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MHSL82
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Get Favors and Mitchell off the court right now!!! That is all. I will forgive you if we lose a 33 point lead in the last 14 minutes with our reserves in. It's 83-50 right now and they are in.
Get Favors and Mitchell off the court right now!!! That is all.
I will forgive you if we lose a 33 point lead in the last 14 minutes with our reserves in. It's 83-50 right now and they are in.
We played 18:44 of meaningless basketball. Just kidding, we scored 71 points by the 6:44 mark of the third. Wizards scored 69 in the entire game. The final score was the biggest lead and yes, they did put in the reserves, a little later than I wanted.
How did the reserves do? Did they maintain, expand, or shrink the lead?
The reserves turned a 33 point lead into a 47 point lead, I think. I think the coaching staff listened to me.
When I say forgive, let's just say that I am paranoid about Mitchell being Exum'd - as in injured in a meaningless game or a meaningless time. Exum got injured in an international game and then in a Summer League or Preseason game. I know that you can slip in the shower. I know that you can get injured during a competitive game, but please get the F off the court when you are playing a lifeless Wizards team up by 33 points. It's one flippin' game of 82. I'll play the odds. I couldn't watch the game so I wasn't sure if the Wizards would be chippy and cheap or lethargic and quit, but I was sure they weren't going to win.
What team doesn't look lifeless when down 27?
Would you have taken the odds in those first two games I mentioned above? Wouldn't most fans be sure the team up 27 would win in those examples?
One other factor I'll mention.
The Jazz don't have much of a buffer to make the playoffs. Every win matters.
If it were the Warriors or Celtics or Spurs or Rockets or Cavs, then every win doesn't matter. They'll make the playoffs as good seeds.
So I would say, for me, that if I was sure the Jazz were going to win a lot of games, then give the bench more opportunity, even if the lead starts to shrink.
But because I don't know if the Jazz will make the playoffs, I don't want to look back and say 1 or 2 games was the difference between making it and not making it. Or between the 7th and the 5th seeds.
Also, the Jazz have historically shown they don't handle prosperity.
They weren't supposed to lose that regular season finale against Black Moldy, especially when they were leading for most of the game, but they lost, AND gave up 60 to him.
The Jazz had a lead in the 1998 NBA Finals, and lost.
Yes, they held onto their 1-0 and 3-2 leads against the Clippers last year. That's about the only time I can think of right now that they handled prosperity.
I don't trust the Jazz.
They also set infamous history by being the only team in history to lead their division after the All-Star break, and not make the playoffs, in 2011. Another example of not handling prosperity.
What team doesn't look lifeless when down 27?
Would you have taken the odds in those first two games I mentioned above? Wouldn't most fans be sure the team up 27 would win in those examples?
One other factor I'll mention.
The Jazz don't have much of a buffer to make the playoffs. Every win matters.
If it were the Warriors or Celtics or Spurs or Rockets or Cavs, then every win doesn't matter. They'll make the playoffs as good seeds.
So I would say, for me, that if I was sure the Jazz were going to win a lot of games, then give the bench more opportunity, even if the lead starts to shrink.
But because I don't know if the Jazz will make the playoffs, I don't want to look back and say 1 or 2 games was the difference between making it and not making it. Or between the 7th and the 5th seeds.
Also, the Jazz have historically shown they don't handle prosperity.
They weren't supposed to lose that regular season finale against Black Moldy, especially when they were leading for most of the game, but they lost, AND gave up 60 to him.
The Jazz had a lead in the 1998 NBA Finals, and lost.
Yes, they held onto their 1-0 and 3-2 leads against the Clippers last year. That's about the only time I can think of right now that they handled prosperity.
I don't trust the Jazz.
They also set infamous history by being the only team in history to lead their division after the All-Star break, and not make the playoffs, in 2011. Another example of not handling prosperity.
Freak accidents are more likely than losing a 27 point lead in the fourth quarter. Or a 33 point lead. I understand that a team can score plenty of points to catch up, but freak accidents or petty cheap files are more common, in my opinion. I don't have stats on injuries whether they range from a lingering injury you play through, a few weeks missed, or worse. Or even hitting a rookie wall by tiring yourself out. Heck, we had a game the next night. That we ended up losing in the fourth quarter because maybe we were tired. I know that they can happen any time on the court or off, but I'm paranoid and feel that one game is not worth putting your players in harms way when you're up by 33 points.
Having said that, I feel strongly that you need to draft for depth, develop your bench, and run the same offense with your reserves trying to score in the fourth. I don't believe in running out the clock if you have your reserves in the game. If you have your starters in the game, fine, run the clock out for sportsmanship. In the last minute or so, make a deliberate halt if you're up bye 15+. Tracy McGrady broke the 10 point rule so I would say 15.
You gave me three good examples, but you could give me 20 and I would still feel getting your player off the court is better. You could give me 10 examples of someone slipping in the shower or doing some other non-activity and getting injured and I would still say the same thing.
Would I be upset if we lost a big lead like that? Yes. But I think I would be understanding. All bets are off in the NBA finals, especially in a game 7 or something. There was a playoff game where a receiver caught the ball with 1 foot in bounds and 1 foot out of bounds and he was interviewed after and he said that he could have gotten both feet in but he felt like he was gonna break his leg to do so. In the playoffs, break your f'ing leg.
OK, to more substantively respond to your post, I would say that if you lose the 33 point lead in the fourth quarter and you're not a sure fire playoff team, I would say you don't deserve to be in the playoffs unless you make up for enough with other games. We simply cannot lose a 33 point lead. Mitchell getting injured is worth more than one game. Mitchell being tired the next night could have lost so when double game. It could speed up the rookie wall. There are plenty of other opportunities in the season to break the bank to sell out for a win. By the way, I went to the biggest comeback in NBA history game against Denver when I was a kid. I told my uncle that we were going to win the game because we scored the last basket or so in the second quarter. When it up winning by 11 or something which was crazy. But that wasn't a fourth-quarter comeback.
OK, to more substantively respond to your post, I would say that if you lose the 33 point lead in the fourth quarter and you're not a sure fire playoff team, I would say you don't deserve to be in the playoffs unless you make up for enough with other games.
I agree about developing the bench. And I'd want them to play the same way as the starters.
I'd want them to expand the lead if possible. Not to rub it in, but because it's good to see them play well and will help in the future; and because I still don't feel comfortable with a low 30s lead with 12+ mins left. Or even a 19 point lead with 6 mins left.
I'd want whoever is on the court to keep playing to expand the lead, until 2 minutes left with a 10+ lead, or your proposal 1 minute left with a 15 point lead. Only then is something "safe" (until some team breaks that obstacle).
No lead is safe with 4 minutes left, period. Teams can sometimes score 30 points in 4 minutes.
If the reserves had shrunken the lead to 12 points, then I'd want some starters back in.
I remember when Janerro Pargo personally scored 9 points and an assist in the game's final 13 seconds to tie the game in the playoffs. Gilbert Arenas then hit the game-winner to break the time with 2 or 3 seconds left.
I don't plan for freak accidents, because I can't come up with a scenario in which I think they're more likely to occur. To me, they can occur in close games or blowouts. So because to me, it's too indeterminate, I don't account for them.
Thanks.
That was the game where the Jazz were down by 36 at the half, right? I think you posted it before.
And you were reminded of it when in 2009 the Kings came back from down 35 against the Bulls.
I'm still not certain that 35 points is the largest comeback, I think it's only the largest halftime comeback.
There is probably some game in which a team had a 37 point lead in the first quarter or early in the second, to lose the game. Maybe I'm wrong.
On a side note, I don't believe in the tired or back to back excuse. There's historical data that shows that teams generally play to their winning percentage on back to backs.
If it's 4 in 5 nights, or 5 in 7 nights, then I'll account for it sometimes, but regular back to backs, no.
In 2005-2006, the Clippers lost their first 13 games on the first night of backs to backs, and were +.500 on the second night.
I think the quality of the opponent matters more than where there were 0 days off.
Look at last night. Portland had 2 days of rest at home. Washington was on a back to back. And Portland got blown out at home.
If a team is a great team, I expect blowout wins on the 2nd night of a back to back, occasionally. And it does happen.
If it's a bad team, I expect a team to get blown out no matter how many days of rest they had.
BTW, I was responding "thanks" specifically for this part of your thoughts:
Hopefully if the Jazz had lost that 33 point lead and the game, they'd have a few unexpected wins soon. I think that's how they'd make up for it.
@nuraman00 : I thought you might enjoy the recap of the December games in this article. It talks about Back to Backs and the effects of playing them: Schedule alert! Every game tired teams should lose in January