K Decision an Easy Way Out for Writers
Quote:
Originally Posted by
arnie is still king
Yes the 0 timeouts left for Butler was the key component of the decision. I remember thinking he should have Zoubek miss, but it took real fortitude to make that call on the court for the National Championship. The abuse from sportscasters if the Butler shot goes in would have been amazing. The press rarely criticizes if a coach goes "by the book", but has a field day if an innovative call doesn't work out.
It's an easy column either way. Since Hayward missed, although it was close, the writers get to walk the dog back to the decision by K for an intentional miss. There were other decisions, such as why did Zoubek miss to Hayward's side or would the ref have called the moving screen on Howard.
One positive for the decision that I haven't seen referenced was that Hayward shot while running at full speed, which meant the speed of the ball was higher, which -- just like in putting -- makes the hole or the basket a lot smaller. We've all seen analysis which showed that a minor change in trajectory (arc) and direction would have gone through the basket, but we haven't seen a thorough analysis of all slight variations in the two. (Don't we have a naval gunner around here someplace?) Fact is, it was a really hard shot, especially on the run.
sagegrouse
Every 4 brings tears to my eyes...