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Elam Ending Has Lessons For Best Virginia | WVU | West Virginia Mountaineers sports coverage - Blue Gold News

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CHARLESTON, W.Va. — It wouldn’t be West Virginia, er, Best Virginia, if the Mountain State’s home team didn’t find a way to make things exciting at the end. The differing tactics and increased intensity of the Elam Ending made that a reality for the homestanding Best Virginia squad Saturday afternoon in the TBT opener.

Entering the Elam Ending with a nine-point lead over WoCo Showtime, the Best Virginia squad went cold from the field and had to weather a potential game-winning shot from WoCo before Kevin Jones got to the rim for a lay-up to give his team a 70-67 win. In the process, the team experienced several of the items that make the Elam Ending a much different animal than the end of a “normal” game.

First was the tactical approach at the four-minute mark of the fourth quarter. At the first dead ball after that point, the clock is stopped, and the plus-eight point target is set. Best Virginia, leading 61-52 and in possession of the ball at that point, called a timeout, which set the target score at 69.

“My thought process was just that we had a comfortable lead,” BV head coach James Long said. “If it’s closer, maybe next time we try to score and then foul (to initiate the ending).”

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Like the debate over whether or not to foul a team when leading by three to prevent a 3-point attempt, there’s probably no right or wrong to Long’s decision – just an evaluation after the fact to see how things play out. That’s one of the beauties of TBT; it opens up an entirely new range of strategic decisions to debate and discuss.

A second item that often crops up in the Elam Ending is the decision on when to take a 3-pointer vs. a two-point shot, especially when a team is three or two points away from the target score. It can be tough, the players admit, to pass up a three when that’s the number of points needed to end the game, even when working the ball a bit more and getting a good shot closer in could be the better decision.

“For me yeah, because I love shooting threes,” forward and team general manager John Flowers joked about making the call to shoot from deep. “If I had made that one, I would have called Huggs (Bob Huggins, WVU head coach) right away.”

“Every point counts, every possession counts,” guard Tarik Phillip added.  “You’re trying to get one basket or your best [shot]. You want to have an understanding of when you want to take a (3-point shot) shot or lay it up.”

Best Virginia forward Kevin Jones hits the game-winner against WoCo Showtime

Best Virginia, one point away from the target score, tried to work the ball inside on a couple of possessions but suffered turnovers that allowed WoCo to narrow the deficit. A missed 3-pointer, with Best Virginia leading 68-65, gave WoCo further chances to cut the gap, which it did. Its effort was aided when Kevin Jones, who was a stalwart on both ends of the court, was whacked in the face on a shot attempt at the rim that would have ended the game. That hit raised a big bump and a small cut on Jones’ face but didn’t draw a whistle, reflecting the intensity with which the game was played and the fact that officials don’t want to be on the hook for making a deciding call in the late going. Playing through contact, a must in many leagues, becomes even more valuable in the Ending.

“It really increases the intensity,” Phillip said of the time in the Elam Ending as opposed to the end of games in other leagues. “It’s two different kinds of pressure.”

There are many more potential tactical decisions to be made in Elam Endings, but Best Virginia managed to weather its initial test.

“You can prepare as much as you want, but there are so many things that go into it,” Long noted. “My Elam Ending strategy isn’t going to be perfect, and we are still learning from it. I think the next time some of those shots (in the Ending) are going to fall. John is going to make that shot; Tarik is going to make that shot.”

Best Virginia fans are hoping that outcome, along with quick assimilation of the Elam lessons, will lead to further wins as TBT continues.

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