Late Game Situations

I was watching Iowa State play Oklahoma State in a great overtime thriller last season. I enjoy watching Iowa State play and Fred Hoiberg is a big reason for that. His team always plays hard on defense and does a good job of running their offense. They finished in second place during the regular season and beat Kansas in the Big 12 Championship game in one of the toughest conferences in America. This particular game came down to the wire and ended up going into 3 overtimes with Iowa State getting a rare win at Oklahoma State. Iowa State ran a quick hitter to help tie the game in regulation. Everything went right except the wide open shot was missed. Even though they did not score off the initial set, Iowa State was able to get an offensive rebound that allowed for a successful three point basket. That just goes to show you that even the best drawn up plays still needs an extra effort to make the play work.

There are a few approaches to take when facing a late game situation and the team needs to score. Some coaches prefer the players to make a play and do not call timeout. Coaches who do not call timeout have confidence in the team to make a correct play when the game is on the line. The team must also spend time in practice working on late game situations. A majority of coaches will call a timeout to set up a play for the team to execute. Every team should spend some time working on late game situations in case there are no timeouts left in a game. When processing the game situation the coach must decide what kind of shot is needed and who is the most likely player to get that shot. That is the starting point to putting a last second play together. It is also a good idea to have a few sets ready when the game calls for a late game situation. The more prepared a coach is the better off the team is. Working on late game scenarios in practice is a chance to find out which players are clutch and also creates a fun, competitive practice environment.

Coach Hoiberg called a timeout and was able to draw a play up that allowed his team to get a wide open three point shot. The success of that timeout allowed the team to eventually win the game. I have included the late game play that was run by Iowa State to help them get an important road victory. I also have a late game out of bounds play from the Phoenix Suns that I saw a few days ago. They were down 3 to the Houston Rockets with about 15 seconds to play. Click on the team names below to view the plays discussed.

Iowa State

Suns

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