sallie run the baseline. At one point Memphis was like 5 of 18 from 3, with everyone other than Sallie at 0-fer.

[SMO]

Northridge ran a 2-3 the entire game, letting Sallie run the baseline. At one point Memphis was like 5 of 18 from 3, with everyone other than Sallie at 0-fer.

Dude comes off the bench to score 35 on 67% 3PT shooting (10-15). That's unreal even if he was wide open!

[Mal]

No doubt about that. I kind of thought that when things started to go downhill with 5 minutes or so to go, it might have been a good idea to get away from the zone. Memphis was finally breaking it down efficiently, and hadn't run their traditional offense all game. Maybe it would have thrown them for a loop for a couple possessions.

Regardless, CSN lost mostly because they stopped scoring down the stretch.

[ice-9]

As if Belmont isn't enough, let this be another reminder that as a 2 seed we can't take the 15 seed for granted.

[mgtr]

Memphis looked very beatable in that game. Sure glad I don't have them in my final four!:D:D:D

[Clipsfan]

No doubt about that. I kind of thought that when things started to go downhill with 5 minutes or so to go, it might have been a good idea to get away from the zone. Memphis was finally breaking it down efficiently, and hadn't run their traditional offense all game. Maybe it would have thrown them for a loop for a couple possessions.

Regardless, CSN lost mostly because they stopped scoring down the stretch.

I was watching the game and CSUN really just got tired. They started making mistakes and stopped moving/running the floor - things which they weren't doing earlier in the game. The combination of worse defense (their zone was active for most of the game, but started to slow down on rotations at the end) and their inclination at the end to take worse/easier to get shots (rather than moving the ball and taking better shots) killed them.

[RepoMan]

Congratulations to the Turtles. Good to see an ACC win. As suspected, the PAC 10 blows.

[RepoMan]

Also, good to see Purdue win. 2 teams we have beaten are in the last 32 (as is one team that beat us).

[goodchristian]

Good win by our fellow ACC team. It looks like in the DBR prediction, you picked CAL because "Montgomery is a better coach than Gary". After today that makes Gary 3-0 vs Montgomery. Don't quit your day job..

[CameronCrazy'11]

Is Gary really that bad a coach? He's done pretty well this year considering all the talent he's not working with. imo, his biggest flaw as a coach is that he failed to capitalize on his NC and for some reason almost always refuses to recruit the all-American, 5-star type players. As an in-game coach though, I think he's pretty good.

[blueprofessor]

Is Gary really that bad a coach? He's done pretty well this year considering all the talent he's not working with. imo, his biggest flaw as a coach is that he failed to capitalize on his NC and for some reason almost always refuses to recruit the all-American, 5-star type players. As an in-game coach though, I think he's pretty good.

in the last month?

I don't particularly like MD, but I think G.Williams is a very good coach.

As for Montgomery, I have little use for any coach who apparently hates Duke and perhaps K.

Cal looked soft today; MD had their and their coach's number.

I really admire how far MD has come since the Cameron beat-down.

Best--Blueprof:)

[Hancock 4 Duke]

Man, my chance for $1,000,000 on my ESPN bracket is ruined. I think maybe Maryland should've been ranked higher than a 10.

[Indoor66]

Man, my chance for $1,000,000 on my ESPN bracket is ruined. I think maybe Maryland should've been ranked higher than a 10.

You must learn to always select against a Mike Montgomery coached team. :D

[miramar]

I have to give Sweaty, Greivis and Co. a lot of credit. These guys were absolutely dead in the water just a few weeks back.

Boykin scored 9 points and ended up with five rebounds in 20 minutes. I always thought that he could help Duke, but unfortunately it didn't work out.

[DUKIE V(A)]

I heard Al McGuire once say that Mike Montgomery has forgotten more basketball than he (Al) ever knew. Pretty high praise. Gary, for all his issues, is no slouch himself.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Congrats to Gary and his team, the ACC starts off the day 2-0. I'm pulling for all of 'em except the baby blues.

[Memphis Devil]

This may have been discussed elsewhere, but does anyone know why the lighting in Boise seems so poor?

[Newton_14]

This may have been discussed elsewhere, but does anyone know why the lighting in Boise seems so poor?

I noticed that as well. It looked really dark. There was one other arena where the lighting looked dim as well, but don't remember which one it was.

[FerryFor50]

Great game until the final 30 seconds - Mizzou player gets fouled, bounces right back up, clapping his hands - but is suddenly too "hurt" to shoot his FTs. Naturally, the replacement hits both, and the Mizzou player tries to check right back in to the game! Real "injured" there.

From there, it just deconstructs into poor officiating and Marquette has to go home. A couple of non-calls on pretty obvious fouls and game over.

[tbyers11]

Great game until the final 30 seconds - Mizzou player gets fouled, bounces right back up, clapping his hands - but is suddenly too "hurt" to shoot his FTs. Naturally, the replacement hits both, and the Mizzou player tries to check right back in to the game! Real "injured" there.

From there, it just deconstructs into poor officiating and Marquette has to go home. A couple of non-calls on pretty obvious fouls and game over.

Very reminiscent of the Ronald Curry incident in Cameron a few years back, except that one didn't occur at 79-79 in an NCAA game with 5 seconds left. As you mentioned that Mizzou kid was not seriously hurt at all. If I were Marquette, I'd be more than a little upset. Kind of a sketchy way to end a great game.

[Kim*]

I'm really ticked about this one. Especially because I have a wager going with my Mizzou friend about whose team makes it farther in the tourney. Grrrr.

[FireOgilvie]

Great game until the final 30 seconds - Mizzou player gets fouled, bounces right back up, clapping his hands - but is suddenly too "hurt" to shoot his FTs. Naturally, the replacement hits both, and the Mizzou player tries to check right back in to the game! Real "injured" there.

From there, it just deconstructs into poor officiating and Marquette has to go home. A couple of non-calls on pretty obvious fouls and game over.

I don't know about the poor officiating... Marquette blew it when they tried to inbound the ball and stepped on the baseline. But yeah, I hate the rule that allows "injured" players to immediately come back into the game after sending in a sub to shoot their FTs. I think there should be a rule change that says that if you go out of the game and are too injured to shoot FTs, you have to sit out for at least some kind of designated period... although I'm not sure what that period would be. 1 minute game time?

[pratt '04]

Great game until the final 30 seconds - Mizzou player gets fouled, bounces right back up, clapping his hands - but is suddenly too "hurt" to shoot his FTs. Naturally, the replacement hits both, and the Mizzou player tries to check right back in to the game! Real "injured" there.

From there, it just deconstructs into poor officiating and Marquette has to go home. A couple of non-calls on pretty obvious fouls and game over.

I wouldn't go too far with the conspiracy theories... Tiller is Mizzou's second best free-throw shooter and he was replaced by a freshman who has a worse FT percentage. I think Tiller would have rather shot them himself if he could.

Mizzou Stats (http://mutigers.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/stats/2008-2009/teamcume.html#TEAM.LDR)

[FerryFor50]

Very reminiscent of the Ronald Curry incident in Cameron a few years back, except that one didn't occur at 79-79 in an NCAA game with 5 seconds left. As you mentioned that Mizzou kid was not seriously hurt at all. If I were Marquette, I'd be more than a little upset. Kind of a sketchy way to end a great game.

Plus on the inbound turnover, his guard was being held when he stepped on the line - which is probably why he hesitated.

[FerryFor50]

I wouldn't go too far with the conspiracy theories... Tiller is Mizzou's second best free-throw shooter and he was replaced by a freshman who has a worse FT percentage. I think Tiller would have rather shot them himself if he could.

Mizzou Stats (http://mutigers.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/stats/2008-2009/teamcume.html#TEAM.LDR)

Is that why he bounced up immediately, clapping his hands, then started wincing, and right after the freshman hit the FTs, tried to check back in?

When I think "too hurt to shoot FTs," I think you're lying on the floor for a bit and getting up like you're actually hurt.

[geraldsneighbor]

The officiating in the late games was embarrassing today. Yes, they committed an inbound violation but the foul calls in the Siena-L'ville games and Mizzou-Marquette game we awful. It is a shame.

[wolfpackdevil]

Great game until the final 30 seconds - Mizzou player gets fouled, bounces right back up, clapping his hands - but is suddenly too "hurt" to shoot his FTs. Naturally, the replacement hits both, and the Mizzou player tries to check right back in to the game! Real "injured" there.

From there, it just deconstructs into poor officiating and Marquette has to go home. A couple of non-calls on pretty obvious fouls and game over.

Not only was the replacement for Tiller a worse free-throw shooter, he was a freshman.

[zingit]

Not only do I feel bad for Marquette as a whole, but especially that one player, Lazar Hayward, who stepped on the baseline with 5 seconds left. He's never going to forget that mistake.

[Kim*]

Not only do I feel bad for Marquette as a whole, but especially that one player, Lazar Hayward, who stepped on the baseline with 5 seconds left. He's never going to forget that mistake.

I know, that poor kid.

[FerryFor50]

Not only was the replacement for Tiller a worse free-throw shooter, he was a freshman.

They CHOSE him for a reason - percentages aside. He probably hasn't missed a FT in 3 months in practice. They didn't even choose their best FT shooter Denmon, or Lyons, who had a better % than the freshman. There is a reason he went to the line and not one of the other % guys.

[captmojo]

Have the riots in Milwaukee begun?

If you go out due to injury, I am of the opinion that you should be required to sit out at least two minutes of game clock. He was checking back in at the time out immediately following the free throws. It didn't get past the Marquette coaching staff.

Wait...Milwaukee isn't in Maryland. My bad.

[FerryFor50]

Have the riots in Milwaukee begun?

If you go out due to injury, I am of the opinion that you should be required to sit out at least two minutes of game clock. He was checking back in at the time out immediately following the free throws. It didn't get past the Marquette coaching staff.

Wait...Milwaukee isn't in Maryland. My bad.

I wish there was a way to penalize teams for this - like, maybe the opposing team gets to choose the shooter. But it's a double-edged sword. Teams would start fouling hard on purpose if there was incentive, just like teams will fake an injury because there's incentive. Too bad there isn't a middle ground. Even more disappointing is that people would pull that stuff.

[CDu]

They CHOSE him for a reason - percentages aside. He probably hasn't missed a FT in 3 months in practice. They didn't even choose their best FT shooter Denmon, or Lyons, who had a better % than the freshman. There is a reason he went to the line and not one of the other % guys.

I'm pretty sure that they couldn't have chosen Lyons, because Lyons was in the game already. It had to be a guy coming off the bench. Denmon may have been in the game as well (I can't remember).

I definitely seems odd though. Tiller definitely was ready to come back into the game immediately after. But he is also one of their better free throw shooters and he was 5-7 to that point (not terrible by any stretch, especially when you need just one of two). Instead, they went with a worse free throw shooter who hadn't tried one to that point in the game and had sat for a while and had to be cold. I have to believe he was a little bit injured - otherwise, it really doesn't make sense. But he clearly wasn't REALLY badly hurt, because he did try to come back in immediately.

[ncexnyc]

I wish there was a way to penalize teams for this - like, maybe the opposing team gets to choose the shooter. But it's a double-edged sword. Teams would start fouling hard on purpose if there was incentive, just like teams will fake an injury because there's incentive. Too bad there isn't a middle ground. Even more disappointing is that people would pull that stuff.
The only sure way to avoid being the victim of a bogus call or non-call is to play well enough so the game doesn't come down to such a situation. I've always heard it said time and time again, "good teams make their own luck."

[1999ballboy]

The "injured" guy came back a minute later- yet another parallel to the Ronald Curry/Max Owens incident. The difference is that Mizzou's sub was a worse free throw shooter on the year, while Owens shot much better than Curry. I'm not complaining though; I had Mizzou beating Memphis in my bracket.

[arydolphin]

I wish there was a way to penalize teams for this - like, maybe the opposing team gets to choose the shooter. But it's a double-edged sword. Teams would start fouling hard on purpose if there was incentive, just like teams will fake an injury because there's incentive. Too bad there isn't a middle ground. Even more disappointing is that people would pull that stuff.

The simple way to fix this is go to the NBA rule: if the guy that gets fouled is hurt and can't shoot the free throws, the opposing team's coach gets to pick who shoots the foul shots. Of course, you could say that the NBA rule really penalizes the team that has a guy get hurt, since you lose the injured player and the other team will pick a terrible shooter. However, the NBA rule discourages guys faking injuries to put in a better shooter, this situation notwithstanding given the FT percentages of the players involved.

[DukeFanInTerpLand]

When Tiller was trying to come back on, I bet it was for defensive reasons. If his shooting hand was hurt (he did look in pain on the bench), that wouldn't affect his defense. I'm sure the coaches didn't want a freshman in there if they could avoid it.

[CDu]

The simple way to fix this is go to the NBA rule: if the guy that gets fouled is hurt and can't shoot the free throws, the opposing team's coach gets to pick who shoots the foul shots. Of course, you could say that the NBA rule really penalizes the team that has a guy get hurt, since you lose the injured player and the other team will pick a terrible shooter. However, the NBA rule discourages guys faking injuries to put in a better shooter, this situation notwithstanding given the FT percentages of the players involved.

The problem is that that encourages hard fouls late in games. The only other thing I can think of is to use the other part of the NBA rule - if you're too hurt to shoot the free throws, you can't come back into the game. BUT, the coach of your team gets to choose the shooter. It still opens the door for a last-second shenanigans, but there's at least some penalty without encouraging overly hard fouls.

[CDu]

When Tiller was trying to come back on, I bet it was for defensive reasons. If his shooting hand was hurt (he did look in pain on the bench), that wouldn't affect his defense. I'm sure the coaches didn't want a freshman in there if they could avoid it.

This is the only plausible explanation for the series of events that I can see. An injured shooting arm/hand wouldn't prevent playing 10 seconds of defense, but it would make you less effective from the line. I really can't see any other reason why they'd prefer to go with a worse free throw shooter, a freshman, and a guy who'd been sitting for several minutes and was obviously cold. Even if he was spectacular in practice, you just don't take the ball out of the hands of a veteran player who is a good free throw shooter in favor of a cold freshman with worse numbers.

[FerryFor50]

This is the only plausible explanation for the series of events that I can see. An injured shooting arm/hand wouldn't prevent playing 10 seconds of defense, but it would make you less effective from the line. I really can't see any other reason why they'd prefer to go with a worse free throw shooter, a freshman, and a guy who'd been sitting for several minutes and was obviously cold. Even if he was spectacular in practice, you just don't take the ball out of the hands of a veteran player who is a good free throw shooter in favor of a cold freshman with worse numbers.

he wasn't cold; he played a majority of the game.

[InSpades]

The didn't just need 1 of the 2 though. They were tied w/ 5.5 left on the clock. You definitely wanted to make 2 to force them to hit a 3 to win or a 2 tie to tie (as opposed to any shot being a win).

Also the kid who came off the bench to shoot didn't look like a 68% (or whatever it was) shooter. He was cool as can be and didn't even touch the rim on either shot.

It was definitely shady the way it went down, but there's no way you can force the guy who is "hurt" to shoot.

[CDu]

he wasn't cold; he played a majority of the game.

Actually, he played only 12 minutes, mostly in the first half. He scored 15 points in the first half, but sat most of the second half. He was definitely coming in cold. Obviously, it didn't have an effect though.

[FerryFor50]

Actually, he played only 12 minutes, mostly in the first half. He scored 15 points in the first half, but sat most of the second half. He was definitely coming in cold. Obviously, it didn't have an effect though.

Ah, I must have looked at the wrong name in the box score. Sheesh... 11 shots in 12 minutes? Doesn't have a confidence problem, eh?

[calltheobvious]

The problem is that that encourages hard fouls late in games. The only other thing I can think of is to use the other part of the NBA rule - if you're too hurt to shoot the free throws, you can't come back into the game. BUT, the coach of your team gets to choose the shooter. It still opens the door for a last-second shenanigans, but there's at least some penalty without encouraging overly hard fouls.

You're exactly right on the wisdom of adopting the entire NBA rule on injured free throw shooters.

But I think you're imagining the incentive problem you note. There's already a clause that allows an intentional foul to be called for 'excessive force,' and if it goes beyond that you're into flagrant territory.

The NCAA should adopt this and many other NBA rules, but they're too proud to do it. They think that to do anything like the NBA is to become, ah, less pure, more evil. It's pathological, really, the aversion the NCAA has to doing some things the way the NBA does.

[FerryFor50]

You're exactly right on the wisdom of adopting the entire NBA rule on injured free throw shooters.

But I think you're imagining the incentive problem you note. There's already a clause that allows an intentional foul to be called for 'excessive force,' and if it goes beyond that you're into flagrant territory.

The NCAA should adopt this and many other NBA rules, but they're too proud to do it. They think that to do anything like the NBA is to become, ah, less pure, more evil. It's pathological, really, the aversion the NCAA has to doing some things the way the NBA does.

Kind of like jump balls being alternating possessions instead of actual jump balls?

Or the distance of the 3pt line?

I totally agree with the notion of ridiculousness of the inability of the NCAA to adapt.

[arydolphin]

The problem is that that encourages hard fouls late in games. The only other thing I can think of is to use the other part of the NBA rule - if you're too hurt to shoot the free throws, you can't come back into the game. BUT, the coach of your team gets to choose the shooter. It still opens the door for a last-second shenanigans, but there's at least some penalty without encouraging overly hard fouls.

Well, in terms of hard fouls, the NBA also has the flagrant foul rule, where the team that was fouled in that manner would get the foul shots and the ball back afterwards, so that serves to discourage fouls that are made with excessive force. In college, a foul like that would probably fall under the intentional foul category, so the name is different but the result would be the same.

[CDu]

Ah, I must have looked at the wrong name in the box score. Sheesh... 11 shots in 12 minutes? Doesn't have a confidence problem, eh?

Yeah, I believe that is the definition of a gunner. :)

He was on a Redick-like shooting pace.

[CDu]

Kind of like jump balls being alternating possessions instead of actual jump balls?

Or the distance of the 3pt line?

I totally agree with the notion of ridiculousness of the inability of the NCAA to adapt.

I'm actually okay with the alternating possessions. I don't see how that's any worse than having a team be penalized by losing the jumpball when their guard ties up another team's big man.

[FerryFor50]

I'm actually okay with the alternating possessions. I don't see how that's any worse than having a team be penalized by losing the jumpball when their guard ties up another team's big man.

Good point.

[devildownunder]

Doesn't really seem shady to me; there's no logic to it. There's no way Missouri wanted to take out an experienced player and pull a freshman 65% shooter off the bench to take those free throws. It doesn't add up.

[captmojo]

I'm actually okay with the alternating possessions. I don't see how that's any worse than having a team be penalized by losing the jumpball when their guard ties up another team's big man.

I'm not OK with alternation if the tie up is due to a defensive play that created it. I then think the ball should be awarded to the defender.

[diveonthefloor]

Doesn't really seem shady to me; there's no logic to it. There's no way Missouri wanted to take out an experienced player and pull a freshman 65% shooter off the bench to take those free throws. It doesn't add up.

Agree 100%. Tiller was hurt...some sort of upper body or arm issue.
No way Mizzou wants anyone other than Tiller to shoot these unless he indeed was hurt.

The timer was a bit of an issue towards the end of the game....but didnt affect the outcome.

Dang Marquette's coach was hilarious...cursing with his hand over his mouth....that is genious!

[Jim3k]

Maybe he did hurt his hand on the play, but my take was that he got the wind knocked oud -*`+ of him

[CDu]

I'm not OK with alternation if the tie up is due to a defensive play that created it. I then think the ball should be awarded to the defender.

The team is rewarded either way. They either get the ball or they get the NEXT tie-up (the other team loses the next possession). Remember - a tie-up is equivalent possession. Simply giving the ball to the defense over-rewards the defensive play. And what about loose ball rebounds? In that case, it is the offense that is making the good play (since a defensive rebound is more likely). Why should the defense get it then?

[Jim3k]

Maybe he did hurt his hand on the play, but my take was that he got the wind knocked oud -*`+ of him

Well, that was cute. My computer did something odd as I was typing the message. I had to reboot.

Anyway, my point was that the player was bent over as if catching his breath. I know he hopped up, but that can happen sometimes, mostly by instinct. If he did lose his breath, it would take a few minutes for him to recover, long enough to be replaced, but he'd be OK fairly quickly. And, I guess the same would be true with a hand/finger injury that really smarted and would take a few minutes for the pain to pass.

Either way, I don't see anything nefarious here.

[HK Dukie]

Clearly Tiller was hurt enough to not want to shoot at the critical moment as evidenced by his pain on the bench. We shouldn't question that.

The key question going forward however, is to what extent a player must be injured to have someone else shoot the free throws. If you are injured enough to need medical attention then fine, but you can't come back in the game right away (his return didn't really impact the game though, let us not forget, since the Marquette player stepped on the line anyway).

I think you should only be allowed to choose someone else for your free throws if you genuinely need medical attention, else the other team's coach should decide. A game time penalty of one minute seems reasonable as an alternative also.