WKU Just Got Screwed

[xudash]

How does an official not check the sidelines for a timeout call by the coach in that situation.

Otherwise, a little defense somewhere along the court is a good idea in situations such as that - start bothering the driver at the top of the key, at least.

[xsteve1]

Great comeback at the end but got to stop the ball on the defensive end in that situation. WKU has/had some very good guards.

[Cheesehead]

terrible defense. No one stopped the ball. That's also why I thought they shot the ball too soon. WKU gave the Zags the ball w/ 7.2 seconds left. Bad idea. While I picked the Zags, I was hoping for the upset.

[AdamtheFlyer]

Offensively, that situation is one of the easiest buckets you can get. The defense isn't set (usually a player or two celebrating), and they don't want to foul. Guards up top will play matador defense and hope a big has gotten back enough to challenge the shot. That's at best a 50/50 proposition.

Running on a make is always a basket waiting to happen, even more so with seconds left to play. I've never understood why the offensive would call a timeout in that spot. I laugh every time I see it, even in the NBA, where you get to advance the ball to half court. With 10 seconds left, that's the wrong call every time. No play you can call will be as good as a PG driving on a scrambling defense that will avoid a foul at all costs. Too bad for WKU. A timeout gives them a great chance to win. No timeout is a near lock to be a loss.

[Xman95]

Refs blew it by not recognizing the requests for a TO. However, the odds of WKU hitting the shot were still going to be slim so I don't think it ultimately cost them the game (giving up the coast to coast did).

That being said, the WKU players lost their composure and didn't think clearly on the final play. Why throw the quick inbounds pass to a guy standing approx. 3/4 of the court away from the hoop? Give it a second and try to inbound close to halfcourt (or wait long enough for a ref to see the TO call). At least you give yourself a better chance to hit the miracle shot. Of course it's easy for me to say because I'm sitting at home on my ass and typing on a computer several hours after the moment.

[MHettel]

I was at that game, and it was a heck of a play. That hispanic PG WKU had was on freaking fire for the first 5 minutes, and the last 5 minutes.

Great game.

[X-band '01]

Orlando Mendez-Valdez is the guard you're thinking of.

Thank goodness Xavier didn't draw WKU - beating Gomzaga in front of a mostly pro-Zags crowd would have been incredible.