I can remember in basketball (college and pro) whereby if you were up 4 points within a minute it was considered a done deal that you were going to win the game. Two more half court offenses would play out and only if the other team could get it into 1 possession where they get serious about it.

That is the way it was but anymore I think the line is 7 points. I was out watching a game 45sec and this guy who was an older fan thought it was over because they were up by 5. But it was just two possessions and a three could fly anytime.

Its interesting to me because it makes the games a lot more contestable than what they used to be. I think it also puts pressure to push the lead over 10 within 3 minutes if your up 6-8 in the 4th. But even at 10 point cushion the other team will hack with fouls in the final minute.

8 points in the last 19 seconds on this one. Good memory.

The question is at what point do you have reasonable control of the game.

At 5 or 6 going into the final minute you are hanging on.

7 or 8 points you are in the driver seat. You can absorb 2 three pointers and still win, maybe 3 if getting to line when fouled and extra free throws.

If the odds to knock down a 3 is 40 percent the chance of hitting three of them is 6.4 percent. Then what are the chances of getting 3 possessions in the final minute?

Its a lot better than it was and the 3 point percentage is far higher than it was 20 years ago across the starting lineup.

I can’t find the video but Isiah Thomas single handed did I think a nine or ten point deficit in the last 20 seconds for the Pistons back in the day

Basketball has a human element and kids will make mistakes and great players will take advantage


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It doesn't matter what level you are at, if you don't have good free throw shooters and the other team has good 3 point shooters, you are vulnerable. I remember seeing a game where a team was down by 10 with a minute to go and forced overtime. The leading team's fans were chanting "go start the bus" and ended up losing.

(05-04-2019 04:37 PM)teamvsn Wrote:  It doesn't matter what level you are at, if you don't have good free throw shooters and the other team has good 3 point shooters, you are vulnerable. I remember seeing a game where a team was down by 10 with a minute to go and forced overtime. The leading team's fans were chanting "go start the bus" and ended up losing.

Did you feel the same way watching a game 25 or 30 years ago?

Carolina beats Dook after being down by 8 with only 17 seconds to play



BEFORE THE THREE POINT SHOT