The Knockout Punch

In last night’s Duke-North Carolina game, the Tar Heels led 79-68 with just under 4 minutes to play. According to Bill James’s “Safe Lead” calculator, which determines how “safe ” a lead is, North Carolina’s lead was 29% safe at that time. James defines a safe lead being “that to overcome (a safe lead) requires a series of events so improbable as to be essentially impossible.”

Right before that 4-minute moment, Harrison Barnes missed a jumper that would have brought the lead to 13, upping the safe lead percentage to 36%, and with a defensive stop it would have increased to 51%.

In the Kansas-Missouri game, Thomas Robinson for the Jayhawks missed a shot that would have put KU up 73-63, and further ignited the fuel of a 9-0 run over 2 and a half minutes against a struggling Missouri offense. By missing that shot, he did not give Kansas a chance to improve their SL% to 31%, and Missouri then rallied to score 6 straight in the next minute to cut the lead to 2 with 1:30 left.

No Possessions Left Behind

With any comeback, the trailing team must utilize every chance they get with the ball to score. This is especially true in the high school game, where there is no shot clock and the team in the lead doesn’t have a set amount of time they have to work with, and could just run the clock out. In the Hilliard Bradley-Mount Vernon game, the Yellow Jackets trailed 57-48 with 3 and a half minutes remaining. In the final possessions in the game, Mount Vernon had 10 possessions after that 3:30 mark (possessions with just free throws included). In those trips with the ball, they did not have a possession in which they did not score, going 4-5 from the field, 9-10 from the FT line, averaging a staggering 1.8 points per possession. That’s a staggering number, considering the 10 trips they had with the ball before that only brought home 0.8 points per possession.

Last night’s game in Chapel Hill featured more of the same two-sided offenses by the trailing team. Duke faced a 82-72 deficit with 2:20 to play. After that moment, Duke had 5 more possessions, and utilized them to the max, going 5-6 from the field,3-4 from beyond the arc. That hot streak netted the Blue Devils 2.6 points per possession, leading a 13-2 run.

A Coach’s Worst Nightmare: Turnovers

In the three games I’ve talked about in this post, the teams that have lost their respective games not only let the other team back into the game, but successfully took themselves out of the game as well. Turnovers, whether it be a bad pass, a dribble off the foot, or in some cases two missed free throws, can shift a game in many ways. Turning the ball over not only gives up your chance of scoring, but also greatly increases the opponents chance of scoring, giving them run outs of 3 on 2, or 2 on 1, leading to easy buckets. As shown in the table, the three losing teams and their percentage of turnovers in their final possessions. 

 In closing, teams that want to close a game out properly need to understand a few things. For one, a turnover is the worst possible event you can have on the offensive end when leading. Even if the shot you take is terrible, you still have a chance for a rebound, and you don’t give the trailing team a chance to gain a big advantage. Secondly, defense defense, and more defense will help you win the game, even if all you do is slow the opponent down, forcing them to score in the half court. More than likely, you built the lead on your half-court defense. Lastly, don’t let it come down to the one big play to beat you. Carolina fans, time heals all wounds. It will take longer than 2 minutes and 10 seconds though.

Waking up every morning before dawn, many at the Mansfield YMCA see a legend in the making. In the wee hours of the morning, before most people start their day, one man, and one dream are in the making. After graduating with the class of 2010 at Central Crossing High School, Mansfield YMCA PF/C Jason Morrow has surpassed unlikely odds to get to the position he is in now.

Being around the basketball program at CCHS until it’s eventual downfall after the 2008-09 season, Morrow took his attention elsewhere, this time Hilliard Bradley. Sitting court side for each Jaguar game, Morrow quickly became fascinated with his new team. Although he never played in any games during his high school career, his time on the bleachers is going to serve him well with his new gig. Ohio State basketball star. As the Buckeyes roll to a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, the new weapon in their arsenal has yet to be released. Even with the lights out scoring of Jared Sullinger, William Buford and Jon Diebler, among others, coach Thad Matta is anticipating the 2011-12 season more than ever. When Morrow announced on March 1st that he would be heading to Main Campus for his sophomore season at Ohio State, many didn’t understand exactly what he was saying. Many followers on Facebook and Twitter believed it was a simple suggestion that “Jay Bird” as many call him, would just be going to the Oval to solely take classes and increase his wealth of knowledge. Well social networking world, you were wrong.

Let’s go back into Morrow’s basketball past and see where this beast began his tour of destruction. Playing basketball in the Grove City Parks and Rec league, Morrow was a sharpshooter from deep. Standing in the corner for the majority of the game, Morrow averaged nearly 27 points per game, solely off three point attempts. Many around the city of 30,000 began comparing Morrow to Reggie Miller, but of a different breed. With unforgettable goggles, and an electrifying stroke from deep, natives around Grove City saw a poor man’s Troy Murphy in the making. But after Murphy was cut by the Indiana Pacers prior to this season, many began calling him a poor man’s Jason Morrow. Funny how things change.

When Morrow reached high school, his dreams of taking his career to the next level were put on hold. Choosing to focus on a journalism career, Morrow put basketball to the side. But when he enrolled at Ohio State’s Mansfield campus, he picked up a basketball, and the fire was rekindled. Enlisting in an 18+ league at the local YMCA, where Mansfield legends such as Johnny Appleseed once roamed the courts, Morrow was beginning to bring a Shawshank type effect on the community.

In his first game against the Ontario YMCA, alma mater of the great Paul Morrow, the young Morrow dropped 36 pts, including a Kevin Love-esque 27 rebounds. The seven fans in attendance were amazed at what they saw from the freshman. Over the next seven games, Morrow averaged nearly 41 points per game, and in a December 6th game against the Glenville YMCA, where Ray Small and Rob Rose are the leading scorers, Morrow scored a league record 53 points. Mansfield was trailing with 7.8 seconds left, down two, with the ball, Morrow felt a great sense of urgency coming from within him. Looking to scorn the haters, and women that have burned him in the past, this fire brought out an aggression never seen before. With Donte Whitner guarding him from the top of the key, the defense figured he would attempt a three point field goal, since he had hit eight that day already. But as he moved a little to the right, Morrow executed a slick crossover that broke Whitner’s ankles, something that he has been used to every time he’s played Tom Brady. Driving down the lane, Morrow slammed home a thunderous dunk over Rob Rose, resulting in a foul. With a few tenths of a second remaining, Morrow sinked the free throw which put Mansfield in the lead. Glenville would miss on a heave at the end, and the Fighting Cows won their first game over the Tarblooders since 1922.

The Cows would roll to 18 consecutive wins behind Morrow’s play, which set them up for the YMCA National Championship on March 1st against YMCA of Queens. Led by Stephon Marbury and Sebastian Telfair, the Queens crew was something that the YMCA circuit had never seen. Behind Marbury and Telfair, the Militia set the YMCA record for 62 straight victories, dating back to 2009. But when Morrow walked into the gym, many felt as if Telfair was back in a Timberwolves jersey. The guard was unable to penetrate the lane, which wasn’t the last time he had trouble penetrating that night. When Telfair tried to kick to Marbury, the former Phoenix Suns great couldn’t hit a single shot. With the weak Eddy Curry in the post, who had been claimed off waivers on February 27th following the blockbuster deal for Carmelo Anthony, Morrow had his way on the opposing defense. Sprinting out to an early 15 point lead, the Fighting Cows never looked back. Morrow would total 47 points on the evening, setting another record, this time for points in a Championship game, and Mansfield won the title 80-63. As a crowd of 15,000 filled the DC area YMCA, what many didn’t see was the numerous NBA scouts and NCAA coaches in attendance.

At the postgame press conference, journalists from all over the country were eager to get into the mind of the Mansfield myth. As a writer from the Chicago Tribune asked, “Jason, where are you headed next fall?” Morrow responded, “Well, what should I do? Should I go where you want me to go? Should I trust my friends? They’re my friends. Well, I thought they were at first.” The puzzled reporter looked back and asked, “huh?” Morrow said, “look, I have no idea where I’m going to play next season, right now, any place is pie in the sky.” As the press conference concluded, the majority of reporters in the room were delirious over what just happened.

The next morning Morrow was featured on ESPN First Take’s “First and 10″ with Skip Bayless. Host Jay Crawford brought up the question, “Where will the country’s best player land for the 2011-12 season?” As Bayless began to voice his incredibly biased and unreliable opinion, Morrow interrupted saying, “Well this is very tough. (pause) Next fall, wow, this is tough, next fall, I’ll be taking my talents to Main Campus to join the Ohio State Buckeyes.” Crawford and Bayless were stunned. Crawford questioned Morrow, “Is that the decision you came up with this morning?” Morrow snapped back, “No sir, that has been in my mind since I was born, you reporters are on me harder than the SEC.” Bayless was adamantly upset with the turn of events, ripping Morrow live on television. “Oh here we go again, another drama queen from Northeast Ohio. You should be ashamed of yourself. You will never be anything like Michael Jordan. Gosh, I hate this show more than I dislike Woody Paige.” Morrow smirked back to Bayless and responded, “Skip, nobody has ever told you this, but how about you shut the (expletive) up.”

As the world watched Morrow commit to the Buckeyes, Ohio State freshman Jared Sullinger was ecstatic when he heard the news. Many on Twitter were witnesses to Sullinger’s tweet following the breaking news, “Welcome to Ohio State Mr Morrow. Let’s do it again next year #leggo.” As Morrow and Sullinger rejoiced, the headline at the Columbus Dispatch the following morning was, “Thad Matta does it again: Mansfield wunderkid Jason Morrow signs with the Buckeyes.” It’s crazy how sports can change someone’s life.

• In his first season, Mark Sanchez already has the most playoff wins in Jets history.
• Michael Beasley guaranteed an “easy victory” over the Charlotte Bobcats yesterday only to lose 104-65.
• Both hockey teams in the Canadian province of Alberta lost by a combined 15 goals on Monday night.
• Tim Lincecum asked for a pay raise up from $600,000 a year to $13,000,000, 15x his current salary.
• Rasheed Wallace returned to Detroit last night, claiming the Palace was still his, only to be blocked three times in a 92-86 loss.
• The Dallas Mavericks extended their streak of one-point victories, in a 94-93 win over the Washington Bullets uhm i mean Wizards.
• The Nets only lost by 11 points on Monday night, a moral victory for a team that has a record of 3-38.
• Kelvin Sampson finally hung up the phone Tuesday night.
• Johnny Damon remains unsigned along with Miguel Tejada, that’s what happens when you’re 35 and think you deserve Albert Pujols money.
• Jose Canseco didn’t call anyone else out this week, a first for the washed up steroids user.
• Tiger Woods checked into sexual rehab this week, it’s a good thing that they have all male nurses there.
• Central Crossing boys basketball has a three game winning streak.
• Northland won by 68 on Tuesday over Mifflin, 30 more than the total points scored the Punchers.
• Alex Rodriguez will play for Haiti in the next World Baseball Classic, his third team in three renditions of the tournament.
• John Wall’s name was once again mentioned on Sportscenter last night, breaking Tim Tebow’s former record of 20 consecutive shows.
• The color man for the Michigan-Wisconsin game on Wednesday said this when referring to a shot attempt by the Wolverines’ Manny Harris, “They better hope State Farm covers the damages from that brick.” And we thought Bob Griese was bad.
• Allen Iverson and Tracy McGrady have sufficient votes for the All-Star Game, funny when McGrady has not played this season and Iverson quit on the Grizzlies then moved back to Philadelphia to ask for more shots.
• Evan Turner continued to dominate on Monday, abusing the Northwestern Wildcats for 20 points, 13 rebounds and 8 assists.
• RIP Gaines Adams

If you have anything you’d like to share from this week, comment below!

After dominating the NBA for 19 years, and being the all-time leader in points scored, this is one defender Lakers great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar hasn’t faced before. On Monday, he told the AP that he was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia, and is currently receiving treatment. His doctor told him that: “You have a very good chance to live your life out and not have to make any drastic changes to your lifestyle.” Abdul Jabaar, 62, collected 6 MVP titles and won three NCAA titles while playing for the great John Wooden at UCLA. Currently he is a special assistant with the Lakers, but doesn’t plan on cutting back on his work load any time soon.

Abdul-Jabaar went to the doctor last December after he began having weird feelings. “I was getting hot flashes and sweats on a regular basis. That’s not normal, even for my age.” He is currently trying to promote awareness for the disease, and has become a spokesperson for Novartis, the company that makes the drug to treat the illness that 22,000 people in America currently live with. He went on to say, “I’ve never been a person to share my private life. But I can help save lives. It’s incumbent on someone like me to talk about this.”

Nine years ago, my second-favorite college coach of all-time was fired by then-IU president Myles Brand for breaking a “no-tolerance” policy. But as of today, IU has chosen Bob Knight to be inducted into their sports Hall Of Fame this fall. Others inducted will be: Steve Downing (basketball, 1972-73) Katrin Koch (women’s track, 1989-92), Joe Norman (football, 1975-78), Mike Rabold (football, 1956-58), and Alan Somers (swimming, 1961-63). Since his firing, Knight hasn’t returned to IU. One of the most famous quotes sports history is when Knight said, “When my time on Earth is gone, and my activities here are past, I want they bury me upside down, and my critics can kiss my ass.”

Knight could not be reached for comment by ESPN until Monday, but now Indiana AD Fred Glass said that, “I am honored to have been a part of selecting this outstanding class of tremendous coaches and student-athletes. For my first Hall of Fame class to include heroes from my childhood as well as my student days is a dream come true.” The ceremony is November 6th, at a dinner. The following day they will introduce the HOF nominees at halftime of the Wisconsin-IU football game.

Ever since Knight was canned at Indiana, the program has since gone downhill, having 4 four coaches in 9 years. The only true bright point was the national title game run in 2002, defeated by Maryland, ending a 25-12 season for the Hoosiers, the farthest run they’ve had since the 1991-92 Final Four season with Knight at the helm. In 2008, the Kelvin Sampson scandal was certainly one of the lowest points for the program, when he lied to the NCAA about “knowingly violating telephone recruiting restrictions.” This time though, it looks like they have found the right main for the job in ex-Marquette coach Tom Crean. Some have began to call it the “Crean and Crimson” era.

In my mind, I’m pretty clear when it comes to now-Kentucky coach John Calipari being slimier than I thought. Today, the NCAA Committee on Infractions ruled that Memphis will be forced to vacate its 2007-2008 games, including all records pertaining to their national championship game run, a game in which they were defeated in overtime by Kansas. This comes after the news came about that the SAT test score of one Derrick Rose was fraudulent, and his original scores do not meet standards at Memphis. “This is a situation of strict liability,” Committee Chairman Paul Dee said. “If he is ineligible and does not meet initial requirements, the penalties are related back to that time and a determination is then made: Did he play in any contests after the fact? In this case, he did.”

Memphis dodged bigger bullets, such as postseason exemption or loss of scholarships. Calipari had already stabbed the Tigers in the back earlier this year, by leaving to go to Kentucky. He would not officially comment on the situation. But Dee went on to say that even though he wasn’t mentioned, the legacy of what happened carries with him. “Whenever records are vacated, that is a strong indication that there was a problem. Because there were no allegations against the coach, we did not consider any but whenever you have a situation that affects a team’s record or an individual’s personal record, it will have an impact on that individual.”

In my book, he’s slime. I don’t know if he had anything to do with the actual fraudulent test taking directly, but it feels like he had something to do with him. Oh, also, the test was taken in Detroit, about 300 miles from Rose’s hometown of Chicago.

Top 5 First Varsity Seasons At Ohio State (Basketball)

5. Herb Williams- This Buckeye starts the list at #5 due to his dominating presence in the paint, blocking 6 shots or more 5 times during his freshman season in 1977-78. He also set the freshman scoring record of 452, that stood for another 12 years, until the guy who is #4 on the list came along.

4. Jimmy Jackson- At the time, this rising star helped Toledo Macomber High School win its first state title in 1989, and had an immediate impact on the court the following season for Ohio State. Thought of as the best high school player ever in the state, Jackson broke into St John’s Arena and rocked that season, averaging 16.1 ppg and 5.5 rpg, while shooting a scorching 49.9% from the field. He would go on to play two more full seasons with the Bucks, and get his number retired (22) in the rafters.

3. Michael Redd- This home town guy, hailing from West high school, was truly a gift to the 1997-98 Buckeyes. He did not win a state title at West, unlike Jackson, but his freshman season he did light up the scoreboard, averaging 21.9 points per game. The truly great success for Redd at OSU wasn’t until the following season, when he led Ohio State to the Final Four. (shh, the NCAA says I shouldn’t remember that)

2. Greg Oden/Mike Conley Jr.- Well, I guess you have to bunch these two guys together, they were in the same recruiting class of 2006, did go to the same high school (Lawerence North, IN). This duo could probably be considered the best the Buckeyes have ever seen, with Conley driving the lane, dishing it up to Oden with the tip slam on occasion. Together, they combine to own 4 of the records at Ohio State as freshman, with Conley easily having the assists record by a staggering 113 assists, nearly double the second place person in Damon Stringer. Oh, did I forget to mention one fact, that they led the 2006-07 team to the Final Four? They carried that team to Atlanta, on the heels of Oden’s key block against Tennessee in the closing seconds of the Sweet 16. The only reason they did not make it to #1 was because they made it to the Final Four, they didn’t win it.

1. Jerry Lucas- Sorry Mike and Greg, this guy has one up on you. This man was also thought of as the best player to ever play high school basketball in the state of Ohio, at Middletown High School, which he owns many of the OHSAA scoring records, and the 76 consecutive victories by a team is still a record today. By the way this is titled, Lucas can be considered on this list. He did not get to play Varsity basketball at Ohio State in his first season, the NCAA at the time had a ruling that you must sit out your freshman year before you could play Varsity. But in his first Varsity year, Lucas took the once quiet Ohio State basketball program by storm, averaging 26.2 ppg, and shooting a now unthinkable 63% from the field. The reason he tops the list at #1 is because he won the national title in his first Varsity season, leading Ohio State to their only national title in 1960, with a dominating 75-55 victory over Cal.

I didn’t get a chance to watch the NCAA Division II title all the way through yesterday since I was at the state tourney, but I had it DVR’ed and watched it in its entirety today. I knew Findlay (36-0) had won, but I had not seen the Oilers play yet this year, and heard it was a great finish. I know one of Findlay’s players personally, Josh Bostic. He was tournament MVP, and had 13 points in the victory. The ending of the game was one of the best I’ve seen all year. Cal Poly Pomona (25-8) tied the game up at 54 with 15 seconds to go. With about a second left, Findlay guard Tyler Evans let go of a three that sprayed in at the buzzer, capping off the first undefeated season in Division II since Fort Hays State in 1996, a team that went 34-0. This is the first DII title game to go into overtime since 1973, when Kentucky Wesleyan defeated Tennessee State.