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http://blogs.standard.net/2010/03/where-was-hughey/comment-page-1/#comment-9373
Where was Hughey?
by Jasen Asay - Mar 11th, 2010
After such a close loss like Weber State’s 66-65 heartbreaker on Wednesday night to Montana in the Big Sky’s tournament championship game, there are a lot of areas to look at when asking what went wrong.
And obviously a lot needed to go wrong for the Wildcats to lose a 20-point halftime lead. I’m not one who’s been big on criticizing coaches following a tough loss, and I don’t plan on doing it now. But I do have one concern.
Sure, the Wildcats couldn’t stop Montana’s Anthony Johnson, who outscored the Wildcats 34-25 in the second half by himself. He finished with 42 points and scored Montana’s final 21 points.
Sure, the Wildcats missed a bunch of free throws (they were 22-of-33 from the line) and Franklin Session probably should have passed the ball to either Damian Lillard or Nick Hansen, who were both open, after coming up with a steal with 30 seconds left and WSU clinging to a 65-64 lead. Session had struggled from the free-throw line (he was 5-of-10 at the time) while Lillard and Hansen were both perfect, however maybe Session felt he could make the shots. You’ve got to admire that confidence. However he missed the shots, that left the door open for Johnson to hit the game-winner with 10 seconds left.
Many fans have taken their frustrations out on Session’s missed free throws, but they should remember that without him it’s very likely WSU would not have been in the championship game. Think about his performance not only the night before, but the entire season.
But my biggest question following the game was why Lindsey Hughey didn’t see much time in the second half after being such a huge spark off the bench in the first half.
After the Griz cut WSU’s lead to 12-6 on a basket from Johnson, Hughey took over. He drove and dished do Darin Mahoney for a layup and Trevor Morris for a dunk on back-to-back possessions. Then he scored on a layup, hit a pair of free throws and ended the 12-3 run with a steal and a layup and WSU led 24-9.
He scored again minutes later to start a 6-0 run and WSU was up 30-11 with five minutes left in the half.
Hughey had eighth points, three steals and two assists during nine minutes in the first half, but his time was limited to just four minutes in the second half when he got one more assist.
WSU only had eight assists in the game, and with Hughey leading the team with three it just seems like he should have been on the court more than he was.
I understand that it would have been insane to take Lillard out of the game and Session was probably needed for his defense on Johnson (although it appeared that Johnson wasn’t going to be stopped) and Hansen is a good offensive threat and the Wildcats needed points.
I’m sure WSU head coach Randy Rahe had his reasons for sticking with the lineup he did, and he definitely has a better basketball mind than I do, but just by judging from his performance in the first half, and Tuesday’s terrific play in the semifinal win over Portland State, it just seemed to me that Hughey should have seen more playing time.
There are 3 comments.
3 Responses to “Where was Hughey?”
Mark Shenefelt
on Mar 11th, 2010
@ 3:20 pm:
I’ll join in on the aftermath analysis. It’s not fair, kind of like the Iraqi major walking down the hill after the battle and shooting the wounded. But, here goes:
Actually, I have only three criticisms / questions: Where was Hughey in the second half? Why was Session on the floor in the last four minutes of the game? And why did Rahe call his last timeout before the last free throw?
I agree with Jasen’s point that Hughey’s role was huge in the first half. Maybe Rahe should have rolled with him much more.
Session is a dynamite basketball player, but his brutal foul shooting is a dangerous handicap. In such a nail-biter, it was a big risk to have a 50 percent free-throw shooter in the game. Those last two misses were damaging.
I’m wondering why the last timeout was not saved in case Weber got the final missed Montana foul shot so the ‘Cats could call a TO to set up a hail-mary inbounds play. As it turned out, they got the board and a no-hope, well-defended fullcourt heave.
Now that I’m done shooting the wounded, I have good things to say, too. Weber has had another great season, and the ‘Cats have a lot to be proud of. There’s promise for the future. It’s a young, talented, well-coached team. No head-hanging is needed.
Finally, the astounding performance of Montana’s Anthony Johnson should not be discounted for any reason. Weber didn’t exactly give him a red carpet to the hoop. Also, Montana’s second-half defense was superb.
Doug Gibson
on Mar 11th, 2010
@ 4:10 pm:
To me, the biggest question is why the time out?
john
on Mar 13th, 2010
@ 7:56 pm:
i dont think any of this matters. AJ was unconscious like Harold the Show against UNC.
Where was Hughey?
by Jasen Asay - Mar 11th, 2010
After such a close loss like Weber State’s 66-65 heartbreaker on Wednesday night to Montana in the Big Sky’s tournament championship game, there are a lot of areas to look at when asking what went wrong.
And obviously a lot needed to go wrong for the Wildcats to lose a 20-point halftime lead. I’m not one who’s been big on criticizing coaches following a tough loss, and I don’t plan on doing it now. But I do have one concern.
Sure, the Wildcats couldn’t stop Montana’s Anthony Johnson, who outscored the Wildcats 34-25 in the second half by himself. He finished with 42 points and scored Montana’s final 21 points.
Sure, the Wildcats missed a bunch of free throws (they were 22-of-33 from the line) and Franklin Session probably should have passed the ball to either Damian Lillard or Nick Hansen, who were both open, after coming up with a steal with 30 seconds left and WSU clinging to a 65-64 lead. Session had struggled from the free-throw line (he was 5-of-10 at the time) while Lillard and Hansen were both perfect, however maybe Session felt he could make the shots. You’ve got to admire that confidence. However he missed the shots, that left the door open for Johnson to hit the game-winner with 10 seconds left.
Many fans have taken their frustrations out on Session’s missed free throws, but they should remember that without him it’s very likely WSU would not have been in the championship game. Think about his performance not only the night before, but the entire season.
But my biggest question following the game was why Lindsey Hughey didn’t see much time in the second half after being such a huge spark off the bench in the first half.
After the Griz cut WSU’s lead to 12-6 on a basket from Johnson, Hughey took over. He drove and dished do Darin Mahoney for a layup and Trevor Morris for a dunk on back-to-back possessions. Then he scored on a layup, hit a pair of free throws and ended the 12-3 run with a steal and a layup and WSU led 24-9.
He scored again minutes later to start a 6-0 run and WSU was up 30-11 with five minutes left in the half.
Hughey had eighth points, three steals and two assists during nine minutes in the first half, but his time was limited to just four minutes in the second half when he got one more assist.
WSU only had eight assists in the game, and with Hughey leading the team with three it just seems like he should have been on the court more than he was.
I understand that it would have been insane to take Lillard out of the game and Session was probably needed for his defense on Johnson (although it appeared that Johnson wasn’t going to be stopped) and Hansen is a good offensive threat and the Wildcats needed points.
I’m sure WSU head coach Randy Rahe had his reasons for sticking with the lineup he did, and he definitely has a better basketball mind than I do, but just by judging from his performance in the first half, and Tuesday’s terrific play in the semifinal win over Portland State, it just seemed to me that Hughey should have seen more playing time.
There are 3 comments.
3 Responses to “Where was Hughey?”
Mark Shenefelt
on Mar 11th, 2010
@ 3:20 pm:
I’ll join in on the aftermath analysis. It’s not fair, kind of like the Iraqi major walking down the hill after the battle and shooting the wounded. But, here goes:
Actually, I have only three criticisms / questions: Where was Hughey in the second half? Why was Session on the floor in the last four minutes of the game? And why did Rahe call his last timeout before the last free throw?
I agree with Jasen’s point that Hughey’s role was huge in the first half. Maybe Rahe should have rolled with him much more.
Session is a dynamite basketball player, but his brutal foul shooting is a dangerous handicap. In such a nail-biter, it was a big risk to have a 50 percent free-throw shooter in the game. Those last two misses were damaging.
I’m wondering why the last timeout was not saved in case Weber got the final missed Montana foul shot so the ‘Cats could call a TO to set up a hail-mary inbounds play. As it turned out, they got the board and a no-hope, well-defended fullcourt heave.
Now that I’m done shooting the wounded, I have good things to say, too. Weber has had another great season, and the ‘Cats have a lot to be proud of. There’s promise for the future. It’s a young, talented, well-coached team. No head-hanging is needed.
Finally, the astounding performance of Montana’s Anthony Johnson should not be discounted for any reason. Weber didn’t exactly give him a red carpet to the hoop. Also, Montana’s second-half defense was superb.
Doug Gibson
on Mar 11th, 2010
@ 4:10 pm:
To me, the biggest question is why the time out?
john
on Mar 13th, 2010
@ 7:56 pm:
i dont think any of this matters. AJ was unconscious like Harold the Show against UNC.
