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The 1999 finals game 5 that still haunts my Sunday pickups
Last week I watched a 20 year old kid airball a free throw with the game on the line, and my first thought was back to that June night in Portland, 1999, when I watched the same thing happen to a guy who had made 300 straight in practice. We lost that rec league championship by one point, and he never touched the ball in overtime again, which I still think was the wrong call. Does a cold shooter stay cold in a clutch moment, or was that just one bad bounce that we all remember for 25 years?
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wood.noah6d ago
300 straight in practice" is the key part there, and I respect that. But practice shots don't have a clock, a crowd, or a guy's hand in your face. I've seen too many good shooters go cold in the moment to buy the bad bounce theory. That kid airballing last week, that wasn't luck, he rushed it and his form broke down. You pull him out, you lose his confidence for the next game, but you also show the team you're willing to make the hard call. Maybe the real mistake was not giving him the ball in the final seconds of overtime to prove he could shake it off.
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