Another MN state boys basketball miracle

[Small Town Guy]

In 2005, Blake Hoffarber helped Hopkins win the Class 4A state tournament when he hit a shot from his ass at the buzzer to tie the game and sent it into OT. He won an ESPY too.

bit.ly/1i7Ace1

Tonight, Hopkins -- the perennial power in the state -- played in the semifinals. There's no highlight yet but will be soon and will probably be on Top 10. They were tied 41-41 at end of regulation. They averaged nearly 90 during the season. Hopkins held the ball for the final 3 minutes or regulation against its opponent, Shakopee, and didn't score.

First OT: Hopkins holds for all four minutes. Doesn't score.
Second OT: Some scoring, both teams score 5.
Third OT: Hopkins holds for final 3:30. Doesn't score.

And each time they held it the kid simply stood at halfcourt with the ball.

Fourth OT: Hopkins holds it, turns it over with 5 seconds. Shakopee tries long pass, turns it over on opposite end. Hopkins makes a 60-footer at the buzzer to win it.

People on Twitter were cursing the Hopkins coach, one of the all-time winningest in the state who has an obscene record of about 800 wins and 70 losses, and saying this game would get Minnesota to start using a shotclock. And then that ending.

Oh, here's Deadspin with the story and video.

deadsp.in/1nomAka

 

[Starman]

Sometimes, the cowards inherit the earth.

You should do that if you think you are absolutely outgunned, out(wo)manned and outtalented, and you believe that every shot, every pass and every rebound which happens in the game increases the chance you are going to lose.

I guess if I were a coach I'd rather not believe that was the case.

Another motivation is to cut the actual time of the game involved in actual competitive play down to an absolute bare minimum so the game will not be decided on the performances of your players but on some brilliant telepathic stroke of strategic genius dreamed up by you, Hoopie Wan-Kenobi, Jedi Basketball Guru.

 

[mateen]

The kid who made the shot, Amir Coffey, is a sophomore and is potentially a McDonald's All-America caliber prospect. He's the son of Richard Coffey, a starter on the Clem Haskins U of M teams that reached the Sweet 16 in 1989 and the Elite Eight in 1990.

 

[Starman]

The kid who made the shot, Amir Coffey, is a sophomore and is potentially a McDonald's All-America caliber prospect. He's the son of Richard Coffey, a starter on the Clem Haskins U of M teams that reached the Sweet 16 in 1989 and the Elite Eight in 1990.

Ehhhhh, we'll see. Chucking in a shot from 60 feet ain't got much to do with being a burger boy. Hell, I can hurl a shot in from 60 feet.

 

[Small Town Guy]

Sometimes, the cowards inherit the earth.

You should do that if you think you are absolutely outgunned, out(wo)manned and outtalented, and you believe that every shot, every pass and every rebound which happens in the game increases the chance you are going to lose.

I guess if I were a coach I'd rather not believe that was the case.

That's what made it so baffling. Hopkins is always loaded. Someone on Twitter quipped that their recruits in attendance couldn't have been impressed. They've won six state titles. Averaged 88 or something. So I don't know if coach was mad that regulation was low-scoring so had them stall at end and in OT or if he wants a shot clock and this was his form of protest or what.

 

[mateen]

Um, a single 60-foot shot isn't why Amir Coffey is being highly recruited. It's that he's the best sophomore in a state where the level of play might surprise some people (Duke's incoming point guard, Tyus Jones, will be Minnesota's Mr. Basketball this year).

Hopkins was already almost universally loathed for taking full advantage of Minnesota's open enrollment rules - you can attend any high school you want with no geographic limitations, and for one of their state championship teams only one of the five starters actually lived in the school district - and this is only going to make things worse.

 

[Starman]

Um, a single 60-foot shot isn't why Amir Coffey is being highly recruited. It's that he's the best sophomore in a state where the level of play might surprise some people (Duke's incoming point guard, Tyus Jones, will be Minnesota's Mr. Basketball this year).

Hopkins was already almost universally loathed for taking full advantage of Minnesota's open enrollment rules - you can attend any high school you want with no geographic limitations, and for one of their state championship teams only one of the five starters actually lived in the school district - and this is only going to make things worse.

Maybe, but freezing the ball for something like 16 minutes of a 49-46 triple-overtime game probably isn't going to do much to convince the AAU hotshots in 7th/8th grade (or especially their dads) that you're the best guy to showcase their skills.

Of course, if they're averaging 90 during the regular season, they're probably opening up big cans of whoopass on most of the teams they play.

 

[D-3 Fan]

The topic of low-scoring games by taking the air out of the ball/stalling/four corners is nothing new. I've seen more of it in post-season play here in Iowa high school hoops over the past several years.

This year is probably the worst. IA, like MN, has no shot clock, but there is discussion by the athletic association to consider it. Coaches claim that it won't make a difference, but it sure as hell will force a team to either throw up a shot and do something.

The most infamous stalling game I witnessed was around '95, girls large-class semifinal between Ankeny and Waterloo West. Ankeny won in 5 overtimes, 85-81, by doing this: every time West scored, Ankeny brings the ball up to the top of the key and they hold it...for damn near the entire overtime, nursing a 1-point lead.

Near identical to what Small Town Guy described with Hopkins and Shakopee.

It was the biggest crock of **** I've witnessed.

It is a problem. Some teams don't have scorers or shooters, so they'll grind it out and make it hard for an opponent to score. In other cases, teams that do score, if they face another team that does the same thing, will slow it down and go into four corners.

I've seen it in the girls' tourney last week (where most of this silliness originated from) and this week with the boys. This isn't 1896. And yet, it's being accepted as the best way to win game.

Ridiculous.

Speaking on that GW shot, a kid in the Iowa HS tourney tossed an 80-footer to end the first half the other day.

http://youtu.be/Kl1BMudiNEg

 

[LongTimeListener]

This year is probably the worst. IA, like MN, has no shot clock, but there is discussion by the athletic association to consider it. Coaches claim that it won't make a difference, but it sure as hell will force a team to either throw up a shot and do something.

I know high school coaches usually aren't the brightest guys, but how in the hell could anyone say that with a straight face?

 

[RickStain]

3-seconds closely guarded rule should make this moot, I would imagine.

 

[Small Town Guy]

The other semifinal tonight in the 4A tourney also ended with a long -- though not as long as the first game's -- jumper at the buzzer.

Rick, speaking of defense, in the stall game tonight I did see people criticizing the losing coach for just having his guys hang back while Hopkins held it for the entire OT periods. They never came up on them.

 

[Starman]

One of the greatest things I ever saw was some 20 years ago in a small-division state tournament game between two teams with records of about 20-3.

One was from out in the hinterlands, the other was the smallest school in a very rough metro Catholic league.

First quarter, both teams play about normally. St. Ruffandtuff leads Hooterville, 18-14.

Second quarter, the Hoots toss in a couple long jumpers and tie it up at 20. They stall out the rest of the quarter but the Ruffs hang back in their 2-3 zone. Hooterville misses a shot at the buzzer and goes in at halftime tied.

Third quarter, Hooterville stalls again. They hit a shot and Ruffandtuff turns it over. Back to the stall. In the final minute, Ruffandtuff comes up with a steal but misses a fastbreak layup. Hooterville goes into the final quarter leading 22-20.

In the Ruffandtuff huddle between quarters, there's plenty of yelling going on from players and coaches alike. Everyone busts from the huddle looking pissed as hell.

Hooterville starts out with the ball while the Ruffs sit back in their packed-in zone. As soon as they cross midcourt, Ruffandtuff comes sprinting out into a dialed-up-to-11 fullcourt man-to-man press.

Final is something like 61-31.

3-seconds closely guarded rule should make this moot, I would imagine.

Well, it's 5 seconds, and a lot of times the refs seem curiously unwilling to enforce it -- they pretty much just say, 'if you want to let them stall, we'll let you let them.'

Of course, another point to be considered is that a real deep-freeze stall game allows the refs to just stand there and relax.

 

[exmediahack]

For any Wisconsin SJers...

I think it was 1999, I was watching the Adams-Friendship Green Devils play somebody in a title game. They were down one and held the ball for the last 3:45 or so... running a weave. They got a backdoor with :02 to win by a point. No timeouts. No coach scripting a play. They just ran it. I was in awe.

 

[Starman]

For any Wisconsin SJers...

I think it was 1999, I was watching the Adams-Friendship Green Devils play somebody in a title game. They were down one and held the ball for the last 3:45 or so... running a weave. They got a backdoor with :02 to win by a point. No timeouts. No coach scripting a play. They just ran it. I was in awe.

See, running a weave for 3:45, and doing one of those ball-on-the-hip standstill stalls for 3:45 against a defense which won't come out, are two very different things altogether.

For one thing, there are VERY few HS teams which could run a weave -- even playing 5-on-0 in warmups -- for 3:45 without turning the ball over.

Plus, while we're at it, it would tire the hell out of your players, which it seems to me kinda defeats the whole idea. But I guess if you make that layup at the end, it's all golden.

But if you walk with :08 left, you're ****ed.

 

[exmediahack]

What I would argue...

While the defenders stood around late in a game, got comfortable and also got cold, the players on the team with the ball were still sweating, moving and, in those final seconds, already in rhythm.

 

[Starman]

Maybe, but unless the defensive team was really stupid and really did just stand there like mannequins, they were shuffling along with the offense at about half-speed, enough to stay loose but not enough to really get burned out.

If they're playing 'contain' defense, they're sliding under all the picks, so they shouldn't be taking much of a physical pummeling.

For an offense to run a weave against a team applying more than absolute matador defense is a hell of a lot of hard work -- in effect, it's like running half-court suicides the whole time.

You gotta drive hard, give it up, cut back and reverse, swing around the top and get the return pass from the third player.

I really think almost all of these delay strategies only work if the opponents cooperate and play right into your hands.

 

[BenPoquette]

Maybe, but unless the defensive team was really stupid and really did just stand there like mannequins, they were shuffling along with the offense at about half-speed, enough to stay loose but not enough to really get burned out.

If they're playing 'contain' defense, they're sliding under all the picks, so they shouldn't be taking much of a physical pummeling.

For an offense to run a weave against a team applying more than absolute matador defense is a hell of a lot of hard work -- in effect, it's like running half-court suicides the whole time.

You gotta drive hard, give it up, cut back and reverse, swing around the top and get the return pass from the third player.

I really think almost all of these delay strategies only work if the opponents cooperate and play right into your hands.

This. Most high school teams I have seen could not hang on to the ball without turning it over against defensive pressure. Too many times one of the offensive team's players ends up on the sideline or in the corner...trapped with a couple of guys on him. They either turn the ball over or the coach has to call a timeout.

 

[jr/shotglass]

The kid who made the shot, Amir Coffey, is a sophomore and is potentially a McDonald's All-America caliber prospect. He's the son of Richard Coffey, a starter on the Clem Haskins U of M teams that reached the Sweet 16 in 1989 and the Elite Eight in 1990.

Ehhhhh, we'll see. Chucking in a shot from 60 feet ain't got much to do with being a burger boy. Hell, I can hurl a shot in from 60 feet.

Dude ... I don't think anyone believes a 60-foot Hail Mary makes a kid more of a college prospect.

 

[poindexter]

The kid who made the shot, Amir Coffey, is a sophomore and is potentially a McDonald's All-America caliber prospect. He's the son of Richard Coffey, a starter on the Clem Haskins U of M teams that reached the Sweet 16 in 1989 and the Elite Eight in 1990.

Wait a minute... they have a potential McDonald's All-America, and they are holding the ball for five minutes of overtime?

Minnesota high school basketball sucks.

 

[poindexter]

I had no idea there were some outbacks of basketball without a shot clock.