(05-29-2016 08:36 AM)RiceFootball2K5 Wrote:  

(05-29-2016 01:14 AM)mrbig Wrote:  I would rather lose than see this. Seriously. When you use a 20-year-old pitcher in a way that no professional team would, you should be questioning whether you are using the right decision-making process. While I think Coach Graham has significantly changed the way he uses his starting pitchers since Savery's sophomore year, I'm still not fond of how he uses his top relievers. He really opens himself up to criticism.

I 100% agree with you and I've been harping on this all year. It is now evident to me that "the streak" means more than this kid's health and long-term future. And that makes me sad.

To be clear, while I disagree with Coach Graham using Otto in the saturday game, I do not agree that "the streak" meant more to him then Otto's health or future. I just think he draws the line in a different place than I would draw the line regarding what puts a pitcher at risk. I think if he believed he was jeopardizing Otto's health or professional opportunities, he would not have pitched him Saturday.

(05-29-2016 09:42 AM)Swede Owl Wrote:  If you truly believe that Coach Graham values this streak more than the health of his players, then you obviously do not know Coach at all. Do you honestly think that at the age of 80, with all of the records, titles and championships that he has amassed and the character and integrity with which he has built this program, that he would callously disregard the future of any of his players for "the streak"? Everyone is entitled to their opinion to second-guess who should start, when they should have been pulled, etc, etc., but don't throw around charges like that when they simply aren't true--unless you're Keith Law, that is.

I agree with this. There are two separate issues going on. The first is pitcher usage. The second is the reasoning behind the pitcher usage. I have tried to point out to Keith Law numerous times that Coach Graham no longer uses starters like the 10+ years ago. This is a fact if you do some research on Boyd's World. So when Keith Law or others bring up starters before Savery's sophomore season when they talk about current pitcher usage, they just haven't done their research. And I 100% disagree with anyone who suggests Coach Graham would put wins before the health of his players at any point during his coaching tenure (I matriculated in Fall 1997). However, I do believe Coach leans on his elite relievers too heavily. This is personal opinion, but he is certainly failing the precautionary principle and heading into areas in which criticism is at least not unjustified. I wish he was more conservative, but he isn't. This hasn't really changed during his coaching tenure at Rice. But again, I absolutely do not believe he is putting wins ahead of player health. My personal opinion is that he just does not believe the strain put on his elite relievers is increasing their risk of injury or affecting their draft status. I'm not sure it is ... but I'm also not sure it isn't. I wish I could be sure it wasn't.

And to consolidate the thoughts in this thread, I didn't mind seeing Duplantier used on Sunday. Wish he had thrown fewer pitches. But conference tournaments and regionals put college coaches in a bind regarding pitcher usage. Rice went through a lot of pitchers to reach to the championship game, so not like a lot of guys were rested at that point. And they guys who were less rested probably could have thrown 100 pitches trying to get through 2 innings...

Play that ended the game

(06-01-2016 08:00 AM)grol Wrote:  Play that ended the game

Our runner from first had a good jump and was off at the crack of the bat -- but their center fielder got to the ball well. Damn.

(06-01-2016 08:00 AM)grol Wrote:  Play that ended the game

Thanks for posting. It must have been pretty wild to have watched that live.

(06-01-2016 10:13 AM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  

(06-01-2016 08:00 AM)grol Wrote:  Play that ended the game

Thanks for posting. It must have been pretty wild to have watched that live.

Agree, thanks for posting. Certainly was an exciting play. The CF did his job. The first cut-off guy did his job. The 2nd cut-off guy was the key. He turned the throw extremely quickly (quicker than the 1st cut-off guy) and made a perfect throw home. Not sure why they went with a double-cut when the ball did not make it past the CF, but it worked for them.

(06-01-2016 10:51 AM)mrbig Wrote:  

(06-01-2016 10:13 AM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  

(06-01-2016 08:00 AM)grol Wrote:  Play that ended the game

Thanks for posting. It must have been pretty wild to have watched that live.

Agree, thanks for posting. Certainly was an exciting play. The CF did his job. The first cut-off guy did his job. The 2nd cut-off guy was the key. He turned the throw extremely quickly (quicker than the 1st cut-off guy) and made a perfect throw home. Not sure why they went with a double-cut when the ball did not make it past the CF, but it worked for them.

I think if the second cut off guy hadn't cut the ball, the throw from short left field would have been up the 1st base line. I suspect the catcher was telling the 1Bman to cut and come home. Well executed in any case.

(06-01-2016 11:27 AM)Tomball Owl Wrote:  

(06-01-2016 10:51 AM)mrbig Wrote:  

(06-01-2016 10:13 AM)RiceLad15 Wrote:  

(06-01-2016 08:00 AM)grol Wrote:  Play that ended the game

Thanks for posting. It must have been pretty wild to have watched that live.

Agree, thanks for posting. Certainly was an exciting play. The CF did his job. The first cut-off guy did his job. The 2nd cut-off guy was the key. He turned the throw extremely quickly (quicker than the 1st cut-off guy) and made a perfect throw home. Not sure why they went with a double-cut when the ball did not make it past the CF, but it worked for them.

I think if the second cut off guy hadn't cut the ball, the throw from short left field would have been up the 1st base line. I suspect the catcher was telling the 1Bman to cut and come home. Well executed in any case.

Correct...i was behind the 1st base dugout and when the SS made his relay throw our catcher moved up the 1st base line. One of the last angles in the video (it's right at the 1:20 mark ) shows our catcher about 2 steps up the line as well. Once the 1B cut it off you can see the catcher shuffle back towards the plate as he's catching it and applying the tag