Okay, so my recap of Washington’s 114-113 loss to Indiana didn’t include the final play, although it does demonstrate what an utter mess the Wizards will try desperately to clean up over a four-game road trip next week.
The final play.
With one-tenth of a second the Wizards were given a chance, in theory, to beat the Pacers with pro basketball’s version of the hail mary – oh, wait, they don’t have that in the NBA since the ball gets advanced, but I digress.
In any case, here were the following significant obstacles to executing the play: 1) the Wizards didn’t know who was suppose to be on the floor, and 2) the one Wizard on the floor didn’t know what he was supposed to do. Caron Butler ended up passing the ball to JaVale McGee at the top of the key – exactly how it was drawn up, except not.
“I was just sitting there thinking about the free throws,” said Gilbert Arenas, who said the lineup kept changing and had to be summoned off the bench.
“The last play, JaVale was supposed to go for a lob, a double lob, try to see if they bit on one,” said Wizards head coach Flip Saunders. “Coming out of the timeout, we told him, ‘You have to be at the rim.’ The chances of scoring with one tenth of a second aren’t real good.”
The deciding play.
The foul call, explained by Brendan Haywood and DeShawn Stevenson. The video, in my opinion, was inconclusive enough to allow the officials to make whatever call they wanted.
Stevenson: “I didn’t touch him. I didn’t think Brendan touched him either. It’s crazy.
In a basketball game, is it possible to catch the ball with 0.5 seconds, go down, come back up, and still have 0.1 seconds on the clock? It’s impossible. It’s impossible.”
Haywood. “It’s a touchy situation because you know you really can’t say anything about the refs without hearing from [NBA commissioner] David Stern. I just didn’t know you could catch it, and then come back down, and then shoot the ball, and then still have 0.1 second left on the clock. That’s a lot to do in 0.4 seconds. But it’s not my call. All I can say about it is that I don’t agree with it. I’m not sure how it’s possible.”
The last few straws, or as Saunders put it: “When you are up five with twenty-two seconds, it’s almost like Murphy’s law. You have to do everything bad in order to lose.”
1:22: Arenas penetrates, draws contact but dishes to Earl Boykins, who buries a long two-pointer. Wizards, 111-05.
1:15: Earl Watson finds Tyler Hansbrough for a layup. 111-107.
:50.5: Wizards turn the ball over on a shot clock violation
:46.8: Watson finds Hansbrough, again, this time for an alley oop. No, really. 111-109.
:22.3: Boykins hits again. 113-109.
:13.5: Hansbrough gets fouled. Makes the first free throw. 113-110.
:13.5: Hansbrough intentionally misses the second, and Mike Dunleavy gets fouled on the rebound. Makes two shots. 113-112.
:06.6: Arenas gets fouled. You know the rest.
The rollercoaster.
1st quarter. Wizards shoot 71.4 percent (15 for 21) with 11 assists.
2nd quarter. Wizards shoot 20 percent (4 for 20) with 8 turnovers.
3rd quarter. Wizards shoot 60 percent (15 for 25) and force 7 turnovers.
4th quarter. Wizards shoot 68.8 percent (11 for 16) and lose.
Seriously, this ride is churning my stomach. Saunders said the Wizards are inventing ways to lose. Put a patent on this one.
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