MILWAUKEE — A team holding a 19-point fourth-quarter lead protected its advantage Wednesday by immediately abandoning every action that had produced the lead in the first place.
“We were getting open shots through pace, movement, and passing,” said one assistant coach. “Naturally, once we were ahead, that felt much too dangerous.”
The offense slowed to a crawl, players began dribbling for 18 seconds before attempting contested jumpers, and every transition opportunity was rejected in favor of letting the defense fully organize.
On the other end, defenders switched from aggressive pressure to a conservative approach designed to allow only wide-open threes rather than anything reckless.
The lead fell from 19 to 11, then six, then two as coaches repeatedly emphasized the importance of staying calm while doing nothing resembling the first three quarters.
After losing in overtime, players said they simply needed to execute better during the portion of the game when they intentionally stopped executing.
The coaching staff plans to review why success became so alarming.
