Path to the Hall of Fame

[randy]

Hard to overcome that kind of ft disadvantage on the road. Do you use any zone at all, or do you rely on that multi-coverage in man-to-man?

In that game where we lost, I used man defense exclusively. I probably should have switched to a 2-3 zone, esp when my C got into foul trouble.

[randy]

12/8/94: Sam Houston St (6-1) @ Oakland (1-5)
OAK is +3 in team prestige; this is the last game of our 5-game road trip

Pre-game Notes
[INDENT]1. OAK is averaging 19 tos per game
[/INDENT]
Initial instructions
[INDENT]1. Offense Sets / Focus: Auto (mostly Motion) / Heavy Inside
2. Offense Pace / Freedom: 3 / 60%
3. Off / Def Rebounding Crash: 9 / 10
4. Defense Sets / Intensity: Man / 8 (double on everyone, except PG)
5. Pressure Set / Frequency: Auto / 9
[/INDENT]


Tip off (1st Half)

15:11, Up 9-7
We're scoring on the inside, they're getting theirs from the outside.

11:55, Up 15-14
OAK is converting on almost every jump shot. F Griffin has 2 fouls

9:18, Up 23-16
It's the Dana Cook show; he has 17 pts. OAK with 6 turn overs

3:09, Up 35-27
Foul trouble for my back court; F Granville with 3, Coulibaly has 2


Halftime, Down 42-29
Majerus hits a 3 at the buzzer! OAK has no answer for Cook; he has 21 pts. Turn overs are 3-9. We scored 34 inside pts; OAK has 20 outside pts


Start of 2nd Half

15:23, Up 54-39
Cook was relatively quiet, but his team mates started doing their contributions. OAK continues to shoot well from the outside

11:30, Up 58-42
With Cook in the bench resting, it's Majerus turn to dominate OAK's front court players; he has 13 pts

7:48, Up 63-49
OAK not going away easily

3:50, Up 78-55
Cook scored our last 6 pts, to put this game away. I cleared the bench


Final score: Sam Houston St - 85, Oakland - 63


Box Score

[INDENT]Cook 27, 5, 1
Majerus 15, 3, 0
Rowles 10, 5, 2
F Griffin 7, 1, 5
Carr 6, 3, 5
Coulibaly 6, 1, 1, 2 stls
Granville 5, 3, 4, 2 stls
Smith 3, 2, 1
K Griffin 2, 3, 1
Belton 2, 2, 0
Thomas 2, 0, 0
Jackson 0, 0, 2
[/INDENT]
Team Stats Comparisons

[INDENT]FG: 58-46%
REB: +7
TO: -9 (7-16)
Paint: +48 (60-12)
2nd Chance : +5
Fast Break: +14 (18-4)
[/INDENT]


Other Notes

[INDENT]1. This time, OAK's +12 advantage in FTAs didn't matter. We simple pounded the ball inside (60 pts in the paint!). OAK was not able to sustain their hot shooting towards the end of the game
2. ISR = 3.2
[/INDENT]

[randy]

12/12/94: Rhode Island (4-4) @ Sam Houston St (7-1)
Rhode Island is +8 in team prestige

Pre-game Notes
[INDENT]1. Rhode Island likes to play a slow pace, and keep the scores low. They are now a good offensive rebounding team; so we may try at lowering our def rebounding intensity later in the game, in case we need to score pts in transition
[/INDENT]
Initial instructions
[INDENT]1. Offense Sets / Focus: Auto (mostly Motion) / Heavy Inside
2. Offense Pace / Freedom: 3 / 60%
3. Off / Def Rebounding Crash: 9 / 9
4. Defense Sets / Intensity: Man / 8 (double on everyone, except PG)
5. Pressure Set / Frequency: Auto / 9
[/INDENT]


Tip off (1st Half)

13:49, Up 19-10
We started sizzling with 8-8 FG; we're now at 9-11. Cook has 11 pts
RI is respectable at 4-7 FG, but they already committed 3 tos
RI's starting PF and C have a combined weight of 545 lbs!

7:51, Up 30-12
RI's offense cooling off. We have 7 stls; 6 of them courtesy of Coulibaly

2:14, Up 40-21


Halftime, Up 46-23
Cook almost outscoring the whole RI team; he has 21 pts. Good support also from Coulibaly and Rowles, combining for 18 pts.
Turnovers are 4-10


Start of 2nd Half

14:34, Up 56-25
2nd half scoring: Cook - 8 pts; RI team - 2 pts.

11:07, Up 58-32
A little bit of a run for RI. I rested Cook; unless a complete meltdown happens on our part, no need for him to come back

6:16, Up 70-37
All of my starters on the bench now


Final score: Rhode Island - 48, Sam Houston St - 82


Box Score

[INDENT]Cook 29, 8, 2
Majerus 15, 3, 1
Rowles 10, 5, 1
Coulibaly 10, 2, 4, 7 stls!
Carr 6, 4, 2
F Griffin 4, 1, 6
Granville 4, 0, 2
K Griffin 2, 4, 1
Belton 2, 3, 1
Smith 0, 1, 0
[/INDENT]
Team Stats Comparisons

[INDENT]FG: 61-41%
REB: +15
TO: -10 (9-19)
Paint: +38 (58-20)
2nd Chance : +6
Fast Break: Even
[/INDENT]


Other Notes

[INDENT]1. Only our 3rd home game for the season; and we gave our fans a show of good basketball
2. ISR = 3.2
[/INDENT]

[randy]

12/15/94: Sam Houston St (8-1) @ Alabama St (7-2)
Alabama St is +1 in team prestige

Pre-game Notes
[INDENT]1. After losing their first game, Alabama St has won of their last 8; and they are undefeated at home
2. They don't score a lot, and commits lots of turn overs also. But they find ways to win, mainly because of their rebounding (off and def) and forcing turn overs (they press a lot). If we're not careful, this could be a tricky game for us
[/INDENT]
Initial instructions
[INDENT]1. Offense Sets / Focus: Auto (mostly Motion) / Heavy Inside
2. Offense Pace / Freedom: 3 / 60%
3. Off / Def Rebounding Crash: 9 / 10
4. Defense Sets / Intensity: Man / 8 (double on everyone, except PG)
5. Pressure Set / Frequency: Auto / 9
[/INDENT]


Tip off (1st Half)

15:21, Up 9-7
Cook and Rowles scored all our pts; ALST's 5 of 7 pts came from the FT line
My players, including myself, took some time to adjust our eyes on ALST's bright yellow-orange court (talk about home court advantage!)

11:40, Up 15-7
Maybe its ALST who is having difficulty playing in their bright colored floor; they are 1-6 FG and already has 8 turn overs

7:48, Up 25-15
ALST's offense beginning to pick up, as they hit a couple of 3s. But they continue to throw the ball away, with 12 turn overs. Rowles has 2 fouls

4:12, Up 34-19
Cook is having a good 1st half again, now with 16 pts


Halftime, Up 38-29
Despite ALST's 15 turn overs for the half, this game is far from over. Partly because of their 4 3s; partly because of F Griffin's 4 turn over; or maybe our -4 disadvantage in rebounding. As I mentioned in the pre game notes, ALST is a scrappy team that find ways to win no matter how bad they are playing


Start of 2nd Half

17:13, Up 40-38
They hit a 3, we turned it over, and they scored an easy basket in transition. Suddenly, we're up by only 2. We were up 15 not too long ago! I didn't hide my disappointment during the time out

They hot another 3. Down 1!

12:57, Up 48-44
After we went down by 1, we responded with an 8-0 run; Cook had 6 pts in that stretch. ALST converted a 3pt play opportunity, prior to the media timeout. We have ourselves a ball game

8:25, Up 54-51
We go on a 6-0 mini-run to bring the lead up to 10, 54-44. But with Cook resting on the bench, ALST came back with 7-0 salvo of their own; they refuse to quit! I called time out and brought Cook back in.

3:50, Up 64-60
It was down to 2 earlier, 60-58. Cook hits 2 consecutive baskets, and we go up 64-58. We committed a foul on the next play, and they converted both FTs.

2:52, Up 64-60
We miss, they commit a turn over. That cycle repeated again, hence the score is unchanged. I bring back Rowles for Majerus, for defensive and rebounding purposes.

Cook hits another clutch basket
2:28, Up 66-60

Rowles fouled their C while attempting a 15-ft shot. 2 FTs. miss the 1st, hits the 2nd
2:15, Up 66-61

We go to Cook. He attempts to drive to the basket. Travelling!
1:54, Up 66-61

We're doing a good job on defense preventing them to make a shot. 4 secs on the shot clock. Their SF gets the ball at the left wing. Shoots a jumper. Good!
1:21, Up 66-63

I call a time out
1:12, Up 66-63, our ball, 26 secs on the shot clock. Isolation play called for Cook.

They foul F Griffin. Only their 6th.

Inbound play. Coulibaly is open. He fires a J. Miss. ALST gets the rebound. They call a time out
0:51, Up 66-63

I substituted K Griffin for Carr, for more defensive rebounding

Their PG surveys the defense. Pass to their PF. From about 20 ft, he unloads a jumper. Good look, but can't get it to fall. Cook with the rebound. We call our last time out.

I put in a 3 guards lineup, plus Carr and Cook. "Last Shot" instructions (actually, we don't need to shoot). Off Pace set to 1.

They foul F Griffin. Their 7th as a team. Not in the act of shooting. 1-1 situation

F Griffin hits the 1st. And the 2nd
0:29, Up 68-63. They called a time out. I put back my rebounding unit.

Cook gets a steal! He throws it to Griffin on the break. Griffin slams it home!
0:22, Up 70-63

They don't have any timeouts remaining. They race down court. Their SF puts a 3. Kisses the glass, and in! They refused to give up.

They immediately foul Coulibaly in the back court. 1-1 situation
0:07, up 70-66

Coulibaly misses the front end of a 1-1. But Cooks grabs the offensive rebound. He shoots a follow up. It's good. ALST attempted a half court shot. No good. End of the game


Final score: Sam Houston St - 72, Alabama St - 66


Box Score

[INDENT]Cook 34, 8, 1, 2 stls
Majerus 9, 0, 0
Rowles 6, 3, 2
Coulibaly 6, 2, 1, 2 stls
Carr 6, 1, 4, 2 stls
K Griffin 5, 5, 1
F Griffin 4, 4, 8, 5 tos
Granville 2, 1, 4
[/INDENT]
Team Stats Comparisons

[INDENT]FG: 54-50%
REB: -3
TO: -10 (13-23)
Paint: +28 (48-20)
2nd Chance : +9
Fast Break: +12 (16-4)
[/INDENT]


Other Notes

[INDENT]1. Our advantage in pts in the paint, 2nd chance pts, and pts in transition, might have been reasons enough to conclude that this game should have been a blowout. But ALST had different things in mind. What a gallant effort on their part. Their fans should be proud of this team.
2. ISR = 3.0
[/INDENT]

[CoachC]

Another road win. A ranking can't be far away.

[randy]

12/19/94: Sam Houston St (9-1) @ Texas El-Paso (5-3)
UTEP is +7 in team prestige; this is our 7th road match for the past 8 games!

Pre-game Notes
[INDENT]1. This year, we have a home-and-away series with UTEP. We won the last game in our place, 58-48. We limited them to 32% FG, 21% 3PT, and forced them to commit 19 turn overs
2. Since that defeat against us, UTEP is 5-2, including a win over #12 Toledo. This is a different team than the one we faced a month ago.
[/INDENT]
Initial instructions
[INDENT]1. Offense Sets / Focus: Auto (mostly Motion) / Heavy Inside
2. Offense Pace / Freedom: 3 / 60%
3. Off / Def Rebounding Crash: 9 / 10
4. Defense Sets / Intensity: Man / 8 (double on everyone, except PG)
5. Pressure Set / Frequency: Auto / 9
[/INDENT]


Tip off (1st Half)

12:56, Down 10-12
When you miss 2 dunks (1 each by Cook and Rowles), you get a feeling we're in for a long night.

7:24, Up 25-22
Despite the lead, I feel we're not controlling the tempo of the game; it's a bit too fast from what we are used to. K Griffin and Majerus combining for 10 pts off the bench

3:17, Up 32-30
UTEP is full-court pressing almost every time, which is probably the reason why we are being "drawn" to play a faster tempo. Because of this, my players tire out easily


Halftime, Up 34-32
We're winning every important team category, but UTEP has connected on 4-7 3PT to keep the score close.


Start of 2nd Half

14:58, Up 38-37
Fouls are 5-1 on this half. Cook and Rowles both on the bench with 3 fouls.

10:59, Up 42-40
Both teams throwing bricks. But we're already on the penalty; it's not looking good for us. I decided not to bring in Cook and Rowles yet

I brought in Cook and Rowles at the 10 minute mark. Cook immediately hits a jumper to bring the lead to 3, 46-43. On the next defensive play, he was called for his 4th. Arrrghhh!

7:59, Down 46-47
We turned it over before the media timeout. On the next play, UTEP's shot clock almost reads zero, when their C pulls up for a 15-ft jumper from the left baseline. Miss but Rowles was called with a foul. #4

6:44, Down 48-51
We were just called for another foul. I decided to go 2-3. And bring back Cook

We briefly took the lead, 52-51. They hit a J. And then they foul F Griffin; he converted both FTs

4:13, Up 54-53
Our entire starting is on the floor; Cook and Rowles with 4 fouls each

They hit another J, as we continue withe the zone. Down 1. Carr drives to the basket. Slam dunk! Up 1. With 1 sec on their shot clock, their SG hits another J, this time form the FT line. Down 1. Carr missed a running J, but Cook grabs the rebound. He passes to Coulibaly who hits a long 2!

2:31, Up 58-57
They turned it over. We bring the ball to our front court, and called a time out. Our play is "No Play"

2:05, Up 58-57
They blocked Carr's shot. They recover. Their SG squares up for a 3. It's good! Down 2. Their fans going wild. I elected not to call a time out. They foul F Griffin. It's only their 4th team foul. On the resumption of play, Cook missed an open shot from 5 ft. They rebound

Their SG hits another 3! Timeout

0:48, Down 58-63
It's all 3 from now. Switch to man. Full court press

Coulibaly answers back with a 3. Down 2. 0:43. Plenty of time left

Their SG shoots another 3. Not this time. Carr rebounds. We call time out

0:24, Down 61-63
Do we go for a win? Or tie with a 2? I bring in Majerus for Rowles, for more offensive options. We'll go with a 2. Off Freedom set to 1, and we'll go with Motion offense

They foul Cook with 0:12 to go. Smart play. Only their 5th

Plenty of time for 1 more play. Or so I thought ...

With 5 secs to play, Cook has the ball. He can shoot from about 8 ft. But he elected to pass to Majerus. Time expired! Not even able to put up a shot. I was speechless ...


Final score: Sam Houston St - 61, Texas El Paso - 63


Box Score

[INDENT]Majerus 12, 2, 0
Coulibaly 11, 6, 3, 2 blks
Cook 11, 6, 1, 3 tos
Carr 8, 2, 4, 2 stls
Rowles 7, 2, 0, 2 stls
K Griffin 6, 4, 1
Granville 4, 1, 1
F Griffin 2, 2, 10
[/INDENT]
Team Stats Comparisons

[INDENT]FG: 47-42%
REB: Even
TO: -3 (10-13)
Paint: +26 (36-10)
2nd Chance : +4
Fast Break: +7
[/INDENT]


Other Notes

[INDENT]1. It was a good game; 24 lead changes, 7 ties. But I still can't believe what happened on that last play. The defeat is easier to swallow if we at least put up a shot!
2. UTEP made 7-15 3PTs. Add that to their +15 advantage on FTAs, and that would be enough to offset our advantage on the major statistical categories
3. ISR = 1.9
[/INDENT]

[randy]

12 secs to go, and you're team is down. You need a 2 or 3; doesn't matter as long as you are able to put up a shot. What should be your settings in order to make sure you put up a shot? If you miss it, tough luck, but at least you gave yourself a chance

In the last play of the last game, I forgot to increase the offensive pace. We were playing a pace of 3 the whole game. I probably should have set it to 9 or 10.

Oh well ....

[Wayne23]

Yep, the pace did you in. It's happened to me so I know how frustrating it is. I've also forgot to be certain to be in the right press at the end, and a few other things of that nature. Coaching hoops is complicated and in this game our assistants don't say, "Hey Coach, don't you want to..."

[CoachC]

A pace of at least 7 will usually get a shot off in that amount of time length of the court unless they are applying pressure. 10 will usually give you time for a pass or two in the front court, otherwise the PG is going to shoot that 3 from the top of the key. I usually put offensive freedom down to zero though to make it more likely someone gets a good look out of a designed set, at lest if we have the ball in the frontcourt and time for a couple of passes. Setting the focus to balanced may help there too.

[PointGuard]

But...sometimes no matter what you do, your players just aren't going to get off the shot...can explain it either as your players didn't execute, were intimidated, lacked confidence, or the other team's defense just was all of the guy(s) with the ball. Of course, the ball could have got knocked loose from your ball handler and there was a scramble for the ball which didn't result in a turnover but used up a bunch of time.

I like the AI's fouling with 12 sec left though. Of course, since that was only their 5th, they should have fouled again, but maybe the AI coach just wanted to avoid his players making a foul if your players had put up a shot.

Re trying to ensure your players get off a shot: Another thing you might want to consider is how high the "scoring" ratings are for your guys who are the court. If they are all very low (1 or 2), often those guys just pass up possible shots.