By
Steve Kallas (posted by Rick Morris)
Yes,
it’s hard to fathom. Yes, it’s
amazing. Yes, it’s the all-time college
scoring record for points in a game. But
the feat of Grinnell’s Jack Taylor, scoring 138 points in a D III college game,
also raises a number of questions.
HOW
COULD IT HAPPEN?
Arguably
the most interesting question. How can a
player shoot 108 times in a 40- minute game?
Better yet, how can a player shoot 108 times in 36 minutes, since Taylor
did not play the whole game (what? He needed a rest?)?
By
now you know the numbers: 27 for 71 from three-point land, 25 for 37 from
two-point land, 7 for 10 from the foul line.
No assists (what did you expect?).
To
this writer, the best question is: What
was the other coach thinking/doing? From
the 15 or so baskets that this writer has seen video of, Faith Baptist Bible
(which dropped to 0-5) played man-to-man defense (well, if you can call it
defense) the entire game. Of those 15 or
so baskets, Taylor was double-teamed ONCE – and that double team came very
late.
The
answer, of course, as to what the Faith Baptist coach should have done is
two-fold: if a guy, at any level, scores
58 by half-time, you don’t know what you’re doing if you don’t come out in a
box-and-one for the second half. Maybe
the Faith Baptist coach is a die-hard man-to-man guy like Bob Knight. But those plans have to be re-examined if
your man-to-man has given up 58 by the half.
In
fact, one can debate whether you are actually playing man-to-man DEFENSE if a
team goes for 179 against you.
The
second part of the equation is equally simple.
If you are playing a team that likes a run and gun tempo (Grinnell,
according to published reports, has led the nation in scoring 17 of the last 19
seasons), you have to consider taking the air out of the ball. Your opponent can’t, by mathematical
definition, score 179 or take 136 shots (as a team) if you keep possession of
the ball for 30-35 seconds per your possessions.
Not
that Faith Baptist Bible was complicit in this ”achievement,” but a rec league
coach could have found a few ways to slow this train down.
Grinnell,
again according to published reports, likes to press, shoot 3s and hoist them
up quickly. An open question has to be
did Grinnell press and, if yes, for how long.
You often run into these things in high school or travel ball
slaughters. If you are up 39 at the
half, you might want to think about calling off the dogs. Again, an open question.
WHERE
HAVE YOU GONE, GRIFFIN LENTSCH?
Who?
Well, if you are a college basketball junkie, you might know that Lentsch, a
Grinnell player, last year broke the all-time D III scoring record by scoring
89 in a game against Principia College.
Lentsch also led the nation in three-point field goals per game with
4.43 per game.
So,
where was Griffin Lentsch this year?
Why, he was playing in last night’s record-breaking game, of
course. Lentsch’s stats last night? Two for three from the floor (including one
for two from three-point land) and 2-2 from the free-throw line for seven
points.
Yikes!
DID
DAVID LARSON HAVE A BETTER GAME THAN JACK TAYLOR?
Well,
that could certainly be open to debate.
Larson, the high scorer for Faith Baptist Bible, had 70 points on 34-44
shooting (it did take him all 40 minutes, however). While Jack Taylor was quoted by the AP as
saying, “it felt like anything I tossed up was going in,” the reality is that
he shot 48% (52-108) from the field while the rest of his team shot 57% (16-28)
from the field.
Maybe
Jack should have set up his teammates a bit more. Larson, meanwhile, shot a staggering 77%
(34-44) from the field, a truly amazing number, especially for so many
attempts.
So,
who had the better game? I think many
college coaches would pick Larson’s game.
CONCLUSION
Well,
you still have to give credit for an amazing performance by Jack Taylor. Nobody thought that Rio Grande’s Bevo
Francis’s 1954 record of 113 points (against Hillsdale) would ever be broken.
But
that record has been shattered by 25 points.
Having
said that, as usual, a performance like this often raises more questions than
it answers.
Draw
your own conclusions.
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