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Zach Schonbrun
NEW YORK TIMES
At some point in the second half of a 179-104 victory over Faith Baptist Bible on Tuesday night, Grinnell College coach David Arsenault Jr. looked toward the managers keeping score on the bench.
He asked how many points sop****re guard Jack Taylor had scored. They shrugged. They had lost count.
When it was done, Taylor had scored 138, smashing the NCAA mark set in 1954 by Clarence Francis, better known as Bevo. By 10 p.m. Eastern, Taylor’s name was trending nationally on Twitter.
At 5:45 a.m. Wednesday, Taylor was preparing to appear on “Good Morning America” on ABC.
“You always dream as a kid of scoring a lot of points and setting records,” Taylor said Wednesday. “For this dream to become a reality is really a cool thing.”
For tiny Grinnell College, a small liberal arts institution in Grinnell, Iowa (pop. 9,128), Taylor’s accomplishment immediately slapped it on the national map.
Researches were sent scrambling for historical context. He played 36 minutes and attempted 108 shots. To put that in perspective, Syracuse took 103 shots and Connecticut attempted 106 in their classic six-overtime game in the Big East tournament in 2009.
He took 71 3-pointers and finished without a single assist. During one stretch, he scored 28 consecutive points, a Division III record. Taylor scored his 114th point with 4 minutes, 42 seconds remaining.
“I kind of got in the zone where everything feels like it was going in,” Taylor said.
The national conversation was more deeply layered, with many questioning why an individual would attempt so many shots in a game that was clearly not a contest and whether Grinnell’s unique style of play makes the record more dubious.
NBA superstars Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Durant praised his accomplishments. Bu some in the media were quick to criticize, even while acknowledging the feat.
Here’s one report in the Sporting News website.
“Would you ever have dreamed that so many people in this country would despise you? Maybe not you, but what you did, how you did it, who let you do it, and what it did to the game we love, the values it represents, and the very fabric of our society?
“You and your coach have made a mockery of sportsmanship, Jack; you might have picked up on that by now. Not how you wanted to introduce yourself to the world. Then again, Kobe, Melo and the Durantula love you. Didn’t see that coming when you pulled on your jersey Tuesday night, I’ll bet.”
Since 1993, the Pioneers have employed a frantic, all-out scoring system that employs a 40-minute full-court press, hockey-like line shifts and rapid shooting, with the intention of scoring as much and as quickly as possible.
David Arsenault Sr., the offence’s originator, said he wanted his players to take at least 30 more shots than their opponents. His teams have led all playing levels in scoring for 17 of the past 19 seasons, and Grinnell’s 126.2 points per game in 2003-4 ranks second all-time.
His son runs the team now, and he said that before Tuesday’s game he planned to have Taylor play almost a full game to get his confidence ready for conference play beginning in a week.
“Jack had a miserable shooting weekend,” Arsenault said. “It was clear we needed to jump-start him.”
It’s not the first time a Grinnell player was given the green light to forgo the shifts, remain in the game and keep shooting. Last year, Griffin Lentsch scored 89 points on Nov. 19 using the same principle.
“We put the game plan in to let him go,” Arsenault said, referring to Taylor.
Arsenault said he never let criticism of his father’s system affect him.
“There are a million different ways to play the game and coach the game,” he said. “We like to have fun, and I like to see records broken, and we like to play at the highest level possible.”
On Tuesday, the Pioneers led, 85-46, at halftime. Grinnell’s opponent, Faith Baptist Bible, is a 275-student college 80 km to the west that plays in the National Christian College Athletics Association, an organization of 113 institutions nationwide. Its 10-man roster includes eight underclassmen.
One of them, sop****re David Larson, scored 70 points in Tuesday’s loss. Their coach, Brian Fincham, did not take issue with Taylor’s performance and said they attempted to double- and even triple-team him at times. But Grinnell’s system, and Taylor’s play, made it futile.
“I will tell you, we tried,” Fincham said. “I’m not going to be cheap and foul or hit somebody. That’s not the type of program we’re going to be. But I’m proud of my guys and the effort they put in. Jack just had a great night.”
Taylor, whose previous career high of 48 points was accomplished in high school, actually missed his first four shots Tuesday. But he found a rhythm not too long after that.
“I felt quick out there, my feet felt right, and my shots were dropping,” Taylor said.
At halftime, Taylor had 58 points. Both he and Arsenault insist they were not aware of his point total as it rose in the second half. Arsenault said he considered removing Taylor with about five minutes remaining, but he did not feel right taking him out in the middle of a shooting streak.
“I wasn’t going to take a guy out who was in the zone,” Arsenault said. “I’ve never been in the zone like that, and if I was I certainly wouldn’t want my coach to end it for me. So we just let him go.”
Wednesday morning, Ted Schultz, Grinnell’s sports information director, said he had received “easily” over 300 emails requesting interviews with Taylor, including one from a media outlet in Australia.
Said Bevo Francis, when reached at home in Ohio, “The only thing I got to say is congratulate him and hope he has a good year.”
Wednesday, Taylor taped interviews with CNN, “CBS Evening News” and “Jimmy Kimmel Live.” In between, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., he went to his classes, calculus and Introduction to Christianity. He had not even had time to ice his shooting elbow.
“Would I have changed anything? No, I wouldn’t,” Arsenault said. “To see what it’s done for him, to see the team in the locker room afterward, to see the press coverage for the school and our team, it’s just been awesome.”
http://www.thestar.com/sports/basket...iferous-debate
NEW YORK TIMES
At some point in the second half of a 179-104 victory over Faith Baptist Bible on Tuesday night, Grinnell College coach David Arsenault Jr. looked toward the managers keeping score on the bench.
He asked how many points sop****re guard Jack Taylor had scored. They shrugged. They had lost count.
When it was done, Taylor had scored 138, smashing the NCAA mark set in 1954 by Clarence Francis, better known as Bevo. By 10 p.m. Eastern, Taylor’s name was trending nationally on Twitter.
At 5:45 a.m. Wednesday, Taylor was preparing to appear on “Good Morning America” on ABC.
“You always dream as a kid of scoring a lot of points and setting records,” Taylor said Wednesday. “For this dream to become a reality is really a cool thing.”
For tiny Grinnell College, a small liberal arts institution in Grinnell, Iowa (pop. 9,128), Taylor’s accomplishment immediately slapped it on the national map.
Researches were sent scrambling for historical context. He played 36 minutes and attempted 108 shots. To put that in perspective, Syracuse took 103 shots and Connecticut attempted 106 in their classic six-overtime game in the Big East tournament in 2009.
He took 71 3-pointers and finished without a single assist. During one stretch, he scored 28 consecutive points, a Division III record. Taylor scored his 114th point with 4 minutes, 42 seconds remaining.
“I kind of got in the zone where everything feels like it was going in,” Taylor said.
The national conversation was more deeply layered, with many questioning why an individual would attempt so many shots in a game that was clearly not a contest and whether Grinnell’s unique style of play makes the record more dubious.
NBA superstars Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony and Kevin Durant praised his accomplishments. Bu some in the media were quick to criticize, even while acknowledging the feat.
Here’s one report in the Sporting News website.
“Would you ever have dreamed that so many people in this country would despise you? Maybe not you, but what you did, how you did it, who let you do it, and what it did to the game we love, the values it represents, and the very fabric of our society?
“You and your coach have made a mockery of sportsmanship, Jack; you might have picked up on that by now. Not how you wanted to introduce yourself to the world. Then again, Kobe, Melo and the Durantula love you. Didn’t see that coming when you pulled on your jersey Tuesday night, I’ll bet.”
Since 1993, the Pioneers have employed a frantic, all-out scoring system that employs a 40-minute full-court press, hockey-like line shifts and rapid shooting, with the intention of scoring as much and as quickly as possible.
David Arsenault Sr., the offence’s originator, said he wanted his players to take at least 30 more shots than their opponents. His teams have led all playing levels in scoring for 17 of the past 19 seasons, and Grinnell’s 126.2 points per game in 2003-4 ranks second all-time.
His son runs the team now, and he said that before Tuesday’s game he planned to have Taylor play almost a full game to get his confidence ready for conference play beginning in a week.
“Jack had a miserable shooting weekend,” Arsenault said. “It was clear we needed to jump-start him.”
It’s not the first time a Grinnell player was given the green light to forgo the shifts, remain in the game and keep shooting. Last year, Griffin Lentsch scored 89 points on Nov. 19 using the same principle.
“We put the game plan in to let him go,” Arsenault said, referring to Taylor.
Arsenault said he never let criticism of his father’s system affect him.
“There are a million different ways to play the game and coach the game,” he said. “We like to have fun, and I like to see records broken, and we like to play at the highest level possible.”
On Tuesday, the Pioneers led, 85-46, at halftime. Grinnell’s opponent, Faith Baptist Bible, is a 275-student college 80 km to the west that plays in the National Christian College Athletics Association, an organization of 113 institutions nationwide. Its 10-man roster includes eight underclassmen.
One of them, sop****re David Larson, scored 70 points in Tuesday’s loss. Their coach, Brian Fincham, did not take issue with Taylor’s performance and said they attempted to double- and even triple-team him at times. But Grinnell’s system, and Taylor’s play, made it futile.
“I will tell you, we tried,” Fincham said. “I’m not going to be cheap and foul or hit somebody. That’s not the type of program we’re going to be. But I’m proud of my guys and the effort they put in. Jack just had a great night.”
Taylor, whose previous career high of 48 points was accomplished in high school, actually missed his first four shots Tuesday. But he found a rhythm not too long after that.
“I felt quick out there, my feet felt right, and my shots were dropping,” Taylor said.
At halftime, Taylor had 58 points. Both he and Arsenault insist they were not aware of his point total as it rose in the second half. Arsenault said he considered removing Taylor with about five minutes remaining, but he did not feel right taking him out in the middle of a shooting streak.
“I wasn’t going to take a guy out who was in the zone,” Arsenault said. “I’ve never been in the zone like that, and if I was I certainly wouldn’t want my coach to end it for me. So we just let him go.”
Wednesday morning, Ted Schultz, Grinnell’s sports information director, said he had received “easily” over 300 emails requesting interviews with Taylor, including one from a media outlet in Australia.
Said Bevo Francis, when reached at home in Ohio, “The only thing I got to say is congratulate him and hope he has a good year.”
Wednesday, Taylor taped interviews with CNN, “CBS Evening News” and “Jimmy Kimmel Live.” In between, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., he went to his classes, calculus and Introduction to Christianity. He had not even had time to ice his shooting elbow.
“Would I have changed anything? No, I wouldn’t,” Arsenault said. “To see what it’s done for him, to see the team in the locker room afterward, to see the press coverage for the school and our team, it’s just been awesome.”
http://www.thestar.com/sports/basket...iferous-debate
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