In one game, a girl's HS district championship game that I attended in Michigan, I watched what almost didn't even qualify for this post until there were .5 seconds left. Team 1 led nearly the entire game and had a 13 point lead late in the 3rd before Team 2 came back and tied early in the 4th. Team 1 went back up and looked to salt the game away with a four point lead and less than 10 seconds left. However, a turnover and foul with .5 remaining sent Team 2 to the line. The shooter stepped up and calmly knocked the first shot down. At this point the coach for Team 2 called timeout. Immediately I realized what this coach was going to do. He was panicking and going to ask his player to miss the shot, which is exactly how things played out. To compound matters, the young lady fired a brick off the backboard that didn't draw rim and her team didn't have a chance to rebound. One more mistake this coach made, he had his players drop back beyond halfcourt and allowed Team 1 to inbound and end the game.
It was going to be very tough for Team 2 to win or tie with only .5 left no matter what happened. However, missing the FT intentionally was the last thing he should have had the young lady do. It was going to take an absolute miraculous miss that bounced to the arc to allow a make that would tie. If the young lady had made the FT, they would have at least had a chance to steal and tie with a two at the buzzer. Also, by falling back behind half court after the miss, they didn't even have a chance for a steal and a shot at the buzzer. Remember, Team 1 had just fouled with .5 left. Who is to say they wouldn't have done the same at the buzzer.
Would love to hear the thoughts of others on this and the upcoming posts.
