Santa Clara - looks like they haven’t thought about running a play since 3 minutes left in the 2nd half
USF - cleanly running sets leading to open threes and free throws
Somebody tell Braun to quit shooting threes. He made like 10 all year.
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Absolutely galling choke job when you consider they were up 8 with 3 to go
It’s been a great year, tough to go down like this. Just too many missed layups and bad turnovers….plus Shabazz going off
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Brutalllllllllllllllllllllll (post must be 20 characters)
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Had so many times to put them away. Hats off to shabazz and co.
We completely lacked any inside initiative that we showed early in the second half.
I think we had the best chance of any wcc team to give Gonzaga and potentially smc for an upset.
Atleast we don’t have to watch another game. Hope we decline the CBIT bid
Oh for sure
Defintely thought a good performance from 3 would have made the Zags sweat a little
we’re maybe on the bubble but probably going to the NIT
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That sucked.
Tough loss. I hope this groups gets a NIT bid but it will be dicey.
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Not sure Podz helped his draft prospects tonight. A 5-11 defender gave him fits and he had several poorly executed attempts at ending the game. I still love the guy, but it was not his best performance in a must win game.
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Needed a martini before I posted. Sat in the stands and sadly watched us - to some degree- hand this over.
Even with our terrible ball handling they had more turnovers. 18 for USF and 13 for the Broncos
Second night in a row they where materially above their season average of 35.4 from three. Slightly over 40% last night and 52% tonight.
54 of their 93 points came from their two 5th year guys - the ones that faced playing their final game. Solid motivation for those two.
Felt we played Bediako way too much. His ball handling is better than 2 years ago but for me that was a low bar.
Tilly will be solid but seemed a bit overwhelmed in his first tournament game.
Podz and Carlos …. We’ll it just seemed they were either trying to razzle dazzle for TV or just tried to do too much when the wheels started falling off.
This one hurts and will for some time - martini’s or not
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Our ENTIRE team was “off” tonight. Imagine if they all played to their potential? San Fran and everyone else should be concerned. We played awful all around and forced a game into 2 OT
Disappointed in the loss but I expected a 15-15 season and we got a 23-9 season thanks to finding Podz in the portal
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Jalen didn’t have a great shooting night in Pullman. 6/16. Doesn’t really matter.
I agree that tonight won’t define Podz draft stock. We all have flaws, but the dude plays f’n HARD.
Still annoyed by the loss. But if you had told me before the season we were in for a 23-9 season I would have taken it. Now we root for the Regular Season Conference Champs to win out. I’d like a another NIT appearance. I think it will be dicey. Our metrics are not as strong as last year despite a similar profile IMO.
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So disappointed. Herbs tactics cost SCU this game. I feel like ranting, but will just highlight these 3 coaching missteps that cost the game.
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In modern basketball you can’t switch on the high screen (not that I haven’t mentioned this before). By doing so you allow your opponent to decide their on ball matchup (which is idiotic). Shabazz had Bediako on roller skates… you can’t put a big in that position unless your goal is for him to fail.
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It hasn’t been effective for say the last 20+ years to start your offensive sets with a big 24 feet from the rim getting the ball. When D is agressive (like last night) it spells problems for the big with the ball out there. In the final 5 mins of regulation and through both OT’s SCU’s offense was effectively reduced to nothing as they were still starting the sets with a big touching the ball up high and they were lucky if they even got a handoff from there and they had to jack some insane shot.
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Herb’s no touch D hasn’t taught the kids how to foul or how to play through fouls. USF fouled all night (and that was a solid tactic) and Herb had no answer for it. When an opponent brings you a street fight you don’t shake hands and try to reason with him. You clench your fist and operate under new rules of engagement.
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Nothing quite like losing in double OT, after midnight to boot. Not making an excuse at all, merely saying it’s tough for a fan to wind down when a game ends in disappointment after midnight. The game started at 9:48– that’s crazy.
The team had been playing so well recently, dominating even on the road. Credit USF for clutch shooting and solid D, but SCU missed a lot of makeable shots, and the rebounding, which had been a strength recently, just wasn’t there. Losing a 10-point lead with under six to play makes it painful; the only other loss I can compare it to this season was the home loss to the Zags. That one, though, was less of a surprise given the opposition.
The way this team was playing had me believe they had a real shot at winning the tournament, or at least advancing to the finals. They were playing well enough to topple the big two, but now an NCAA bid is out of the question, and we’ll see how things go in the NIT. Some have expressed concern that an NIT bid is in jeopardy, but I’d be stunned if SCU didn’t get an invite. A solid third-place finish behind two ranked teams is credential enough; add in a player like Podz and I don’t see 32 non-NCAA teams with a better case for an invite than SCU.
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No surprise last night.
Watched it til the end.
We ran out of gas, the Dons didn’t. No flow, predictable play. Helter-skelter unorganized at the end. Bigs played poorly. In the end, poor coaching showed its face. RIP:headstone: season 22/23….
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Herb looked like a tired old 60 yr old going on 80.- confused and deferring to his hapless assistants… We’re getting recruits like Jalen and Podz because of Herb’s history of getting guys into the NBA. However, it’s obvious his staff is weak and clueless. Herb needs to shake things up with his assistance since we can’t seem to win the big games. Did you happen to notice USF coaching staff during the timeouts? Focused and intense vs ours which look unorganized panic… Since Renee is never going to dump Herb, she needs to force the issue of Herb updating his staff since they obviously going to leave on their own…
Oh come on… there’s no fix. Herb lost this game far more than the players on the court did. Yes, every officiating crew is going to be slightly different. It’s the job of the coach to help the kids adjust to that.
In life we can either blame an outside source (refs) or we can look inwardly to diagnose the issue and perhaps become better going forward.
Trust me, there’s no great WCC conspiracy… the refs are not out to get SCU.
USF used fouling as a tactic last night (and it worked rather well). Herb as always had no idea how to adjust. It’s really as simple as that.
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