If you can't beat 'em... quit

I had a weird & new experience in a boys varsity tourney yesterday. Team B (out-of-state) is losing & it’s evident there is not enough time for the big comeback. Team B is jacking up desperation 3s & playing terrible defense at this point in the game. B4 blatantly throws A2 to the ground in an attempt to get an offensive rebound.

I call the foul, walk to the bench & tell the coach that B44 is done for the game.
The coach says, if he’s done then we’re done.

(Tweet)
Ball game!

He didn’t ask why or what the kid did. It was obvious they were ready to hit I-25N as their skill level wasn’t good enough to be competitive.

Anybody ever had a coach quit the game?

Actually, it was a big mess on the floor & my partner never came to switch. So I just stayed with the player on the floor until emotions cooled down. Never really made it to the table. But it was going to be a flagrant unitl coach made it easy on me.

[Adam]

Yeah, in these tourneys that don't keep personal fouls, we (in my area anyway) have been given the authority to sit a player down for excessive fouls.

[SperlingPE]

Conference Tournament game. Girls, small school.
The team came with 6 players, 2 of which were just back from being sick.
Coach threw in the towel at the end of the third quarter, citing health reasons for her players. Kind of sad as I think the girls thought they could continue (though they were losing bad) and the parents were a little surprised.

[BktBallRef]

We had a girls team walk out of the gym in a Christmas tourney 3rd place game a couple of years ago.

They were fined by the state association.

[CoachCER]

Originally Posted by BktBallRef

We had a girls team walk out of the gym in a Christmas tourney 3rd place game a couple of years ago.

They were fined by the state association.

I read where a boys AAU team (16U maybe?) here in Georgia forfeited a game when their opponent started stalling in the 3rd quarter after taking a 2-point lead in the 3rd quarter.

I am still scratching my head over that one.

[ChrisSportsFan]

2 summers ago in an AAU tourny had a team quit after they received their 4th T. They thought they could act like idiots and whe we didn't let them they quit playing.

[CLH]

Worked an AAU tournament...1 team provides scorer other team provides timer...ran the first timer...assistant coach took over...he got ran 3 minutes later...head coach took his team home...then the teams duked it out in the parking lot...gotta love it!

ch

[Adam]

My high school team walked out in the start of the 4th quarter. We were losing by about 60 points to the eventual state champs, and they had their starters in. Our coach decided to walk, and he was suspended by the state.

[BillyMac]

This situation is hard to understand, and even harder to explain. A few years ago we had a state tournament playoff system where a team's seeding, and the division that it was seeded in, was determined by a team's record against larger schools, and smaller schools, the records of these schools, and wins, and losses, against these different size schools, and different "talent" schools, were treated differently in making the post season division assignment, and seeding. Well one coach decided that his team, which was quite good, would have a better chance winning the state tournament if he played in a "lower" division than the one his team would end up in if his team won most of it's final three, or four games, so he decided to start his reserves, and sit his starters, to "rest" his best players for the upcoming state tournament. Of course he ended up losing a few of these games, and ended up as a top seed in an "easier" division. It was difficult to prove his intentions, but the crap still hit the fan, and we no longer use that system for the state tournament.

So did they wind up winning State?

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by Ch1town

So did they wind up winning State?

Ridgefield Press
Mar 9, 2006
Coach Quits: Basketball controversy at high school

After the first eight minutes, the teams were tied. During the next three quarters, the Ridgefield High boys basketball team lost the game, its berth in the state tournament and, now, its head coach.

Ray Bielizna resigned Tuesday morning amid allegations that he purposely didn’t use his best players for much of the final regular-season game against Bassick-Bridgeport on Feb. 22. The 73-51 loss had positive implications for the Tigers, dropping them from the state tournament’s toughest bracket, Division I, into the less competitive Division II.

If Ridgefield had won the game it would have remained in Division I and Bassick, ironically, would have been in Division II. The Ridgefield loss elevated Bassick into Division I — a loss to Ridgefield would have kept Bassick in Division II.

Mr. Bielizna, who didn’t return several phone calls for this story, has been quoted in other published reports as saying he was aware of the post-season benefits from a loss to Bassick but that he didn’t act on them. He said his goal was merely to rest his top players, some of whom were suffering from nagging injuries, for both the conference and state tournaments and to give younger team members playing time.

Acting on information provided from what they described as a reliable source, officials from the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference, the state’s governing sports body, called Ridgefield High Principal Dr. Dianna Lindsay last Friday morning and asked her to investigate the matter. Mike Savage, an executive director with the CIAC, said Dr. Lindsay called him back within a few hours to confirm the claim that Ridgefield didn’t try its hardest to win the Bassick game. Mr. Savage would not comment when asked if Dr. Lindsay told him that Mr. Bielizna had admitted to her that he wanted to lose to Bassick. Mr. Savage said that Dr. Lindsay’s initial suggestion was to let the Ridgefield team play in Division II but suspend Mr. Bielizna for one game. When CIAC officials rejected that proposal as being too lenient, the two sides agreed to withdraw Ridgefield from the state tournament.

The Tigers were scheduled to play Career Magnet of New Haven in a first-round Division II game Tuesday night at home. Career Magnet was awarded a forfeit victory and automatically advanced to the second round. Mr. Bielizna gave his resignation letter to Ridgefield school officials on Tuesday morning. He will continue as a math teacher at the high school.

Members of the Ridgefield High team, many of whom found out about the decision while at a school dance Friday night, said they were stunned. “Disappointment and shock,” was how Joe Wolff, one of the team’s six seniors described his reaction. “We’ve had a great season — the team won 14 of 20 regular-season games before losing in the FCIAC quarterfinals — and now we don’t get a chance to play in States. It doesn’t seem fair to any of us.”

Mr. Wolff said the players were aware a defeat to Bassick would drop them to Division II — an assistant coach had told them — but that they didn’t play to lose. “That’s ridiculous,” he said. “The guys who were on the floor were trying their hardest. There is no way anyone can say we weren’t trying to win that game.”

After going most of the season with seven regulars, the Tigers played four seldom-used players and one who had not seen any varsity action against Bassick. That irregular substitution pattern caught the eye of several FCIAC coaches, who reported their concerns to the conference’s executive secretary, John Kuczo. Mr. Kuczo then called Mr. Savage to voice his concerns. “We felt there was enough credibility to the claims to investigate,” said Mr. Savage. “We did not want the integrity of the state tournament to be compromised. That’s why we called Ridgefield High School and asked them to look into it. “When Dr. Lindsay called us back, she verified our concerns and we sought a solution,” added Mr. Savage. “We felt that having the team withdraw from the state tournament was a proper resolution.” Dr. Lindsay did not return several phone calls for this story. Dr. Kenneth Freeston, the superintendent of Ridgefield schools, said Dr. Lindsay’s suggestion, that the team be allowed to play in the state tournament without Mr. Bielizna as head coach, was rejected by the CIAC. “We didn’t want the team punished,” said Dr. Freeston. “But the state thought taking them out of the tournament was the best way to approach it.” “This was a serious matter, and we admire the quick response from the Ridgefield principal, superintendent and athletic director (Rod Mergardt),” said Mr. Savage. “We’re satisfied with the way they handled things.”

The state basketball tournament was altered before the 2003-04 season. Rather than group teams based on school enrollment, the format was redesigned based on a point system, with the aim to place all the state’s top teams in one division regardless of school size. Under this scenario, Division I is considered the state’s toughest, with the next three divisions dropping off in quality. Teams must win 40% of their games to make the state tournament. Mr. Savage said the CIAC and the boys basketball committee were aware that the new system had an inherent design flaw: Teams could lose on purpose to move down to a weaker division. “It’s something we talked about and hoped wouldn’t happen,” he said. “Now, after this, I’m sure there will be discussion about ways to change the tournament again. We can oversee a lot of things, but we can’t legislate ethics.”

[BillyMac]

CIAC changes boys basketball tourney format
By: Joe Morelli, Journal Register News Service
07/27/2006

The CIAC boys' basketball tournament committee heard the outcry from basketball coaches, athletic directors and principals alike and made some significant changes to the format.

Gone is the power-points system that caused so much controversy to the point that one school, Ridgefield, forfeited from last year's tournament after the Tigers sat out players in the final game to potentially lose a game on purpose. Back in is the class enrollment system (Class LL through S) with a few notable exceptions. First and foremost, private and magnet schools' enrollment will be doubled that of the public schools because of those schools' abilities to draw from numerous towns. "Mike (Savage, the CIAC executive director) has access to all of the state's policies (for boys' basketball)," said Dr. Edward Goldstone, chairperson of the boys' basketball committee. "Apparently, many states do factor that in." So for instance, if a private school has 140 boys, the school will now have 280 points. Another factor is recent success in the state tournament. A school will receive an extra 10 points each time its team reaches the state tournament semifinals on any level. A finalist receives 25 points while a state champion gets 50. So take, for example, Trinity Catholic-Stamford won back-to-back state titles under two different formats in 2003-04 and lost in the final in 2005. That's an additional 125 points for the Crusaders, a Class S school by strict enrollment.

Teams in smaller divisions can once again choose to play in the Class LL state tournament only. Requests must be made in writing to the CIAC by Oct. 1. The other classes will not be re-balanced if schools opt to move up. "The whole idea is to recreate the brackets once the season started and have those brackets be as equitable as possible, given the fact our last attempt at doing that underwent a lot of criticism," Goldstone said. Although the power-points system created an impressive Division I tournament, it allowed larger schools to drop into smaller divisions with subpar seasons. It also allowed schools to potentially manipulate the system, like Ridgefield apparently did when it lost its regular-season finale to Bassick-Bridgeport and dropped from Division I to Division II. When impropriety was discovered, Ridgefield forfeited out of the tournament. "I personally thought (the power-points format) was very good," Goldstone said. "I thought the issue of manipulation became so controversial that (the CIAC) Board of Control felt no matter how well-meaning the format was, it did lead to problems. Having all divisions pre-determined before the season started and having that success factor was crucial in providing an extra level of balance. But the strength of schedule is no longer a factor." This format will be in place for two years. Classes for the 2006-2007 state tournament will be available in September.

[Mark Padgett]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

Members of the Ridgefield High team, many of whom found out about the decision while at a school dance Friday night, said they were stunned. “Disappointment and shock,” was how Joe Wolff, one of the team’s six seniors described his reaction. “We’ve had a great season — the team won 14 of 20 regular-season games before losing in the FCIAC quarterfinals — and now we don’t get a chance to play in States. It doesn’t seem fair to any of us.”

So they punish the kids for something they thought the coach did. Brilliant. If I was a parent of one of those kids, my first call would have been to a lawyer.

[grunewar]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

Mr. Wolff said the players were aware a defeat to Bassick would drop them to Division II — an assistant coach had told them — but that they didn’t play to lose. “That’s ridiculous,” he said. “The guys who were on the floor were trying their hardest. There is no way anyone can say we weren’t trying to win that game.”

After going most of the season with seven regulars, the Tigers played four seldom-used players and one who had not seen any varsity action against Bassick.

Contradiction?

Politics......

Sad.