I waited a couple of days to post this because I wanted to re-watch the two shots thatI angling to mention here.
If anybody still thinks that just playing tough defense gives you better odds than fouling to protect a 3 point lead in the final seconds I offer asExhibits #1,104 and 1,105 in favor of fouling the two shots by UNI's Bowen Born on Wednesday night at Drake at the end of regulation and at the end of the first overtime.
Down by 3 with 3.5 seconds left and needing to go the length of the floor UNI's Bowen Born hit a buzzer-beating trey to send the game into overtime. Then at the end of the first overruns and again only 3 seconds left, Born hit another buzzer-beater to send the game into a second overtime.
The fallacy of the "don't foul, just play good defense" option was demonstrated when BOTH of Born's shots were extremely well-defended. On the first one at the end of regulation he squeezed between two defenders and had to double-clutch and release the shot from hip level. On the second at the end of the first O.T., with3.4 seconds left,UNI's lobbed inbounds lass was errant and Born ran it down and grabbed it at the mid court with his back to the basket; he could have been fouled at any time between then and when he curled to about 22 feet, straight on from beyond the top of the jey. A Drake defender closed out on Born and challenged the shot so closely that he nearly fouled Born on his release.
Instead of choosing to foul in the final couple of seconds, Drake twice gambled that good defense was the better option and they were proven wrong twice.
The other worst case scenario is that if you foul, the shooter could make one and miss the second and an offensive rebound basket would tie the game. But because Born's game-tying shots were buzzer-beaters, there would have been only a fraction of a second on the clock for UNI to rebound a missed free throw and put it in the basket.
If anybody still thinks that just playing tough defense gives you better odds than fouling to protect a 3 point lead in the final seconds I offer asExhibits #1,104 and 1,105 in favor of fouling the two shots by UNI's Bowen Born on Wednesday night at Drake at the end of regulation and at the end of the first overtime.
Down by 3 with 3.5 seconds left and needing to go the length of the floor UNI's Bowen Born hit a buzzer-beating trey to send the game into overtime. Then at the end of the first overruns and again only 3 seconds left, Born hit another buzzer-beater to send the game into a second overtime.
The fallacy of the "don't foul, just play good defense" option was demonstrated when BOTH of Born's shots were extremely well-defended. On the first one at the end of regulation he squeezed between two defenders and had to double-clutch and release the shot from hip level. On the second at the end of the first O.T., with3.4 seconds left,UNI's lobbed inbounds lass was errant and Born ran it down and grabbed it at the mid court with his back to the basket; he could have been fouled at any time between then and when he curled to about 22 feet, straight on from beyond the top of the jey. A Drake defender closed out on Born and challenged the shot so closely that he nearly fouled Born on his release.
Instead of choosing to foul in the final couple of seconds, Drake twice gambled that good defense was the better option and they were proven wrong twice.
The other worst case scenario is that if you foul, the shooter could make one and miss the second and an offensive rebound basket would tie the game. But because Born's game-tying shots were buzzer-beaters, there would have been only a fraction of a second on the clock for UNI to rebound a missed free throw and put it in the basket.
