Utah girl's basketball game ends in 108-3 score

[Burmy]

http://rivals.yahoo.com/highschool/blog/prep_rally/post/108-3-girls-basketball-rout-raises-questions?urn=highschool-311327

I agree with the coach's Bowden-esque quote about why he refuses to apologize:

"Too many people in the world right now allow the youth to not be as good as they can be, allow them to be lazy," said McGill. "Here, I'm giving them an opportunity to live up to the best of their abilities and be proud of what they're able to accomplish. If that's what I'm being blamed for, then OK, I accept it."

I'll actually go 1 step further and tell the school "We played our best, because that's the core of our values. If it's not the core of yours, then I don't believe I belong as your coach anymore".

[illwauk]

This happened in a high school game? Maybe I could see if these were 5th graders, but this is well within the range of something 15-18 year olds should be able to handle. Any parents who are actually expecting an apology should be ashamed.

[OMMF]

Any parents who are actually expecting an apology should be ashamed.

I don't know. I'd be pretty pissed if the team my daughter was on gave up 3 points.

[GFB]

Any parents who are actually expecting an apology should be ashamed.

I don't know. I'd be pretty pissed if the team my daughter was on gave up 3 points.

haha... very well done sir.

[IceCap]

This happened in a high school game? Maybe I could see if these were 5th graders, but this is well within the range of something 15-18 year olds should be able to handle. Any parents who are actually expecting an apology should be ashamed.

Agreed.

Since when did encouraging kids to do their best become a bad thing?

[illwauk]

Any parents who are actually expecting an apology should be ashamed.

I don't know. I'd be pretty pissed if the team my daughter was on gave up 3 points.

I lolled.

[sc49erfan15]

I don't know. If I'm the coach in the situation, and my team is up 50+ (especially if the other team has 3), I'm telling my players to dribble around for 20 seconds, step inside the 3 point line and practice some jump shots. If they go in, that's the point - the object of the game is to make shots. There's "doing your best" and there's "rubbing it in."

[slapshot]

It sort of depends how the points were made. If the winning team made an effort to work on plays, passing, and outside shooting, then oh well, they scored points. If they were just running up the score with constant pressure, fast breaks and easy layups against an obviously undermatched team, then shame on them.

[illwauk]

Just had a random thought. What do you think is making the West Ridge girls feel worse... the fact that they got blown out 108-3, or the fact that the whining of their parents and school administrators has now earned them a national rep as "the girls who got blown out 108-3."

[Magnus]

Exactly. The Pats drubbed just about everyone in 2007 with lopsided scores. Doesn't mean they can't be beaten. Just means their competition wasn't up to snuff until the very last game.

[HedleyLamarr]

It sort of depends how the points were made. If the winning team made an effort to work on plays, passing, and outside shooting, then oh well, they scored points. If they were just running up the score with constant pressure, fast breaks and easy layups against an obviously undermatched team, then shame on them.

If the other team is still competing and trying to score, why should I tell my team to essentially "stop trying"?

[Billy B]

Exactly. The Pats drubbed just about everyone in 2007 with lopsided scores. Doesn't mean they can't be beaten. Just means their competition wasn't up to snuff until the very last game.

Except the Patriots are a professional football team and played all their games against other professional football teams. High school is a lot different and teams can't help if they're clearly outmanned. With different sizes of schools, there are always going to be teams that simply can't compete with others. Like slapshot said, if they ran time off the clock and took a jump shot each time, that's fine. But if they were pushing the game the whole way through, that's bad sportsmanship.

[OnWis97]

There is a very interesting link in that story as well about a team getting in trouble for using non-school colors...http://rivals.yahoo.com/highschool/blog/prep_rally/post/L-A-school-gets-probation-for-illegal-donated-N?urn=highschool-291846

[Drakonius26]

http://rivals.yahoo.com/highschool/blog/prep_rally/post/108-3-girls-basketball-rout-raises-questions?urn=highschool-311327

I agree with the coach's Bowden-esque quote about why he refuses to apologize:

"Too many people in the world right now allow the youth to not be as good as they can be, allow them to be lazy," said McGill. "Here, I'm giving them an opportunity to live up to the best of their abilities and be proud of what they're able to accomplish. If that's what I'm being blamed for, then OK, I accept it."

I'll actually go 1 step further and tell the school "We played our best, because that's the core of our values. If it's not the core of yours, then I don't believe I belong as your coach anymore".

Hmmm... sucks to be them. Suck it up and take it like a woman... they should've scored 106 more points.

I for one do not believe in the mercy rule.

[RyanMcD29]

I was gonna say they should've put the reserves in and give them some significant playing time, but after reading the article they had a really short bench for the game

108-3's a bit of an overload. I'm in the camp of don't stop playing the game until the end, but don't go overboard in blowing them out by 105 in this case

[slapshot]

It sort of depends how the points were made. If the winning team made an effort to work on plays, passing, and outside shooting, then oh well, they scored points. If they were just running up the score with constant pressure, fast breaks and easy layups against an obviously undermatched team, then shame on them.

If the other team is still competing and trying to score, why should I tell my team to essentially "stop trying"?

It's not the same as "stop trying". But a coach can use that time effectively if it's spent constructively rather than running up the score.

I think we an all figure the difference between a team rubbing it in by running up the score, and a team that knows it's winning very easily and using the time to learn and drill new plays. Use that time as a free practice that benefits the standings, and develop schemes to try against more talented teams, instead of rubbing the opponents' noses in it.

I see it in girls' basketball all the time...it's not sexist, just a fact that there is a much bigger disparity of the level of talent between the good teams and bad than there is with boys' basketball. And a respectful coach knows how to "call of the dogs" without just playing dead.

[Saturn]

It sort of depends how the points were made. If the winning team made an effort to work on plays, passing, and outside shooting, then oh well, they scored points. If they were just running up the score with constant pressure, fast breaks and easy layups against an obviously undermatched team, then shame on them.

If the other team is still competing and trying to score, why should I tell my team to essentially "stop trying"?

It's not the same as "stop trying". But a coach can use that time effectively if it's spent constructively rather than running up the score.

I think we an all figure the difference between a team rubbing it in by running up the score, and a team that knows it's winning very easily and using the time to learn and drill new plays. Use that time as a free practice that benefits the standings, and develop schemes to try against more talented teams, instead of rubbing the opponents' noses in it.

I see it in girls' basketball all the time...it's not sexist, just a fact that there is a much bigger disparity of the level of talent between the good teams and bad than there is with boys' basketball. And a respectful coach knows how to "call of the dogs" without just playing dead.

I dont think a team that just won by 105 points needs any extra practice...

[Magnus]

Exactly. The Pats drubbed just about everyone in 2007 with lopsided scores. Doesn't mean they can't be beaten. Just means their competition wasn't up to snuff until the very last game.

The Patriots are a professional football team and played all their games against other professional football teams. High school is a lot different and teams can't help if they're clearly outmanned. With different sizes of schools, there are always going to be teams that simply can't compete with others. Like slapshot said, if they ran time off the clock and took a jump shot each time, that's fine. But if they were pushing the game the whole way through, that's bad sportsmanship.

There should have been a mercy threshold then, methinks. 50 point lead, call the game.

Same for other sports. If a baseball team is up by 10-12 runs after 3-4 innings, call it.

Hockey team up by 8-10? Call it.

Football team up by 5 majors? Keep playingcall it.

[crashcarson15]

Exactly. The Pats drubbed just about everyone in 2007 with lopsided scores. Doesn't mean they can't be beaten. Just means their competition wasn't up to snuff until the very last game.

The Patriots are a professional football team and played all their games against other professional football teams. High school is a lot different and teams can't help if they're clearly outmanned. With different sizes of schools, there are always going to be teams that simply can't compete with others. Like slapshot said, if they ran time off the clock and took a jump shot each time, that's fine. But if they were pushing the game the whole way through, that's bad sportsmanship.

There should have been a mercy threshold then, methinks. 50 point lead, call the game.

Same for other sports. If a baseball team is up by 10-12 runs after 3-4 innings, call it.

Hockey team up by 8-10? Call it.

Football team up by 5 majors? Keep playingcall it.

Yeah, I think we have a 15-run lead after 4 innings here in Indiana which is really useful against the inner city schools. I think we won a game 26-0 once this past season, and it would've pushed 40-0 if we had to play the entire 7 innings.

The thing that bothers me the most is how the girl got a triple-double with steals. If you're winning by that much, you sit back in a 2-3 zone and don't over pursue for steals. That's what most teams do when they're even up 10 anyways. It forces your opponent to run clock to get a shot, and then you go down and work on running your offense. Honestly, I could understand this more if the backups were playing the entire 4th quarter for example. As someone who's somehow found himself buried on his JV bench (okay, the coaches hate me, that's how), when myself and the other benchwarmers go in up 25 with 2 minutes left, we want to score, not run out the clock. That's why I could understand it more if they couldn't stop the backups, since they don't get much playing time. But the starters? That's where I just say 2-3 zone and run our offense. I hope this team loses in the state tournament in a game they lost because they couldn't run their offense and are getting burned playing man-to-man (assuming that's what they did) defense.

[Jigga]

Y'all are making an awful lot of assumptions.