smackeddog wrote:Don't know about you, but with the game on the line, I want the ball in the hands of the guy who's missed 13 of the last 14 game winning/tying shots that they've taken, for at least 16 seconds, with no play called and no other player touching the ball. I'm sure rival teams laugh at us when we have the ball and are down 2 or 3 at the end of a game, simply because we have NOTHING up our sleeves- no smart plays, no ball movement, NOTHING- just dump the ball to Melo and watch him fail an ISO. It's beyond pathetic, it really is. I'm amazed teams don't just send all 5 players to form a ring around Melo- he still wouldn't pass!
I don't mind Melo taking the last shot if there is a play set up for him, (even with his record of late in these situations) including some misdirection, every one knew what was coming.
Without remembering all the last second plays since Melo got here, I'm guessing that the level of difficulty of the shots Melo took had something to do with this. I will bet you that most of them, like last night did not involve any kind of a screen to free him up. Bargs offered him one but he furiously waived it off, looked almost offended, which is something you see in streetball. Something Ive raised before.
Also doesn't help that Melo played 40 minutes that nite and looked like he had no legs at the end of the game, not enough to shoot over a smaller defender. Woodson and Melo should have both factored that into their decision making.
I didn't have a problem with Melo taking it to the rim, over and over again, to keep us in the game, Players were bricking left and right. I do have a problem with another late second loss because there is no play drawn up at the end the game, and in this case a prideful decision by Melo to refuse some help to get open, it was clear that he needed it. I'm sure this didn't go over well in the locker room.
11/29/2013 11:59 PM
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