Good point.
My biggest issue with the way that game ended was the second-to-last possession, not as much the last possession. If I remember correctly, there was a time out before UC Irvine's second-to-last possession, and then they either missed to stay down 1, or made to cut the lead to 1. Then we got the ball with like 50 second left, up 1 and 2-3 TOs left.
Then, we dribble down the court (right in front of our bench) and UC Irvine drops into that zone (can't remember if they had played it the previous few possessions). We go into deer in the headlights mode. We pass 3-4 times around the perimeter, waste the entire shot clock and then Starks jacks up a bad 3 and misses.
I'm not really that mad at Starks about the shot - at that point, it had to be taken, and he had the ball, so, shoot I guess. I'm mad a Starks for letting it get that far - penetrate, dribble around the perimeter more, set something up, DO SOMETHING!!
But what P*SSES me off to no end is seeing Kennedy just stand there and watch and do absolutely d*ck about it. Don't want to call a time out right when we inbound? No problem. Not even when we get into the front court? Sure. But he stood there and watched us have absolutely ZERO CLUE what to do while we wasted at least 10 second playing hot potato. The fact that he didn't call a time out and at least let our guys reset and figure out a way to at least get a decent, in-rhythm look at a 3 is inexcusable.
He could still have put the ball in Starks hands, but do something to wake the team up! There is a difference, IMO, in living and dying by a young, aggressive guard and being passive and dumping responsibility onto a kid that isn't ready.
Clearly Starks isn't ready to run the show fully without guidance. Its painfully obvious to everyone watching. And I don't think that really is a knock on him, he shouldn't be expected to based on the player we know he is. There is a reason we went out and signed Mitchell, so Starks (and Gilder) didn't have to run as much point. So Kennedy, freaking do something, man, to help coach up your struggling, lost guard who isn't ready to have complete control.
But he did nothing. He just stood there and did freaking nothing.