Pretty sure he wasn't hurt in the sense of an injury. He was cramping up. After his initial burst he looked tired. Then came the cramps. Practically everything he did was in the first 14 minutes of the game, after which he was a net negative for them. And that was as a direct result of how we played him, not just some coincidence.
Texas Tech 84, Illinois 78 Postgame
I don’t coach, so I’m not qualified to say like most people on the internet, but maybe a timeout just to tell the freshman to take a breath and give them a smile? Opposite of yelling at them
Agree with this, when Illini made the comeback early to tie it at 17, TT Coach called 2 timeouts back to back and then they regrouped and went on the big run til halftime.
I wonder if Mirk improved this summer, and if toppin regressed after not doing anything for a year?
Not one box out it that sequence
lstewart53x3
- Scottsdale, Arizona
As others have pointed out, the environment there is night and day from SFC. I hope we eventually get a home crowd like that (our neutral site crowds tend to be really good).
Sample size is that they dominated us for the next 8 minutes after we had rallied to tie it up. Not sure what else matters. In this case that matters to Illini, they were correct. Don’t care about anything else.
As someone watching Mccasland in that timeout, I can assure you he was not telling his guys to smile.
That said, lets go. Its game 3. You're at Texas Tech. You're down an AA and another starter. Place is on fire. Welcome to big time basketball, time to learn - we don't need to demand Brad make kids smile everytime the other team goes on a 4-0 run.
I could easily make the case those dudes playing through it in the first half, prepped them to be much calmer and collected in the second half. And will do far more good for them in the long run.
Right, so sample size is 8 minutes lol
Not sure what smiling has to do with timeouts? Stops momentum, regroup, point out things and make adjustments.
The main purpose of timeouts is to stop momentum (while making adjustments if needed).
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Calling timeouts to stop momentum is a philosophy thing.
The greatest to ever do it, argue against it:
Phil Jackson: In his memoir, Eleven Rings, he explained his decision to withhold timeouts when opponents had momentum. He noted that when a coach steps in too quickly, players stop reading the floor and start waiting for answers from the bench. By letting the game continue, he forced his players to recognize momentum shifts, communicate, and solve problems on their own.
Dean Smith: He detailed this strategy in his own memoir, A Coach's Life, as well as his leadership book, The Carolina Way. He explained that if he had properly prepared his players in practice, they should be able to recognize mistakes, adjust, and play through adversity without him rescuing them from the bench. Further detailed that timeouts are strictly for clock management and late-game execution rather than emotional resets or coddling.
John Wooden: In his autobiography, They Call Me Coach, he explained that he rarely called timeouts to stop an opponent's momentum or draw up plays. He famously wrote that games are won in practice, not on the bench, and if he had to interrupt the game to tell his players what to do, he had failed as a teacher during the week. Also noted that players develop true court leadership and self-control only when they are trusted to solve spacing and defensive breakdowns on their own in real time.
The greatest to ever do it, argue against it:
Phil Jackson: In his memoir, Eleven Rings, he explained his decision to withhold timeouts when opponents had momentum. He noted that when a coach steps in too quickly, players stop reading the floor and start waiting for answers from the bench. By letting the game continue, he forced his players to recognize momentum shifts, communicate, and solve problems on their own.
Dean Smith: He detailed this strategy in his own memoir, A Coach's Life, as well as his leadership book, The Carolina Way. He explained that if he had properly prepared his players in practice, they should be able to recognize mistakes, adjust, and play through adversity without him rescuing them from the bench. Further detailed that timeouts are strictly for clock management and late-game execution rather than emotional resets or coddling.
John Wooden: In his autobiography, They Call Me Coach, he explained that he rarely called timeouts to stop an opponent's momentum or draw up plays. He famously wrote that games are won in practice, not on the bench, and if he had to interrupt the game to tell his players what to do, he had failed as a teacher during the week. Also noted that players develop true court leadership and self-control only when they are trusted to solve spacing and defensive breakdowns on their own in real time.
Some commenter in the game thread expressed shock ghat the Tech fans appeared to be booing qc when he went down with a leg issue. I was there and the crowd was indeed booing. They take great pride there in being known as a rude crowd. And i was surprised that every basket and free throw was accompanied by an explosion of cheer. It was a hostile environment.