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Missouri's lack of D cost UConn their first National title.
I like you even better now. Thanks for taking time to break it all down. I am too lazy to compose fine posts. I must have watched that 30 times that night and I noticed no one yet has mentioned that defender's hand and that one, two more steps forward was not an option. Also, perhaps he was a bit more risky because NOT making it would be a tie, not a loss. Better than getting a potential foul. Someone did point this part out.There's five seconds when the Nova player scores and the ball has to be inbounded.
It is not practical, nor necessary, in the 1/3rd of a second between the ball going in the basket and the ball being inbounded, that the five players on the court should mind-meld and decide that because Shabazz had an injured foot, someone else should bring the ball up the court.
There were two options there - Shabazz and Boatright. Alex looks at his options and, correctly, decides that the better option is Napier. So he looks past Ryan and passed the ball in to Shabazz.
Napier brings the ball up court. He goes at a speed that separates him from Cheek and actually causes Cheek to have to twist and find him and ultimately overrun the play a bit.
At 2.9 seconds, here is what he is facing...
He has space between himself and Cheek; however, Cheek has stopped moving up court and is now closing out on him. Continuing to dribble means engaging Cheek and trying to go past him with 2.9 seconds is not a good option.
There are two Nova defenders in the lane - both are turned to Napier's side of the court. One is in position to defend Napier if he presses his luck and tries to go past Cheek. That player, Sutton, is 6'11".
Ryan Boatright has made less progress heading up the court. He is just a half-stride past center court and is not in position to receive the ball and do anything other than take the same shot that Napier will. (And there is a Nova defender positioned to engage him if need be.)
Smith is near the three-point line, but is covered. Lamb has managed to get himself pinned along the sideline 26' from the hoop. Alex O is behind the play. None of the three are options.
I think he has one play there - if he steps in further, he's a 6' guard trying to take a contested shot over a 6'6" defender. If he decides to try go around Cheek, he's going to have to pull up and shoot before 6'11" Maurice Sutton gets to him. More likely, he shoots over a double-team there.
Again, our six-footer, with no viable passing options, has a 6'6" and 6'11" defenders between him and the basket.
Now, he takes the shot.
At two seconds, the ball is leaving his hands. Cheek is on him already...Cheek's right arm is between Napier's hands, but the ball has beaten him and is on the way. Cheek actually makes contact with Napier's body before Napier lands. It was that close.
Boatright is still 30' from the hoop, Lamb is still gloved and Roscoe's man has left him to go to Napier. No options opened in that second.
The odds are that a 27' shot does not go in, but then again, the odds are that you do not score in a five-second end-0f-game possession. UConn got what everyone wants in that situation - a clean look.
Getting up the court faster, passing the ball, etc., etc., presented worse odds for UConn in that instance. The player with the best chance of succeeding in that scenario put UConn in its best position to win the game - and they did.
I suspect that the only thing that seems to be causing angst is that some peeps are a little pissed that Shabazz Napier was the one who won the game. The "well, the shot went in, but it was a terrible play" argument is just too cute by half, especially given the snap shot in time with 2.9 seconds left in the game.
There's five seconds when the Nova player scores and the ball has to be inbounded.
It is not practical, nor necessary, in the 1/3rd of a second between the ball going in the basket and the ball being inbounded, that the five players on the court should mind-meld and decide that because Shabazz had an injured foot, someone else should bring the ball up the court.
There were two options there - Shabazz and Boatright. Alex looks at his options and, correctly, decides that the better option is Napier. So he looks past Ryan and passed the ball in to Shabazz.
Napier brings the ball up court. He goes at a speed that separates him from Cheek and actually causes Cheek to have to twist and find him and ultimately overrun the play a bit.
At 2.9 seconds, here is what he is facing...
He has space between himself and Cheek; however, Cheek has stopped moving up court and is now closing out on him. Continuing to dribble means engaging Cheek and trying to go past him with 2.9 seconds is not a good option.
There are two Nova defenders in the lane - both are turned to Napier's side of the court. One is in position to defend Napier if he presses his luck and tries to go past Cheek. That player, Sutton, is 6'11".
Ryan Boatright has made less progress heading up the court. He is just a half-stride past center court and is not in position to receive the ball and do anything other than take the same shot that Napier will. (And there is a Nova defender positioned to engage him if need be.)
Smith is near the three-point line, but is covered. Lamb has managed to get himself pinned along the sideline 26' from the hoop. Alex O is behind the play. None of the three are options.
I think he has one play there - if he steps in further, he's a 6' guard trying to take a contested shot over a 6'6" defender. If he decides to try go around Cheek, he's going to have to pull up and shoot before 6'11" Maurice Sutton gets to him. More likely, he shoots over a double-team there.
Again, our six-footer, with no viable passing options, has a 6'6" and 6'11" defenders between him and the basket.
Now, he takes the shot.
At two seconds, the ball is leaving his hands. Cheek is on him already...Cheek's right arm is between Napier's hands, but the ball has beaten him and is on the way. Cheek actually makes contact with Napier's body before Napier lands. It was that close.
Boatright is still 30' from the hoop, Lamb is still gloved and Roscoe's man has left him to go to Napier. No options opened in that second.
The odds are that a 27' shot does not go in, but then again, the odds are that you do not score in a five-second end-0f-game possession. UConn got what everyone wants in that situation - a clean look.
Getting up the court faster, passing the ball, etc., etc., presented worse odds for UConn in that instance. The player with the best chance of succeeding in that scenario put UConn in its best position to win the game - and they did.
I suspect that the only thing that seems to be causing angst is that some peeps are a little pissed that Shabazz Napier was the one who won the game. The "well, the shot went in, but it was a terrible play" argument is just too cute by half, especially given the snap shot in time with 2.9 seconds left in the game.