Maddening March: How Ohio State's Evan Turner Schooled Michigan

A two dribble, 35-foot form jumper for the win at the buzzer is Player of the Year-worthy stuff.

It was a great shot by a great player that will be shown 8 billion times between now and the end of March.

It was also a shot that was entirely preventable if Coach Beilein paid homage to the buzzer beaten by putting a defender on the inbounder.

Instead, he conceded the frontcourt in a sucker’s trade to get more bodies near the basket. Failing to remember history, Beilein and Michigan were condemned to repeat it.

Now, enjoy the most famous buzzer beater and notice the similarities of time, score, and positioning of the defense. Also notice that in both situations, the superstar was able to make a basketball move and get a really good shot as result. Also notice that no one’s guarding the inbounder.

Simply put, it’s horrible strategy not to guard the passer in this situation.

I’ll explain why coaches repeatedly fall into this strategic trap after the Blue Devil celebratory group hug.

Your history lesson:

First, it’s pure coaching folly to give up the frontcourt and allow the basketball to be advanced without a challenge. In football, on third and long plays, you don’t see defensive coordinators drop 11 players into coverage while the rushers count to five-Mississippi. Why do it in basketball?

The rationale is superstitious silliness.

The main reason coaches are afraid to pressure the inbounder is derived from fear of one of the oldest tricks in Dr. Naismith’s book.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen the play in question work, but coaches are a dogmatic lot prone to take things and run with them without rational thought on the matter. They cling to their superstitions like people cling to the power of Dianetics and garden gnomes.

This last-second trick play boogeyman is designed to take advantage of the defender guarding the inbounder.

The inbounder runs the baseline feigning an effort to free himself for the inbounds pass, while a teammate drops down and sets a pick on the defender who is supposed to be naive to such treachery.

The screening teammate flops on contact and the hope is that a foul is drawn sending the offense to the charity stripe with their free 94 feet in tow.

It’s tricky trickeration causing chaos to ensue and the victimized coach tarred and feathered in town square. Or at least that’s what John Beilen was worried about.

This has never happened in an NCAA tournament game that I can remember so why worry about it? Especially when the situation is so easily diffused by, I don’t know…coaching.

The simple solution is to take the 10 seconds to alert your players during the timeout so you can reap the rewards of sound, under five seconds defensive strategy.

You see, the offense only has time for one pass. Why not defend it? With two seconds to play, the offense only has time for two dribbles. Why not make the first dribble occur going away from the goal?

The officials are going to allow any contact in this situation short of the outright shanking of an offensive player, so you have to take advantage by, well, defending without shanking. Leave your dastardly crafted metals on the bench, boys.

It’s quite simple, really. Put one of them new-fangled hybrid power forward athletes, or long players as Jay Bilas puts it, on the ball and win the game that is rightfully yours.

Unless you failed to watch Laetner rip out Kentucky’s heart or believe in the spritely power of garden gnomes.

Either way, you’re weird.

This article originally appeared on March To March

Follow Kevin Berger on Twitter: @MarchToMarch