The Final Play

[ShockerExpress]

I do also remember Marshall saying another option was supposed to be Cle posting up, after the lob failed. He obviously didn't do that. He must of wanted the three.. in my estimation. And I can not really blame him.

[vancedave56]

Funny, generally coach Marshall does not call a time out in these situations - and others say they would. This time he does, and others say the would not. Just shows you, you can win or lose either way, just depends on the shot going in.

[proshox]

I had a similar sight line as Cotton did when he made the decision to decline passing the ball to Early. While Clea has separation he didn't look open from my vantage point. The length and positioning of the UK defenders made it look like a risky pass.

Furthermore, there were three plays during the game where WSU went over the top or back door (perfectly) only to be denied by a trailing shot blocker. This had to be factored in by both Cotton and Early.

[Bob Sacamano]

I think there was a second shooter.

[WSUwatcher]

Agree on this. I was pretty surprised they called a timeout.

Me too, AndShock. That was definitely a departure from Marshall's normal practice, and if he could do it over again, I wonder if he'd just have them play -- or what he'll do the next time he's confronted with a similar situation.

Still, they got a decent shot from a good guy to be taking it, and even after FVV missed, the sun came up the next day. The last play was just that, but how many other chances were there for the Shocks to have picked up a couple of points or more along the way? Too many missed opportunities, too many breaks that went the wrong way, too many good things done by an extraordinarily talented opponent that finally woke up and acted like one -- that's kind of the way it tends to go in a one-possession game. It could have gone either way, and this time it didn't work out.

Got lots of respect for the quality loss, though.

[another shocker]

fvv had a perfectly good look. he makes that one all the time. he just had a rare miss.

i look for him to really take over next year. nobody stops him.

[1972Shocker]

fvv had a perfectly good look. he makes that one all the time. he just had a rare miss.

i look for him to really take over next year. nobody stops him.

I agree. I was just telling a friend earlier today that can't tell from the surface but that miss will drive Fred to work harder than ever to lead his team to greater things. This young man does not like to lose and he will become even a better leader and player.

[Downtown Shocker Brown]

He shot slightly off his back foot due to WCS and Randle I believe in front of him. This twisted his body just a bit.

I think he knew as soon as he released it it didn't feel right. I don't expect to see him do that ever again.

[wsushox1]

He shot slightly off his back foot due to WCS and Randle I believe in front of him. This twisted his body just a bit.

I think he knew as soon as he released it it didn't feel right. I don't expect to see him do that ever again.

If you look at pictures of the shot you can see his release was certainly not his normal release. Agreed 100%.

[wsushox1]

fvv had a perfectly good look. he makes that one all the time. he just had a rare miss.

i look for him to really take over next year. nobody stops him.

He's certainly capable of taking over. However, and it pains me to say this as it goes with Gottleibs line of thinking, Fred struggles against big athletic guards. There's a reason he wasn't shooting well against UK....he's not used to shooting over 6'6" guards.

[Shocktoberfest]

He's certainly capable of taking over. However, and it pains me to say this as it goes with Gottleibs line of thinking, Fred struggles against big athletic guards. There's a reason he wasn't shooting well against UK....he's not used to shooting over 6'6" guards.

Possibly. Even then coming out of the time out I expected Fred would take the shot. I had visions of Toure rolling off the pick for the corner dagger against creighton his freshman year. I would take that shot a million times. But I also agree with the posters who were surprised we didn't just run with it after the free throw miss. The problem is that if you don't get off a good shot you really second guess that. Plus Kentucky already had 4 guys back on D.

[CBB_Fan]

He's certainly capable of taking over. However, and it pains me to say this as it goes with Gottleibs line of thinking, Fred struggles against big athletic guards. There's a reason he wasn't shooting well against UK....he's not used to shooting over 6'6" guards.

He was also our best player in the first half despite playing against those big guards, even though he wasn't scoring. He was creating offense with his passing, getting our other players in positions they could score (notice that Chadrack and Carter didn't have as much of an impact in the 2nd), and it seemed that only time UK got disrupted was when he stole the ball. He struggled in the second half, but we can't say that was because the Harrison twins suddenly grew taller or more athletic. My guess is that his head collision at least somewhat shook him up, and he never got back in a groove after those two back-to-back fouls. Not UK's guards, but the court and refs.

[ShockTalk]

Perhaps we should have ran a play for who UK would have least expected it, Cotton and the Grown Man Dunk. :bball_spin:

[wsushox1]

He was also our best player in the first half despite playing against those big guards, even though he wasn't scoring. He was creating offense with his passing, getting our other players in positions they could score (notice that Chadrack and Carter didn't have as much of an impact in the 2nd), and it seemed that only time UK got disrupted was when he stole the ball. He struggled in the second half, but we can't say that was because the Harrison twins suddenly grew taller or more athletic. My guess is that his head collision at least somewhat shook him up, and he never got back in a groove after those two back-to-back fouls. Not UK's guards, but the court and refs.

He certainly was. It was in transition though, Fred in Transition is near unstoppable.

What I'm saying is.....is that at times this year Fred has struggled creating his own shot against taller guards which is why I think calling a TO was a good idea as that play wasn't in transition....UK had 4 1/2 players back on defense.

[1972Shocker]

Perhaps we should have ran a play for who UK would have least expected it, Cotton and the Grown Man Dunk. :bball_spin:

Actually UK probably would least expect Zach Bush or JR Simon. But it doesn't matter who we ran the play for we would have won if we would have just run the ol' picket fence.