If NCAA Men's Basketball games were only 37 minutes, in all likelihood. the Broncos would be 12-3, not 9-6. The adage you need to finish what you've started has again proved its wisdom . We have witnessed three late game leads evaporate into losses, none perhaps more glaring than Monday night at USF where a 3 point lead with 15 seconds left led to a crushing defeat in overtime. Deja Vu from last seasons similar loss on the Hilltop.
This phenomenon happens to all basketball teams, yet we seem more prone than our WCC top competitors to fall apart down the stretch. It's hard to understand, given that this veteran team has played 50 games together, yet still struggle to close out games with, frankly, freshman like mistakes.
The latest example during Monday's game vs USF was fouling on a 25ft three point attempt with 15 seconds to go with SCU leading by three. The USF shooter averages 40% from three point range, but shoots 83% from the free throw line and made all three. Despite that, we had a free throw with .9 seconds left to ice it, but couldn't get that to go. The collapse continued in the overtime despite time outs for us to set clear offensive and defensive plans.
So, do we need to go to finishing school to learn how to close out games? While I know of no such school, this skill would be developed in practices under stressed conditions.
Some Bronco fans feel our style of play doesn't translate well to late game, more precise execution under stress. Coaches like a "run and gun" fast paced tempo; which attempts to gain advantage before defenses can get set. Late in the game and close games require disciplined, patience, movement, and precision designed to get the best players the best shot opportunity rather than the open court, anyone, anywhere shooting style.
Our late game plan seems to be to hold the ball until 9 seconds left, then go one on one to create a shot or pass for a better look. It seems too many times we don't get a good look or be able to find one of our best shooters; who should be making themselves available for the pass. I haven't done the homework, but it would be interesting to chart our success rate over the past eight seasons of this one on one style in games with under three minutes left with either five point leads or deficits.
In this past four game stretch, our shooting has been great, however our defense has not; now ranked 10th in the WCC. Good defense stems not just from proper techniques, but also from an attitude and personal pride. Scoring 90-94 points is terrific, but not when you give up 97. Looking ahead, we need to be 4-3 or better versus the remaining games with top 4 in the WCC and only 1 loss to the bottom 5. A tough task.
Our collective record versus the top two teams Gonzaga and St. Mary's in the Coach Sendek tenure is 4-31. It's 7-13 versus USF. Ergo, stuck in fourth.
We have 16 chances ahead to right the ship. We'll see what adjustments are made to get our offense and defense in sync to turn our fortunes around. As Bronco fans and season ticket holders, we'd like to see 40 minutes of solid play and "finish" what we start!
