End of Game Situation

[Its DJOver]

We obviously didn't get a great look after the TO once StJ set their D.  I've always been a fan of no TO and driving to the basket.  You will either get fouled, or an easier look because teams don't want to foul you.  If you call a TO, you may not even run the right play, and, let's be honest, Mullin knew that Markus likely wasn't passing up that shot.  Interested to hear others thought's.

[MU82]

If I have a veteran team like we do, with guys who have made big shots in their careers, I probably don't call a TO there.

But I don't think calling one was a major faux pas or anything. Coaches do it all the time. Mullin called a TO on the possession to set up Ponds.

[skianth16]

I'm with 82 on this. With experienced guys on the floor, it can be good to just let them do their thing without giving the defense a chance to figure out what they want to do. I didn't mind Wojo calling the TO tonight, but it sure seemed like we struggled out of timeouts tonight.

I might just be focusing on a few especially frustrating plays, but Wojo didn't seem to know how to respond to Mullin's strategies tonight. I wouldn't go so far as to say he got outcoached, but we didn't seem to have answers when we needed them in several key situations. That last play is just a really glaring example of this.

[BM1090]

Sounds like Wojo didn't want a timeout there but there was confusion

[MU82]

Many years ago, there was a pretty famous play in a Dolphins-Jets game. The Jets are up but the Dolphins are driving late. Marino runs to the line and as his teammates line up, Marino makes the motion like he is gonna clock the ball to stop the clock. He gets the snap but rather than clock the ball, he fires the winning pass to a receiver who was open because the defense relaxed.

Why do I bring this up?

As Markus angles toward the sideline to call the TO, St. John's defense totally relaxes. A couple guys start to walk toward midcourt. Joey is left wide open on the far side of the court.

Wouldn't it have been cool if Markus had slowed down and gone over to Wojo as if he was gonna call the TO ... but then quickly spun and thrown a cross-court pass to Joey for either a wide-open jumper or even a dunk? I know nobody will ever try that, but I couldn't help thinking of the Marino play when I watched the replay of ours. I laughed at myself for the absurdity of it!

[forgetful]

Sounds like Wojo didn't want a timeout there but there was confusion

That's what I saw too. Wojo wanted them to go right away. The team seemed confused so they had to call a TO.

[mileskishnish72]

I'm kind of a Wojo fan but was there anything he did tonight to prevent this?

[MUfan12]

I'm kind of a Wojo fan but was there anything he did tonight to prevent this?

Ran out of eligibility and couldn't make open shots for them.

[tower912]

Damned if you do, damned if you don't.   

[mug644]

Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Only when you lose.

[tower912]

Correct.  Make the shot, right call.  Regardless of what it was.  Miss the shot, wrong call, regardless of what it was.

[IrwinFletcher]

The only way you do not call a timeout is if you practice it. 

You also call timeout if you want to change your presonel on the court or want to attack a weakness you have seen in the game.

We didn't lose this game because we did or didn't call a timeout.

[tower912]

If Rowsey had taught Markus 'the thing', MU wins last night.    Markus had the defender in the air flying at him.   Jump into him, get the call, shoot the FT's.    Not who Markus is yet.    Ah, well.    On things as trivial and technical as this, outcomes are decided. 

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

If Rowsey had taught Markus 'the thing', MU wins last night.    Markus had the defender in the air flying at him.   Jump into him, get the call, shoot the FT's.    Not who Markus is yet.    Ah, well.    On things as trivial and technical as this, outcomes are decided.

Honestly, Markus didn't even need to jump into him. Heron was going to full on tackle him if he doesn't duck out of the way. He could have stood there and gotten fouled, would have only been two FTs but I digress. I think most shooters instinct tells them to let the defender fly by. Only players who are looking for the foul look for the contact in that situation. Shoulda coulda woulda

[BrewCity83]

Many years ago, there was a pretty famous play in a Dolphins-Jets game. The Jets are up but the Dolphins are driving late. Marino runs to the line and as his teammates line up, Marino makes the motion like he is gonna clock the ball to stop the clock. He gets the snap but rather than clock the ball, he fires the winning pass to a receiver who was open because the defense relaxed.

Why do I bring this up?

As Markus angles toward the sideline to call the TO, St. John's defense totally relaxes. A couple guys start to walk toward midcourt. Joey is left wide open on the far side of the court.

Wouldn't it have been cool if Markus had slowed down and gone over to Wojo as if he was gonna call the TO ... but then quickly spun and thrown a cross-court pass to Joey for either a wide-open jumper or even a dunk? I know nobody will ever try that, but I couldn't help thinking of the Marino play when I watched the replay of ours. I laughed at myself for the absurdity of it!

I would totally do this.   Brilliant.

[Juan Anderson's Mixtape]

I'm waiting for a football team to run a fake kneel down play.

[drbchilds]

If Rowsey had taught Markus 'the thing', MU wins last night.    Markus had the defender in the air flying at him.   Jump into him, get the call, shoot the FT's.    Not who Markus is yet.    Ah, well.    On things as trivial and technical as this, outcomes are decided.

Exactly

Markus should have been shooting 3 free throws

I am sure he will learn from this....

[mudeltaforcegurl]

You take a timeout

[The Sultan]

They didn't call a timeout at the end of the first half and it was not very good.

Wojo has been real good out of timeouts. Not so much this time for whatever reason. It happens.

[Its DJOver]

They didn't call a timeout at the end of the first half and it was not very good.

Wojo has been real good out of timeouts. Not so much this time for whatever reason. It happens.

I don't think it's fair to compare the half's.  Wojo had already used his "use it or lose it" TO that half, and burning another for one possession when you still have 20 minutes to play would have been a waste IMO.  It turned out to be about the worst possible scenario, going from the possibility of only being down 5 or 6 to 10, but burning another there would have only left 2 for the second half.  End of 1st half versus end of 2nd half meta is very different.

[The Sultan]

I'm not saying he should have called at TO at the end of the first half, but Markus drove to the basket without calling TO at the end of the first half (like you suggested in your first post) and it didn't work.  Marquette is hampered by not having a great deal of players who can drive.  I think they do better out of sets.

[CountryRoads]

I was ok with the timeout. Wojo is usually good out of them and it seemed the team was disorganized and wanted the TO there (not wojos original plan necessarily).

However, I think I want Sam taking the last shots. He seems to want that moment more than others. Even his 90 footer was pretty dang close.

[NickelDimer]

I was ok with the timeout. Wojo is usually good out of them and it seemed the team was disorganized and wanted the TO there (not wojos original plan necessarily).

However, I think I want Sam taking the last shots. He seems to want that moment more than others. Even his 90 footer was pretty dang close.

That's what I was saying before that last play in the game thread; Sam absolutely has to take that shot.

[Juan Anderson's Mixtape]

Sam was wide open on the left wing, too.

Edit: Watched replay. Sam drifted out farther than I realized, so nevermind.

[tower912]

No he wasn't.  There was a screen shot in another thread showing him 30 feet from the basket with his defender at the 3 point line as Markus prepared to shoot with 6.2 seconds left.

Nobody mentions Joey fumbling another rebound with 3 seconds left leading to the final foul.