February 8, 2018
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THE WIZARDRY OF OS
Assistant Basketball Coach and Head Swimming Coach at Central High
Malcolm Butler didn’t play corner in the Super Bowl. LSU basketball is hanging in there for a postseason tournament bid. LSU baseball begins in just over a week. Wednesday was the 4th National Signing Day for football. Yet, I am going to write about the shot clock.
The Advocate had an excellent article this weekend regarding the different opinions toward adopting a shot clock in high school basketball in Louisiana. Currently, 8 states have a shot clock in high school basketball.
I see both sides of the argument, and could be swayed either way. Though there is one argument I cannot understand, and that is the stance that a shot clock would not make a huge difference. A shot clock might not change the first 3.5 quarters much, but the last 4 minutes of the game would change completely.
Quick side note, I think soccer is a sport that needs a shot clock. Soccer would be greatly improved with a shot clock and eliminating off sides. But I digress.
The end of high school basketball games are foul fests because of the lack of a shot clock. If one team has decent guard play, how else can a team get the ball back? Before you think it, the reality of trying to force a turnover against a team with good ball handlers is that it doesn’t happen often. Sure, there are tons of “almost” turnovers but there aren’t as many as you think. After 20 seconds of running around trying to force a turnover, high school teams have to foul and this can start with as much as three minutes left in the game.
If there was a shot clock, the team in the lead would be forced to run offense and take a shot rather than spread the floor, and try to hold the ball until the end of the game. Would that be a good change? Depends on the talent of your team.
Teams with great height that are already at an advantage would have an even greater advantage. Meanwhile smaller teams that handle the ball well would lose a great advantage. The clear winners would be the fans that would see more action at the end of the game.
If I had to guess, I think each state will eventually adopt a shot clock. Should that happen, I hope high schools don’t make the same enormous mistake college basketball has made. Heck, I hope college basketball comes to their senses.
For some reason beyond understanding, NCAA basketball eliminated the violation for dribbling five seconds while being closely guarded. As a result, the end of college basketball games involves watching one player dribble at half court for 20 seconds before trying to make a play with 10 seconds left on the shot clock. The beauty of basketball is flow, player movement, and ball movement. By eliminating the rule, coaches are encouraged to put the ball in the hands of their best guard and tell everyone to stand out of the way. BORING!
For those that couldn't care less about the shot clock in high school basketball, sorry. I will hit on the “big stories” I alluded to in the beginning.
The Malcolm Butler decision is strange, but you have to be pretty arrogant to think you make better decision than the only coach in history to win 5 Super Bowls and coach in 8.
If the LSU basketball team next year can shoot like this and play some defense, it will be a great year.
LSU baseball will be better than many think.
As for National Signing Day Part 4, you will have to wait until next week, since I am typing this on Tuesday night and signing day is tomorrow.
HEY REF
First things first, let me apologize to anyone if my prediction as to the winner of Super Bowl LII influenced your wager on the outcome of last Sunday’s game. To be totally honest I’ve got two kinds of luck; Bad and Worse! My luck is so bad I tell everyone that I couldn’t pick the winner out of a one horse race.
My biggest disgust over the way it all went down was the fact that Patriot’s cornerback Malcolm Butler didn’t play a single down on defense. He did get into the game as a member on special teams. Coach Bill Belichick can give reason after reason but something is major wrong when your starter for 15 games during the regular season somehow gets stuck on the bench for the biggest game of the year.
As I watched Belichick’s post-game interview he stated that they put the best players on the field that gave them their best chance on winning the game. If you believe that then you’ll also want to be the first in line to buy ocean front property in Minnesota. Nothing is farther from the truth. Butler claims he’s not aware of why he was benched and confirmed that he’d made all meetings without being late and had also made every bed-check during the two week wait for the game.
If we believe Belichick then why was Butler on the field for nearly the entire season and playoff games yet rode the bench during the Super Bowl? Now that’s a huge issue not only with the fans but the entire league. Watching the game I noticed several times in the first half where New England’s defensive backs looked as if they were “holding back”. I couldn’t understand why since the game was on an indoor carpet so getting a uniform dirty just wasn’t in the mix.
There had to be a reason why these players supposedly the best in the NFL just were not hustling and playing with intensity. Then at the start of the second quarter it was made known that Butler hadn’t been in the game at all. He wasn’t on any injury report for the two weeks leading up to the game. On Sunday, without giving a reason, he was left off the starting lineup. I know I wasn’t the only person wanting an answer since it was very obvious the Patriots’ pass defense missed the bus and were left waiting back at the hotel. About the only thing Butler had to say after the game as he boarded the team bus was “They (Patriots) gave up on me! I could’ve changed that game”.
Then as the Eagles marched up and down the field and New England unable to halt a single drive you just had to know Butler was finally getting into the game. But it was not to be! Any hopes of pulling away then stopping Foles and company from putting more points on the board never materialized. Tom Brady played his usual best and after halftime started making the plays we all knew he’d make. But it seemed as fast as the offense came off the field Philly put together a march that seemed to end with more points going on the board each and every time.
Brady would finish with over 500 yards and would’ve been named the game’s MVP if it weren’t for an inept and completely absent defense. I’m old school and enjoy those 3 – 0 or 10 – 7 games. The teams did combine for one of the most exciting games in Super Bowl history but we only got to see one part of what got these teams to the Big Game and that was of course OFFENSE! Not sure if I’ve got this right but I believe it’s been said “Offenses win games, defenses win championships”.
And just when you thought there couldn’t be a bigger story coming out of New England and the Butler fiasco NFL Network inside man, Ian Rapoport, reports that Patriots’ offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels on Wednesday changed his mind and will NOT be the next head guy in Indianapolis. All this after the Colts confirmed on Tuesday Feb. 6th that the parties have come to an agreement on McDaniel’semployment and he’d be taking over.
Now you might think no big deal but McDaniels has been offering jobs as late as Tuesday to his supposed assistant coaches. Some of those assistant coaches have signed contracts to work with the Colts under McDaniels’ leadership. It is a huge deal since the Indianapolis franchise is now 22 days behind 31 teams in selecting and going after free agents and the college draft in April. What that amounts to is whoever takes the job will be starting the job late in the second quarter so to speak.
McDaniel’s behavior can best be described as… … well I better not say. I can compare what he did to a baker not showing up at the church with a wedding cake after the couple has just been introduced as Mr. and Mrs. I know he’ll have his reasons and excuses for his actions but there isn’t any excuse or reason he can give in breaking an agreement. After all a man is only as good as his word. And Josh your word is like, sorry this is a family friendly paper so I’ll let you finish my thought, just this once though!
Till Next week…
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