MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[AndOne]

What's gotten into those boys from Wheaton? 😉

Last night Anajuwon Spencer got T'd up. 😮
The previous game it was Aston Francis with an F-bomb. 🤭

Who's next? 🤔

[AndOne]

There were 5 seconds left. You know once Francis got the ball he wasn't going to pass it.

You know no such thing. Francis dished out eight assists last night. Eight. Run him off the ball, and he'll put the ball into the hands of whomever you've enabled to take an easy game-winning shot and make it nine assists.

Wheaton was going to live or die with the shot coming from its best player. Nothing was gained by Bair just staying put. If he breaks back when Francis does, they still may have gotten the ball in to Francis, but it would have been deeper giving Francis further to go before launching the winner. Maybe that would have allowed a bit of extra time for another defender to get closer to Francis and prevent an obstile to his getting off the final shot. Maybe not. But when he got the ball so easily where he did, he only had to beat Bonnett who had bounced off Adom and picked him up. The problem is Francis had caught the ball cleanly, and had gotten up a full head of steam. I don't think you can fault Bonnett who stayed with Francis pretty well after picking him up. But its just to hard for one guy to do much with that stepback/sidestep move Francis has. The mistake was letting him catch the ball so easily.

It doesn't seem to me that you've looked at the play at all, Mark, because Francis anticipated either a double-team or contact on the inbounds pass and thus took a very circuitous route to catch the ball. Watch it here. Note where he is at 0:07, where he catches the inbound. He's practically right on top of the arc at the other freakin' end of the floor. He came off of the Adom screen expecting trouble, and he went a long way to his right to make sure that he caught that pass unimpeded. In other words, he himself made his path from Point A to Point B a lot longer, doing exactly what a hedge or feint from Bair would've done. And guess what? It didn't matter one bit. Francis is fast, and he ate up that extra real estate with plenty of time to spare.

When Francis passed out those assists the game wasn't on the line, and there was plenty of time left for more than ONE last shot. And everybody knew who was taking that shot.
When you have the leading scorer in the country on your team you're going to have someone else attempt the game winning shot?  Really?
I suppose you're also sending up a .165 hitter to bat for the league MVP with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, and the winning run on third! Ridiculous.
In the end, no, it didn't matter. But IWU should have made more of an effort to deny the guy that even the man on the moon knew was taking the last shot. Period.

[AndOne]

After about 10 minutes of play last night in Naperville, North Central had scored a whopping 8 points. Their only saving grace was that Carroll had only 10 in a game for which the phrase helter skelter provides an apt description. Multiple misplays by both teams, and the officiating crew, combined to present more of a two part comedy/mystery than a basketball game. This was especially true in the first half during which the question "Whats going on"? was asked multiple times throughout the arena, and which found Carroll holding a 26-22 lead when the horn sounded. The opening act had featured multiple traveling calls, bad passes, and whistles blown (and not blown) for reasons unknown to almost everyone in attendance. Most comical among those calls were the 3 or 4 not made for five seconds after the play had been completed.

Carroll hit the first two baskets of the second half to take it's largest lead of the game at 30-22. NCC then held the visitors scoreless for the next 5 minutes while cutting the lead to 30-29. The teams basically traded baskets thereafter until NCC led 41-40 with 8:04 remaining, and the issue still very much in doubt. Over the next 4 and a half minutes NCC slightly increased it's advantage and held a 50-46 lead with 4:42 left. The Cardinals then closed the deal with 3 pointers by Aiden Chang, Mike Pollock, and Connor Raridon on the next 3 possessions.

* Soph Blaise Meredith led the Cardinal attack with a game and career high 19 points, and added 5 assists, also a game high.

* Matt Cappelletti had an 11-11 double-double.

* Aiden Chang hit for 10 points on 4/6 shooting, incl. 2/3 threes, and had 3 key steals.

* Freshman Joey Buggemi—-3 minutes, 3 points!

[markerickson]

Why were there so few people at the IWU/WC game?  I am curious whether a TO got called immediately before Rose's TO.  If not, on a call from the bench during the action tell the potential league MVP to get fouled and sink from the charity stripe as someone already posted.

[Ryan Scott (Hoops Fan)]

There were 5 seconds left. You know once Francis got the ball he wasn't going to pass it.

You know no such thing. Francis dished out eight assists last night. Eight. Run him off the ball, and he'll put the ball into the hands of whomever you've enabled to take an easy game-winning shot and make it nine assists.

Wheaton was going to live or die with the shot coming from its best player. Nothing was gained by Bair just staying put. If he breaks back when Francis does, they still may have gotten the ball in to Francis, but it would have been deeper giving Francis further to go before launching the winner. Maybe that would have allowed a bit of extra time for another defender to get closer to Francis and prevent an obstile to his getting off the final shot. Maybe not. But when he got the ball so easily where he did, he only had to beat Bonnett who had bounced off Adom and picked him up. The problem is Francis had caught the ball cleanly, and had gotten up a full head of steam. I don't think you can fault Bonnett who stayed with Francis pretty well after picking him up. But its just to hard for one guy to do much with that stepback/sidestep move Francis has. The mistake was letting him catch the ball so easily.

It doesn't seem to me that you've looked at the play at all, Mark, because Francis anticipated either a double-team or contact on the inbounds pass and thus took a very circuitous route to catch the ball. Watch it here. Note where he is at 0:07, where he catches the inbound. He's practically right on top of the arc at the other freakin' end of the floor. He came off of the Adom screen expecting trouble, and he went a long way to his right to make sure that he caught that pass unimpeded. In other words, he himself made his path from Point A to Point B a lot longer, doing exactly what a hedge or feint from Bair would've done. And guess what? It didn't matter one bit. Francis is fast, and he ate up that extra real estate with plenty of time to spare.

When Francis passed out those assists the game wasn't on the line, and there was plenty of time left for more than ONE last shot. And everybody knew who was taking that shot.
When you have the leading scorer in the country on your team you're going to have someone else attempt the game winning shot?  Really?
I suppose you're also sending up a .165 hitter to bat for the league MVP with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, and the winning run on third! Ridiculous.
In the end, no, it didn't matter. But IWU should have made more of an effort to deny the guy that even the man on the moon knew was taking the last shot. Period.

I was going to chime in yesterday, but figured the conversation would soon be over.  I forgot what board this is.

Anyway, with seven seconds left, down two and a backcourt inbound, I don't think Francis was necessarily going to take that shot.  I'm sure they planned to put the ball in his hands and let him make a decision (which will definitely be shoot, if he gets even a mildly decent look), but thinking about IWU's options, him shooting was no guarantee.

To me, the other tactic they could've taken was to run two guys at him in the backcourt, when he received the ball - force a pass.  The problem with that is: With seven seconds, there's time for another pass, if not two.  The Wheaton had just worked the ball in low pretty effectively twice.  You have to have really well drilled defensive positioning for three guys to cover two in a situation like that.  If I'm a coach and we haven't specifically worked on this in practice at some point, I don't know that I take the risk.

No, I know, I would've run two guys at him.  It might've backfired or maybe there's some other consideration I'm missing.  I do think Rose admitted he needed a second defender when Francis got into the frontcourt - maybe that's really the way to go.  Run down the clock a little, then try to force the pass.

I don't think anyone's really going to fault them all that much for losing this one the way they did.

[Greek Tragedy]

My 2 cents is make a better effort denying Francis the ball on the inbounds. A simple pick got him the ball. You weren't defending the inbounder anyway. Double Francis and single cover everyone else except the guy throwing it in.

And yeah, 8 assists during the game, but Francis is getting the ball and most likely shooting to decide the game.

[GoPerry]

My 2 cents is make a better effort denying Francis the ball on the inbounds. A simple pick got him the ball. You weren't defending the inbounder anyway. Double Francis and single cover everyone else except the guy throwing it in.

And yeah, 8 assists during the game, but Francis is getting the ball and most likely shooting to decide the game.

Agree Greek.  It's a tough call (which is why lots of different opinions), but with only 5.2 sec left, making him use up even 1 second by disrupting the inbounds could've made a big difference.  But if he were to shake the dt quickly, which he often does, then you're in trouble.  As it was, he was really just one on one guarded until he took the shot, and Rose really never got there.  Even Bonnett really didn't contest it for fear of fouling.

[pgkevin]

After about 10 minutes of play last night in Naperville, North Central had scored a whopping 8 points. Their only saving grace was that Carroll had only 10 in a game for which the phrase helter skelter provides an apt description. Multiple misplays by both teams, and the officiating crew, combined to present more of a two part comedy/mystery than a basketball game. This was especially true in the first half during which the question "Whats going on"? was asked multiple times throughout the arena, and which found Carroll holding a 26-22 lead when the horn sounded. The opening act had featured multiple traveling calls, bad passes, and whistles blown (and not blown) for reasons unknown to almost everyone in attendance. Most comical among those calls were the 3 or 4 not made for five seconds after the play had been completed.

Carroll hit the first two baskets of the second half to take it's largest lead of the game at 30-22. NCC then held the visitors scoreless for the next 5 minutes while cutting the lead to 30-29. The teams basically traded baskets thereafter until NCC led 41-40 with 8:04 remaining, and the issue still very much in doubt. Over the next 4 and a half minutes NCC slightly increased it's advantage and held a 50-46 lead with 4:42 left. The Cardinals then closed the deal with 3 pointers by Aiden Chang, Mike Pollock, and Connor Raridon on the next 3 possessions.

* Soph Blaise Meredith led the Cardinal attack with a game and career high 19 points, and added 5 assists, also a game high.

* Matt Cappelletti had an 11-11 double-double.

* Aiden Chang hit for 10 points on 4/6 shooting, incl. 2/3 threes, and had 3 key steals.

* Freshman Joey Buggemi—-3 minutes, 3 points!

I will admit beforehand in full disclosure that this is going to be a bit of a loaded question before I even ask it.  But two questions (maybe 1 assumption and then 1 question)...

-I'm assuming that AndOne you were at the game on Wednesday night?

-Do I recall that a season or two ago you soundly criticized an opposing player for their histrionics after making several 3 point shots?  I don't possess the effort or the technological ability to go back and find it, but I'm pretty sure this was a topic of conversation for a few days on the boards correct?

[wheels81]

Just another great play against IWU only this time at the shirk.  3 plays stick out to me  1) Pre You tube, Matt Nadelhoffer inbounds it to himself off the back side of Korey Koon(?) and gets an easy layup at the old Centennial Gym,  2) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsw28ZxBoH4 home game, and 3) Francis' game winning shot going through as buzzer goes off.

[Gregory Sager]

There were 5 seconds left. You know once Francis got the ball he wasn't going to pass it.

You know no such thing. Francis dished out eight assists last night. Eight. Run him off the ball, and he'll put the ball into the hands of whomever you've enabled to take an easy game-winning shot and make it nine assists.

Wheaton was going to live or die with the shot coming from its best player. Nothing was gained by Bair just staying put. If he breaks back when Francis does, they still may have gotten the ball in to Francis, but it would have been deeper giving Francis further to go before launching the winner. Maybe that would have allowed a bit of extra time for another defender to get closer to Francis and prevent an obstile to his getting off the final shot. Maybe not. But when he got the ball so easily where he did, he only had to beat Bonnett who had bounced off Adom and picked him up. The problem is Francis had caught the ball cleanly, and had gotten up a full head of steam. I don't think you can fault Bonnett who stayed with Francis pretty well after picking him up. But its just to hard for one guy to do much with that stepback/sidestep move Francis has. The mistake was letting him catch the ball so easily.

It doesn't seem to me that you've looked at the play at all, Mark, because Francis anticipated either a double-team or contact on the inbounds pass and thus took a very circuitous route to catch the ball. Watch it here. Note where he is at 0:07, where he catches the inbound. He's practically right on top of the arc at the other freakin' end of the floor. He came off of the Adom screen expecting trouble, and he went a long way to his right to make sure that he caught that pass unimpeded. In other words, he himself made his path from Point A to Point B a lot longer, doing exactly what a hedge or feint from Bair would've done. And guess what? It didn't matter one bit. Francis is fast, and he ate up that extra real estate with plenty of time to spare.

When Francis passed out those assists the game wasn't on the line, and there was plenty of time left for more than ONE last shot. And everybody knew who was taking that shot.
When you have the leading scorer in the country on your team you're going to have someone else attempt the game winning shot?  Really?
I suppose you're also sending up a .165 hitter to bat for the league MVP with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, and the winning run on third! Ridiculous.
In the end, no, it didn't matter. But IWU should have made more of an effort to deny the guy that even the man on the moon knew was taking the last shot. Period.

Come on, Mark. Did Michael Jordan take every big last-second shot in every big game? No, he didn't. John Paxson won an NBA Finals game by hitting a last-possession shot off of a dish from Jordan. Steve Kerr won an NBA Finals game by hitting a last-possession shot off of a dish from Jordan. You're giving Francis far too little credit. Plus, somewhere in the back of his mind he would've been aware of the fact that he took a bad shot (albeit, one he'd been steadily clanking all night) in Wheaton's final possession on Saturday night when he could've possibly sent the game in the crackerbox into overtime by feeding Eichelberger in the corner or by sending a skip pass across to a wide-open Cruickshank, both of whom had much higher-percentage looks than Francis's spin-o-rama jumper.

Sending Bair out into the backcourt to chase Francis would've been a fool's errand on the part of Ron Rose (or of Bair, if it was his own initiative). He would've presented no obstacle to Francis whatsoever all by himself in the open floor. Francis would've gone around him as if he wasn't even there. As I said, Francis already made it harder on himself by deviating so far to his right to catch the inbound.

My 2 cents is make a better effort denying Francis the ball on the inbounds. A simple pick got him the ball. You weren't defending the inbounder anyway. Double Francis and single cover everyone else except the guy throwing it in.

This is actually the most sensible response I've read yet. You're right, Tom; the time to challenge Francis was on the inbound pass itself. Once he had the ball, it made no sense to send extra players at him until he was within reasonable-Aston-Francis range (which is about 30 feet from the basket). So bracket him when the official hands the ball to the inbounder. Force him to go backwards to catch an inbound lob, and you can keep him bracketed for at least a couple more seconds, if not longer. Take the initiative out of his hands, and force him to go in a direction he doesn't want to go, a direction where he can't get forward momentum.

And yeah, 8 assists during the game, but Francis is getting the ball and most likely shooting to decide the game.

Most likely, yes. Definitely, no. Francis is cocky, but he isn't stupid. If you give his teammate a wide-open look -- especially inside the arc, since it's only a one-point game -- he'll hit him with a pass and will happily collect the game-winning assist.

[AndOne]

After about 10 minutes of play last night in Naperville, North Central had scored a whopping 8 points. Their only saving grace was that Carroll had only 10 in a game for which the phrase helter skelter provides an apt description. Multiple misplays by both teams, and the officiating crew, combined to present more of a two part comedy/mystery than a basketball game. This was especially true in the first half during which the question "Whats going on"? was asked multiple times throughout the arena, and which found Carroll holding a 26-22 lead when the horn sounded. The opening act had featured multiple traveling calls, bad passes, and whistles blown (and not blown) for reasons unknown to almost everyone in attendance. Most comical among those calls were the 3 or 4 not made for five seconds after the play had been completed.

Carroll hit the first two baskets of the second half to take it's largest lead of the game at 30-22. NCC then held the visitors scoreless for the next 5 minutes while cutting the lead to 30-29. The teams basically traded baskets thereafter until NCC led 41-40 with 8:04 remaining, and the issue still very much in doubt. Over the next 4 and a half minutes NCC slightly increased it's advantage and held a 50-46 lead with 4:42 left. The Cardinals then closed the deal with 3 pointers by Aiden Chang, Mike Pollock, and Connor Raridon on the next 3 possessions.

* Soph Blaise Meredith led the Cardinal attack with a game and career high 19 points, and added 5 assists, also a game high.

* Matt Cappelletti had an 11-11 double-double.

* Aiden Chang hit for 10 points on 4/6 shooting, incl. 2/3 threes, and had 3 key steals.

* Freshman Joey Buggemi—-3 minutes, 3 points!

I will admit beforehand in full disclosure that this is going to be a bit of a loaded question before I even ask it.  But two questions (maybe 1 assumption and then 1 question)...

-I'm assuming that AndOne you were at the game on Wednesday night?

-Do I recall that a season or two ago you soundly criticized an opposing player for their histrionics after making several 3 point shots?  I don't possess the effort or the technological ability to go back and find it, but I'm pretty sure this was a topic of conversation for a few days on the boards correct?

1. Yes. I was definitely at the game.
2. Yes I did, but I believe it was 3 or 4 years ago. Kind of ancient history at this point. And that has what to do with the game described above?

[WUPHF]

[wheels81]

Most likely, yes. Definitely, no. Francis is cocky, but he isn't stupid. If you give his teammate a wide-open look -- especially inside the arc, since it's only a one-point game -- he'll hit him with a pass and will happily collect the game-winning assist.
[/quote]

Greg, I most admire your word smithery on this site but the term cocky is not how I would describe Francis,  Confident, self assured, passionate, competitive but not cocky. 
"cock·y
/ˈkäkē/Submit
adjective
conceited or arrogant, especially in a bold or impudent way.
synonyms:   arrogant, conceited, overweening, overconfident, cocksure, self-important, egotistical, presumptuous, boastful, self-assertive;"
(That's the first definition that showed up with google but other dictionaries have similar and unpleasant interpretations of cocky)
Too many words that don't typify this guy in the definition.  His coach would not tolerate him or would his teammates if he were so in reality.   
I do think though you can describe his play as different from his person.  His play may be perceived by his opponents as cocky but not by his teammates or fans, unless he misses :-)
Mark(aka +1) likes to find a Wheaton player to critique,  before it was Michael Berg, now it's Francis.

[ecreddevils]

Most likely, yes. Definitely, no. Francis is cocky, but he isn't stupid. If you give his teammate a wide-open look -- especially inside the arc, since it's only a one-point game -- he'll hit him with a pass and will happily collect the game-winning assist.

Greg, I most admire your word smithery on this site but the term cocky is not how I would describe Francis,  Confident, self assured, passionate, competitive but not cocky. 
"cock·y
/ˈkäkē/Submit
adjective
conceited or arrogant, especially in a bold or impudent way.
synonyms:   arrogant, conceited, overweening, overconfident, cocksure, self-important, egotistical, presumptuous, boastful, self-assertive;"
(That's the first definition that showed up with google but other dictionaries have similar and unpleasant interpretations of cocky)
Too many words that don't typify this guy in the definition.  His coach would not tolerate him or would his teammates if he were so in reality.   
I do think though you can describe his play as different from his person.  His play may be perceived by his opponents as cocky but not by his teammates or fans, unless he misses :-)
Mark(aka +1) likes to find a Wheaton player to critique,  before it was Michael Berg, now it's Francis.
[/quote]

Yeah, not a great word choice. I saw him in person for the first time the other night and picked up on him repeatedly talking teammates down in heated moments.  He never gestured or gave an air of cockiness.  Went about his business like any good player should.  Very impressive.

[AndOne]

There were 5 seconds left. You know once Francis got the ball he wasn't going to pass it.

You know no such thing. Francis dished out eight assists last night. Eight. Run him off the ball, and he'll put the ball into the hands of whomever you've enabled to take an easy game-winning shot and make it nine assists.

Wheaton was going to live or die with the shot coming from its best player. Nothing was gained by Bair just staying put. If he breaks back when Francis does, they still may have gotten the ball in to Francis, but it would have been deeper giving Francis further to go before launching the winner. Maybe that would have allowed a bit of extra time for another defender to get closer to Francis and prevent an obstile to his getting off the final shot. Maybe not. But when he got the ball so easily where he did, he only had to beat Bonnett who had bounced off Adom and picked him up. The problem is Francis had caught the ball cleanly, and had gotten up a full head of steam. I don't think you can fault Bonnett who stayed with Francis pretty well after picking him up. But its just to hard for one guy to do much with that stepback/sidestep move Francis has. The mistake was letting him catch the ball so easily.

It doesn't seem to me that you've looked at the play at all, Mark, because Francis anticipated either a double-team or contact on the inbounds pass and thus took a very circuitous route to catch the ball. Watch it here. Note where he is at 0:07, where he catches the inbound. He's practically right on top of the arc at the other freakin' end of the floor. He came off of the Adom screen expecting trouble, and he went a long way to his right to make sure that he caught that pass unimpeded. In other words, he himself made his path from Point A to Point B a lot longer, doing exactly what a hedge or feint from Bair would've done. And guess what? It didn't matter one bit. Francis is fast, and he ate up that extra real estate with plenty of time to spare.

When Francis passed out those assists the game wasn't on the line, and there was plenty of time left for more than ONE last shot. And everybody knew who was taking that shot.
When you have the leading scorer in the country on your team you're going to have someone else attempt the game winning shot?  Really?
I suppose you're also sending up a .165 hitter to bat for the league MVP with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, and the winning run on third! Ridiculous.
In the end, no, it didn't matter. But IWU should have made more of an effort to deny the guy that even the man on the moon knew was taking the last shot. Period.

Come on, Mark. Did Michael Jordan take every big last-second shot in every big game? No, he didn't. John Paxson won an NBA Finals game by hitting a last-possession shot off of a dish from Jordan. Steve Kerr won an NBA Finals game by hitting a last-possession shot off of a dish from Jordan. You're giving Francis far too little credit. Plus, somewhere in the back of his mind he would've been aware of the fact that he took a bad shot (albeit, one he'd been steadily clanking all night) in Wheaton's final possession on Saturday night when he could've possibly sent the game in the crackerbox into overtime by feeding Eichelberger in the corner or by sending a skip pass across to a wide-open Cruickshank, both of whom had much higher-percentage looks than Francis's spin-o-rama jumper.

Sending Bair out into the backcourt to chase Francis would've been a fool's errand on the part of Ron Rose (or of Bair, if it was his own initiative). He would've presented no obstacle to Francis whatsoever all by himself in the open floor. Francis would've gone around him as if he wasn't even there. As I said, Francis already made it harder on himself by deviating so far to his right to catch the inbound.

My 2 cents is make a better effort denying Francis the ball on the inbounds. A simple pick got him the ball. You weren't defending the inbounder anyway. Double Francis and single cover everyone else except the guy throwing it in.

This is actually the most sensible response I've read yet. You're right, Tom; the time to challenge Francis was on the inbound pass itself. Once he had the ball, it made no sense to send extra players at him until he was within reasonable-Aston-Francis range (which is about 30 feet from the basket). So bracket him when the official hands the ball to the inbounder. Force him to go backwards to catch an inbound lob, and you can keep him bracketed for at least a couple more seconds, if not longer. Take the initiative out of his hands, and force him to go in a direction he doesn't want to go, a direction where he can't get forward momentum.

And yeah, 8 assists during the game, but Francis is getting the ball and most likely shooting to decide the game.

Most likely, yes. Definitely, no. Francis is cocky, but he isn't stupid. If you give his teammate a wide-open look -- especially inside the arc, since it's only a one-point game -- he'll hit him with a pass and will happily collect the game-winning assist.

Come on Mark? I think you mean come on Greg-and if you don't, you should. Here's why.

1.Those other players you refer to that Jordan passed the ball to were seasoned professional basketball players. Not college Division 3 student-athletes.

2. Furthermore, the players you mention, Paxson and Kerr were (3 point) shooting specialists. That's what they were known for. They were probably better long range shooters than Jordan.

3. You keep saying there were 7 seconds left when Wheaton inbounded the ball on the final play. Where did you get that? You are wrong. There were only 5.2 seconds remaining. Francis didn't have as much time to get creative as you asserted. Especially when he received the ball where he did on the court.

4. You know, or should know that a player of Francis' magnitude and mental as well as physical toughness and skill is always going to think that he is the best option when the game is on the line! Before the ball was even inbounded I'll bet you anything Aston Francis primary thought was that he was the best one to take the shot. That's the makeup a great player has. That's part of the reason he leads the country in scoring. When the game is on the line a great player wants the ball and the outcome in his hands. Sure he would have passed to a teammate—provided that player was wide-ass open and standing either under the basket or within a few feet of it. But such was not the case.

5. Now, remember again only 5.2 seconds remained. Once Francis took more than 2 or 3 dribbles without passing the ball, the deal was sealed-HE was taking the final shot. After the 4th dribble you can see him cut sharply to the right to set up the shot.

Furthermore.........

6. I previously said "But what Wesleyan did wrong was let Francis catch the ball so easily."
I said Bair—who was immediately to Francis' left, should have gone right with Francis when he broke to his right to receive the pass. With his height maybe he could have tipped the ball away from Francis or at least force him deeper to be able to catch it. But you either missed this point or ignored it because you stated "Francis would've gone around him as if he wasn't even there." OF COURSE he would have, but my point as I stated was that IWU should have made it harder for Francis to catch the ball in the first place! You completely changed what I said around!

7. THEN, when Greek Tragedy said "my 2 cents is make a better effort denying Francis the ball inbounds," which is exactly what I had said, you stated "this is actually the most sensible response I've read yet. You're right Tom.

For God sakes Greg. I say what IWU did wrong was to allow Francis to catch the ball so easily, and you basically tell me I don't know what I'm talking about. Then Greek says exactly the same thing and you say thats the most sensible thing you've heard. Sorry, but you're not making sense. It's all right there. Go back and read it. First I'm an idiot for saying Francis' first inclination was to take the final shot rather than first looking to pass when just about everyone who knows the difference between a basketball and a hole in the ground would have been shocked if anything different would have happened. Then you tell me more closely defending the inbounds pass would have been foolish but agree with another poster when he says the same thing. What's going on?
And by the way, I think you also criticized me with the implication that my thinking that Francis was going to do nothing but shoot, was in some way a knock on Mr. Francis. To the contrary. I admire him for realizing he was the most likely to succeed in that situation, and for having the confidence to take the shot.

Like Jimmy Chitwood said in Hoosiers, "I'll make it coach!"