I'll also add that [removed] referred to Slim's 23 points and 16 rebounds as a dominant performance in one of his private threads.  This is as good an example as any as to why statistics can be very misleading.  Slim missed multiple layups and tip-ins; in fact, I'd venture to say that maybe 5 or 6 of his 7 offensive rebounds came off of his own misses.  Shooting 3-9 from the line proved to be very detrimental.  And I'd add that having his shot swatted away by a smaller player really seemed to make him think twice about what he was doing offensively.  It was literally about as nondominant performance as a 23 point, 16 rebound game could be.

Last edited by GW0509 (1/15/2026 6:16 pm)

Long Suffering Fan wrote:

One thing we did which I thought was a bad mistake.   We are down 3 with about 43 seconds left and Davidson has the ball.   All we needed to do was play lockdown defense for 30 seconds and get the ball back in a one possession game with plenty of time left to set up a game tying  shot.

I disagree with this. While it's clear GW should have had someone back to prevent the breakaway play, making Davidson earn it at the line and extending the game was a good decision. Yesterday wasn't an aberration at the line for them. The Wildcats have been a poor FT shooting team all year, and they missed enough down the stretch that allowed GW to get back in it (just 4/10 from the line in the final five minutes). I preferred that over hoping GW getting a stop (which they barely did all night). In fact, I wish we had fouled them a lot more earlier.

Additionally, even if GW played the possession out and got a stop Davidson would have fouled GW up 3 and prevented the game-tying shot.

dmvpiranha wrote:

Long Suffering Fan wrote:

One thing we did which I thought was a bad mistake.   We are down 3 with about 43 seconds left and Davidson has the ball.   All we needed to do was play lockdown defense for 30 seconds and get the ball back in a one possession game with plenty of time left to set up a game tying  shot.

I disagree with this. While it's clear GW should have had someone back to prevent the breakaway play, making Davidson earn it at the line and extending the game was a good decision. Yesterday wasn't an aberration at the line for them. The Wildcats have been a poor FT shooting team all year, and they missed enough down the stretch that allowed GW to get back in it (just 4/10 from the line in the final five minutes). I preferred that over hoping GW getting a stop (which they barely did all night). In fact, I wish we had fouled them a lot more earlier.

Additionally, even if GW played the possession out and got a stop Davidson would have fouled GW up 3 and prevented the game-tying shot.

Agree with this.  Especially the last part.  And I’ll add that the full court pressure was actually working in the final moments. 

Obviously we defended the play poorly, but the strategy of continuing to press and trap was the right strategy (presumably the plan was go for a steal and foul if we don’t get it).

I was focused on the ball, until I saw the pass and said something like "Oh fudge!"
Wonder if anyone on the bench noted the vulnerability--and tried to correct it--but was too late.
 Hopefully we can agree that while of course, we practice end game situations, 
perhaps it's time to go over them again. 
    Defensive lapses have cost us at least two games in the last minute.