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Why the SEC Tournament's top seed for Texas (or South Carolina!) is left up to a coin flip

Why the SEC Tournament's top seed for Texas (or South Carolina!) is left up to a coin flip

Yahoo02-03-2025

Texas or South Carolina's reign as the No.1 seed in the SEC Tournament is left up to a coin flip.
No, really. It is. There's a possibility that both the Longhorns and the Gamecocks will tie for first place in the SEC. How does that happen? Well, since the teams split the season series and share the same conference record (14-1), the default option to break a tie is to quite literally flip a coin.
As you might imagine, that sounds entirely stressful, and Dawn Staley not very happy about it."We control our own destiny, and then if we take care of business, and Texas takes care of business, our fate is in a coin toss. Yay!" Staley sarcastically told the media earlier this week.
"I think we should've thought a little bit more ahead of this situation knowing that we were bringing a Texas and [an] Oklahoma into the SEC."
If @TexasWBB and @GamecockWBB both win out, the No. 1 seed in the SEC Tournament would come down to a coin flip.Dawn Staley: "I think we should've thought a little bit more ahead of this situation knowing that we were bringing a Texas and a Oklahoma into the SEC." pic.twitter.com/oFFZeiEk5G
— Matt Dowell (@MattDowellTV) February 26, 2025
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A post shared by espnW (@espnw)
However, Staley understands the situation and insinuates that there are no bad feelings about the coin flip. "I'm not trying to throw the [SEC] commissioner under the bus by any means ... It's unfortunate it's coming down to that. Hopefully, we can take care of business," Staley said on Friday.
"I look forward to the coin toss at this point because that means we won. So, it is what it is at this point ... We're gonna call up to the coin gods ... that it flips over on the Gamecocks' side."
Dawn Staley was asked further about the potential coin flip that would decide the No. 1 seed at the SEC Tournament:"I look forward to the coin toss at this point because that means we won. It is what it is at this point. We're gonna call up to the coin gods..."@GamecockWBB pic.twitter.com/Rf79ndC7Ix
— Matt Dowell (@MattDowellTV) February 28, 2025
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Texas or South Carolina top seed in SEC Tournament left to coin flip

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Thunder struck with a midrange shooting slump at the wrong time in NBA Finals
Thunder struck with a midrange shooting slump at the wrong time in NBA Finals

New York Times

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  • New York Times

Thunder struck with a midrange shooting slump at the wrong time in NBA Finals

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Perhaps it's not surprising that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was worn out by the end after a 42-minute stint where he was repeatedly attacked on defense while the Pacers picked him up full court on offense. What's a bit more shocking is how out of sorts the MVP looked even at the beginning. Eight seconds into the game, he picked up a frustration foul shoving away Andrew Nembhard. Minutes later, he already seemed exhausted. Check out this play, where he lets another player bring the ball up, jogs in a circle for a bit, then completely taps out of the play and grabs his shorts. This wasn't in the fourth quarter; it was in the fourth minute. Indiana's plan was to deny Gilgeous-Alexander from catching the ball anywhere, even 90 feet from the basket. After making baskets, Nembhard routinely raced in to deny an inbound pass before Gilgeous-Alexander could have a free catch. It was a nice adjustment by Indiana. What was amazing, however, was how meekly the Thunder acquiesced to this arrangement. On play after play, Gilgeous-Alexander either made no move at all to get open or pointed to a different player for the inbounder to pass to. One wonders if Gilgeous-Alexander was dealing with something physically, because he seemed to be conserving energy almost from the opening tip. Or maybe he just had a bad night; it happens. Gilgeous-Alexander was awesome in Games 1 and 2, and I expect the Thunder to give a much more valiant effort in Game 4. But underlying everything that happened in the first three games is another explanation, a bigger-picture question that's gnawing at me: Why can't the Thunder make 2s? Advertisement Oklahoma City has only made 47.4 percent of its 2-point shots this series, a ghastly figure that would have ranked last by a mile in the regular season. The league average was 54.5 percent; the worst team in the league (Charlotte) shot 49.9 percent. The poor shooting inside the arc is a key reason the Thunder offense is only posting a 113.6 offensive rating for the series after rolling to a 119.2 mark in the regular season (good for third in the league) and posting a 118.6 mark against a fearsome Minnesota Timberwolves defense in the Western Conference finals. Usually, a struggle like that could be explained by 3-point variance, but not here: Oklahoma City has made 39.8 percent from downtown in the three games. The Thunder are also drawing fouls at a high rate, making their freebies (83.6 percent) and doing solid work on the offensive glass. Even turnovers — Game 3 aside — have been a plus, with a very respectable 11.9 percent rate for the series. But the one area their offense figured to have a massive advantage has instead been a total zero. The Thunder ranked seventh in the league in 2-point shooting at 55.9 percent, while the Pacers were 23rd in 2-point defense at 55.4 percent — the worst mark of any playoff team. 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Which NBA teams are courting Auburn basketball's Johni Broome? Full pre-draft visit list
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Pacers can't get comfortable with 2-1 NBA Finals lead: 'We're still a long way away'
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timean hour ago

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Carlisle's response gives a pretty good sense of the Pacers' mindset going into Game 4 of the NBA Finals on Friday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in what will be the second Finals game in Indianapolis in 25 years after Wednesday's was the first. They are trying to maintain the edge they had going into Game 4 in each of the three series en route to their Eastern Conference championship by trying not to remind themselves they won those games. On one hand they're in the same situation they were going into each of those games in that they're up 2-1 with a chance to take a commanding 3-1 lead. On the other hand, in Game 4 in each of the previous three series, they were coming off a humbling Game 3 loss. Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle. In this series, wins and losses have alternated for the two teams so far with the Pacers having won Game 1 and Game 3 with the Thunder taking Game 2 in between. Also, the Thunder are the best team they've played so far by almost every measure having entered the playoffs with the No. 1 overall seed with a record of 68-14, which ranks as fifth-highest regular season win total all-time. When the Pacers lost to the Thunder in the regular season on March 29, Carlisle called the Thunder "the best team on the planet right now" and even though the Pacers still have a lead in this series, he's maintaining the same level of reverence for them. "That's the challenge before us right now, is to maintain," Carlisle said. "It's got to be a killer edge to beat these guys. We're going to be an underdog in every game in this series. It was 10 and a half in the first two games, five and a half last night, then tomorrow. It's a daunting challenge. Anything less than a total grit mindset, we just don't have a chance." The Pacers have never been this close to an NBA title before. In their only other Finals appearance they fell behind 2-0 and then 3-1 to the Lakers and though they won Game 5 to get within two wins of the title, they had to go back to Los Angeles for Games 6 and 7 because the format was 2-3-2 at the time rather than 2-2-1-1-1. So part of the challenge is keeping that reality where it serves them best. Acknowledging they can't guarantee for themselves they'll ever be in this position again, but also keeping in mind how much work there is to do and not getting ahead of themselves. "I think it starts from coach Carlisle, just keeping our attention on the main thing, taking it a day at a time, focusing on what's in front of us," All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton said. "I think that just trickles down. I think our jobs — me, Pascal (Siakam), Myles (Turner), James (Johnson Jr.), as leaders is to continue to share the same message that coach has. There's nothing to get excited about right now. We're still a long way away. ...There's no need to get super giddy or excited. There's still a lot of work to be done." And they know they're in for a punch from the Thunder, who have been every bit as good at adjusting after losses as the Pacers have. The Thunder have not only not lost consecutive games at any point in these playoffs, they lost consecutive games just twice in the regular season — once in November and once in April after they had clinched homecourt advantage throughout the Western Conference playoffs. They tend to be good at making adjustments and correcting mistakes and they see a lot they believe they can fix. They committed 19 turnovers in their Game 3 loss, for instance, and that's not typical for them at all. "Part of their pressure is affecting some of the way we're making reads," OKC reserve wing Aaron Wiggins said. "But that's more so in our control. We have to play at our pace, play the way we want to play and play our brand of basketball which is sharing the basketball and finding guys and creating opportunities. ... (We saw) a lot of controllable things. Turnovers. Our defensive lapses when we weren't making the right rotations and coverages after that. Offensively, just execution wise, making it easy for each other to find open shots and get looks." The Pacers scored 50 points in the paint after scoring just 34 in each of the first two games. Indiana clearly made adjustments to create more driving opportunities, but the Thunder still saw things they could adjust to. "A lot of it was us and things we could control," Wiggins said. "I think we just allowed them to be too comfortable. Their comfortability allowed them to play at their pace and find their rhythm and play the way they want to play." And generally, teams of the Thunder's caliber become more dangerous in the playoffs when they figure out what they can fix, which is why Carlisle wants to make sure the Pacers keep their edge. "We need everybody," Carlisle said. "We need everybody to put everything they have into it. That's how we've gotten to the Finals."

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