Let Them Play, Let Them Play

I like to think I know a lot about the sport of basketball. However, even I must admit that most actual college basketball coaches know much more about the sport than I. Even with all of the knowledge that these coaches possess, they sometimes forget the easiest adage in the world, one that goes all the way back to the 1977 classic Bad News Bears in Breaking Training: "Let Them Play!"

Last night, the Belmont Bruins were on the verge of a colossal upset of the number 2 seeded Duke Blue Devils. In fact, with under one minute to play the Bruins held a one point lead over Duke. What does Belmont Coach Rick Byrd do? He calls timeout. Belmont, with the lead, a big defensive stop, the ball and the momentum suddenly had to stop everything for Coach Byrd to design a play. The play apparently was to hold the ball until the last second of the shot clock, drive and throw up a wild "shot" toward the basket and hope for a miracle. Now I understand that wasn't the play called by Coach Byrd, but it might as well have been. The wild shot missed, and Gerald Henderson then went coast-to-coast absolutely unimpeded for the game winning layup. Belmont gets the ball back, rushes over half court and then calls timeout again. Needless to say, Belmont lost.

Now, before you start to defend the timeouts, since almost every coach would have done the same thing, let's look at some of the facts. This is Belmont's third trip to the NCAA tourney in the past 4 years, losing to UCLA in 2005, Georgetown in 2007 and now Duke in 2008. They are incredibly experienced in playing in the NCAA tournament. They start four juniors and a senior. The one great equalizer for the teams from smaller conferences is that they are often experienced and have played together as a team for several years. At some point in time you have to trust your experienced players. The entire game Belmont ran their offense the way they wanted and did not let Duke dictate the game. What made a possession with 50 seconds left any different? Play your game and take a good shot in the course of your offense. When a team relies on the stall and prayer offense (which inevitably always occurs), that team is then unbalanced on defense and a team can exploit them on a fast break the other way.

Coach Byrd, your players had the basketball opportunity of their lifetime. When your four returning senior starters come back next year, let them play their first round game using their talents and knowledge of the offense. Save the timeouts for times to stop the opponents' momentum, to give your players breathers or to correct problems that you observe from the sidelines. Calling the first timeout last night gave Duke the opportunity to set-up on defense, took the momentum away from your team, and also took the crowd out of the game. The second timeout gave Duke the opportunity to set-up their defense and, perhaps more importantly, gave your players time to think about how they just blew the opportunity to beat Duke. Keep them on the court, let them think only about beating their man, running the play, setting screens, etc. Do not give time for doubt to set in.

You noticed that Coach Kryzewski didn't call timeout down one with the ball in that same situation, right?