I’m not a trained or licensed official, but I’m not sure that double dribble call was correct. Players are have to control the ball first before it’s considered a dribble. Timmy tapped the ball down as if to dribble, but it hit his foot, forcing him to grab the ball to gain control of it.
No matter, trying to gain control of the all at half court with 5 seconds left is not ideal for an end-of-game scenario.
Agreed and even if it was questionable, this same thing happens all the time and it’s very rare to see it called a double dribble. They should have just let the last few seconds play out.
Rule #1 - Never play the game in a way so an official’s call can affect the outcome.
We missed on too many clean looks at the hoop. More players need to be working for the “and 1.”
The fact they didn’t get run out of the gym by the Ducks is a positive.
Totally agree. Don’t stall out to try to make the miracle shot to tie. Be aggressive and if you do score make the other guy come back and beat you.
Freshman guard Pelle Larsson, who was otherwise very good Saturday night in posting 13 points, seven rebounds, and five assists in 37 minutes, tried to squeeze a tough pass in traffic to Branden Carlson, which led to the loose ball, which led to the iffy double-dribble.
Hindsight is always 20/20, but Larsson may have been better served keeping the ball on the floor, going downhill and getting to the rim. If he does that and stays in control, he potentially draws a foul, gets the tying bucket, or even both. For what it’s worth, Larsson entered the night shooting 91.7% from the foul line, and went 4-for-4 against the Ducks…
The Utes now have nine conference losses. Seven of those losses have come by a combined 33 points, which makes the average margin of defeat in those losses 4.7 points. Of Utah’s nine Pac-12 losses, it led at halftime in five of them.
Within those five, the Utes coughed up 10-point halftime losses at home to Oregon and Colorado over the course of three days, then led Cal by 12 at the break, yielded 50 second-half points, and lost by nine.
Indeed. Rather than “let them play,” why not make absolutely sure that in the final seconds, the ball remains in Larsson’s hands so we can take advantage of his 91% FT shooting?
I know, I know, hindsight is perfect, and I am no coach. I have watched a couple of really good coaches handle end of game situations, however, and what we see with this coach could not be more different from what I’ve seen from those others.