Dominate early, give up the lead (as usual), fight back late, get a chance to take it to OT and Hakim blows it at the line. Memphis is gods way of punishing us.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Jerry West:</div><div class="quote_post">Dominate early, give up the lead (as usual), fight back late, get a chance to take it to OT and Hakim blows it at the line. Memphis is gods way of punishing us.</div> I've got to blame Chucky Atkins. What the hell was he doing bringing the ball up the floor so slow and then just letting the seconds tick off the clock? He got Hakim the ball with under three seconds left in the game, so I don't blame Hakim at all. He was right for going up for the shot, because there it's unlikely he could have gotten a pass off to an open teammate in time. He's not that great of a free-throw shooter though; Atkins should have never gone to him.
I don't blame Hakim either, but he did have the chance to send it to OT and failed. The poor free-throw shooting has been one of our biggest problems this year, right up with horrible rebounding.
I blame Mike Fratello. What are Chucky Atkins and Hakim Warrick closing out games for? I know that Pau was fouled out, but Mike Miller, hate him as I might, was shooting well all night, especially down the stretch; this, of course, in addition to being our best free throw shooter. Though I guess he did hit five in a row or whatever up to that point, and everyone else was pretty atrocious from the line. Not that we deserve to beat the best team in the game when we take 25 less shots than the opponent, commit 24 turnovers in a game, and score only 11 points in a quarter.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Ezra:</div><div class="quote_post">Mike Miller, hate him as I might, was shooting well all night, especially down the stretch; this, of course, in addition to being our best free throw shooter.</div> I'd rather Eddie Jones at the line, personally. His career % is a lot higher than Mike's and his % this year is also higher.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Jerry West:</div><div class="quote_post">I'd rather Eddie Jones at the line, personally. His career % is a lot higher than Mike's and his % this year is also higher.</div> Either way, I agree with Ezra. Miller should have been in the game. I get the impression that Miller's not exactly Fratello's favorite player. His minutes are really limited despite being the most talented player on the team outside of Gasol, and he's only started seven games all season. We should really utilize him more. Jake too... BTW - Long time no see, Ezra. Welcome back!
