SPU vs. SMU ... great ball game

[tsull]

Under a minute left, SPU down 1 after trailing big in the 2nd half. SPU's Miller is unreal, 30 points. Fun game to watch.

[tsull]

Re: SPU vs. SMU ... great ball game

Deep 3 by Kenilvort (SMU) might have done it, 78-74, 49 seconds left.

[tsull]

Re: SPU vs. SMU ... great ball game

SMU misses layup, Jorg for the board, Copp 2 FT's with 7 seconds left, 80-76; SMU oddly intentional fouls with 3 seconds left. SPU hits first FT; intentional miss, Miller steals it on inbounds pass, makes shot after buzzer, 80-77, but was only a 2-pointer. Great game.

* Typical small SPU crowd, don't get it, they've been good forever. Probably knocks SPU out of GNAC tourney and puts SMU in.

[northernGNAChoopfan]

Re: SPU vs. SMU ... great ball game

I watched the game too. It was a fun one to see. I agree that SMU has really helped themselves by finishing up strong at home last week and doing well @ SPU last night. They finish out all on the road, so they'll need to try to keep it going, but I think they earned that win last night. No superstar stuff, just a lot of pretty solid players.

I've wondered and wanted to ask the board about intentional fouls at the end of a game when you're the team up by 3 or 4 for a long time. You provided the perfect post for me to do it... Am I just noticing it more, or are teams getting very quick and deliberate about fouling in the final 30 seconds or so if they are up by 3, in order to avoid giving the other team a 3 and a chance to tie? I watched this happen to UAF twice last year when they did NOT foul and opposing teams made a 3 to send it to OT... We lost both those games. Still... It feels kinda cheap to take away another team's fair shot to tie the game. I can see both sides to the argument. You also risk missing a defensive rebound if you put them on the line and they intentionally or otherwise miss and are going for an offensive board. What else is involved in this decision making? Is it becoming more popular? Why? Really curious about different lines of thinking...

[tsull]

Re: SPU vs. SMU ... great ball game

Yeah, I didn't get that last intentional foul, well, I guess I did as they didn't want to give up a 3-ball. Basketball needs to fix the end of its games. I watched the last 2 minutes of the UVa-Duke game last night, it took about 15 minutes to play it. Unwatchable, nothing but free throws. It needs to be fixed ... running clock, 3 free throws for fouls inside 2 minutes, or something. It's brutal.

* On the upside, SPU's freshman Tony Miller is one of the exciting new players in the conference. In his last 7 games he's scored no lower than 17 points and has had games of 33 and 29 points. I could see him being all-conference this year and up for player-of-the-year as only a sophomore next season. Great player to build on for coach Leep's program.