Graham 60, Bluefield 59

[Bluefield_Rules 46]

Graham's Nathan Belcher got the game winning tip-in with eight seconds left. Coaching Bluefield hurt in the second half as the head man decided it was best to try and kill the clock with a lead instead of attacking. When you play not to lose you usually lose and that's what happened. If Bluefield had Graham's head coach they'd be set...

[ghs73 157]

reguardless of their coach who i think is a very fine man and a good coach the beavers still have one of the toughest teams that the gmen have played this year and i hope they do very well in the playoffs this year

[holl_at_cha_boy 10]

Bluefields coach did a great job, the beavers have improved greatly since the start of the season. They should do very well in the playoffs.

[Bluefield_Rules 46]

I never questioned the man that Gilliard is b/c from everything I know he's one of the finest men you'll ever meet. I just question the strategy of trying to run the clock and passing the ball around the outside much of the second half instead of attacking. It was a bad decision in the eyes of many and you heard that leaving the game if you went. Bluefield attacked Graham for the first twelve minutes of the game on the offensive end and the G-Men couldn't handle them. Graham was on their heels and Bluefield was all over them.

 

However, once Bluefield began to stop attacking they lost that eye of the tiger they had early in the game and then they could never regain it. When you start trying to get away from attacking you run a huge risk of losing your edge and that’s what happened. Graham was the aggressor late in the game and Bluefield was back on their heels. It was a complete reversal of how the game started and the reason Graham won.

[holl_at_cha_boy 10]

Bluefield had to run more of their offence in the second half for 2 reasons. 1 Graham handled the press better in the second half, that limited Bluefields easy baskets and turned the game into more of a half court game. 2 If you noticed the g-men switched Defences every time down the floor alternating between a 2-3 zone and man-to-man, they even thew in a press sometimes. This keeps the offence off balance, the players have to recognize what D is being played and call the approiate offence. Graham slowed down the game and it worked to their advantage, im sure Gillard would have been happy to run up and down because they were killing us doing that.

 

It was a great game though both teams played hard, I am glad i made the trip to see it.

[Bluefield_Rules 46]

The biggest change to the offense was b/c of the foul trouble that Cloyd Jeffries and Garrett Patterson got into. Jeffries left the game with four minutes left in the first half with Bluefield leading 31-20 and didn't return until the four minute mark of the third with Graham leading 41-40. During that time Garrett Patterson also got into foul trouble and was forced to the bench early in the third quarter after scoring the first four points of the half to reestablish a seven point Bluefield cushion.

 

Despite the fact those two had to set out Gilliard should have still ran the attacking offense, but he didn't. He had the team pass the ball around the outside too much with Bogart and Mariotti both numerous times passing up open shots. Graham's defense was giving Bluefield the same looks they gave them early in the game, the difference was Bluefield wasn't looking to shot, but instead looking to run the clock. It was a bad decision and cost Bluefield the game IMO.

[ghs73 157]

unfortunately i was not able to go to the game but in my opinion until i heard it from the coach himself that he was wanting to run out the clock in the game i would not totally blame the coaching for the loss. a lot has to fall on the players who as you said passed up open shots in the game. unless the coach specifically told them not to shoot when open. which i feel like not to many coaches would do unless you were up by a hugh margin. i think most would tell the kids if you have the shot take it if not run the offence until we have a open shot. mind you i am no coach or anything close just a observer who has watched many games over the years even when they did not have the shot clock. way back then. but this is just my opinion from when i met mister gillard last year and talked with him in length about highschool sports.

[Bluefield_Rules 46]

I was at the game and it was obvious that Bluefield's offensive philosophy in the second half was totally different than in the first half. In the first half, they attacked, attacked, attacked. In the second half, they passed, passed, passed. The intent was to slow the game down and control the scoreboard as well as the clock. It was a bad idea, period.

 

The players do indeed shoulder the burden for the loss just as much as the coach, but it was a coaching decision to be less attacking on offense in the second half that caused Bluefield to lose their mental edge. Graham had the mental edge b/c they had been attacking in the second half and it showed in the closing minutes of the game.

 

I'm not really interested in discussing this anymore b/c I've said my peace on the subject. What's done is done and nothing is going to change it. Graham won the game b/c they made the plays do so and congrats to them. Gilliard is a solid coach, but I've just not seen anything out of him this season that gets me excited. He's outstanding gentleman from what I've been told and relates well with the kids, which is a positive.