Down 4 with 0:54 left, don't you have to foul early? Why let UConn run the clock down and THEN foul?! Game over at that point.

I can understand if the young UK team just didn't know what to do, but this was out of a time out.

yeah that was dumb

Well scratch him off the list. We don't want no dumbazz's at Cal!!!!

What was Calipari thinking? Probably trying to figure out which pieces in his wardrobe go with Laker purple . . .

He was thinking, do I want to live in Beverly Hills or Santa Monica?

Hate to admit it, but especially for freshmen, Kentucky plays good defense. Kind of reminds me of playing at the gym against real bball players. The game is close and then toward the end the players pick up the tenacity and it gets really hard to score.

sycasey;842301773 said:

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Down 4 with 0:54 left, don't you have to foul early? Why let UConn run the clock down and THEN foul?! Game over at that point.

I can understand if the young UK team just didn't know what to do, but this was out of a time out.

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Coach Calipari is an idiot.

sycasey;842301773 said:

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Down 4 with 0:54 left, don't you have to foul early? Why let UConn run the clock down and THEN foul?! Game over at that point.

I can understand if the young UK team just didn't know what to do, but this was out of a time out.

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UConn is one of the best free throw shooting teams in the nation - had to try to get stops

GoCal80;842301786 said:

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UConn is one of the best free throw shooting teams in the nation - had to try to get stops

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If we're talking about the last 3 minutes, I get it. But when UConn had the ball with under a minute left and up 4, I think you have to foul, good FT shooting or not. If you just let them run down the clock, then you're left with about 20 seconds and a 2-possession game and you're really screwed. Need to extend the game however possible.

sycasey;842301788 said:

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If we're talking about the last 3 minutes, I get it. But when UConn had the ball with under a minute left and up 4, I think you have to foul, good FT shooting or not. If you just let them run down the clock, then you're left with about 20 seconds and a 2-possession game and you're really screwed. Need to extend the game however possible.

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Without a union, no one gets paid overtime.

Also, every player on the floor probably has midterms this week.

Time to hit the books.

I have seen many games this year where I have really wondered why everyone thinks Calipari is such a great coach. In some games, late in the first half, he has had perfect opportunities to go 2 for 1, foul early o preserve clock late in the second half, etc etc

I know he is an excellent recruiter but as far as an X's and O's coach, I am not overly impressed. If you gave Monty a fraction of that talent, I pretty sure it would be amazing

Also, missing many free throws is inexcusable

Five Mickey Ds on the floor...but they couldn't shoot free throws.

Was a good game - entertaining.

sycasey;842301773 said:

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Down 4 with 0:54 left, don't you have to foul early? Why let UConn run the clock down and THEN foul?! Game over at that point.

I can understand if the young UK team just didn't know what to do, but this was out of a time out.

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They couldn't foul in that situation because they still had a foul to give. If they take the foul then UConn gets a new shot clock and can run the clock down more and they didn't miss a free throw all night, so the best thing Kentucky could hope for was a missed shot and a quick score. It was only a 4 point lead at that point.

RealScouting;842301888 said:

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They couldn't foul in that situation because they still had a foul to give. If they take the foul then UConn gets a new shot clock and can run the clock down more and they didn't miss a free throw all night, so the best thing Kentucky could hope for was a missed shot and a quick score. It was only a 4 point lead at that point.

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Why not just foul over and over until you put them on the line? It's better than letting them run it down all the way.

calgldnbear;842301805 said:

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I have seen many games this year where I have really wondered why everyone thinks Calipari is such a great coach.

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Oh, I SO have got this one for you! Because he's a fabulous recruiter, possibly unlike any we've ever seen in college basketball. And since recruiting is at least 2/3rds of the job, well, there you have it. I don't understand why people always think the job title "coach" means x's and o's. We might want to keep that in mind as we select our next "coach". Always remember: job#1 is getting the players. X's and O's is secondary. If you want to win, that is.

calgldnbear;842301805 said:

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I know he is an excellent recruiter but as far as an X's and O's coach, I am not overly impressed. If you gave Monty a fraction of that talent, I pretty sure it would be amazing.

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There's no doubt! He would likely be in the HOF were that the case. But I will add a thought - Even George Geeson wouldn't know how to handle a Formula1 race car. It could end up looking like you trying to get on top of, say, Carol Doda.

His ESPN Q & A addressed that. He said that the UConn free throwers were so accurate that fouling them didn't seem like a high percentage move.

DCW67MSW;842301903 said:

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His ESPN Q & A addressed that. He said that the UConn free throwers were so accurate that fouling them didn't seem like a high percentage move.

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Even given this, I think they could have played more aggressive defense. At least try to generate a turnover or something. If your aggression leads to a foul, well, at least you stopped the clock. Letting them run down 30 seconds and then take a shot is the worst of both worlds.

DCW67MSW;842301903 said:

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His ESPN Q & A addressed that. He said that the UConn free throwers were so accurate that fouling them didn't seem like a high percentage move.

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So instead, with TIME being your biggest problem in the game, you let the other team run out the time and this give yourself NO chance to win? Ok. That makes sense

A coach's job is to put players in their best chance to WIN the game ... I remember a game when Monty at the Furd, was down to Arizona (I think) pretty big, like 20 points or so, and they started fouling with a ton of time left in the game. I am not positive but I think they came back and won in OT. I know they made it back to make the score very close

Either way, the kids play and the coaches coach, late in the game the UK players kept looking over at the coach to see if he wanted them to foul. Coach Cal didn't help them at all in this situation, but then again, I haven't seen him be that good when it counts either

calgldnbear;842301920 said:

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So instead, with TIME being your biggest problem in the game, you let the other team run out the time and this give yourself NO chance to win? Ok. That makes sense

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Right, exactly. Once the clock was under a minute and UK was down two possessions you need to extend the game at all costs. Letting them run the shot clock all the way down means you need to score twice in 20-25 seconds, which is pretty hard to do in college when you have to advance it the length of the floor. Also, unless you can steal the inbounds pass after your first bucket you'll need to foul anyway . . . so why not just do it with 50 seconds left rather than under 20?

I'm sure Calipari has many other virtues as a coach, but his end-game strategy was awful.

sycasey;842302143 said:

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Right, exactly. Once the clock was under a minute and UK was down two possessions you need to extend the game at all costs. Letting them run the shot clock all the way down means you need to score twice in 20-25 seconds, which is pretty hard to do in college when you have to advance it the length of the floor. Also, unless you can steal the inbounds pass after your first bucket you'll need to foul anyway . . . so why not just do it with 50 seconds left rather than under 20?

I'm sure Calipari has many other virtues as a coach, but his end-game strategy was awful.

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He would have been basically giving away points man. UCONN missed 14 free throws the entire tournament and didn't miss 1 last night. At that point under a minute left the game was over.

You mean every uconn player had mid-terms. I don't think Kentucky makes their players take test. When will the NCAA start penalizing schools when players quit going to class after the season. Since their moving on.

RealScouting;842302230 said:

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He would have been basically giving away points man. UCONN missed 14 free throws the entire tournament and didn't miss 1 last night. At that point under a minute left the game was over.

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Whether the game was over or not is not the point, Calipari gave his team essentially NO CHANCE because he didn't allow them to have any time to have a chance. Such a ridiculous defense of his lack of strategy

Give away points? Who cares?? Lose by one point or twenty. It is still a loss .... It was the NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME for goodness sake, if you want to win ONE game your whole life, wouldn't it be that one? (I now I know, you have to win a bunch to get there at all)

It didn't work out this way but the logic would be as follows...get a stop, hit a 3 and you're down 1 with about 15 seconds left. Foul. Even if UConn hits both you still have a chance to tie. Plus, much harder to make both free throws up 1 in that situation versus making free throws when up by 4.

Believe me - I can absolutely get behind the logic of extending the game, but last night's approach was not as insane as many think based on how UConn was seemingly unconscious from the line.

sycasey;842301773 said:

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Down 4 with 0:54 left, don't you have to foul early? Why let UConn run the clock down and THEN foul?! Game over at that point.

I can understand if the young UK team just didn't know what to do, but this was out of a time out.

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As soon as they scored there he should have used one of his FOUR times out left to stop the clock. Because they scored BEFORE the 1 minute mark, the clock kept running so they lost and addition 10 - 15 seconds there too.

hoop97;842302276 said:

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It didn't work out this way but the logic would be as follows...get a stop, hit a 3 and you're down 1 with about 15 seconds left. Foul. Even if UConn hits both you still have a chance to tie. Plus, much harder to make both free throws up 1 in that situation versus making free throws when up by 4.

Believe me - I can absolutely get behind the logic of extending the game, but last night's approach was not as insane as many think based on how UConn was seemingly unconscious from the line.

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I get what you are saying but UK just played a game against a team which was perfect from the line (Wisconsin) save for the very last free throw. And they beat them. Obviously, the situations weren't exactly the same but at least they had a chance given they HAD TIME to try to win the game. In this game, coach Cal gave them essentially no chance at all

RealScouting;842302230 said:

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He would have been basically giving away points man. UCONN missed 14 free throws the entire tournament and didn't miss 1 last night. At that point under a minute left the game was over.

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Under a minute left UK was in a bad position, but the game was NOT over. Extend the game and hit threes, or hope they miss (even great FT shooters miss sometimes).

Letting UConn run the clock down under 30 seconds meant it was over. I mean, at least play aggressively! Try to trap them or something, force a turnover. They didn't even do that.

sycasey;842302298 said:

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Under a minute left UK was in a bad position, but the game was NOT over. Extend the game and hit threes, or hope they miss (even great FT shooters miss sometimes).

Letting UConn run the clock down under 30 seconds meant it was over. I mean, at least play aggressively! Try to trap them or something, force a turnover. They didn't even do that.

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This the key for me. If you are not going to foul because they are making everything, then at least play aggressive defense and try to force a turnover. Cal(ipari) cannot let them stand outside pounding the dribble letting the seconds go down.

IMO bad coaching no matter which way you want to go.