"My Kingdom for a Made Free Throw!"

Another close basketball game, ultimately lost by the Hokies. Why do we need to talk about it?  Haven't we seen the script play out before? We know how it starts (ugly), we know how it progresses (false hopes are raised), and we know how it ends (badly). And so it was last night in Tallahassee.  Different night, different venue, same result.  "Check, please!"

Courtesy of "Learn2" tutorials

In the case of last night's game, the Hokies simply cemented another loss by missing an inordinate number of free throws at the end of the game.

Not so fast, white man.

If we look beyond the surface and stick our head in the water of last night's game, we see an entirely different dynamic.

We see a team experiencing yet more physical adversity, with two more players unable to play and sitting on the bench, senior Victor Davila and freshman C.J. Barksdale. We see an undermanned team playing its guts out against a ranked ACC opponent in a hostile (road) environment, getting turnovers, getting 50/50 balls, and scrambling, diving, and laying out for 40 minutes. Playing more minutes than they are used to, refusing to take a possession off, and refusing to concede any basket ultimately took its toll in terms of fatigue and muscle cramps (hamstrings). Cadarian Raines went down, and then Jarell Eddie.

Seth Greenberg went with the best game plan available late in the second half, with both his starting and back-up centers out of the game: milk the clock, continue to play strong defense, and try to hold the lead. The plan was working in terms of running the clock and playing defense, but the lead started to erode, primarily due to a combination of missed free throws and FSU scoring.

Things looked a little dicey when Erick Green missed the front ends of a couple of 1-and-1 free throws (with 2:12 and 1:55 left in the game): 4 points left on the table. But no problem: Jarell Eddie sinks two free throws with only 1:29 left in the game and extends the lead to 9 points. Things looked pretty safe at that point, right? (FSU was only scoring points at an average rate of 1 point per minute up to that point in the game.)

Then the bottom fell out. FSU hits a 3-ball, but then has to foul Dorenzo Hudson, who misses both free throws. FSU hits a 2-ball, but has to foul Jarell Eddie, who hits only one of two free throws. Then FSU hits a 3-ball, and the lead is only 2 points with 44 seconds left.  Finney-Smith misses a 3-point attempt, but Eddie gets the rebound and is fouled. Critically, Eddie cannot continue, as his hamstrings cramp up due to fatigue. He is unable to shoot his free throws.

FSU coach Leonard Hamilton chooses 68% free-throw shooter freshman Robert Brown to  shoot Eddie's free-throws with 10 seconds left in the game, and after two "clunked" attempts, FSU grabs the rebound, and Michael Snaer hits a 3-pointer with less than 4 seconds left -- game, set, match.

Damned disappointing? Yes. Worthy of criticism? No. A lot of guys were playing a lot of minutes, and playing HARD a lot of minutes.  As much as the announcers on ESPN (Elmore and Patrick) harped on FSU for their turnovers, the turnovers didn’t just happen by accident or carelessness; the Hokies forced most of them. They laid it all on the line, and at the end of the game, some of them cramped up and were forced to leave the game, and others missed free throws due to fatigue and physical exhaustion.  Nothing was on the line for the Hokies in that game but pride, and they hung in and left everything on the court.  It’s hard to complain about a bunch of guys with character like that – and it’s hard to complain about a coach that can elicit a heroic performance like that from them.

Go Hokies!