payitforward wrote:nuposse04 wrote:payitforward wrote:What a tough loss! I wasn't able to watch the game last night, but I've got it on my DVR and will certainly watch the 4th quarter, maybe the whole game.
I've looked at the box score of course. Looks like Temple stepped up.
Relative to last game, absolutely. Unfortunately he had a very costly TO in crunch time on a fastbreak that would have helped us secure the victory... iirc we were up and somebody got a steal and outlet to temple, and he proceeded to lose the ball as he attacked the basket. That and he basically didn't help the offense at all in the 4th when we needed it most. But quite frankly the ball movement in the 4th really wasn't good. Most of the fairweather fans in the area I was siting could even notice that. Lots of settling for jumpers :/
Temple went 5-7, including 1-2 on three-pointers. That's 11 points on 7 shots. IOW, without his play earlier in the game, there is no "crunch time... fast break that would have helped us secure the victory." There is no "crunch time." Why not put the blame on the guy who went 9-24? A shot or two that he missed in the first quarter had the exact same impact on the game as a shot or two missed in the last minute. More impact, in fact, wouldn't you say? Make those, and we're ahead in "crunch time" by enough that the game is in our hands. Or, *his* turnovers -- 7 of them -- for that matter.
Or, why not point the finger at Nene, who went 2-6 from the FT line?
Not suggesting we actually *do* point at either of those guys, btw. Just noting that everything a guy does during every minute of the game has the same impact on winning/losing -- no matter when he does it. "Crunch time," "clutch" -- words like that are inventions to heighten the entertainment aspect of the game. They don't actually exist.
Others and myself pointing out Temple's flaws in the 4th quarter does not absolve Wall and Nene of their faults. I'm just pointing out the reality that he was one of the problems in the 4th quarter... along with the other players... but I suspect someone who only read the boxscore from the game is only going to provide limited commentary on how the game played out. His production in the 1st half was good and he gets kudos for that but you can't disappear once the guy ahead of you goes down with injury. There was a A LOT of blame to go around in the 2nd half.
As far as crunch time not existing... I'd defer to players on whether or not they feel a mental strain during a strenuous closure to the game. I'm not privy to whether players overall play worse or better in the final few mins of a game relative to prior 45 when the game is tight...