Great read, 15 years ago MJ over (former Rocket) Ehlo

http://www.cleveland.com/cavs/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/sports/1083922459323005.xml

Ehlo is no longer staggered by The Shot

Friday, May 07, 2004 Bob Dolgan Plain Dealer Reporter

(BTW - is there anyone [else] who remembers why the Cavs finished their [regular] season so poorly?)

Craig Ehlo was spending a quiet night in his den last year. His wife and three children had gone to sleep and Ehlo was watching ESPN sports in peaceful solitude.

Michael Jordan, one of the greatest of all basketball players, had announced his retirement that day, so the station listed his 10 greatest shots.

Ehlo, the former Cavaliers guard, knew what was coming. Announcer Dan Patrick said, "Craig Ehlo, if you're at home watching, I hope you're sitting down. This is Michael Jordan's favorite shot."

"I laughed," Ehlo, 42, recalled from his home in Spokane, Wash. "I got a kick out of it."

The screen showed Jordan go up for the shot that Cleveland basketball fans will never forget. The 6-7 Ehlo was all over him, but Jordan buried the ball at the buzzer for 101-100 Bulls victory in the fifth and deciding game of the first round in the 1989 playoffs.

It happened 15 years ago today, on May 7, 1989, at Richfield Coliseum.

Ehlo was devastated. "I felt like crying," he said. "I was exhausted."

Now, with the perspective of time, Ehlo has come to enjoy seeing the play. If something hurts too much, the best medicine is to laugh at it.

"It's my defining moment," he joked. "I'm immortalized by that shot. My son Austin [12] loves it. When I was coaching high school basketball, that was all my players wanted to talk about. I'll be able to tell my grandchildren about it.

"It was one of the first shots that catapulted Jordan to fame."

Cleveland fans are not as philosophical about The Shot. It ranks with The Drive, The Fumble and The Catch (Willie Mays in the 1954 World Series) as the most painful moments in local sports history.

The play began with three seconds left and the Cavs leading, 100-99. Everybody knew Jordan would get the ball. He already had scored 42 points. He had 44 points in Game 3 and 50 in Game 2.

Cleveland coach Lenny Wilkens told Ehlo to stay between Jordan and the basket, while Larry Nance was supposed to front him. Chicago's Brad Sellers made a pinpoint pass to Jordan, who got the basketball about 27 feet from the hoop, near the Cavs' bench.

"I was counting to myself," Ehlo recalled. "I was thinking, no way he can get the shot off."

But Jordan wheeled, took two hard dribbles toward the left of the foul line and leaped. Ehlo was with him and would have blocked his shot. But Jordan pulled the ball back, double-pumped, and stayed in the air as Ehlo went down. Then Jordan, still floating, buried the shot from 16 feet.

"We jumped at the same time," Ehlo said. "My hand was right there. He defied the law of physics and stayed up. I applied the law of gravity and came down."

"I cannot believe he hit that shot," Cavs center Brad Daugherty said at the tme. "I don't see how he stayed in the air that long and double-pumped the way he did."

Ironically, Ehlo played one of the best games of his career that day. He scored eight of the Cavs' last 10 points and had 15 in the fourth quarter. He wound up with 24. Teammates Mark Price and Ron Harper had 23 and 22, respectively.

The last minute was a shootout between the mighty Jordan and Ehlo, who was talented, but not an All-Star.

With 52 seconds left, Ehlo hit a 3-pointer for a 98-97 Cavs lead. Jordan nailed a 12-footer with six seconds to go to put Chicago on top, 99-98.

Ehlo did it again, scoring on a layup with three seconds remaining for a 100-99 Cleveland lead that seemed to sew it up.

Ehlo had inbounded the ball to Nance. When defender Craig Hodges leaped to try to block the inbound pass, Ehlo raced past him, took the return pass from Nance and put it in. "I could see my picture on the cover of Sports Illustrated when I made it," Ehlo said.

After the game, Jordan congratulated Ehlo, saying, "You played a hell of a game."

Wilkens told Ehlo, "It took the greatest player in the world to make that shot. You were there. You did all you could."

Ehlo was victimized by Jordan before and after The Shot. Wilkens had so much trust in Ehlo that he always had him play Jordan one-on-one.

The defeat was doubly hard to take because the season had started out with such promise. At one point, the Cavs were 43-12. Coming into the playoffs, they had won a franchise-record 52 games and had beaten the Bulls six times without a loss.

"That was our chance," Ehlo said. "The Shot definitely kept us from the title. If we had won, I'm sure I'd have a ring."

The Bulls went on to lose to eventual NBA champion Detroit in the Eastern Conference finals.

In Ehlo's opinion, Jordan's shot did not alter Cavs' history. Jordan and Chicago kept getting better and always stopped Cleveland in future playoffs. The Cavs' best opportunity came 15 years ago, and Jordan ended it.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:

bdolgan@plaind.com, 216-999-3540

 

He was cut. There was an injury which caused the Rox to invite CE back. He had an offer from Cavs, decided to take it and run.

And he became a valuable NBA rotation guy.