Question about ending of Duke game

[Jaxcat]

Watching the replay, Duke inbounded the ball with 10 seconds on the game clock. Why even attempt to advance the ball over the midcourt line? When Boozer had the ball near midcourt, he should've just held it. If a 10 second violation occurs, UConn probably has .1 seconds and is inbounding near midcourt. More likely, UConn has to foul. Not sure what Scheyer told his team, but attempting to throw the ball across the court was not a fundamentally sound strategy and the coach should have told them that.

It was a once in a lifetime shot, of course, but Duke misplayed those l0 seconds, I believe.

[Pete Hogwallop]

It was kind of odd. They didn't need to cross half court as you said. However, if they just held the ball they would have been fouled really quickly (or maybe even a jump ball forced). If the foul was super quick and Duke only hit one free throw, then the game still could have been tied. If they hit zero free throws, then UConn would have had plenty of time to set up a winning shot.

At the time, I was wondering why UConn wasn't fouling immediately, too, so both teams seemed to have botched it. However, it worked out for UConn obviously.

[EKYCat]

Honestly, if that pass doesn't get deflected, Duke had two guys down there to either dribble it out or put the exclamation point on the game with a dunk. Boozer fakes a pass, gets his defender to bite, and then lobs it down court, game over. Glad it went the way it did.

[Pete Hogwallop]

Hurley COULD have also gotten T'd up after that shot went in as well. Walked toward Duke to taunt them a bit and then got right in the face of the ref. Imagine if the refs had called that!!!

[bthaunert]

If you can advance the ball and not get fouled, you advance the ball. If big Boozer holds on to the ball initially and he's fouled with 8 seconds to go and he misses 1 of 2, then UConn is down 3 with 8 seconds to go and a chance to tie. You 100% advance the ball as much as possible to run time off the clock. You can even see Scheyer in the split screen pointing to the guys down court to throw them a pass. It's a freak play. If that pass is made and not tipped, we are taking about how brilliant they are for advancing the ball for a dunk and winning the game. Hindsight is 20/20 on this imo.

[Jaxcat]

^That may be correct. But, didn't Boozer have at least some room to dribble and burn a few more seconds? IIRC, Boozer caught the pass with maybe 6 seconds to play (the winning shot was released around 2 seconds and there was the steal and a couple of passes before the shot). Hold the ball and UConn probably only has 4 seconds to attempt to tie/win and full length of the court to get there, regardless of whether Duke hits any FTs. Also, there wasn't anyone in the back court to throw to (I haven't looked that closely at the replay)? He did NOT have to advance the ball. Could he have thrown back to a teammate who dribbled out the clock in the back court or at least burned several precious seconds? If Boozer only hits one FT, then UConn still has to hit a 3 with your defense set up (presumably UConn had another TO which they would've called) in less than 7 seconds. Not impossible, of course, but I like my chances of winning if I've got to make sure UConn doesn't get a good look at at 3 within only a few seconds.

20/20 hindsight, yes, and most people would agree with you and Duke's strategy. I just don't think the Duke players were instructed that they didn't HAVE to advance the ball across midcourt and to look to any teammate who wasn't being guarded as the safety valve pass.

I am very glad it turned out the way it did, whether Duke did the right thing or not. UConn was cutting down the nets and that's all I wanted to see.

[bthaunert]

^That may be correct. But, didn't Boozer have at least some room to dribble and burn a few more seconds? IIRC, Boozer caught the pass with maybe 6 seconds to play (the winning shot was released around 2 seconds and there was the steal and a couple of passes before the shot). Hold the ball and UConn probably only has 4 seconds to attempt to tie/win and full length of the court to get there, regardless of whether Duke hits any FTs. Also, there wasn't anyone in the back court to throw to (I haven't looked that closely at the replay)? He did NOT have to advance the ball. Could he have thrown back to a teammate who dribbled out the clock in the back court or at least burned several precious seconds? If Boozer only hits one FT, then UConn still has to hit a 3 with your defense set up (presumably UConn had another TO which they would've called) in less than 7 seconds. Not impossible, of course, but I like my chances of winning if I've got to make sure UConn doesn't get a good look at at 3 within only a few seconds.

20/20 hindsight, yes, and most people would agree with you and Duke's strategy. I just don't think the Duke players were instructed that they didn't HAVE to advance the ball across midcourt and to look to any teammate who wasn't being guarded as the safety valve pass.

I am very glad it turned out the way it did, whether Duke did the right thing or not. UConn was cutting down the nets and that's all I wanted to see.

We are talking about different Boozer's. If the argument is to hold the ball and wait to get fouled, then Cameron Boozer should have held the ball when it initially went into him, which would have been with 8 or 9 seconds left.

[UKHoops01]

I just watched a replay of it. Boozer caught the pass and turned and started to dribble up court. He was immediately met by two UCONN defenders, but you could tell what he saw. His dribble was impeded, but he had a wide open teammate (actually, TWO) at the other end. His thinking was get the ball to him, nobody's anywhere close, it's an automatic 2 points (or he could hold it for the final few seconds), ballgame over.

So initially, I was pretty critical of him and thought he panicked. Watching it again I think he did what nearly any and everyone else would do....save for the few that would want to take the foul and go to the line to shoot free throws. But in that situation, I can't fault him for seeing an open teammate and trying to get him the ball.

[UKHoops01]

UConn was cutting down the nets and that's all I wanted to see.

Ugh.

Kentucky fans really need to realize what they're rooting for. UCONN and Dan Hurley are NOT who you should be rooting for to "cut down the nets"

Maybe after they pass Kentucky for total number of national championships (and they're really close right now) fans will start to get it......but personally I'd like to see them remain right where they're at while Kentucky adds to its total.

[Jaxcat]

IMO, they've already passed UK. We have 3 in the last 30 years, right? UConn has, what, 6? Duke has more than 3, IIRC. Sure, the historic total number is 8, but 5 of those are almost 50 years or older. Hard for me to be proud of championships before I was born, 1963.

ND hasn't won a football championship in almost 40 years, but have more than many of the current elite programs. Which programs have more 'right' to brag: ND, Bama, OSU, GA?

I dislike Duke because of the media's fawning over Coach K for decades, I've met a lot of obnoxious Duke fans and got tired of their holier-than-thou attitude before they too joined the OAD Club.

UConn winning doesn't matter to me one iota. As for maintaining some mythical status with 8 NCs when it's been a while since we even made a FF, I have no intention of being boastful about championships during the Korean War.