Had Terry left his man that would've been a wide open 3. Howard Had the best position to stop the ball. Terry would've been out of position.
Somebody had to do something or he was going to waltz on in there and score just like he did. He ran by 4 guys that simply let it happen. Howard was willing to point at where he felt someone else should have been. Harden simply didn't want to put out any more effort. Terry was completely unwilling to adjust and Smith got pushed out of the way.
Did you not see Harden trailing the play that could have easily covered the three. D, your a ref. You should know you Always check ball, I learned that in JR high . You never cover the three and let the PG have an open lane to the rim. Thats BB101.
I agree Howard should have slowed down the ball handler way up near half court. He didn't, and then obviously couldn't keep up once the guard got past him. He saw he had team mates in position to stop the ball, and pointed it out. Even if Howard had managed to get in front of the guard way up there, the guard would have smoked him with very little effort, and the end result would have been the same. I agree Terry had a long way to go to get in front of the guard, and would have had to leave his man. But someone has to stop the ball, and Harden was in position to go over and cover the three point shooter. Whether Harden would have done so is open for speculation. Plus, Terry most surely expected Smith to stay home in the key and stop the ball handler, or at least make him make a decision, so Terry 'rightfully' stayed on the shooter. In today's NBA, you really can't leave those guys open in that situation. IMO it all falls on Smith (see my tl/dr post ). I disagree slightly with KJ: Smith didn't get "pushed" out of the way. He volunteered. He had perfect position, but chose to go the other direction, around his man, putting himself on the wrong side of his man and the wrong side of the play, and not only leaving his man a clear one step to an open basket, but a clear path for the guard to get to the rim unimpeded. Just a horrible basketball play by Smith. Isn't it great?
I get what your saying about the bulk of this, but Terry still should have went after ball. He was in the best position to D up at that point. I was ALWAYS taught ALL through school that when playing D on the fast break, the closest defender to the ball ALWAYS takes ball and forces the ball handler into a decision. Its always better to get beat with a good pass and open shot than an uncontested layup.
At any rate, there were three fails on one play, with Harden lollygagging up the court behind it all. LOL
Actually, maybe a good thread starter for those with more time. Who can find the worst defensive play ever on vid? Or what you think is?
