This is fantastic work. Thanks so much for taking the time to cull these results.
6-12 in games where State has completely blown a 10+ point lead … I knew it was bad. Really glad you included games where the entire lead was not blown (pulled to within one possession) – gives a much more full picture of what we’ve witnessed.
Yes, the results are in a vacuum and losing leads does happen to every team. That said, ‘jumper first’ is no way to put away your opponent … neither is missing crucial front-ends while other teams hits 3’s. Perhaps equal parts lack of killer instinct and lack of execution. The pressure should be on your opponent and you should be the aggressor, not the other way around.
I agree in large part w/ Whiteshoes’ musings. We get a fairly high number of “early” leads and keep executing the same things that got us the lead. Part of the problem is when the lead is built on a high number of made jumpshots. Gottfried loves his shooters, and I don’t blame him. I truly admire his willingness to always call for the big shot – “corner!”. I’ll always respect someone who “goes for it” and I love that mentality.
It’s the balance though – it was clear that the gameplan on Saturday – at least early – was to actually ‘run the offense’. We started to get some inside-out action going and Kyle + Abu were responding well. You have to give other teams credit for disrupting that, but you can’t completely abandon the plan. By the end of the 1st half, Cat had bailed us out with a number of 3-pointers. We were damn lucky to escape with a win, b/c once Abu picked up his 4th foul the gameplan of ‘running the post offense’ was completely abandoned.
^This type of scenario seems to be a running theme for State in losing leads. Either we:
a) shoot ourselves into then out of a lead with bad shot selection
b) abandon the plan and execution of what helped build said lead
c) are completely unwilling and/or unable to execute post-entry passes, interior passing, and/or dribble penetration in order to exert due pressure on a trailing team
d) miss a string of crucial free throws – including numerous front-ends, turn the ball over, and allow the opponent to play way above it’s collective head (St. Louis)
For my part, at least for this season – we simply do not “attack” the rim in a half-court set. GT is abusing us on the boards – so what, you think that happens if they’re all fouled out? They have one player who can score consistently. One. The game is O-V-E-R if State simply chooses not to shoot a jumpshot every time down the court.
We’ll see if this mentality and execution changes any at all down the stretch this season. I do not have a good feeling about tomorrow night. Prove me wrong, please.
Thanks again for the work.
