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I haven't been able to say anything about the game until now, too heartbroken for this group of exceptional young men. But I have to wonder if anyone else had this experience.
When Jeremy and Wes were sprinting down court with that overthrown ball and the Louisville defender was out in front of Jeremy I was yelling at him to pass the ball to Wes, which I always do with a two on one fast break. I know some disagree and say take it strong to the basket, but imo a pass to a wide open man is a better percentage then going up against a defender.
Anywho when Jeremy made that beautiful behind the back pass to Wes I lept up and saw the rest of the game flash before my eyes. Wes flys in for a monster dunk. The crowd erupts. Louisville calls time out. We are down four and 3/4 of the way to a comeback win. The Cards are rattled and the Panthers are supremely confident having just seen the play of the game, the one that plays over and over on sportscenter. The crowd is behind UNI the rest of the way. We hit 3's on our next two possessions, go on to outscore them 12-4 the rest the way and win by 4. I swear I saw it all in the split second before the play ended in disaster. Instead they make the defensive play of the game then go down and while our guys are wondering what happened hit an alley oop for perhaps the offensive play of the game, and it's pretty much all she wrote.
My initial reaction was the Louisville player had to have fouled Wes. I've watched the play at least 25 times in slow motion trying to see what went wrong, and I'm still not entirely sure. Best I can tell Wes went up with the ball in both hands, the defender did not foul, he hit the ball or Wes' left hand and the ball went out of Wes control although his right hand never left it and his left hand got back on just in time to two handed slam the ball into the backboard.
The problem started because Wes got the ball about 3-4 feet inside the free throw line and took two more running steps (long) before going up. By that time he was almost directly under the basket. In slow motion it looks like he did a jump stop and then a second jump up to dunk it. In regular speed it doesn't look like that, there was no actual stop, but it's clear he got too far in before jumping. He could/should have jumped as soon as he caught the ball if not before, his momentum would have carried him to the rim and nobody could have caught him from behind.
I'm not blaming Wes, I know I'm going to get hammered by some people for seeming to. I'm not saying anyone else on the team could have made that play or we have a right to expect anyone to, but Wes was born to make that play. I'm just saying what happened and how it played out in my minds eye.
It takes a lot of plays to go wrong for this team to lose a game, and a lot of plays to go right for the opponent. But that's the one that's going to haunt me for awhile.
When Jeremy and Wes were sprinting down court with that overthrown ball and the Louisville defender was out in front of Jeremy I was yelling at him to pass the ball to Wes, which I always do with a two on one fast break. I know some disagree and say take it strong to the basket, but imo a pass to a wide open man is a better percentage then going up against a defender.
Anywho when Jeremy made that beautiful behind the back pass to Wes I lept up and saw the rest of the game flash before my eyes. Wes flys in for a monster dunk. The crowd erupts. Louisville calls time out. We are down four and 3/4 of the way to a comeback win. The Cards are rattled and the Panthers are supremely confident having just seen the play of the game, the one that plays over and over on sportscenter. The crowd is behind UNI the rest of the way. We hit 3's on our next two possessions, go on to outscore them 12-4 the rest the way and win by 4. I swear I saw it all in the split second before the play ended in disaster. Instead they make the defensive play of the game then go down and while our guys are wondering what happened hit an alley oop for perhaps the offensive play of the game, and it's pretty much all she wrote.
My initial reaction was the Louisville player had to have fouled Wes. I've watched the play at least 25 times in slow motion trying to see what went wrong, and I'm still not entirely sure. Best I can tell Wes went up with the ball in both hands, the defender did not foul, he hit the ball or Wes' left hand and the ball went out of Wes control although his right hand never left it and his left hand got back on just in time to two handed slam the ball into the backboard.
The problem started because Wes got the ball about 3-4 feet inside the free throw line and took two more running steps (long) before going up. By that time he was almost directly under the basket. In slow motion it looks like he did a jump stop and then a second jump up to dunk it. In regular speed it doesn't look like that, there was no actual stop, but it's clear he got too far in before jumping. He could/should have jumped as soon as he caught the ball if not before, his momentum would have carried him to the rim and nobody could have caught him from behind.
I'm not blaming Wes, I know I'm going to get hammered by some people for seeming to. I'm not saying anyone else on the team could have made that play or we have a right to expect anyone to, but Wes was born to make that play. I'm just saying what happened and how it played out in my minds eye.
It takes a lot of plays to go wrong for this team to lose a game, and a lot of plays to go right for the opponent. But that's the one that's going to haunt me for awhile.
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