Game 8: Denver Nuggets (5-2) @ Chicago Bulls (4-2)

[MelosMileHigh]

Man, that call is getting scrutinized more than "the Shot" in JFK. Down, and to the Left. Down, and to the Left

I think it was the right call, but I dont think it even should have happened. Lot of stuff has to happen in .6 seconds: Rebound, Call timeout, inbound to a catch-and-shoot- that is generous...

I really dont like the whole missing intentionally on the second FT, while they had a TO. Without one, sure. With one? Just make it and see if they can hit a shot with .6.

Oh, and Corona: JR blew the switch on the final play. Kenyon had the lob covered- I highly doubt Derrick Rose is going to out jump Kenyon, AND still have the wherewithal to gather and dunk in 1 motion- that would have been the play of the year. Simply put, JR should have switched.

[dice]

i thought it was smart missing the second one. requires a clean rebound and immediate timeout (which both occurred) as well as the quick catch-'n'-shoot for the win

if you think about it, had he made the second the miller shot would've counted and there would be OT. of course, the strategies on both sides of the ball would've been different in that case, but still

[Nutty Nats Fan]

I've seen it posted, and if I read it correctly, with .3 seconds left, the refs aren't even supposed to count any jump shots?

[J Smitty]

I guess they changed it so that you can conceivably catch and shoot with .3 on the clock, but you can't catch, turn, and then shoot...which is what Miller did. The refs should have whistled the shot no good from the start and not even looked at the replay. Those rules are there to take human error on starting the clock at the exact millisecond out of the equation(which did occur in this case, as the clock clearly started a little late). So in that sense, it was poor officiating for not knowing what the exact rule was for that situation.

[MHZ]

It seems like most unbiased fans thought he hadn't let go of the ball. A ton of Bulls fans think otherwise, but they're trying hard to look for the outcome they want, rather than looking at it objectively. If you take Nuggets and Bulls fans out of the equation, the prevailing conclusion is that he hadn't let go of it. Showing a bunch of blurry pictures and saying "see, you can't tell!" doesn't count. The video showed it was in his hands.

For the last time, this isn't football. On game winning shots, the referees defer almost completely to the replay. In football, they're just trying to see if somebody has his feet in or whatever. They're not trying to watch a player get his feet in, while simultaneously watching a clock down to the tenths of seconds. It's absurd to act like the call on the floor should be given priority in that case, because clearly the call on the floor is absolutely a 50/50 guess job at best. Basically, they called it good, but were really making the call "we're reviewing this".

[MHZ]

I just watched the NBATV replay with the Chicago feed. Holy Christ, those Chicago announcers are clowns. I think Denver has some of the worst in the business, especially Marlowe, but at least he didn't have a decision made about whether it left his hands or not before he saw a replay.

It's hilarious that you can clearly see the ball on his hands on that overhead view, and yet Stacey King is sitting there acting like his opinion was vindicated. The other annoying thing was that they kept showing the view front the front, where you can't possibly see when the ball left his hand, because the ball is blocking his hand. They pretty much ignored the conclusive view.

Then, of course, the NBATV team comes on and points out that the ball was clearly still on his fingertips. Unbiased people FTW!

[RRFB]

I don't disagree with Chauncey's decision to miss that second free throw. I just don't see how you can grab the rebound, come down with possession, and call a timeout in only .3 seconds. That part seems a little suspect to me. But either way, the refs clearly made the right call, and Chicago fans seem to be the only ones who think otherwise.

I was very pleased with Karl's rotations last night. I did not think he would give Lawson the edge in minutes over AC this early in the season. And there's no doubt that Afflalo belongs in the starting lineup, he fits in perfectly. Just keep letting Jr do his thing off the bench, as long as he's in at the end of the game when it matters. He should shake off the rust here in a couple games.

[pickaxe]

Chauncey had the right idea missing the second free throw. The thinking is: "if we can't win with 1 point and .6 seconds left then we don't deserve to win this game"

Another thought is maybe the defense is JUST lazy enough because they have a 2 point lead, Brad Miller makes that shot .1 seconds earlier and we go into OT.

Anytime you got the lead with .6 seconds left and have an opportunity to miss the second free throw.....that should be the play....all though a good box out is a lot safer than letter them rebound and reset back at their end of the court.

But then you also don't want to foul accidentally...

Chauncey made it just impossible enough for the Bulls to win that they didn't.

[J Smitty]

It was definitely the right decision. You don't really expect them to grab a rebound so cleanly and be able to call a timeout, all in .6 seconds. It's physically impossible in my mind, but the refs let them have it. Even in that case, they'd still have to make an incredible tip shot, which they didn't do.

If he makes the free throw, .6 seconds is a ton of time to catch and shoot....and there is still a good chance they attempt a three pointer in that situation too, which would result in a loss if it goes in anyway.