(originally posted here∞)

Back from San Antonio with countless thoughts filling my head, but one that struck me as discussion fodder for this board. I browsed the weekend's threads, but without a search function can't be sure that this hasn't been beaten to death, so yell at me if I'm mistaken...

More than once while I still lurked here I saw big debates over Coach K's use of the "delay game:" holding the ball at midcourt for most of each possession when there was ~2 points per minute differential. Common complaints ranged from causing TV boredom to outright losing some games between 00-03 (doesn't seem to have been used much this year.) Defenders pointed to the other games they did not lose and to Coach K's impeachable accolades.

Now we come to the national semis. Up 8 with under 4. Defenders of the delay game now have to cross ways with K, who had the opportunity (timeout on the floor) to invoke it but did not. Complainers may not have faced boredom, but couldn't possibly have looked forward to our defensive possessions.

Me? I think having it missing from our vocabulary cost us. Every time UConn has the ball a very fresh Okafor can pound it into a guy with 4 fouls or a generally hapless Nick. Over the last 3:30 we could reasonably expect to limit them to 4 or 5 trips if we'd tried. Even if Okafor goes 4/4 or 4/5 we need only make 1/5 and we win. Instead, Deng jacks up a 3 with 15 seconds on the shot clock, Dan a contested 17-footer with 20 seconds, and we end up giving them 7 possessions, which even given their free throw shooting is very bad news.

Note: I have not encoded the game "tape" yet -- working from memory -- correct where necessary

PS If Chris had been fouled like J-Will, I put all my chips on his draining it.

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