Last year's Butler-Duke Final

[gotoguy]

Tim Layden of SI has a great article in this weeks SI NCAA tournament issue which can be read at the SI/CNN website.

Link here: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vau...3376/index.htm

Thanks again guys, what a run, time for another.

[stillcrazie]

Tim Layden of SI has a great article in this weeks SI NCAA tournament issue which can be read at the SI/CNN website.

Link here: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vau...3376/index.htm

Thanks again guys, what a run, time for another.

I got the magazine in the mail yesterday and read the article - fantastic. Took me back to the final two minutes with such intensity that I was worried Duke was going to lose. Interesting insights from players and coaches on both sides about what they were thinking during pivotal moments of the game. Good think Zoubek didn't hear Chris Collins's comment before his second free throw or things might have turned out differently...

[MChambers]

Tim Layden of SI has a great article in this weeks SI NCAA tournament issue which can be read at the SI/CNN website.

Link here: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vau...3376/index.htm

Thanks again guys, what a run, time for another.

It looks like a great article. Also interesting to see that the NCAA supervisor of officials thinks that that screen sent by Matt Howard was illegal. Don't want to restart that debate, of course, since it really doesn't matter now.

[Reilly]

One hallmark of a great game: the horn sounds, and you don't know yet who won.

[UrinalCake]

Very interesting that Collins was telling Z to make the second free throw, but Z never heard him because of the raised court. My heart really goes out to Butler as they played a heck of a game and deserved to win too.

Yesterday's Vanderbilt-Richmond game had a similar ending. Richmond was up by one with about three second left and went to the line. They opted to make both free throws, so Vanderbilt (now down by three) passed the ball up to half court and then called a timeout. They had time (about 2.5 seconds) to run a play but screwed it up and didn't score. However, seeing this made me glad that Z did miss that second free throw, because if you give Butler 2.5 seconds to inbound from halfcourt, there's a good chance they'll create a good look.

[dukelifer]

Very interesting that Collins was telling Z to make the second free throw, but Z never heard him because of the raised court. My heart really goes out to Butler as they played a heck of a game and deserved to win too.

Yesterday's Vanderbilt-Richmond game had a similar ending. Richmond was up by one with about three second left and went to the line. They opted to make both free throws, so Vanderbilt (now down by three) passed the ball up to half court and then called a timeout. They had time (about 2.5 seconds) to run a play but screwed it up and didn't score. However, seeing this made me glad that Z did miss that second free throw, because if you give Butler 2.5 seconds to inbound from halfcourt, there's a good chance they'll create a good look.

I thought they had no timeouts.

[94duke]

I thought they had no timeouts.

Correct. That's one of the reasons Coach K wanted to miss it. If they had a time out left, it would have been less advantageous to intentionally miss it.

[Newton_14]

I thought they had no timeouts.

Correct. Butler had no timeouts remaining, so they had to go the distance if Zoubs makes the free throw.

[-bdbd]

Very interesting that Collins was telling Z to make the second free throw, but Z never heard him because of the raised court. My heart really goes out to Butler as they played a heck of a game and deserved to win too.

Yesterday's Vanderbilt-Richmond game had a similar ending. Richmond was up by one with about three second left and went to the line. They opted to make both free throws, so Vanderbilt (now down by three) passed the ball up to half court and then called a timeout. They had time (about 2.5 seconds) to run a play but screwed it up and didn't score. However, seeing this made me glad that Z did miss that second free throw, because if you give Butler 2.5 seconds to inbound from halfcourt, there's a good chance they'll create a good look.

I kinda come down on the same side - glad we chose to miss and force a timeout-lacking Butler team rush it up for a desperation heave. Actually I give Butler and their coach a lot of credit for getting as good a shot off as they possibly could have (90% of the teams out there don't get as good a shot as they did). Their coach had anticipated the miss and called a play in advance. Smart. That's why he's such a hot commodity.

As I recall, however, K got a lot of second-guessing for calling for the miss. I think it was more "gut" than odds calculation -- "I didn't want to risk (going to) O/T in that situation with them (having the momentum and crowd)." Several other coaches said that wasn't what they would have done, including a former Dukie or two. Tough situation/pressure for a coach. He would have been forever crucified if it worked out wrong.

[uh_no]

Correct. Butler had no timeouts remaining, so they had to go the distance if Zoubs makes the free throw.

They had to go the distance regardless of whether the FT was made or not...

[uh_no]

Tough situation/pressure for a coach. He would have been forever crucified if it worked out wrong.

Sort of like pitino should be for having not fouled yesterday...

[coldriver10]

A beautifully-written article...my heart was pounding just reading it. With all the Butler-Hoosiers similarities, the buzzer-beating attempt, playing in Indianapolis no less...I still can't believe that shot didn't go in.

[wilson]

They had to go the distance regardless of whether the FT was made or not...

Uh_no.
The rebound of the miss caromed out and left them with a solid twenty fewer feet to travel than if they'd had to inbound from the baseline off a make. On the other hand, if they'd been inbounding, they'd have had an extra moment to set positions for the final play. Another wrinkle of a still interesting (though thankfully inconsequential) hypothetical.

[uh_no]

Uh_no.
The rebound of the miss caromed out and left them with a solid twenty fewer feet to travel than if they'd had to inbound from the baseline off a make. On the other hand, if they'd been inbounding, they'd have had an extra moment to set positions for the final play. Another wrinkle of a still interesting (though thankfully inconsequential) hypothetical.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6Bi7lC6QIQ

he's right at the rim. 20' would have put him at almost the 3 pt line...One could also argue that the inbound pass could possibly have covered that "20" feet before the clock started anyway

edit: maybe 'right at the rim' is a stretch...but 20' is such a gross overestimation....

[jv001]

I kinda come down on the same side - glad we chose to miss and force a timeout-lacking Butler team rush it up for a desperation heave.
As I recall, however, K got a lot of second-guessing for calling for the miss. I think it was more "gut" than odds calculation -- "I didn't want to risk (going to) O/T in that situation with them (having the momentum and crowd)." Several other coaches said that wasn't what they would have done, including a former Dukie or two. Tough situation/pressure for a coach. He would have been forever crucified if it worked out wrong.

Wednesday Scott VanPelt and his dummy, Ryen "whats his name" were poking fun at Coach K and his decision to miss the foul shot intentionally. I had to e-mail them and point out that Coach has forgotten more than they'll ever know about college bb. And I ended the email with; Scott, what's those Maryland graduation rates again? Of course it didn't get on the air. Go Duke!

[ThePublisher]

Great article. Everytime I see a replay of Zoubek's foul shot and Howard's miss, I still get nervous as if somehow it could go differently. It's probably my body's reaction to being incredibly tense for the whole game and it all culminating in that split second.

What a game.

[uh_no]

Wednesday Scott VanPelt and his dummy, Ryen "whats his name" were poking fun at Coach K and his decision to miss the foul shot intentionally. I had to e-mail them and point out that Coach has forgotten more than they'll ever know about college bb. And I ended the email with; Scott, what's those Maryland graduation rates again? Of course it didn't get on the air. Go Duke!

Instead of making ad hominem arguments, it would be better to provide a defense for coach K's decision. Reasonable minds can differ on such topics, and there has been much debate here to the decision. Saying "you're wrong because Coach K is smarter than you" is a terrible argument (and one that gets made here far too often).

Another example: coach K lives by the man defense...is someone wrong if they say we should go zone? Someone might say "blah blah coach K is smarter than you," If that is the case, then why does rick pitino play a matchup zone and jim boeheim play zone? Are they 'dumber' than coach K for not playing man?

summary: make real points instead of ceding to the 'holiness of coach K' defense

[SuperTurkey]

Instead of making ad hominem arguments, it would be better to provide a defense for coach K's decision. Reasonable minds can differ on such topics, and there has been much debate here to the decision. Saying "you're wrong because Coach K is smarter than you" is a terrible argument (and one that gets made here far too often).

Another example: coach K lives by the man defense...is someone wrong if they say we should go zone? Someone might say "blah blah coach K is smarter than you," If that is the case, then why does rick pitino play a matchup zone and jim boeheim play zone? Are they 'dumber' than coach K for not playing man?

summary: make real points instead of ceding to the 'holiness of coach K' defense

Agreed. Ad hominem attacks don't improve the standing of any fan base.

[burns15]

Sort of like pitino should be for having not fouled yesterday...

Why should Pitino have fouled yesterday? Louisville was leading by two, why would you give the other team a chance to tie? I would much rather force them to take a tough shot and if he makes it, you have to tip your cap to him.

[gwlaw99]

This is one of my favorite articles about the game.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/201...tle/index.html