College basketball coaches mess up sometimes, too
March Madness is back, and what better reminder that coaches often blow games more than the players?
One of the most memorable games from this year’s NCAA Tournament will end up being Vanderbilt-Northwestern. The 8-9 matchup had it all: The underdog story (Northwestern) jumped out to a big lead, Vanderbilt stormed back to make it a close game, and there was an exciting ending. The game will mostly be remembered for the gaffe at the end. The Commodores completed their comeback when Riley LaChance made a layup to go ahead 66-65 with 17 seconds left. Vanderbilt guard Matthew Fisher-Davis didn’t realize that, though. He thought his team was still losing and intentionally fouled Northwestern guard Bryant McIntosh. McIntosh made the free throws to put Northwestern ahead, and LaChance missed a three on the next possession to end it.
Related: Updated 2017 NCAA Tournament Bracket
What if I told you, though, that such a seemingly inexplicable mistake and blown game were the faults of the coach? Managing the clock and a team’s timeouts are on the coach. Vanderbilt head coach Bryce Drew completely botched the latter against Northwestern. He called his final timeout with 7:12 remaining in the game. As such, he wasn’t able to stop the clock, huddle his team, and give them a plan late. If he had saved a timeout, Fisher-Davis probably wouldn’t have committed his foul. If he had saved a timeout, LaChance probably wouldn’t have forced up a 3 when they were only down by one point.
It wasn’t only Drew who had this problem, though. We are through two rounds and 48 games of the NCAA Tournament, and this has happened multiple times. On Sunday alone, it happened twice. Gregg Marshall of Wichita State is usually lauded for being a fantastic coach, but he made the same mistake as Drew. Marshall used his last timeout with 55 seconds left and his team down one. This seems like a good spot to use the timeout, but it came back to bite them. The Shockers had two possessions in the last 30 seconds of the game, and both times they looked unorganized and like they didn’t know what to do. The first one was when Wichita was down by one and it ended with a forced up 3 taken 25 seconds into the shot clock. That shot was blocked. The second time, they were down three and were forced into another guarded 3 that was also blocked.
Later on the same day, Rhode Island coach Dan Hurley subbed out his star EC Matthews (who had four fouls) for an offense-defense substitution. Trying to guard your star player from fouling out late in the game seemed smart. But then he was forced to use his final timeout with 1:09 left to get Matthews back in. The Rams ended up with the ball inside of 30 seconds left, down three points. They never got organized and even after an offensive rebound rewarded them a second chance, they never got up a good look to tie.
Mismanaging timeouts isn’t the only way a coach can hurt their team late in games. They often will mismanage the clock and score, not giving their team enough chances to come back. A prime example of this was on Friday with new Illinois head coach Brad Underwood. Heading Oklahoma State, his team was in a shootout with Michigan. Down by four points with just 15 seconds left, it seemed to me like a 3 was the only option. Instead, Underwood’s team opted to try the strategy of getting a quick two and fouling to extend the game. They did just that, and Derrick Walton Jr. made two free throws with 10 seconds left to go back up by four. Underwood again opted to get a quick two and foul. Wolverine DJ Wilson nailed his two free throws with four seconds remaining, and the Cowboys’ Juwan Evans made a 3-pointer at the buzzer to lose by one.
By not taking a 3 earlier, Oklahoma State ran out of time and never had a legitimate shot to come back. Coaches make these kinds of mistakes often, thinking that extending the game is always the right play. If the other team is good from the charity stripe, though (Michigan is 11th in the nation), you may run out of time and never have a chance. It’s impossible to say whether the teams would win if their coaches managed the clock better. Not having a good shot at it ensures they will not, and that’s on the coach.
March Madness hasn’t been as full of madness this year as it usually is. Thus far there have been no buzzer-beaters and no overtime games. Part of that can be blamed on the coaches who have deprived their players of a chance for that shot or a break to calm down and plan ahead. Regardless, the best of games will always be remembered for the players and their mistakes. Vanderbilt’s Matthew Fisher-Davis will always be remembered for his foul. Kentucky’s Malik Monk and Bam Adebayo will be remembered for blocking those Wichita State 3s.
Rarely will you find the people who remember the role the coach played in setting up those memorable finishes. Coaches often mess things up and blow the endings of games. In a lower profile case earlier this year, Clemson coach Brad Brownell blew a substitution that led to a loss. It’s fun and easy to blame the players, but the coaches are paid not to mess these things up. Being the one that’s supposed to guide the players, they are ultimately at fault. So this March, make sure to remember. When you see a team fail to come up with a victory in a close game, try to think of the impact their head coach had on the game. Chances are it was a big one.