JP breaks down the final play.
NEWARK – A recurring theme in Wednesday’s Xavier-Seton Hall game was a malfunctioning shot clock at the Prudential Center.
It mirrored the Seton Hall offense, which misfired for most of the second half before finally putting together a spurt which gave the Pirates a chance to win. But with victory in sight, the offense again sputtered. And with time rapidly elapsing in the stretch of the regular season, The Hall will have to start hitting on all cylinders.
For a fleeting second, it appeared sophomore Shavar Reynolds might recapture the magic of his game-winning shot against St. John’s earlier this season. But his three-pointer was off the mark and the Pirates were saddled with a resume-deflating 70-69 loss to Xavier.
As in any one-possession game, plenty of things happened to get to that point, not the least of which was Myles Powell’s admission that the Pirates took the Musketeers lightly. But it is that final possession that will be the lasting image, so let’s take a closer look.
After Xavier’s Tyrique Jones bricked the front end of a one-and-one, The Hall got the rebound and called a timeout with 14.9 seconds left, trailing by one. Coach Kevin Willard, who often lets the Pirates play through in situations like this, instead went with a timeout. He did not explain why afterward.
Without a timeout, would Powell (6-for-16, 27 points) have had a better chance to get to the basket? We’ll never know. Xavier’s defense already had settled back by the time Quincy McKnight dribbled toward an official for the timeout.
After the strategy session, Myles Cale (21 points) inbounded the ball to McKnight, who got the ball not far from the midcourt line and threw the ball to Powell around the 12-second mark. Powell began the play in the far right corner beyond the arc, the furthest player away from McKnight.
Likely sensing the impending double-team once he received the ball, Powell sent it back to McKnight. The junior point guard dribbled once and passed it back to Powell, who was on part of the left end of the Pirate logo at midcourt.
In other words, Powell was a long way from the basket with just over eight seconds left. The Pirates' court spacing seemed a bit off as Powell was being guarded one-on-one by Naji Marshall, but that matchup didn’t last long. As soon as he tried to begin backing down Marshall near the top of the arc, defenders Quentin Goodin and Elias Harden came over to create a triple-team.
Harden went for the steal and nearly got it, which caused Powell to decide to give up the ball.
When asked what he had wanted on the final possession, Willard replied that Xavier “had 10 team fouls, so I tried to get (The Hall) to rip through (the defense) or go with a step-back, maybe a ball fake, something like that.”
At that point, with his route to the basket cut off, Powell had two viable options. Cale was open on his left and Reynolds was open to his right, both behind the three-point line, with Cale further away. Cale was 3-for-8 from long distance on the night, and Reynolds 0-for-1 before his shot.
Because the steal attempt had forced Powell to go to his right, he had little choice, once he decided to pass, to throw it to Reynolds. He would’ve had to have seen Cale in his peripheral vision to go that way.
Reynolds, coincidentally, was at a spot on the court, on the right wing, very close to where he was for his buzzer-beater that toppled St. John’s on Dec. 29. In fact, he was slightly closer to the basket when he squared and launched with 4.3 seconds left. He was wide open, and unlike against the Red Storm, there was no closeout by the opposition.
Of course, he missed it this time, back-rimming the shot. Cale grabbed the rebound and missed an attempted putback, although the officials were waving it off before leaving the court. He certainly had released the ball in time but it was decided the shot went behind the backboard.
Xavier coach Travis Steele was happy with his team’s execution on the play.
“We double-teamed Myles Powell,” Steele said in an interview on Xavier’s Twitter feed. “We wanted to get the ball out of his hands so he didn’t shoot the ball (and) make somebody else beat us.”
So why did the original play design break down? Well, I’m not in the film room with the coaches, so I do not know. But here’s some interpretation of what happened. Powell, as noted, started the play a long way from inbounder Cale, perhaps to give the Pirates some time to set a screen or two to get their star a clear look at the basket.
But screening has not been The Hall’s strength this year, and Marshall easily got around Sandro Mamukelashvili’s attempt at one. In fact, Mamukelashvili actually moved slightly at one point to try to keep up with Marshall, and it’s fortunate for SHU there was no contact or a foul could have been called.
So with no available three-pointer, Powell returned the ball to McKnight. When Powell got it again, his first inclination seemed to be to try to drive it, but the eventual triple-team walled off that possibility.
“We believe in each other--we're brothers,” Powell said. “If (Reynolds) is open next time I'll pass it to him again. I was going to try to go to the basket. I saw Shavar's man (Harden) come and try to pick me in the back. I read it and (passing) was the right basketball play.”
Willard later was asked if he was OK with the open shot Reynolds took. He replied, “I’d rather have Myles (Powell) shoot it.”
https://setonhall.rivals.com/
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NEWARK – A recurring theme in Wednesday’s Xavier-Seton Hall game was a malfunctioning shot clock at the Prudential Center.
It mirrored the Seton Hall offense, which misfired for most of the second half before finally putting together a spurt which gave the Pirates a chance to win. But with victory in sight, the offense again sputtered. And with time rapidly elapsing in the stretch of the regular season, The Hall will have to start hitting on all cylinders.
For a fleeting second, it appeared sophomore Shavar Reynolds might recapture the magic of his game-winning shot against St. John’s earlier this season. But his three-pointer was off the mark and the Pirates were saddled with a resume-deflating 70-69 loss to Xavier.
As in any one-possession game, plenty of things happened to get to that point, not the least of which was Myles Powell’s admission that the Pirates took the Musketeers lightly. But it is that final possession that will be the lasting image, so let’s take a closer look.
After Xavier’s Tyrique Jones bricked the front end of a one-and-one, The Hall got the rebound and called a timeout with 14.9 seconds left, trailing by one. Coach Kevin Willard, who often lets the Pirates play through in situations like this, instead went with a timeout. He did not explain why afterward.
Without a timeout, would Powell (6-for-16, 27 points) have had a better chance to get to the basket? We’ll never know. Xavier’s defense already had settled back by the time Quincy McKnight dribbled toward an official for the timeout.
After the strategy session, Myles Cale (21 points) inbounded the ball to McKnight, who got the ball not far from the midcourt line and threw the ball to Powell around the 12-second mark. Powell began the play in the far right corner beyond the arc, the furthest player away from McKnight.
Likely sensing the impending double-team once he received the ball, Powell sent it back to McKnight. The junior point guard dribbled once and passed it back to Powell, who was on part of the left end of the Pirate logo at midcourt.
In other words, Powell was a long way from the basket with just over eight seconds left. The Pirates' court spacing seemed a bit off as Powell was being guarded one-on-one by Naji Marshall, but that matchup didn’t last long. As soon as he tried to begin backing down Marshall near the top of the arc, defenders Quentin Goodin and Elias Harden came over to create a triple-team.
Harden went for the steal and nearly got it, which caused Powell to decide to give up the ball.
When asked what he had wanted on the final possession, Willard replied that Xavier “had 10 team fouls, so I tried to get (The Hall) to rip through (the defense) or go with a step-back, maybe a ball fake, something like that.”
At that point, with his route to the basket cut off, Powell had two viable options. Cale was open on his left and Reynolds was open to his right, both behind the three-point line, with Cale further away. Cale was 3-for-8 from long distance on the night, and Reynolds 0-for-1 before his shot.
Because the steal attempt had forced Powell to go to his right, he had little choice, once he decided to pass, to throw it to Reynolds. He would’ve had to have seen Cale in his peripheral vision to go that way.
Reynolds, coincidentally, was at a spot on the court, on the right wing, very close to where he was for his buzzer-beater that toppled St. John’s on Dec. 29. In fact, he was slightly closer to the basket when he squared and launched with 4.3 seconds left. He was wide open, and unlike against the Red Storm, there was no closeout by the opposition.
Of course, he missed it this time, back-rimming the shot. Cale grabbed the rebound and missed an attempted putback, although the officials were waving it off before leaving the court. He certainly had released the ball in time but it was decided the shot went behind the backboard.
Xavier coach Travis Steele was happy with his team’s execution on the play.
“We double-teamed Myles Powell,” Steele said in an interview on Xavier’s Twitter feed. “We wanted to get the ball out of his hands so he didn’t shoot the ball (and) make somebody else beat us.”
So why did the original play design break down? Well, I’m not in the film room with the coaches, so I do not know. But here’s some interpretation of what happened. Powell, as noted, started the play a long way from inbounder Cale, perhaps to give the Pirates some time to set a screen or two to get their star a clear look at the basket.
But screening has not been The Hall’s strength this year, and Marshall easily got around Sandro Mamukelashvili’s attempt at one. In fact, Mamukelashvili actually moved slightly at one point to try to keep up with Marshall, and it’s fortunate for SHU there was no contact or a foul could have been called.
So with no available three-pointer, Powell returned the ball to McKnight. When Powell got it again, his first inclination seemed to be to try to drive it, but the eventual triple-team walled off that possibility.
“We believe in each other--we're brothers,” Powell said. “If (Reynolds) is open next time I'll pass it to him again. I was going to try to go to the basket. I saw Shavar's man (Harden) come and try to pick me in the back. I read it and (passing) was the right basketball play.”
Willard later was asked if he was OK with the open shot Reynolds took. He replied, “I’d rather have Myles (Powell) shoot it.”
https://setonhall.rivals.com/
COMMENTS
