The three missed bonus front-ends cost us the game. It allowed them back in and in turn we pissed straight down our leg for ten straight minutes. Unbelievable.
Ultimate CHOKE job II
- Thread starter ShortCreek
- Start date
The 3 rushed possessions with 20 on the shot clock, up 18 with 6+ minutes didnt help.....
Need to spend the next 3 straight practices working on nothing but the press break.
With exactly ZERO of those being taken by anyone who should.
Cunningham didn’t want to ball. He is a senior. He has cost us the last two games being sloppy.
One more thing. Again, love Coach Mack but he should have placed Sutton in the center of that zone and told him to catch, square to the rim and attack. We quit attacking the rim. He put guys at the free throw line that were too small (Cunningham & Sutton) or too tentative (Nwora). We got a staff earning big bucks all over there with their thumbs up their ass. You always put a guy in that spot that’s a threat and can attack the rim. Grade school coaching decision.
Talk about snatching defeat from the jaws of victory .
I have never seen a team completely fall apart in 2 consecutive games because of their inability to deal with ball pressuring. Great effort and great execution until Duke started turning up the pressure then they completely lost their minds.
Can’t blame Mack for this one. We didn’t even need to score anymore. If we would have just came down and held the ball for 30 seconds we would have won comfortably. This one is on CC, I’m tired of watching him fall down and turn the ball over.
Me either. Cards looked like a grade school team handling pressure. Rummage discussing the inability to handle a press on the post game show.
This one is on everybody including Mack and staff. No other way to put it.
BS. He gets paid the big bucks to guide them through this, to place them in spots to be successful. He put the wrong guys at the free throw line in the center of that zone. Got out coached plain and simple. All the guys and the staff played a part of that. Sickening defeat. To be honest, this team may not recover mentally from this.
It is not 1 player it was everyone. Sutton got the ball in the middle of the zone turned it over.
Once. You got to tell him “you’re my guy, get to the rim”. No one wanted to attack the rim.
Correct. Mack should have called a time out after the second empty trip when we were up 23.....settle everybody down and remind them of what they needed to do. He had the game plan, but when the team got away from it he should have stepped in
Yep. That's exactly when I told the woman they were gonna blow it....and they did.
Nice work boys. I guess I should have grown used to Louisville being a laughing stock over the past few seasons; thanks for reminding us all how it feels.
Mack can’t dribble the ball for the team. This was basic dribbling.
Completely disagree. He did put them in a position to be successful. A coach can’t lose a game up 23 with 9 minutes, only players can.
They will either succumb to it or learn to deal from it. Let's face it, we are going to see a lot of zone press from here on out.
I expect EVERY team to utilize the press against this team. It's an almost sure fire way to victory.
Really? What about when him, his staff and his player’s pissed down their legs the last 9:10? Give me a break. Again, in the half court he placed freakin midgets (Cunningham & McMahon) the majority of the possessions in the center of the zone. Nobody looked at the rim on the catch. The intent of placing someone there should be to catch, square to the rim and either shoot the 15 footer, attack the rim, or kick for open perimeter shots. Also you have to place bigs along the baseline or short corner. We did that once that I remember.
You can bank on it. I'm actually surprised more teams have not pressed the Cards throughout the game.
Cards looked like a grade school team against the press. Passing the ball to the corners... picking up their dribble way too early... terrible passing. crazy!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We just have a difference of opinion. Again, to me you can’t blame coaching for losing a 23 point lead with 9 minutes left. Our players got scared and panicked. It’s not like Mack left a time out in his pocket. There was nothing wrong with the sets to me. It was just players not making basic plays.
CC has been great, but there was a reason he played at Samford. Pressure simply destroys him. Mack doesn’t seem to have press break or in bounds plays. I don’t get it. And I agree that Sutton should’ve been in the middle to catch and go. Although he may want his forwards bringing ball up against pressure. CC and other guards just can’t do it. Everyone should press them going forward.
Different opinion, which is fine, but the coaches should prepare a team for this. Clearly their not this has happened several times this year around the 7:00 minute mark. Did last Saturday again tonight. Sickening. Now it could be the coaches are but the players fold. And I could agree with that. I think that’s what CC does, but he’s not alone, a lot of panicking going on at crunch time. We’re afraid to fail so we do.
I have to question CCM for not having a timeout in his pocket. He took his last one at the 4:13 mark with one coming at the next dead ball after the 4:00 mark. IDK if it would have mattered. Nothing else seemed to work in the last 9:13.
OTOH the only 3 FTs we missed were front ends of 1 and 1s. That also hurt.
Sweet dreams, everyone. We've already had our nightmare.
Absolutely! Chucking up all those 3's with so little clock used....I mean yeah I'd like to win by 30 too, but winning by 1 sounds pretty damn good IMO.
No, that’s the point, we stopped trying to score and got conservative again. Same story same result. I guess they thought a 23 point lead was insurmountable.
They only had a couple of practices since the FSU game before playing last night.
It's going to take more than just a couple of practices to fix this glaring issue. Ball pressure is the kryptonite for this team.
You all do realize if we didn't have Cunningham we would suck right? He is the top in assist in the ACC. Him making one mistake at the end of the game after us blowing a 23 point lead is not solely on him. Why does this board always play the blame game ?
After a restless night of "UofL turnover leads to a Duke score" nightmares, I've chosen to blindly focus on what Louisville did right in the game, as we move forward in the season. This was/is a Duke team that has infinitely more talent than Louisville, a likely #1 seed, and who has destroyed some of the nations best teams. Louisville clearly was the better team, and dominated this beast of a Duke team...for 31 minutes of the game. That fact is what will keep me positive. Unfortunately, college basketball games last 40 minutes. Hats off to Duke/Coach K for implementing the press that turned what had been a confident, highly efficient UofL team into a scared, turnover prone one. But the press and turnovers are just half of the comeback/collapse story. Credit also has to go to Duke for converting those steal and turnovers into points at a high rate. Congrats to Duke for keeping their head in the game when most teams would have conceded the game at the 31 minute mark. Hell of a comeback and win.
Positives:
Outrebounded Duke: 41-39
Had more assists: 17-10
Had more blocks: 3-2
Shot a higher FG, 3ptFG, and FT percentage
Unfortunately:
Duke had more steals: 12-6
Duke had fewer turnovers: 17-11
And it seemed like like most all of those turnovers/steals lead directly to Duke points in the last 9 minutes.
Positives:
Outrebounded Duke: 41-39
Had more assists: 17-10
Had more blocks: 3-2
Shot a higher FG, 3ptFG, and FT percentage
Unfortunately:
Duke had more steals: 12-6
Duke had fewer turnovers: 17-11
And it seemed like like most all of those turnovers/steals lead directly to Duke points in the last 9 minutes.
Physical mistakes are part of any athlete, participating in any sport. No athlete wants to fail or lose a game. I am ok with that, nobody is perfect. But, I am not ok with making mental mistakes at the D1 level. For instance, Nowa fouling on a three point attempt. That was a huge mental mistake. Other mental blunders would be calling a timeout when the team has none. Hanging on the rim and getting a technical. Running the baseline to inbounds the ball when you are not supposed to (happend last year).
Players are going to make mistakes, no one feels worst than them and their families. Just eliminate the MENTAL mistakes.
Players are going to make mistakes, no one feels worst than them and their families. Just eliminate the MENTAL mistakes.
I'm wondering if we'll look back on this game as a watershed moment for Mack. I hate to say it, but I'm starting to wonder if he's the answer for us. I didn't like the way he handled that sideline reporter last week, and now this. With a meltdown of this magnitude, you can't put the blame on any one person's shoulders. But Mack has to bear some of it. The players won't be here in 3 years but Mack will, so I'm most concerned about his contribution to the meltdown. I hope it was an aberration and he learns from it.
