Letters to the Editor
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Jordan
I've been thinking about this a lot, because Jordan has made the pass many times. We all remember Paxson in game 5 against the Lakers and Kerr in Game 6 against the Jazz(?). The difference there was that the Bulls didn't have to win those games. The other difference of course is that they triple-teamed Jordan and he really would have had to pull something spectacular to score. You're right on in this case. They let LeBron score and he chose to pass it up, literally.
Also, the Pistons were legitimately angry for the first time all postseason after the game last night. And they should have been. They put on a clinic in terrible basketball for at least 3 quarters. It was unbelievable that they were able to take the lead early in the 2nd half considering they were getting out-rebounded, turned it over 10 times, and had no flow on the offensive or defensive ends. To say that the Cavs won't get that lucky again is an understatement. I'd be shocked if the Pistons play that poorly again until they're up 3-0 and losing focus in a close-out game.
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Winners and great athletes
There is always two groups of players that fit these molds, but to be special you have to be both. Magic sat in Kareem's seat on the plane as a ROOKIE GUARD! in 1980, Bird, Jordan, Isaiah all won b/c they put it on themselves when it counted(great supporting casts, I know, but they played each other's teams). Guys like Barkley had shorter windows with good casts and ran into Jordan.
I tend to believe success at a higher level is helped by earlier success with quality competition. Magic, Jordan, Isaiah and Bird(championship game) all performed well under pressure in college. LeBron may/probably will get there, but he doesn't understand what to do yet consistently in the playoffs. Detroit has Hamilton's brilliance in big games throughout the years, maybe that's who he will learn from.
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More on Michael
Game 5, 1993 conference finals against the Knicks (known in NY as the Charles Smith Memorial game), a game the Bulls have to win, Jordan drives the lane passes to BJ Armstrong for the game winner.
I hate columns like this; if Donyell makes the 3 and the cavs win, Lebron made a brilliant play.
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Superstar criticisms
Nobody complained when Michael Jordan gave the ball to Steve Kerr to clinch the championship in '97.
http://www.nba.com/history/97finals_moments.html
Of course, it helps to make the basket, I guess.
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The real problem
The problem wasn't that James failed to take a shot, down by two with twelve seconds left. The problem was that his team was down by two points with 12 seconds left. Someone else hits a three at another point in the game and we'd be talking about how James' leadership "makes other players better."
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i'm ok with the last shot
I agree that LeBron was too passive the whole game. You could argue he's been too passive the whole playoffs. It's ok to get your teammates involved, but if the result is Larry Hughes taking thousands of shots, I'll take selfishness. They've been ok so far because they've played inferior (Wizards)or wildly dysfunctional (Nets) teams. If they're gonna beat the Pistons, he straight-up needs to score more than ten points. (The refs had something to do with that, though: no free throws? On one play in the third quarter Rip was trying to foul him and couldn't get the call.)
That said, I think he made the right decision on the last play. Usually I'm in favor of LeBron taking it to the basket in those situations, but during the timeout before the play I was yelling at the TV, "GO FOR THE THREE, END THIS NOW." It just didn't seem like they would have had much of a chance in overtime, on the road, and Marshall got as good a look as it is possible to get. So I'm not too upset about that. I was more upset that Z wasn't even in the game. How to explain this? Down by 2 with 12 seconds left and you sit down your leading scorer in the game, a guy who's been nailing jumpers off the pick-and-roll and hitting the offensive glass? your best free-throw shooter? I don't get it.
Anyway, as a Cavs fan, I know this is going to be a frustrating series. The Pistons aren't a great team, they don't scare you, but they're better than the Cavs at this point. The rational side of me is saying, "ok, this is some experience, we'll get 'em next year," but the emotional side is throwing things at the TV.
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More Michael
Didn't Jordan dump a pass down to Bill Wennington (!) to win the game in the Garden when he put up a double-nickel, too?
Agreed with others. I hate criticizing the decision after the result comes in. Likely outcomes were:
1. Contested layup with no foul called. (Good chance of a tie, but Detroit gets the ball with 5 seconds left with a chance to win in regulation, or overtime.)
2. Foul without a basket. (50% chance of a tie given LeBron's FT abilities; Even if he makes both, Detroit gets it back with 5 seconds left, blah blah)
3. Bucket and the foul. (Who are we kidding -- no FTs all night by LeBron. The smart player figures the chance here is nil.)
4. Donyell wide open for the lead (40% to hit this?). Detroit would get the ball back with less than 4 seconds left.
It's not Eric Snow in the corner for the win. It's not an uncontested layup that's being passed up. I like the *decision*. The results? Well... LeBron didn't know the results when he made his choice.
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2003 Red Sox
Obviously apples and oranges, but I couldn't help think of the results of Grady Little going with the best pitcher over the smart play.
In an ordinary game, Boston manager Grady Little would have taken the tiring Martinez out here, brought in a lefty to face Hideki Matsui, and Red Sox fans will argue for years about whether he should have. But Little figured that Game 7s aren't ordinary, and he left the best pitcher he's ever managed out there -- at that pitcher's urging -- and hoped for the best.
So when is it the right decision to go with your superstar, and when is it the right decision to go with the smart play? The answer of course is that if you win, whichever decision you made was the right one, and if you lose it was the wrong one.