jozef wrote:vvoland wrote:jozef wrote:I cannot believe it - you have a video evidence...
Stop it at 6.8 seconds to go: Hardaway is in the air, the ball is out of his hands and TJD is still on the floor. TJD did not know Hardaway's decision (Timmy himself made it in split of second), TJD just reacted to his lob pass, it could be an alley oop finish.
Dray had no chance to rotate to Jones who was further than Washington who was the only one he could get soon enough.
There was GP on Kyrie and there was absolutely no need to double him. We allow open shot instead of contested shot and I really doubt that Steve instructed him that way.
You're right, he wasn't in the air when hardaway released the ball. He had, however, stepped up to hardaway and, I think, committed himself to the jump considering it's not a decision he made in less than .1 seconds. Once he stepped out of the restricted area and came up to thj, both passes became viable and I don't think tjd is in position to take away either pass.
He had no impact on thj's pass or on PJ's catch. If anything, dray is the one that prevented the alley with his tip attempt and late contact on pj. We can agree to disagree since neither of us know what tjd or dray were thinking or what their instructions on that play are.
Speaking of which, you really think Kerr went over the defensive assignments and dray was like, f that, I'm doubling Kyrie on the catch? I wasn't in the huddle or anything but I'm pretty sure the defense was set up to not let Kyrie go 1v1
TJD stepped up to the basket to protect the rim and Dray was too far to expect any help from him. Kyrie is the best ball handler and Dray played hero defense on him to run the clock out and instead of it he was late to rotate back. Two or three unnecessary steps cost them the possession. Gary Payton did not need any help to contest Kyrie's shot.
As a coach I would put Podz and Mood on the floor instead of CP and Klay for last defensive possession.
...As a coach I would put Mood and TJD (or GP) on the floor instead of CP and Podz for last offensive possession and I would use Steph as a decoy and focus on easy 2-point layup (say slip screen) to force the overtime.
I don't think it was hero defense but what they planned in the TO - double Kyrie and force anyone else to beat you. I'd probably move gp2 to hardaway and put klay on Kyrie, knowing that dray will double immediately. Doubling with gp2 and dray seems like a waste of the two best defenders. Kyrie did the right thing by dragging the double as high as he did, giving hardaway a lot of room to play the 4v3.
If dray peels off early, Kyrie resets and has his 1v1 against gp2 with a long runway. Not sure I want that matchup to determine the game but Kerr clearly wanted Irving to give up the ball.
Tjd did step up to protect the rim, I just don't think he needed to do so and I would be fine with hardaway taking the shot. Fading left, shooting with his right with klay tight on that right shoulder. If tjd never steps up to hardaway, he's in position for either pass and the rebound. I'm not even saying tjd made a mistake, just that it was unnecessary to step up to hardaway on that play. Can't really blame tjd for thinking hardaway is shooting that thing, dude averages <2 assists per game.
Did anyone ask dray, Kerr or tjd postgame about that defensive possession and what the setup was supposed to be? I assume they didn't because the warriors press corps acts like the dubs sign their paychecks. You keep saying dray was glory hunting but that play looked like it was designed for dray to double as soon as Irving got the ball.
Agree on the slip screen or Steph as the decoy on the last possession, at least as the first action. That said, I don't think the dubs (meaning Kerr) had any interest in going to OT and wanted to end the game with a 3, one way or the other.