<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/-4XDxYVXSxk&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/-4XDxYVXSxk&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> Landry's block My vote has to go to Novak's shot. I was there. It was incredible.
It has to be the Novak 3...I was soooo pissed in that fourth quarter because the Rockets just had no offense. It was extremely painful to watch and Artest was killing us. That 3 by Novak had me jumping up and down, almost as much as when Jeff Kent hit that homer in 04 to send it back to St. Louis
I was in bed. About to cry myself to sleep because I thought they were going to lose this. I literally jumped out of my bed and yelled at the top of my lungs. Ahh, good times.
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Great thread. Battier's winner, Novak's winner, and Landry's winner are all my top favourites and cannot be decided. Battier's winner completely shut the lakers up, and took away their momentum BIG TIME. Novak's winner sparked the entire crowd with the 13 points in 35 seconds feeling. Whiles Landry's block told Jazz to STFU and GTFO of their house.
Yea, what about the Francis game in PHX. Also, can somebody fill me in on the "Alston layup". I dont remember that one. Notice how chuck hayes is always the one holding the bench back from mobbing the court after a big play?
I'd go with SHane's three. That shot was so tough, he was way behind the line and he had hand on his face. Incredible shot.
Remember when it was announced that the Rockets would lose Tmac for like 10-14 days or something like that. I think it ended up being like 10 or so games. We won the first two games against Memphis and Toronto, then lost 2 to Golden State on new years and Boston in a close one. Then we go to Orlando. At the beginning of the fourth it was really close and then with about 9 minutes left we go on a tear. Building up to a 12 point lead with about 5-6 minutes left. There was a period of about 3-4 minutes where we can't make a shot and Orlando slowly chips away at the lead, bringing it down to a 91-93 lead with a minute to go. Howard fouls out, and Yao makes 1 of the FTs giving us a 3 point lead before Lewis hits a 3 to tie it with 19 seconds left. Alston basically just took Nelson to school and made a layup 1 on 1 to take the lead. And then of course the next play Foyle tips it in but they don't count it because it was ruled after the buzzer, so we win. No one ever remembers the layup because of the controversy behind that tip in that was disallowed. But that was actually the layup that won the game. Plus, it was Rafer Alston. No offense to Rafer, but when have you ever heard of Rafer breaking a guy down 1 on 1?
Novak's shot was awesome but the fact that that play is winning so far tells me two things: 1. Too many people value a 22-game winning streak over winning a playoff game. 2. Too many people value offense over defense. I voted for Landry's block & save and I don't think it's even close. It was a freakin' playoff game!
I'm with you on that one. The streak was brilliant, beautiful and by far the high point of last regular season (and Novak's shot kept it going), but Landry's block/save was more meaningful in the larger scheme of things. It was an incredible game-saving play, but it's made even better because it was an incredible game-saving play against the hated j*zz in the playoffs. PLEASE SIGN ON THE DOTTED LINE, CARL!
I still have both of those games on my DVR, and when I'm jonesin' for Rockets basketball, I watch one of them. I'd have to pick Landry's play, with Novak's right behind him.
I gotta give Landry the nod with his post-season block. Had Novak hit the 3 in the playoffs then without a doubt he would get the vote, but Playoff clutch > 22nd consecutive win clutch.
I think the reason that people value offense over defense with game winning plays is that there is always a chance he could've missed it if not for the defensive play. If Landry misses the block, maybe he makes the shot difficult enough the it doesn't go in, or maybe Williams just flat out misses the layup. With offense its either it went in or it didn't, no second chances. And for the same reason thats kind of why I forgot about Francis' heroics against Phoenix. If he doesn't make that amazing layup, we're still up by 2. Even if he doesn't make the block at the end, we're still up by 4 so odds are we still win the game anyway. But I can see your reasoning for choosing Landry's block though, and I think had we made it to the second round that would easily be the best one. I probably would've had to just pick regular season plays at that point.
I think you are missing a key element of that play. If you watch it again, notice that Boozer was wide open under the basket. Landry perfectly timed switching off of him to cover Williams. It was essentially a 2-on-1. If Landry leaves Boozer a split second earlier, Williams dumps the pass off to Boozer for a gimme layup/dunk. If ge doesn't switch soon enough and doesn't get the block, even if Williams misses, it's a tip in or easy putback for Boozer. The truth is that Landry's play wasn't simply a block and save. It was a perfectly timed defensive switch, then a great block followed by an even better save to one of his own players as he was turning and falling out of bounds.
