Final Turning Point

[Hawk1234567]

Fran is a good coach, and Gesell is a good point guard. However, both stink in the final minutes of halves in close games. The final turning point today was within the final three minutes or so, we rebounded an Ohio State miss (or maybe it was a turnover) and we have the makings of a fast break. The ball is passed to Jok on the wing, who was wide open, no one within fifteen feet of him in any direction. Does he shoot? No, because we have just gone into our (highly successful dribble the ball around for 29 seconds before Gesell misses a layup) stall game. And, so what happens on that possession? Instead of Jok making a wide open 3 to put us up 7 with under 3 minutes to go, we don't even get off a decent shot and OSU comes down and scores making it a 2 point game.

 

[Oldgold51]

MG played well for 37 minutes. During The last 3 minutes-not so much. This is not the exception, for 4 years it has been the rule.

Knowing this, Fran at the end of games is obligated to make sure the offense flows through Uthoff and/or Jok. That this does not happen is on Fran, not MG; and, is why complaints about Fran's end of game coaching are more than justified. His record in close games is abysmal.

Another thing, Fran really has a fear of using things up. Have you ever known a coach so absolutely petrified of someone fouling out or running out of timeouts? It is hurting this team.

 

[PhantomFlyer]

Hard for me to call either good when the final minutes of the game, crunch time, is the most important time of the game and when the cream rises. I think they are both avg. MG has always been and avg B1G PG. He plays pretty good defense, and does a good job of passing, but he struggles against quick players and his offense is brutal. Then he is king choker at the end of games. Fran has shown he can win a lot of games when he has a lot of seniors. Next year will be the test is Fran is really a good coach. We've seen Fran is Mr. Choker coaching down the stretch in close games. Why he keeps putting the ball in the hands of the guy who consistently chokes at the end of games is baffling. He's a terrible in game coach. Call him our Crean or Lou Doo (Lou Henson).

I have a feeling the opposing coaches have a Bobby Knight moment at the end of close games against Iowa. When Indiana was playing Syracuse in the championship of the '87 season, they were losing late and many thought the situation was hopeless and Knight said in the John Feinstein book, "I looked over at the bench and saw Jim Boeheim and knew Indiana was going to win". Because he knew Boeheim would do something stupid down the stretch, just like I think opposing coaches think with Fran. Fran will find a way to choke those games away.