Leaving Las Vegas - The Fundamental Truth

"The Bucking Bronco"

The sacrifice bunt.  The tap-in 2 footer.  Picking up the blitz.  The pick and roll.

The common denominator:  basic fundamentals.  They are the little, boring and repetitive things that are drilled into athletes so they become second nature and executable in the most important moments.

The last 30 seconds of our season, against Gonzaga, laid bare, in brutal finality the conundrum of the 2013-2014 season.  A team capable of exceptional athletic feats, but unable to consistently deliver - you guessed it - THE FUNDAMENTALS......

Jared Browridge dribbles left, off a pick, and nails a step back 2 with four sweaty Zag palms in his face followed by David Stockton dribbling unguarded until half court, going left, off a pick, splitting our defenders to the rim for a layup where there was no help and Zag nation celebrates..........AGAIN.

For me, it was the season of the Pick and Roll and fundamentally.  

We couldn't handle it consistently - on both ends.

Let's set up coaching scenarios in those last 30 seconds - because IMHO they are fundamentally different.......These are just my guesses.

SCU Ball:  Kerry calls a play to get the ball into his best player's hand with under 15 to go - that's Jared. Let him run off a pick or two and take the best shot or pass available at 10 seconds or less. 

ZAG "D" plan:  they know it's going to Jared or Brandon, off a pick, so double them, don't give up a 3 and force a pass to anyone else with under 5 to go and make THEM tie it.  

Good tactic.  They did double, but Jared didn't pass, even under double team pressure - he elevated and made the shot.  BTW, pretty much the same shot he made to beat St. Mary's.

ZAG Ball:  Mark Few put the ball NOT in his best player's hand, but in his best "decision makers" hand - David Stockton.  Take the dribble to the center, use the pick, read the pick defense and make the best decision, pass or shot - you have all 5 players as options to use - read them - use them.  And he did.  No Bronco helped on the high pick and the lane was wide open - for a layup, a 75% shot vs pass out to a 40% shot or less. Fundamentally sound.....and different.....

SCU "D" plan:  not sure on the "no guarding" of Stockton until after half court, but keep the ball in front of you, go through or switch on the high pick, and force them to take the hardest shot possible with the least time left.  

Do not leave Pangos, or Dower to help.....

Stockton athletically reacted to the "over-switch" - we didn't keep him in front of us and he made the fundamentally right decision.  Much like he has done in practice 1000's of times.

Although this was one game - the above scenario played out all season long.  WCC coaches know our team well.  They know if they can limit shots by Jared, Brandon, and sometimes Evan and switch on the perimeter screens, that we will have to settle for tough shots, late in the clock OR pass it back to a 30% or less shooter.  Smart.  Fundamental. In fact, we try SO hard to make the picks work, we commit - my guess, more fouls on screens than any other WCC team.   

As season ticket holders, we've seen this play out over and over again - like "Ground Hog Day".  The hue and cry is "try something else"!  Unfortunately, we lack the other offensive options to play an "inside - out" game.

In spite of all this, I am truly amazed at what Jared and Brandon have been able to do. Jared is a shooting "savant".  Can you imagine what he could do if we could get him some truly open looks versus these acrobatic Cirque Du Soleil shots?  Brandon emerged this year as fearless force.  Making tough shots at crunch time, taking charges, and a slashing surgical knife in the middle, taking on any BIG that came to help.

So Great to watch!  

The fundamental question is why?  84 practices - over 30 games, and thousands of pick and roll experiences.  It's a conundrum, and to season ticket holders, a migraine that just won't go away.  Is there a "pick and roll" pill we can take???  I've asked to attend practice - not to critique, just to see and provide information to the chairbacks about how hard these kids work - but was fundamentally denied access.

The simple answer might be - well, the other teams have better athletes.....Some do, most don't.  Oh, maybe we're "young".  OK, well for most of the year we started 4 upper classmen....I can go on and on about maybes.....

Maybe it's more fundamental than we think?  In fact, maybe over thinking is the fundamental issue.  Clogged heads trying to process TMI in milliseconds instead of "athletically" reacting to what you "see".  

Maybe it's Vladimir Guerrero, a devastating hitter, simple....."See the Ball, Hit the Ball". No thought of the 100's of potential pitches that could be thrown in a situation - use athleticism and "play" the game.

Was Jared "thinking" about all the obstacles he had to overcome in making that last shot - no way.  He was "reacting" to what he could see and feel - the athlete in him.  Did he think about the shot itself and the magnitude of  the situation?  Nope.  He just let it go - because he's made that shot SO many times in the schoolyard or in practice.  He got out of his own way....."Free your mind".....

Fundamentally, if we don't fix the pick and roll going forward, not even the ghost of Steve Nash, will be able to get us to contend in the WCC. 

And that's the Fundamental Truth.....