Anyone watching this? What a thrilling end to the 4th. Wade steals from Allen and goes in for a dunk, and on the next play, they throw an alley-oop to Rondo to send the game to OT. Quick question though. Right after Pierce threw that ugly scoop shot up and the Heat got the rebound, I noticed the clock stopped on 8.5 for at least a full second. Nobody noticed this, and I was just wondering if that's allowed after a possession or what.
Watching it, tuned in right before the Wade steal, unbelievable ending to the 4th. Hope Heat pull it out.
"I cannot believe what I just saw!" Wade's total ownership of Ray Allen is wasted by Mario Chalmers. Wow doesn't begin to describe it. Chalmers has really fallen off the Earth. He better pull it together or maybe the Heat should cut him instead of Arroyo when Rafer signs on. LPBB people, this is one you MUST replay. Just do the last 10 seconds.
Chalmers couldn't stay with his man, but I think Haslem has to take just as much blame. What is Haslem doing sticking to Scalabrine? I mean, sure he can occasionally hit a 3, but you have to help your team near the rim, especially when there's less than a second less--chances are they'll be a lob. Even if the pass is made to Scalabrine, he'll have time to recover because the pass will be cross court. Horrible defence by Haslem.
The refs assumed the Heat would call time (99% of teams in that situation would have) and unwittingly tried to help them out. It was a great pass by Pierce to make up for the ugly finger roll. He aimed it right at the corner of the backboard like your supposed to. I was glad they didn't go for the three and used Ray as a decoy. Rondo is the best PG in the East right now. Put him on your All Star ballots, Rockets Fans, and I'll put in Aaron Brooks. Wade was insane. I'm glad to see he's out of his slump.
Haslem was doing what he was told to do, which was don't give up a wide open 3-pointer. All NBA coaches would have told him to do the same thing. It was a strategic decision by Doc Rivers to put Scalabrine out there to space the floor because it reduced it down to 3-on-3 coverage on the inbounds plays. Chalmers can't let that happen. Pin the tail on him. You can argue Haslem could have played off his man more but no way he could cover an alley-oop pass (unless he was Mr. Fantastic).
I agree with you to an extent that Doc River made a very strategic play putting another 3 point shooter out there to spread the floor, but sometimes, I think the defender has to assess the situation better. Haslem is defending Scalabrine, not Ray Allen or Eddie House. Not to mention that Scalabrine was on the other side of the court, meaning if a pass was to be made to him, the defender likely would have had time to recover and close out. Yeah, Haslem probably wouldn't have blocked that alley-oop, but he didn't even give himself nor his team a chance on that play. But nonetheless, give the Celtics credit for running that play to near perfection.
