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Friday, January 2, 2009
The plays you don’t make …
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
IZOD CENTER - Sometimes it’s the plays you don’t make the cost you the most.
The plays the other team makes don’t help either, witness Vince Carter’s 33-footer for the game in the Hawks’ 93-91 loss to the Nets here tonight.
But while the Hawks have enjoyed a monster season so far while playing far below their potential for much of their first 32 games, few games have provided a more blinding example of their inattention to detail.
Carter’s last shot should never have been.
And not because the Hawks have shouldn’t have squandered that 20-point lead or because they should have made their free throws down the stretch or because they should have kept the ball moving on the offensive end until they found the best shot (as the Nets did to perfection in the second half).
But because Carter never should have been allowed to scoop up an errant inbounds pass from Jarvis Hayes without the Hawks swarming him like the ice cream man on a sweltering summer day.
Josh Smith, who was guarding Carter at the end, opted to let Carter chase the ball and turn and set himself before launching that game winning shot. But with 5.3 seconds left and a bad pass, scrambling after that ball would have prevented Carter from making a clean grab and getting the chance to that final dagger.
“There’s five seconds, and the ball went past half-court,” Hayes said after the game. “The man that was guarding [Carter] didn’t follow him into the backcourt to get the loose ball and he just left him too much room.”
Neither Smith nor Marvin Williams, who was guarding the inbounds pass and actually turned to chase for a moment, before remembering Hayes was his responsibility and turning back to cover his assignment, broke off and made the play Hayes is talking about.
What’s even more perplexing is that Smith did exactly that on the previous possession to give the Hawks the lead. He left Carter to trap Devin Harris and he and Mo Evans wound up combining for the steal and the subsequent fast break Layup that provided the Hawks with the 91-90 lead that Carter squashed with his game winner.
“First and foremost, I was just looking to see if the guy was running down and if he’s running, I would try to get the ball before he does,” Carter said. “It was 1.8 seconds, the clock was running, so I just wanted to make sure I could get it and get my feet set. He didn’t run so I was able to turn and get my head around and get my feet set and make it happen.”
If someone makes a play on that ball, it never happens. Or at least it doesn’t happen as cleanly as it did this night.
Again, sometimes it’s the plays you don’t make, even the simple ones, that eng up costing you the most.
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