MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

Realistically, the Titans could not have defended that final play any better than they did. If you're a Wesleyan fan, you walk out of the gym grumbling about Brady Rose screwing up your team's final possession, not about getting beat on a 24-foot stepback at the buzzer by the one guy in the league who makes that kind of a shot as a matter of routine.

I agree.  I was there, was not the fault of the defenders, just a shooter who wasn't going to be denied executing what he'd done all night his entire career.

FTFY.

[hopefan]

Realistically, the Titans could not have defended that final play any better than they did. If you're a Wesleyan fan, you walk out of the gym grumbling about Brady Rose screwing up your team's final possession, not about getting beat on a 24-foot stepback at the buzzer by the one guy in the league who makes that kind of a shot as a matter of routine.

Disagree.. as soon as he crosses line, the defender to his right should have (could have) run at him... I do admit the step back, which gave him room from the man directly guarding him, was a thing of beauty....still, if defenses cause him to use 1 more second to advance the ball to the offensive area, a tougher situation for him...

I really appreciate the discussion!!!!

[WUPHF]

On the possession right before the turnover, Tyson Cruikshank was left wide open under the basket to cut the IWU lead to 1 because everyone in the gym expected the ball to go to Francis.

If I remember correctly, Wheaton had two straight possessions with post plays to score before the final possession.

[duckfan41]

On the possession right before the turnover, Tyson Cruikshank was left wide open under the basket to cut the IWU lead to 1 because everyone in the gym expected the ball to go to Francis.

If I remember correctly, Wheaton had two straight possessions with post plays to score before the final possession.

👍🏼

[Gregory Sager]

Realistically, the Titans could not have defended that final play any better than they did. If you're a Wesleyan fan, you walk out of the gym grumbling about Brady Rose screwing up your team's final possession, not about getting beat on a 24-foot stepback at the buzzer by the one guy in the league who makes that kind of a shot as a matter of routine.

Disagree.. as soon as he crosses line, the defender to his right should have (could have) run at him...

That would've left Kobe Eichelberger, the second-best shooter and driver on the Wheaton team, wide open on the wing, with plenty of time to either shoot, pass, or take a few dribbles before the buzzer goes off in what would've effectively been a 4-on-3 situation. Notice where Eichelberger ended up when the ball went through the cylinder and the backboard lit up -- he was right under the basket, in fact even a couple of steps to the near side of it. In other words, he would've had ample time to make something happen. As it was, I think that the defender to Francis's right -- Jason Gregoire -- did the right thing. He sagged off Eichelberger, maintained a neutral three-quarters stance at the arc, and rushed at Francis when it became obvious that the Wheaton star was committed to taking the final shot.

Gregoire was perhaps a couple tenths of a second late in making that recognition, but it's doubtful that he could've defended the stepback even if he'd read it at the right moment; it wasn't just a stepback, it was a sidestep as well, and it's just plain impossible to gauge where Francis's release point is going to be (which is one more reason why he's in a class of his own as an offensive weapon).

It was a damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't situation, and I don't fault Gregoire for how he played it.

[hopefan]

Greg and the rest.. great analysis...

My attitude has always been... on offense, your best player gets the last shot (Wheaton adhered to this)
On defense, anybody but the other team's best player gets the last shot...

I can't have it both ways..

[bbfan44]

 If you were there...any thoughts or comments on 24 versus 6 free throws? 

[Gregory Sager]

Wesleyan archives its games, so I went ahead and watched it, in order to: a) get a feel for how the game played out, especially comparing the Wheaton on the screen to the Wheaton I saw on Saturday night; b) see the two endgame plays in question; and c) hear the postgame interview with Ron Rose. Unfortunately, the usually-great camerawork by the IWU camera operator -- who had us viewers on cinematically intimate terms with all of those dour-faced old people sitting in green behind the IWU bench with their arms folded throughout the entire game -- failed for one single moment out of 40 minutes of game time to follow the ball, and that single moment was when Brady Rose threw the ball away with six or so seconds remaining.

So I can attest that what WUPHF said is true. On Wheaton's two possessions prior to the game-winning shot, Wheaton looked inside right away rather than to Francis and got two easy buckets. As duckfan said, on the second one Tyson Cruickshank was left open underneath the hoop -- in fact, he was so wide open that would've had enough time to solve a Rubik's Cube before he made that layup.

In the postgame interview, Ron Rose did the standard coach maneuver by falling on his sword. He blamed himself for both his son's flub ("I got greedy ... we should've just inbounded the ball and taken the free throws ....") and the Francis shot, saying that he should've known better than to think that anyone other than Francis would've taken that shot and that he therefore should've thrown two guys at him. Thing is, though, the fact that Brady Rose coughed up the ball in the forecourt rather than in the backcourt didn't matter; he still should've simply allowed himself to be fouled no matter where he was on the floor, which made his dad's decision to run an up-the-floor inbounds play immaterial. And, as Ron Rose pointed out himself, his team had gotten burned on the previous two possessions by keying on Francis. I respect the IWU coach for doing his job in that interview, which is to protect his players by shouldering the responsibility himself, but -- as you said, hopefan -- you can't have it both ways. It's just not possible to take away all of Wheaton's options in a one-point game, especially when the Sonic Atmospheric Disturbance has already demonstrated emphatically that it doesn't need to have Aston Francis take the final shot in order to beat you.

[Titan Q]

Here is a pic of the shot - http://www.iwuhoops.com/francisshot.png.

I mean, I can't fault anything about the defense here.  Colin Bonnett and Brady Rose are on him.  And Francis is 4-5 feet beyond the arc.  The kid made a shot.

I wish Brady Rose had not passed the ball and turned it over the possession before.  But it happened and you move on.

[Titan Q]

IWU played without 6-5 F Doug Wallen (6.3 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 2.4 apg) last night.  I am not quite sure what the injury is or what his status is for the game in Rock Island Saturday.

[WUPHF]

As an aside, I do think I have seen more players intentionally flop this season though I cannot say for sure that this happened in the game last night.  It certainly did not matter in the end, but I am beginning to think that Division III needs video review for late game situations.

[AndOne]

I'm sorry, after seeing that video , way too easy for Francis to get off a virtually uncontested shot. Let him get the ball, then double or triple team him as he attempts to get the ball up the court. If you turn him once or twice, the shot becomes longer and more rushed. If he passes off, fine, make one of the other guys beat you. One on one just not sufficient in an effort to stop a great shooter.

Up 1 though, you have to defend everybody.  Tricky spot.

That especially came into play yesterday with so many guys outside of Francis playing well. On the possession right before the turnover, Tyson Cruikshank was left wide open under the basket to cut the IWU lead to 1 because everyone in the gym expected the ball to go to Francis.

On the Francis play, Adom set him a huge screen to get him open, and it seemed like Adom's man wasn't prepared to switch onto the guy who was obviously going to get the ball in that situation. Regarding the shot itself, Francis has become a master of shaking defenders to get the separation he needs (which isn't much) to feel comfortable enough to let it fly. Bonnett is one of the best perimeter defenders in the conference, and there's honestly not much more he could have done to make that shot more difficult for Francis. He honored the drive and got burned by a very good step back, but still was able to get a hand in Aston's face.

As some would say, there was great defense but better offense on that last play. Aston also had 8 assists last night, so doubling or tripling him as soon as he touched it would have opened up 1 or 2 scoring options for him to differ to, which both arguably would have been just as reliable as a Francis step back from 20+ feet.

Realistically, the Titans could not have defended that final play any better than they did. If you're a Wesleyan fan, you walk out of the gym grumbling about Brady Rose screwing up your team's final possession, not about getting beat on a 24-foot stepback at the buzzer by the one guy in the league who makes that kind of a shot as a matter of routine.

What Ron Rose forgot was the old adage across all sports namely, don't let the best guy on the other team beat you. And yes, of course, thats easier said than done. But what Wesleyan did wrong was to let Francis catch the ball so easily. Wheaton set the play for Adom to pick Francis' primary defender, Bonnett. Francis broke back to his right to start the play. I believe the IWU player to Francis' left is Bair. When Francis broke right, Bair should have been instructed to have gone with/followed him rather than just standing there like he did. This may have prevented the inbounds pass from going to Francis who was wide open to receive it once Adom picked Bonnett. There were 5 seconds left. You know once Francis got the ball he wasn't going to pass it. 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.
Of course, if Brady Rose hadn't thrown the ball away, that winning scenario never happens.

[AndOne]

Q, do we have a defensive specialist we'll put on Francis, or is it just whoever is his guy at the moment?

Apparently, not. 😏

[GoPerry]

If you were there...any thoughts or comments on 24 versus 6 free throws?

Over half of Wheaton's shots were from beyond the arc.  Not going to shoot many FTs if you do that.

That is an unusual disparity however.  But maybe it wasn't very noticeable because the nature of the game was just a shootout. 

I will say that both Bonnett and Gregoire look adept at kicking that foot out when shooting the trey and drawing the foul. Both players had 3-attempt trips to the line.

I re-watched the game also.  Really big game plays by both Adom and Cruickshank.

[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.