Jordan Independent - Question about a Jaguars playoff game - Comments

Another reason for stalling

Andrew Link — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 22:18:20 -0500

Another reason for stalling is to get the opponents out of the zone defense. With the zone defense, the defense can sit down low and help on the post players.

By stalling, it can force the defense out of the zone and into man-to-man defense, back to the way Dietal dominated.

I watched the Winona Cotter girls stall for 4 whole minutes in one game! It was just before half time and they started the offense back up with 30 seconds to go. I thought it was ridiculous since they were winning by plenty already. The gym was in an awkward silence.

Thanks for the explanation,

J-Town Knitter — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 14:03:09 -0500

Thanks for the explanation, golden gopher. I have to admit, as a casual fan of basketball without a full understanding of the game, I was stymied about why the Jags went into the stall. Things had been going soooo well right after the half, I wanted the momentum to continue. The girls played a heck of a game, and Leah Dietel worked SO hard underneath. When a team like Pipestone wins, you have to tip your hat to them. And yes, I do believe the Jags will be back next year and the year after that. Congratulations, Jaguars! It was fun to be in the Target center with so much of our community. You made us proud.

Pipestone went to the 2-3

goldengopher — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 13:51:17 -0500

Pipestone went to the 2-3 zone because Leah was having her way down low. Going to 2-3 was a way to take her offense out of the game.

At that time Jordan was up by 10 with about 7 or 8 minutes. That was a perfect time to put the ball on the hip. I think Lumpy waited 3 posessions too long to implement the stall strategy. If Jordan is up by 10 with 5 or even 6 minutes to play, it makes it even more difficult for Pipestone to come back.

But I believe when Jordan actually did start stalling they were only up by like 5 or less points. I agreed with the stragey at the time. Unfortunately Jordan committed too many turnovers and Pipestone starting hit big shots.

Brittany was given the task of guarding Pipestone's sharp shooter (Faith Tinklenberg #14). Brittany had willed Jordan to a victory the day before and I think didn't have the stamina to keep up with the sharp shooter. They were setting picks for #14 and it took a lot of work to fight through those picks. Maybe E. O'Malley should have been guarding #14? But give her credit, Faith hit the big shots when she needed to.

Lastly with about 40 seconds left in regulation Jordan had the ball. Chambers had the ball at mid-court and it was clear that Jordan was going to take the last shot. For some reason Brittany chose to wait just a little too long to get the play going. Because she waited they rushed and couldn't get a decent shot off. In this situation you want Brittany to drive in and score or hope that she gets fouled. But she passed to Amanda Dietel who drove to the basket and just got clobbered for no foul. If Amanda gets to the line you know she makes the free throws and Jordan gets to the championship game.

Pipestone got some lucky bounces and calls not only against Jordan but also against Albany. Sometimes you need a little luck.

I don't mind that Pipestone won... Jordan had beaten them in Volleyball at state, so it was kinda fitting. Also Pipestone had a lot of seniors, so it may be a while before they come back to state. Jordan, however, will more than likely be back at state next year and the year after.

I will say this and might

Jason Allen — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 12:31:22 -0500

I will say this and might take some grief on it.... I have seen us use this tactic a couple different games this year, including again on Saturday against Norwood for the 3rd place game.

To me its a time for our top 5 girls to get a rest, we all know that we don't like to go to the bench during the critical parts of the game. We slow it down, put the ball on our hip and take a break. I don't see any other reason why we do this. It did happen when Pipestone went into the "zone" defense. They were eating us up inside with this defense and we did not like it. You think with the 3 point shooters that we have on the team we would be able to pull them out of that with a couple of 3 pointers. I feel this stalling technique was one of the reason why Pipestone got back into the game. I hope maybe a Basketball coach could jump in here and answer this question for us....I'm just an ex-wrestler and probally don't know much.

Question about a Jaguars playoff game

Mathias Baden — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 11:17:30 -0500

There was a strange moment in the Jaguars game Friday night against Pipestone Area.