4 FTs that could've iced the game. I know he gave it his all down the stretch but... I just can't shake all those missed FTs that led to all these catastrophic events. But really just BS things turned the whole series around. Lin's TO, bad call in Game 1, this... that's a THREE game swing. Unbelievable.
Out of all things to blame the game, Howard is not the one. Without him we get swept by double digit margins.
Without Howard, we would had been swept. Without Asik we would had been killed by LMA (even though he made a foul when Lin hit the 3). If Lin has shot better, If Parsons can score in the 2nd half If Harden can defend well If Mchale can coach well.
We signed howard as a 50% ft shooter. He shot 64% in the series. I give him props for the improvement. If you expect him to shoot 80% you're delusional
I was so mad at Howard for missed late FT. I was like, why did he have to miss? We could have won if he made at least one missed free throw. I was mad at Lin for missing layup and his turnovers that cost our games that we should have won. I was so mad at McHale for that last play and his limited coaching. I was so mad at Parsons for missing layup and shooting slump. And so on...
I never said it was directly on him, his performance was excellent but damn he freaking MADE them earlier in the game!! Why did he miss FOUR straight when it mattered??
Howard's FT % was never a secret. It has been a well known thing for the last decade or so. You can work around it. I was actually impressed by Howard's FT shooting. He shot a higher % than he did in regular season and made more than he missed down the stretch. McHale should not have panicked and taken him out early in game one because he missed a couple.
Last night Howard went 6-11 while Beverley, Daniels & Parsons did not attemt a single FT. To win, all they needed was 2 FTs from those 3 guys and they win the series.
Why can't people talk about Dwight missing 4 free throws? Because he was consistent in the series? That shouldn't give him a pass for shooting below his average on those 4 attempts. It's like saying Bev deserves a pass for switching on Lillard because he played good D for a season. They screwed up. Both of them, as did CP, Harden, Asik, Lin and Jones. Daniels is the only one who can be considered blame free, given his role/experience.
He also scored like crazy and actually wanted the ball down the stretch. Parsons, Lin and Harden sat around and watched what was going on. Howard was the only reason we even had a chance in that game...
LOL... DH is absolute star in this series. HE is good, No more debate about DH, if we wanna know whose fault, then blame the coach....
But that was the plan....give Dwight the ball, you can't blame them for letting him go to work.. Lin was the reason we were in G5, Harden in G6, Parsons had his moments as well to keep us in games.....Everyone screwed up in key moments and also had their moments, but that was the problem, it was moments. They couldn't get it going as a team and that's why they were sent fishing.
