Thad Matta is an Idiot

[ravenmaniac]

He certainly isn't the only coach who does it but can someone explain to me when you have a 3 point with 9 seconds left like Ohio State had at the end of the first OT, why allow the other team to take a 3 point shot and possibly tie it. Why not wait until the player bringing up the ball crosses mid court and then foul him. The worse thing that can happen is he hits 2 foul shots. You still have a 1 point lead with 5 seconds left.It's stupid. The only thing that can hurt you is a 3 point shot so why give them a chance to take it.

[wayne1218]

I've never understood it either. Up 3 and under 10 seconds left, i would foul every single time. I watch these teams fail to do it all the time and they constantly get burned by the 3. I'll never understand it i guess. They can't be that stupid can they?

[savage1]

It may be good generally speaking to foul ,but it doesn't always work as the Nets found out last sunday(I had them and lost-so I should know).
In short, the Nets had a three point lead and fouled the Clippers player with seven seconds remaining to prevent him from trying a three pointer which would tie the game.
Well, the guy made both shots, and then Clippers immediately fouled.
The Nets player missed both free throws, and Cippers got rebound on second shot and called time out.
They made a three pointer at buzzer to win by two.
Here is a further recap:

Returning to their home court for the first time since blowing a 19-point fourth-quarter lead in a 87-83 loss to Cleveland last Tuesday, the Clippers led New Jersey by 14 late in the second quarter. But they squandered that margin, too, as Carter scored 13 in the fourth quarter and put the Nets ahead 105-102 on a 3-pointer with 12.7 seconds to play.

"Carter had some really long 3s, but overall our guys played well and we were able to get the lead back," coach Mike Dunleavy said.

Davis made two free throws for the Clippers with 7.3 seconds left, but they had to foul -- and Jarvis Hayes missed both free throws. Los Angeles called time out after Thornton rebounded the second miss, and they threw four passes looking for the open man before Novak connected from in front of the New Jersey bench.

[peanutgallery]

Seems like they go over this every single year! We (sports announcers included) must be missing something here... Maybe it's frowned upon... I dunno... But to us watching with money on the game, it seems that that it's the no-brainer thing to do...

[mavskidd02]

I agree with Savage, sometimes it backfires, however, defending a 3 and ONLY A THREE should not be that hard, 5 guys on the perimeter and none inside, should not be hard to defend. Bad defense more so than bad coaching IMO

[MR Pain]

a team like siena just plays better the more the clock runs, just let them do their thing, and they get more and more comfortable. If i was ohio st i would foul also, but i'm personally glad they didn't.