sycasey said:
SFCityBear said:
sycasey said:
HoopDreams said:
I agree with you. I thought the last play was also risky because of the difficult pass (which I thought was going out of bounds)
I thought they would give it to curry who would create off the dribble and try to shoot or get fouled
However I can see the coaches thought after I saw the last play and had time to think about it
9 seconds isn't much time for curry to create. He often has to try 2-3 different attempts to get free, especially against the raptors defense who were pretty good bottling him up much of the time
The refs were also going to be slow to blow their whistle in that circumstance and the refs were allowing a lot of physical defense on curry all game
Also the Ws had that play in their pocket for a last shot and probably practice it all the time
It was successful to get curry a look, but it was a contested shot will a long defender. Give props to the raptors for good defense
What was more of a problem was the Ws defense when Klay went down.
In the last couple minutes vanfleet was t the top defended by cook, and drove and pulled back. It was a nice move but cool had his feet wrong and then turned and retreating, totally losing his man. VanVleet therefore had an eternity to shoot a wide open three at the top of the key
To me, that's the ball game, and would have never happened if Klay was on the court and we had five starters
SFCityBear said:
Back to the playoffs for a moment, I could find very little discussion of Thursday's game 6, and none on the last play. At the time, I was struck by the Warriors' decision to go for the three. Before the play, I was thinking, "We have 9 seconds in the front court and we are down one point. So a two pointer or three pointer can win the game, and a free throw can tie it and at least get us to overtime. My play would have been a drive to the basket. The shot would be aggressively defended by Toronto, but still possible, and if they are too aggressive, we might get a foul called and a trip to the line, where we can win or tie. Toronto would likely try to defend that shot by playing tough defense before the shot. I don't remember if fouls at that point were one and one or not, but there we might get at least a free throw to tie.
The shot Curry took, running laterally, catching the pass and turning and firing is a shot he makes often, but this time with three defenders closing on him, he looked to me like he had to hurry the shot, and he looked a little off-balance as he went up. His release is so quick, because he is shooting as soon as his feet leave the floor, so he he did get an open look in between the three defenders. That brings up another point, and that is with three defenders on Curry, there are two other Warriors left wide open. I wish I had recorded the game to replay the last play a few times,
I don't understand taking a lower percentage shot, the three, to win the game, when you only need two to win it, even if the shooter is Curry.. There was plenty of time to set up a play for a path to the hoop. If you drive to the hoop, you are likely going to get fouled and get at least one free throw attempt, but you might just get off a good shot. All the options have risk. I may be wrong, but I think I would have chosen another one.
Curry was getting double or triple teamed on that last play, guaranteed, put it in the bank. Refs are unlikely to call a foul in that situation.
So if you iso him then he has to get a shot up over three bigger guys in 9 seconds, or he's giving the ball up. Without Klay, who else do you trust to take that last shot? Anyone else? I don't think so.
Running a quick play to get Curry open for a catch and shoot was probably the best option. They got it. Contested, but not blockable. It didn't go in. That's basketball.
I don't like iso, any time, any place. Unless his name is Wilt, and I never like iso for the last play of a game. That is playground stuff. If you think Curry is going to be double or triple teamed no matter what, then I'd rather having him driving. He can split a double team with the best of them. If he gets into the lane and is still double-teamed, he has options and at least one open man. I don't mind taking a lower percentage shot if you need 3, but not if you only need one point or two. And 9 seconds is an eternity with which to get a shot off. If a team can't get an open look closer in than 30 feet from the basket in 8 seconds, they do not deserve to win.
1. Curry is very good at splitting doubles and getting to the rim, but because of his size he still has problems finishing there. I'm not sure that's actually a higher-percentage play for him when everyone knows he wants to take the shot.
2. Curry having to pass to one of the other poor shooters on the team is kind of what you want to avoid.
3. There is something to be said for getting a quick shot up because you have a chance at a rebound (and long threes are more likely to be rebounded by the offense than short twos) and another shot. If you burn the clock all the way down, that's it, that's your only chance
1. Yogi answered this.
2. Poor shooters? Give me a break. The Warriors are not just Curry, even with KD and Klay out. Every player on the floor for this play, with the excepting of Cook, was having a better game shooting the ball than Curry was having. He was not having a good game, and the Raptors were causing him problems. Curry was 6-16 overall and 3-11 on threes. Iguodala was having a much better game, 9-15 overall, 3-6 on threes. Green was 5-10 overall, and Cousins was 4-9 overall. Iguodala is good in the clutch. I have no problem with him taking the shot, and he would have no problem accepting the responsibility either.
The Raptors will expect Curry to get the ball, and will plan their defense accordingly, so I think you take advantage of that. Use him as a decoy, and run the play for someone else. It works in your favor in this game only, because even though he is not shooting well in this game, the Raptors will have think of how and when to double him, and someone else will be open. I have no problem with Iguodala taking a three, except as I said, I prefer a two-point attempt near the basket to try and draw a foul on a miss. I also like a pick and roll with Curry and Green or Curry and Cousins, because they can finish at the rim or draw a foul. There are a lot of plays I'd choose other than the play they ran. I yelled, "Oh no, don't take the three" when he shot it. The rest of my thoughts are all hindsight.
3. Bad idea to shoot the three early in the clock. If you are going to take the shot early just so you have a rebounding advantage on the miss, well, you have a better advantage getting a rebound and a putback off a two-point miss, if your teammates have boxed out properly, and you don't need much time to rebound and put back. It also gives you a second chance at drawing a foul, this time on the rebound and putback attempt. Long rebounds are a crapshoot, and you can't plan for where they will be going.
SFCityBear
