SecS3
Junior
Posts: 246
Age: 75
Reg: 03-17-16
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02-04-24 10:31 PM - Post#362784
When catching up on scores around the league yesterday I noticed Yale beat Penn in OT in the women's game, so I went to the replay to watch the final five minutes of regulation plus the overtime to see what happened. Penn deserved to lose IMO because they employed my favorite end game for dummies strategy. They were up three in the waning seconds and chose not to foul, but instead, allowed Yale a game tying three pointer at the buzzer to send the game into OT. I just don't understand this at all, but I guess I'm of the minority when it comes to this thinking. I often hear commentators or coaches say they prefer not to foul because they don't want to give someone the opportunity for free points. Really?? You prefer to give them the opportunity to tie the game instead. Rather than make them make the first, intentionally miss the second, get the rebound and make a shot to tie or win the game. I can't remember the last time I actually saw someone pull this off, but I've seen dozens of times, maybe even hundreds throughout the years, where a team makes a three to send the game into OT. In fact, I've seen more times when a team makes the first and accidently makes the second also than I have seen a team miss the second and get the rebound. In addition, if Penn wasn't going to foul, why did they have three defenders below the three-point line? It allowed Astrom to free up for an uncontested shot because someone had to run at her from the paint area when she got the ball to try and defend her. Like I said, end game for dummies in my opinion. A serious blow to Penn's chances for making the Ivy Tournament.
As for the Tiger's weekend, it wasn't their best basketball, especially from a defensive point of view. Coach Berube didn't look too happy for most of the games. Will have to see if their somewhat lackluster performance knocks them out of the polls or not. I don't know what happened with teams below them, but it wouldn't be a total shock. It happened in 2020 also. The Tigers had just cracked the top 25, pummeled Penn in the Ivy opener but dropped out of the rankings for a few weeks. The most impressive thing about the weekend was the attendance. Nearly 3,000 for the Brown game. I knew Brown had improved considerably but I didn't realize they were that big of a draw. We did have trouble shaking them though. Tons of kids there and they were LOUD. Nice to see.
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