Clemenza wrote:This sh*t right here can't happen ever again if we're serious about winning this series. Norm better start playing the right way or he needs to sit. Zu was wide open screaming for the ball. Even Harden was hot from the at this moment, but nope Norm has to do Norm.
when he did this i myself screamed for about 10 straight minutes. it felt game-losing at the moment because it destroyed any lead-building momentum, and that's before the rest of the next 7 straight points came from denver. but mostly i think because you knew if norm was doing this kind of thing, then the rest of the team would almost certainly follow along - which they did.
norm could have:
- passed to harden (most obvious choice)
- passed to jones for a 3 (and who towers over murray)
- tried to have drawn a foul on westbrook
- passed to zu (though a bit risky with murray and jokic anticipating it)
- tried to drive in between murray jokic (also risky, but whatever)
instead he went with the worst option he could think of, because (???) reasons. literally dribbling the ball out of bounds behind himself would have been a better result. if i squinted really hard i could maybe kinda see what he was trying to do, but nah, not interested honestly. i just want him to keep it simple, because the team has what it needs to beat most every other team. that means everyone simply playing within their means and roles, and not forcing things.
we moved on from paul george only for norm to have a career year - and then turn into the ghost of paul george himself by driving through traffic, coughing up the ball, and giving it up on the silliest of passes. it's the first time all season i can recall one of the key players forcing things outside their role. that's not how we got here.
unfortunately for norm (and the team), it's looking a lot like subtraction by subtraction now.
