Oklahoma Sideline Inbounds at End of Game

From earlier last week, watching the finals of the NIT tipoff with ranked teams Oklahoma and Purdue going at it. It was a great game, had the feel of a NCAA tournament game for sure, went into OT. In the OT, I thought Oklahoma was just a little more calm and didn't make the big mistakes Purdue made.

On this play, Oklahoma is up by 3 already with less than 10 seconds left to play. Everyone knows that Purdue is going to foul, but in this sideline out of bounds, I like the element of surprise and aggressiveness. Don't just settle for the easy safe play, try for the aggressive play first, then if it's not there, go to the backcourt. The Sooners actually should've got an And1 but they miss the easy layup,




SLOB vs Fullcourt Man Press:

I like that element of surprise. That's what timeouts are for. See what the defense is doing, then scheme to adjust. In this play, the defense is in a full-front, fullcourt man press. Purdue is assuming Oklahoma will just throw it into the backcourt and wait for the foul. Instead, they send 2 to the frontcourt, and 2 stay in the backcourt for the safety. Purdue gets caught a little and hence the easy fast break,


Summary:

I like Oklahoma's head coach Jeff Capel. He's so passionate about the game, you watch him and he's always teaching, always coaching. I think he is also a coach that likes to think outside of the box, don't always go with the conventional, throw something out there for a loop. I think it's sometimes easy to always take the safe way, but to take a chance requires some courage.

For more great interesting SLOB and special situation information, take a look at Hubie Brown's DVD on special situations. Coach Brown is just a brilliant basketball mind and guaranteed you will learn something from his wisdom. To discuss this and many more of your favorite basketball topics, head over to the X's and O's of Basketball Forum to talk with other coaches from around the world.