After last night's collapse, I thought I would try to inject some humor this morning to get through this loss.
Last night we all saw numerous mistakes made down the stretch that were easily remedied, and yet were not deployed in the heat of the battle. That's because it has to be second nature before the issues arise and not reactive thinking when it arrives.
I know I used the how to Dummies book reference but it's clear these things are not walked through and drilled down in practice what to do under all circumstances so EVERYONE KNOWS it first hand and not left for the player to figure out when the crisis pops up.
Two GIANT examples we all said last night on the board. You had 3 fouls to give, so why did McKneely allow Oconnor to run down the sideline (right past Bennett and staff) and not foul at or before the half court line to take away any hail Mary shot at the 3pt line with the way McKneely is stiff and slow to get up on the guy? This should be automatic, especially you just got burned on a Hail Mary the night before for the same reasons with Beekman falling down trying to steal the ball away and the guy hits the shot. You had 3 fouls to give and you blew it.
Next fatal mistake is when McKneely got the ball with 6.7 seconds left and just stood with the ball to get fouled when he had Groves and Murray wide open out on the wings to throw to and force NC STATE players to have to run out and foul and kill off a couple of more seconds off the clock. We just have guys that really don't think those things through at the moment and need this type of instructional training during practice so it becomes natural on what to do. I would have rather had 4.7 seconds left and missed the free throw shot than McKneely miss with 6.7 to get down and get a better shot off. Of all Teams, this team can't rely on the top two free throw shooters to make free throws as witnessed. Especially the way Beekman didn't bent his knees, didn't slow it down, especially on the first one that barely made it to the front of the rim and he was not focused, with his technique that bricked both shots. McKneely had the same problem of barely getting it to the front of the rim on the one and one that was the dagger that did us in. You make just one free throw between them, we win.
We had that same mistakes the night before and managed to survive when Minor had rebounds and instead of getting rid of the ball he held it to give the guy the opportunity to foul him and he was what 1-6 at the line? You just can't be that careless if you want to win close games.
Also what the blue blazes was DUNN thinking last night going 0-2, going out and throwing up bricks from 3pt line when he is one of the worse 3pt shooters on the team and the game is neck and neck is not a smart strategy also. Didn't recall Burns trying to test out his 3pt shot during the game.
Lastly, I remember just a few years ago we had players like Clark that would have a fast break for a layup and would pull it back with seconds left in the game to get fouled and go to the line. Now how many players currently know if you have an uncontested layup with say 20 seconds left with a two point lead what to do? Do they take the layup or do they hold the ball and run around waiting to be fouled? Seriously, do Bennett drill down on the small stuff in practice and not rely on players to make the choice at the time it happens? SO the answer is you take the layup for the points and not rely on the Free Throw line you hope get you the points. Especially this team.
Last night we all saw numerous mistakes made down the stretch that were easily remedied, and yet were not deployed in the heat of the battle. That's because it has to be second nature before the issues arise and not reactive thinking when it arrives.
I know I used the how to Dummies book reference but it's clear these things are not walked through and drilled down in practice what to do under all circumstances so EVERYONE KNOWS it first hand and not left for the player to figure out when the crisis pops up.
Two GIANT examples we all said last night on the board. You had 3 fouls to give, so why did McKneely allow Oconnor to run down the sideline (right past Bennett and staff) and not foul at or before the half court line to take away any hail Mary shot at the 3pt line with the way McKneely is stiff and slow to get up on the guy? This should be automatic, especially you just got burned on a Hail Mary the night before for the same reasons with Beekman falling down trying to steal the ball away and the guy hits the shot. You had 3 fouls to give and you blew it.
Next fatal mistake is when McKneely got the ball with 6.7 seconds left and just stood with the ball to get fouled when he had Groves and Murray wide open out on the wings to throw to and force NC STATE players to have to run out and foul and kill off a couple of more seconds off the clock. We just have guys that really don't think those things through at the moment and need this type of instructional training during practice so it becomes natural on what to do. I would have rather had 4.7 seconds left and missed the free throw shot than McKneely miss with 6.7 to get down and get a better shot off. Of all Teams, this team can't rely on the top two free throw shooters to make free throws as witnessed. Especially the way Beekman didn't bent his knees, didn't slow it down, especially on the first one that barely made it to the front of the rim and he was not focused, with his technique that bricked both shots. McKneely had the same problem of barely getting it to the front of the rim on the one and one that was the dagger that did us in. You make just one free throw between them, we win.
We had that same mistakes the night before and managed to survive when Minor had rebounds and instead of getting rid of the ball he held it to give the guy the opportunity to foul him and he was what 1-6 at the line? You just can't be that careless if you want to win close games.
Also what the blue blazes was DUNN thinking last night going 0-2, going out and throwing up bricks from 3pt line when he is one of the worse 3pt shooters on the team and the game is neck and neck is not a smart strategy also. Didn't recall Burns trying to test out his 3pt shot during the game.
Lastly, I remember just a few years ago we had players like Clark that would have a fast break for a layup and would pull it back with seconds left in the game to get fouled and go to the line. Now how many players currently know if you have an uncontested layup with say 20 seconds left with a two point lead what to do? Do they take the layup or do they hold the ball and run around waiting to be fouled? Seriously, do Bennett drill down on the small stuff in practice and not rely on players to make the choice at the time it happens? SO the answer is you take the layup for the points and not rely on the Free Throw line you hope get you the points. Especially this team.
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