I’ve yet to watch Friday’s games, other than Oregon St. 58 Utah 44. That game was so deflating, I forgot about basketball..
Fuckin’ Oregon State, man.
The Beavers beat Utah Sunday; with emphasis, and at Salt Lake.
Five Utes of nine made 0 assists. Maybe 200 teams always have five players making 0 assists. But for Utah, that’s death.
Next season, you’ll see teams adapting themselves to Utah’s no-midrange offense. TV people will say:
“Coach Shlabotnik watched Utah play last season. Lynne Roberts’ team passes the ball around until someone shoots from either ‘at the basket’, or ‘behind the line’.”
You’ve got the picture, but the TV analyst is speaking over a highlight reel, directed to leave no dead air. “
“When you’ve got players across the court who can all finish, and all shoot threes, you can aim to maximize each possession with exceptional ball movement, then attempt solely a high-percentage layup or a high-yield three. There’s a great book The Midrange Theory by Seth Partnow, who worked for NBA Milwaukee. Maybe I misunderstood what Partnow was saying, but I thought his book said ‘the midrange theory’ is that to be most efficient, no midrange shooting. “
He goes on, running out of things to say: “Roberts and her staff and her players are a team modeled from a science book”, then goes on a tangent. “The Midrange Theory is a great follow-up to Basketball on Pa…”
You could turn off the sound, and wish for separate audio channels, one without comment.
Or you could hear at a sports bar: “They never shut up. ” Beat. “They’d better goddamn win tomorrow. “