By Joe Manganiello
Everyone grew up with the kid that never learned how to pass the ball. In pick-up games during grade school, nobody wanted to end up on that guy’s team because they knew it wouldn’t be any fun.
In high school, “that guy” would almost be good enough for the school team, but he would inexplicably get into a yelling match with the varsity coach during tryouts and get cut after two days. So he would flood an otherwise fun loving recreational league, demanding passes and shooting dirty looks every game, all season long. “That guy” would lead his respective team in points, shot attempts and arguments created.
And everybody hated playing “that guy’s” team. It was more out of frustration than fear; more of a headache than a heartache; everybody hates playing “that guy.”
Well forever in the vernacular of our beloved country, “that guys” name is Jack Taylor. Jack Taylor is a total jerk.
While I am sure Taylor enjoyed the fifteen minutes of fame he got from ESPN and every basketball writer under the sun – humbly including myself – in the wake of his record-breaking, 138-point performance, it should be noted just how unimpressive this performance really was. Suddenly the most prolific scoring record in single-game NCAA history is owned by a 5-10 sophomore guard at the Division III level that needed 108 attempts from the field to do so.
This shooting obscenity is not iconic, it is idiotic. But wait, it gets worse.
Taylor missed the majority of his shots. In a world where I never imagined somebody could jack up over 100 shots in one night – and we’ll discuss how Grinnell’s tactics made it so – Taylor managed to throw up 108 shots from the field in 36 minutes of play. That is exactly three shots a minute. Attempting three shots per minute while shooting under 50 percent would be like refusing to call passing plays in a football game when the starting tailback is only picking up two yards a carry.
What’s worse is that Taylor attempted 71 three-pointers in the game, making just 27 of them. That’s right; Taylor MISSED 44 three-pointers in a single-game. To put that in perspective, a recent NBA three-overtime affair between the Utah Jazz and Toronto Raptors netted 50 attempts from three-point land with only 28 missed attempts. Taylor took 21 more three-pointers, missed 16 more three-pointers and did so in just 36 minutes of play, compared to the 63 minutes of action that the Jazz and Raptors had.
The 108 shots Taylor jacked up was the same number of shots that Indiana and Georgetown took combined on Tuesday night. Any of the quotes from Grinnell College coaches and players about Taylor “being in the zone” or “having the hot hand” are simply not true. He shot 48 percent from the field; he was not even making the majority of his shots. He was just launching the basketball.
Deadspin wrote a great article in the wake of the record-breaking night about Grinnell College’s offensive system, philosophy and how Taylor’s assault at the record books was absolutely pre-meditated. Deadsin’s Tyler Burns noted that many times in the game, Taylor’s teammates would pass up wide-open layups simply to locate Taylor and pass the ball to him no matter how far away from the basket he was. Burns was stunned by how many times Taylor would take “six three-point attempts in two trips down the court.”
That is not basketball. That is not prolific. It would make Dr. Naismith cringe.
Any educated sports fan knows that one player can not take 108 shots in one game unless the coaching staff and program are egging it on. If Kobe Bryant tried taking 100 shots in a game, even he would get benched. This was a concerted effort to break the scoring record. Taylor was the only player on his team to play more than 15 minutes; he was the only player on his team to attempt more than six shots; Taylor did not manage a single assist but did play 90 percent of the game despite an ugly six turnovers.
Grinnell College not only planned the record-breaking game, but synthesized it with a perfect storm of circumstance. It is well documented that Grinnell runs a unique system. Over a seventeen year stretch through the ’09-’10 season, the Pioneers led the NCAA in scoring 15 times. How do they do it? By pressing every inbounds pass with five players, with a team goal to force 32 turnovers per game. If the other team can get the ball over the top of the defense and score on a wide open layup, the Pioneers don’t mind; their philosophy is to get the ball out of the hands of their opponents as quickly as possible, even if it means giving up points.
Offensively the Pioneers combat giving up wide-open layups by taking and making an obnoxious amount of three-pointers. Living and dying by the three-ball is an understatement with the Pioneers; they averaged 53 attempts from behind the arc last season. In Tuesday’s game, the Pioneers tossed up 80 three-pointers, making just 30.
I am not trying to over-criticize the Grinnell College system. I am not going to hate on them just because they run a gimmick system with cheap tricks. What I am very upset about, however, is how they handle their business in scheduling and what they do to lesser opponents like the Faith Baptist Bible College team on Tuesday night.
Looking back at the Deadspin article, it is very clear that Grinnell game-plans for record-setting games against their weakest opponents. Faith Baptist is a school with just over 300 students and is a member of the National Christian College Athletic Association. This was not a rival DIII program or even a competitive NAIA team. Deadspin goes as far as saying that Faith Baptist is “the Division II of the NCCAA at that.”
Arguably the murkiest business involved in Tuesday’s game was that it counted as just an exhibition for Faith Baptist, yet it was an official regular season game for Grinnell.
The Pioneers found a collection of “players” that happened to be affiliated with a joint-educational institution and lucky enough to possess matching uniforms, asked them to play a game for fun and proceeded to beat them with an ugly stick for 40 minutes, prompting a national audience to ooh and ahh over the scoring totals of their sophomore shooting guard.
Very nice, Grinnell, very nice. Congratulations on your feat. It was practically like taking down the ’67 Bruins!
Taking a final look at this revolting box score, the Pioneers managed just 22 team assists, and again, they received none from Taylor. Just 32 percent of the team’s field goals were assisted. This was not a basketball game. This was a mockery of the sport. The Pioneers piled on 94 points in the second half, despite a 39 point lead at halftime. There was no class in this “victory” or shame in this “historical accomplishment” by Taylor. His 138-point performance was not great but a result of excess.
There was an “I” in team last night. I’s name is Jack Taylor. Taylor is a total jerk and so is his basketball team. Who would want to play with those guys?
Wow – a lot I did not realize concerning this game. Shady stuff. As a basketball purist, I hate Grinnell’s system. I respect it for sticking to a plan, but what success has it brought?
I have been fascinated with Grinnell’s system since I first heard about it about 10 or so years ago. It has to be an AD’s dream come true. That AD is not going to get any complaints about playing time. Everybody on the team plays as long as he can keep up the pace. It makes sense as a recruiting tool. The coach can guarantee reasonable playing time to every player that suits up. In that sense, it isn’t any less underhanded than Oregon using multiple alternative uniforms to lure top recruits to Eugene.
All that being said, I had no idea this was technically an exhibition game against a makeshift team.