I've never seen poor judgment like that in quite a while. Sixers up 3, 6 seconds left. Pacers have to have a three to keep the season going. What does Rose do? He almost holds the ball in the backcourt, and dribbles to the frontcourt like he has 20 seconds. He has the arguably the best clutch player in the past 20 or so years of basketball in Reggie Miller on his team. Never even looks at him. Sure, they were guarding Reggie, but it wasn't a double team or anything. And even if it was, I might give it to him anyway. This isn't just a good three point shooter. This is, bar none, the top clutch player in the NBA, and I might would rather have him take that last second three than even Jordan. And yet, he doesn't even get a look. Rose throws up a ridiculous 27 footer which isn't close, and the season is over for the Pacers. If your season is on the line and you need a three and you don't even look at Reggie Miller, you have a lot of problems to look at in the offseason. ------------------ President of the Mo Taylor, Jason Collier, and draft Richard Jefferson fan club! Draftsource.net-- the premier source for draft info. Profiles, rankings, mock drafts, and more! Sign up for season 2 of the CC.net NBA Sim League! http://bbs.clutchcity.net/ubb/Forum12/HTML/000328.html
The decision to run their offense through Jalen Rose (including making him the starting PG) has screwed the Pacers all year long. The more they take the ball out of his hands (in terms of decision-making) and let him be just a scorer, the better off they are. The Warriors have the right to take their draft pick this year, which was lottery-protected (so it couldn't possibly have turned out better for GS). When the Pacers let Mark Jackson go last summer and said they were making Rose the PG, I told fellow GS fans that the Indy pick in '01 would probably wind up about where it is. ------------------
I don't think Rose is a very good pg either. He's a good player, but his talents are better utilized at the 3 or 2 imo. ------------------ snap crackle pop
I think it was systemic of a larger problem concerning the decision making down the stretch by the Pacers the past three games. I have noticed that they don't really execute well and instead hope Miller can nail an off balance three-pointer. It worked in game 1, it didn' work anytime else. Consider the second to last trip down the floor. Miller comes off a screen and is guarded on the wing by Tyrone Hill. This leaves Austin Croshere guarded by Eric Snow down in the paint. That is a mismatch I would've exploited. But I can understand giving it to Miller, he is clutch personified in the playoffs. What I can't understand is standing still and hoping Miller can take Tyrone Hill off the dribble. Miller's a deadly shooter, but asking him to beat a man off the dribble is reducing his effectiveness. Set a screen!(I was yelling this at the TV screen) Either hope a shorter player switches off on Miller, or create some seperation so that Miller could get a clear shot. Nothing happened and Miller had to launch a shot over the big forward. He can make that, but I wouldn't want to bank my season on it. Bad execution down the stretch ended the Pacers season. Miller had a fantastic series though. ------------------ Founder and President of the Houston Homers Club(HHC) - Are you a homer? Join now! The Rockets will be NBA champions. Believe.
