Quote:
Originally Posted by Snaqwells
Good Lord, how long did he stand there, then? My count on free throws is so slow it's almost a joke.
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The reason that the complaints about Libbey have some traction is in fact incidents like this.
Michael Wright was known for taking a long time to shoot free-throws. I think some other P10 coaches actually complained about it. He always was really slow.
The issue that people have with Libbey, and how he chose to deal with this, was that it seemed like it was done in the manner designed to make it as big a deal as possible, rather than just resolving the situation, if in fact it needed resolution at all.
Wright *always* took forever, so why wait until he is shooting free throws at the end of a close game to address the problem? Wright, at the time, was one of the best power forwards in the conference, and went to the free throw line a lot. Why not handle this at some other point? A warning early in the game, a quick comment to Olson - "Hey coach, Wright is taking too long and we are getting complaints, tell him to speed it up" and then bang him early if you must?
Same with the illegal screen call on Hill. Was it illegal by rule? Maybe...but it sure didn't look like anything that typically gets called at any point in the game, much less in THAT situation. At least in this case, Libbey seems to have realized it, and said afterward he punted the call.
Where is the line between having the balls to make the late call, and LOOKING for a late call to make? Libbey certainly is not afraid to call what he sees, no matter what point of the game it is in - and he should be (and is) commended for that.
But sometimes I wonder if maybe he is doing a bit more - beyond being unafraid to make the Big Call, he sometimes looks like he WANTS there to be a Big Call to be made.