Closing Out Games

L

L.A.Longhorn

250+ Posts
Why? Why are we so awful?


Abrams is the ONLY one who should have the ball when it comes time to foul. We can't inbound well and our perimeter defense was awful.

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Easy answer - this team is not good offensively when it kills clock and leaves it to Augustine to drive and dish or go to the hole. There's a big difference between doing that in the course of the offense and doing it when there's 5 to shoot and everyone knows what you're doing.

This team is not good when it does a lot of standing around and waiting for someone else. Someone made a comment that if Miami were a better team, we lose. I would suggest if Miami were a better team and we don't get the big lead, we don't play sluggish on offense down the stretch.
 
You can't be brain dead and put the opposition on the foul line to score with the clock stopped ... and you most certainly have to hit your own freethrows.

What a nightmare the end of that game was ...
 
Texas was awful closing this one out because they clearly stopped trying, which pisses me off. I don't think it had anything to do with Haith. You could feel the Horns beginning to coast after the first five minutes or so of the second half. They are not going to win any more basketball games in this tournament if they continue with that crap.
 
The only thing that is too conservative is that DJ waits until there are 5-8 seconds left before he starts making his move and then it is him that invariably shoots. He should start at 10-12 seconds so that he can dish and doesn't have to shoot. I don't know why the coaches can't correct this.
 
I think we put it on cruise control way too early in the game, and it almost bit us on the ***.

I hope Barnes drills that point into their skulls all week long. But I also don't see us being in position to even think about cruise control against Stanford. Still, the point needs to be made, and emphatically.
 
Tennessee is in a similar situation against Butler. Georgetown has their hands full with Davidson. Close games today.
 
Fortunately I don't think they'll have the option of taking the foot off the pedal from here on out. But looking at the other 2 seeds today, I'm pretty happy!
 
As bad as our offense was at the end of the game, our defense was worse. Why were we fouling Miami so early in the possession? We needed to make those guys work for at 25-30 seconds. Instead, we foul; they make their free throws; and hardly any time comes off the clock. That was as bad as, if not worse than, missing our free throws and turning the ball over on the inbounds.

We lost the Wisconsin game due to free throw shooting at the end, and we almost lost in Waco because we couldn't close out a team. I almost feel better when we only have a two or three point lead at the end of a game, instead of a ten point lead, because you know the other team is going to foul us and it will come down to our free throw shooting.
 
Mojo,

Hit the nail on the head. Start your move with a little more time because they just double at the three point line and we throw up some crap. Also, why the hell do we get so complacent in the last 5 minutes, even in relatively tight games? Pedal to the medal until the buzzer!!!
 
We also waited to be fouled if someone other than DJ touched the ball. Dribble or pass the ball to someone and try to take time off of the clock. One of these days, a team is going to trap rather than foul and we are going to turn the ball over.
 
Whoever said defense was just as big of an issue as the offense hit the nail on the head. Up 6 and a postman starts to drive on Atchley, inexplicably Mason doubles down and leaves his man wide open for the jumper. You have to know it's better to give up the to in that situation than leave your man wide open for a 3. That was a bigtime brain fart.
 
Lots of late game brain farts. I wonder if the team was tired and not thinking well or if they were slacking because they thought it was in the bag?

My biggest concern of the tourney since the regular season was depth and exhaustion. I hope it was just a brain fart not a symptom of being tired. I think we can go to the championship game if we play smart and keep our legs fresh and with Barnes the former will happen, I am sure, so I hope it was not our stamina.
 
I think with DJ, it is about being tired. There's no other explanation for airballing the free-throw at the end. Rick keeps saying "I want to get DJ some rest, but he doesn't want to be on the bench." The time to be the head coach and put your foot down on that issue came and went a long time ago. It's too late now to do anything about it.
 
To me, Coach Barnes is the biggest culprit here. Either that or the team isn't listening to him, and that's on him, too. We don't do a slowdown game well. It's just not the way our guys are wired (or coached).

But, we won. In the tournament, that's all that matters. Had this been the first game of the weekend, I'd be worried. It takes a few days to recover from a fight like that -- think "Duke". Fortunately, the team has time to reset, and from here on out, they have a huge "home court" advantage, which should help.
 
I seem to remember recent years in which it appeared Texas couldn't even inbound the ball late in the game while trying to protect a lead, so let's not forget how much worse things might be.

Let's see, hmm, games Texas lost late this year.

MSU? Nope, closed with a rush to lose by 5.
Wisc? Close all the way in the second half. Abrams missed free throw and great shot by Wisconsin to win it.
Those first two conference losses weren't close.
Tech? Closed with a rush (down 14 with 2 minutes to go?)
Kansas? Didn't really squander away a late lead in that one--just went 0-7 from the field to close it, while KU hit 9-10 ft.

Yes, the team needs to avoid the closing collapses like it had today, since the caliber of competition to be faced will make it pay, but let's not forget this team hasn't lost a game in which it had a late lead since the Wisconsin game.
 
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