http://rivals.yahoo.com/h...31?urn=highschool-312968
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Talk about boring to watch though.</span>
A nationally ranked team and three overtimes usually produce a score
well into the 100s. That wasn't the case Tuesday near Dallas, where RivalsHigh 100 No. 12 Flower Mound (Texas) Marcus High eked out a 38-31, triple-overtime district win against Plano (Texas) West High, which resorted to outright stalling as a way to remain competitive with a team that had already blown it out once this year.
"We were convinced they were going to do something drastically
different," Marcus coach Danny Henderson told the Dallas Morning News.
"What they did was one of about three things we thought they might do."</p>
Was
the stall effective? Despite the eventual loss, it's hard to consider
West's tactics anything but a fabulous success. The Wolves held Marcus
superstars Phil Forte and Marcus Smart to just 19 points combined,
and twice had chances to win the game. Unfortunately for West, they
failed to connect on buzzer beaters both at the end of regulation and
the first overtime. </p>
"It'd be nice to trade punches," West coach
Anthony Morgan told the News. "But we did that at our place [in a
double-digit West loss]. "[West decided] Let's just limit their
possessions and be very deliberate and patient on offense and work it
into our bigs."</p>
The strategy resulted in all kinds of statistical
oddities. West's possessions averaged more than a minute in length, and
included the final 2:30 of regulation. The first overtime finished without either team scoring a point. </p>
While
the stall may have been most frustrating for Marcus' high-scoring star
duo, the Marcus fans in attendance were just as upset with the tactic.
Forced to watch constant ball possession drills in real time, the Marcus
crowd resorted to chants of "shoot-the-ball" and "bo-ring," according to the Morning News. </p><a rel="nofollow" name="remaining-content"></a>
Yet all that acrimony didn't reach Henderson, who had surprising praise for Morgan's game plan.</p>
"That
was a lot of courage because that's not a popular thing to do that
coach Morgan did," Henderson told the Morning News. "I really respect
him for doing it."</p>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Talk about boring to watch though.</span>
A nationally ranked team and three overtimes usually produce a score
well into the 100s. That wasn't the case Tuesday near Dallas, where RivalsHigh 100 No. 12 Flower Mound (Texas) Marcus High eked out a 38-31, triple-overtime district win against Plano (Texas) West High, which resorted to outright stalling as a way to remain competitive with a team that had already blown it out once this year.
"We were convinced they were going to do something drastically
different," Marcus coach Danny Henderson told the Dallas Morning News.
"What they did was one of about three things we thought they might do."</p>
Was
the stall effective? Despite the eventual loss, it's hard to consider
West's tactics anything but a fabulous success. The Wolves held Marcus
superstars Phil Forte and Marcus Smart to just 19 points combined,
and twice had chances to win the game. Unfortunately for West, they
failed to connect on buzzer beaters both at the end of regulation and
the first overtime. </p>
"It'd be nice to trade punches," West coach
Anthony Morgan told the News. "But we did that at our place [in a
double-digit West loss]. "[West decided] Let's just limit their
possessions and be very deliberate and patient on offense and work it
into our bigs."</p>
The strategy resulted in all kinds of statistical
oddities. West's possessions averaged more than a minute in length, and
included the final 2:30 of regulation. The first overtime finished without either team scoring a point. </p>
While
the stall may have been most frustrating for Marcus' high-scoring star
duo, the Marcus fans in attendance were just as upset with the tactic.
Forced to watch constant ball possession drills in real time, the Marcus
crowd resorted to chants of "shoot-the-ball" and "bo-ring," according to the Morning News. </p><a rel="nofollow" name="remaining-content"></a>
Yet all that acrimony didn't reach Henderson, who had surprising praise for Morgan's game plan.</p>
"That
was a lot of courage because that's not a popular thing to do that
coach Morgan did," Henderson told the Morning News. "I really respect
him for doing it."</p>