the reason everyone thinks we used to have great closers is everyone's memory sucks.
Prohm in Close Games
- Thread starter clone52
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I just looked at play by play on espn and checked to see if it was within 5 points in the last 5 minutes. I might have missed a game or 2 here and there.
I have 3-5 on 5 point games in the last 2 years and 14-21 in 4 years.
There were some good examples in 2015-16. I think there was a Kansas game where we had a 3 point lead with 3 minutes to go and won by 13. If you just look at a final score, that wouldn't count as a closing out well in a close game. The next game, we had a lead on Texas A&M with under 5 to go and lost by 10. If you just look at a final score, that wouldn't count as closing the game poorly in a close game.
This year, you aren't counting Drake where it was tied with 5 minutes left and we won by 9 or Oklahoma State where we led by 3 with 1:30 left and won by 6. So some people criticize the team for failing to close out a close game against Baylor and KSU but don't give them credit for succeeding in closing out a game late against Drake and OSU.
Here are some key games you forget in 2017-18 (the bad year).
Boise State. 4 point lead with 1:30 to go, win by 9.
Iowa. 4 point lead with 2:00 to go, win by 6
Baylor 4 point lead with 1:30 to go, win by 10
Oklahoma: Tied with 2:00 left, win by 8
You listed the games we had a slim lead that we couldn't hold on to, but you fail to mention the close games that we stretched out.
2016-17
Texas Tech: Tied with 5 left, 3 point lead with 0:56 left, won by 7
Texas: 3 point lead with 2:30 left, won by 9
Oklahoma St: 1 point lead with 5:00 left, won by 10
TCU: trailed by 4 with 1:00 left, lost by 7
Nevada: led by 5 with 3:00 left, won by 11
Wigginton by the numbers:
2017-2018
FG% 41.4%
3PT% 40.1
FT% 66%
2018-2019
FG% 33.8%
3PT% 28.6%
FT% 74.2%
It's hard to pinpoint an exact reason for it, but I think it's probably a combination of returning from injury as well as opportunity. Last year he was healthy all year and was our primary scorer, giving him much more opportunity for his numbers to even out over the course of the year. This year he didn't play 10 games and is now having to defer much more, which limits his opportunity to even his numbers out. I think further on into the season you'll see his numbers increase and level out, probably not quite to what they were last year, but something close.
His FT% has gotten better though.
I am shocked that his 3 point percentage this year is that high. I know he has had some games this year where he was horrible from 3. How can a guy shoot 40% from 3 and 66% from the FT line? That is just crazy.
Concentration and breathing.
People need to take a big cleansing breath before they release a free throw. You'd be amazed how many are practically holding their breath.
I know its just high school 20 years ago, but I went from a 40% free throw shooter to about 65% when I made sure I was breathing.
FT's are all confidence if you ask me. THT last night was getting "AIRBALL" chanted at him and you could tell it affected him at the FT line. Go up there with confidence and you'll knock it down.
Wigginton needs to be that guy. He has the quickness and the 38" (or whatever it is) vertical to just shoot over people.
Niang's freshman year we blew a ton of close games on the road. It seemed like every game we gave up a 3pt to tie or take the lead late in the game. That was the year people b****ed about Hoiberg not fouling when up 3 at the end of the game.
Good FT shooters are all about routine. I see so many players these days who are talking about defensive assignments or something else with teammates and just take the ball and shoot rather than settling into a routine they have practiced 1000's of times before. If you have a routine and settle into it muscle memory takes over and takes our fickle brains out of it.
Very true have been in a bunch of close games to this point and figured out how to pull them out. I was fully confident KU would close out the last game vs Texas for that reason. having confidence due to prior success in those situations help the next time they occur.
ISU hadn't had many close games in the non-con plus due to the injuries and suspensions haven't had consistent lineups to work on those specific situations. My hope is that they are improving after the TT game the coaches and players will be better in those situations as they move forward.
I remember getting frustrated a lot with Kane who would dribble out the clock at the end of the first half and then throw up a prayer.
He obviously has loads of talent to work with every year but Self is probably the best coach in the country situationally. KU always gets buckets out of timeouts and they always play well the last 2 minutes of a half. Executing in those situations wins them close games. A lot of that is on Bill Self. He lets his kids play but knows when to be hands on. You wanna get better in close games, watch Self.
Human memory tends to idealize the past. Nostalgia is a concept for a reason.
No, those Johnny teams were not better than this one. They barely won on the road. Yes, though the Hoiberg teams were really good, but they had flaws that kept them in the #10 through #25 range, which is roughly where we belong right now.
It is a psychological defense mechanism. It is easier to be happier when you are constantly remembering your past as probably better than it was.
This is why people believe idiotic, twisted numbers about our standards of living being somehow lower than now they were in the 1970s (which is asinine, our standards of living now are the highest that they have ever been) and much less the 1950s.
