Final: ISU 59 Drake 69

[it's boogie time]

Entertaining final two minutes. You usually don't get that with a 19 point ballgame and 2:30 left. The Drake players didn't seem too happy with how phyisical the game got.

It seems like ISU should have started pressing earlier. It brought a spark to their team. Drake had only two turnovers in the first 37 minutes.

[tornado]

making up 17 points over the final 10 minutes is hardly the same as finding your team behind by 15 with 55 seconds to go...or 13 with 20 seconds to go..

I cannot find in all of NCAA history, any game where a team made up a 15 point deficit in the final minute...you are welcome to try, I'd love to see if it has ever happened.
Now, maybe some ISU fans, like the ones who post here, think it's commonplace to expect they might still be able to win but surely when they find themselves down 13 with only 20 seconds to go...even the most naive ISU fan surely will agree with me.
This game was unwinnable...at least over the final minute or two....
I am not trying to tell anyone else how to coach their team, but I sure can see what's happening and have the free right to comment on it.

down 19 with 2:25 left
down 17 with 1:48 left
down 15 with 0:55 left
down 13 with 0:20 left

even one of the most monumental collapses I have ever seen....the Arizona loss to Illinois in the 2005 Elite Eight, it took four minutes for Arizona to lose a 15 point lead.


---looks like I am not alone in thinking those stat padding shots had a purpose...
even no less an "expert" as Kyle Whelliston tweeted about OE tossing
"throw-ups" for the scouts in attendance

"Drake has this sewn up...52-39 at 5:44
Osiris is making throwups right now...
Scouts are here to see him
Good thing this game is almost over.
0:19 left, Drake up 69-58. If you watched,
or followed the tweets, you know this was a beatdown."

[Nacho]

I cannot believe you are still arguing this point...buuuuuuut you are so...

ISU should have just given up because NO ONE had ever come back from that far back before! It's never happened so why even try!!! Why does it matter "if it has never happened"???? How is that relevant to trying to win a game? I, for one, like my teams to fight this the end. Apparently you would rather have your feel good story walk-ons in at the end of a losing effort. Sorry I like my teams to try to win games even when the odds are stacked against them!

I guess it's a good thing Obama didn't give up his race for the presidency since no blank man had ever been President... I guess it's a good thing the Mets didn't give up in 1969 when they were down double digit games in the standings in the last month...



BTW- it appears to be the majority of BU fans posting these things on here... NOT ISU fans...

[tornado]

still?? That was only my 2nd post on the subject, so you have me beat there still rebutting....
OE was performing for the scouts in attendance...did you not read the official report from KW?


btw the comment from OE was funny...
"I've been trying lately to play within our offense and look for good shots, I guess.
That was the thing holding me back. I have to go back to playing and if I have a shot just take it."

so......he's only been trying to play within the offense lately?
Hasn't he been trying to do that at all before?
And playing within the offense & looking for good shots was holding him back,
so now he's gonna just launch, good shot or not?

[Tulsa Brave]

I will be watching now to see if any teams in the future still have starters in and are shooting 3's when they are down by 13 with 20 seconds left. I don't think I'll have to wait too long to find one.

Oh and UAB was down 24, not 17. BU only had 5 minutes to make up 17, not 10 minutes...and about 3:40 to make up 15 in that game at SIU. Back in the '70's, BU rallied from 10 down in the final 30 seconds to force OT against St. Louis...that was before the 3-point shot. Missouri did the same against Colorado in the 1990 Big 8 tournament, but then lost in double OT.

[LG281]

I guess it's a good thing Obama didn't give up his race for the presidency since no blank man had ever been President...

= ?

[AZ BU Fan]

Go figure...

With Drake's win over ISU yesterday, after 7 weeks into the MVC season BU and Drake are tied at 3-4 in the league.

Good for Drake, not so good for BU.

With consecutive wins over SIU, MSU and ISU, Drake fans could state their team is better positioned for a MVC run than BU with their losses to MSU and UNI, and, their win over MSU.

Looks like positions #3-#9 are up for grabs this year in the Valley, and perhaps evern #2, although WSU looks to be a notch above the other 4-3/3-4teams.

Will be interesting to see which team, Drake or Bradley, has the better LH of the season.

[GoBirds]

As bradley fans I would think most of you have seen the value of extending the game. How many times have you guys had big leads and blown them this year. Turns out the other team "padding stats" lead to a victory for them. Maybe we will pad our consecutive years with making post season play and 20 win seasons by playing in the CBI this year.

[Da Coach]

Down 19 points, with a little over 2 minutes to go, there are few, if any, coaches who would still have had his starters in the game at that point.
How much of a lead or deficit does it take?

By the way- Bradley has not lost a 19 point lead in 2 or 3 minutes.

[GoBirds]

Whatever you need to tell yourself. Padding stats dont exactly gain the coach much. The other thing to consider is that the players were in and caused the problem of being down 20. So why not make them finish what they started and maybe figure some things out. Who knows maybe create some type of momentum for the next game. I guarantee thats why O was in the game. He has struggled mightly lately and really found his shot in the second half. Putting him on the bench while he is playing well is the same reasoning most of you bitch about Les and substituting players while they are rolling.

[Tulsa Brave]

Down 19 points, with a little over 2 minutes to go, there are few, if any, coaches who would still have had his starters in the game at that point.
How much of a lead or deficit does it take?

By the way- Bradley has not lost a 19 point lead in 2 or 3 minutes.

Not 2 or 3 minutes, but it only took 4 for BU to turn a 10 point lead to a 6 point deficit against Western Carolina. BU led 56-46 at the 9:55 mark, and trailed 64-58 at the 5:55 mark.

[Double D]

I can't speak to the pressing, but rarely does a coach at the D1 level empty his bench in a losing situation especially on the road in a league game.

Normally bench emtying is a reward for the regular players and the deep reserves in a well played home game.

[tornado]

Whatever you need to tell yourself. Padding stats dont exactly gain the coach much. ...

don't fool yourself...coaches do whatever they need to pad their own resumes...including getting their players boosted in front of scouts..

Coaches do want to put on a show for the NBA scouts, and Jank might want to boost his recruiting prowess as well as
his future resume and make it look sweet as Ritchie McKay's when RM said he
"had previously taken a virtual unknown in Danny Granger and turned him into
a third-team All-American and MVP of the Mountain West Tournament in 2005,
leading the Indiana Pacers to select him as the 17th overall pick in the 2005 NBA Draft."

http://www.libertyflames.com/index.cfm?PID=10867&CoachID=205&TeamID=6

by the way - my rhetorical question of whether a team has ever made up 15 points in under minute,
has yet to be answered....I guess it never has...but we sure did get a whole bunch of examples of things that weren't even close...like making up a 10 lead over 4-minutes in the middle of a game...

[Tulsa Brave]

don't fool yourself...coaches do whatever they need to pad their own resumes...including getting their players boosted in front of scouts..

Coaches do want to put on a show for the NBA scouts, and Jank might want to boost his recruiting prowess as well as
his future resume and make it look sweet as Ritchie McKay's when RM said he
"had previously taken a virtual unknown in Danny Granger and turned him into
a third-team All-American and MVP of the Mountain West Tournament in 2005,
leading the Indiana Pacers to select him as the 17th overall pick in the 2005 NBA Draft."

http://www.libertyflames.com/index.cfm?PID=10867&CoachID=205&TeamID=6

by the way - my rhetorical question of whether a team has ever made up 15 points in under minute,
has yet to be answered....I guess it never has...but we sure did get a whole bunch of examples of things that weren't even close...like making up a 10 lead over 4-minutes in the middle of a game...

+10 to -6 in 4 minutes = 16 to me...not 10.

10 points made up in 30 seconds with no 3-point line isn't close to 15 in 1 minute with a 3-point line? I beg to differ...

[tornado]

ISU was down 13 with 20 seconds to go....
If ISU was actually trying to win the game, then they'd have used their time outs....instead they used a couple between 5 min. and about a minute and a half, then gave up on that idea...
Illinois State STILL HAD their final full time out (according to the ESPN play-by-play) but all they were doing was fouling to get the ball back so someone could jack another three just 3-seconds into the shot clock..
After they decided NOT to call more time outs...ISU still fouled several times to get the ball back for at least 4 more OE shots (three of them 3-point attempts inside the final minute or so).

also -- oddly, even in the 1st half...when they were down 25-8, they still never called any time outs until 15 minutes into the game and a 17 pt deficit.