1. They were BAD shots. Bad ISO shots. Yes, LeBron can make those, and at times does. But he also misses those plenty often, and leaves us shaking our heads.
You have been watching the NBA for the past 30-35 years, correct? When your superstar, top 5 player in the game leader takes a clutch shot and makes a clutch shot it is not a bad shot. I get the sense you would rather see Golden State type ball movement with an end result of a MISSED SHOT, than a good footwork, shoulders squared ISO shot by a premier player. The ability to often take and make those types of shots is what makes players premier, as well as the ability to shake of the ones they've missed and remain supremely confident in their ability to hit clutch shots.
You seem to assert that solely based on the word ISO, a shot is bad. Sorry. I like all sorts of basketball, but I will never agree with something as absolute as that, especially as it relates to elite players.
2. Take those 6 points away and the game plays out differently. It's a 1 point game (with Toronto holding possession) instead of down 3 (Lou made a 3 right afterwards, so they could have been up 2 at that point instead of down 4. Again, the game plays out totally different, so you certainly can't say that it was a given that they'd be up 2 at that point if LeBron misses those two 3s. Heck, LeBron might not even take the 2nd 3 if he misses the first one (though I've certainly seen him take, and miss, two 3s in a row like that in similar situations).
So if we change history, the game might play out differently? No argument here. But you are making the sureheaded point that it would ONLY play out differently in a negative way. More importantly, he made the shots. They were not circus shots. They were not 35 foot out shots.
3. What does Lou making a bunch of crazy 3s early in the 4th while TT wasn't in the game have to do with my opinion that TT shouldn't be in there to guard JV? Lou made 1 3 after TT came in. Maybe that's TT guarding the perimeter really well, but he sure didn't guard the interior and we're lucky we got away with it.
You made a simple point that if you take away what you consider to be to crazy three and also two awful ISO three that the game would have been different and therefore your larger point about that lineup being incorrect would have been validated. I simply countered by making the simple point that the same logic and its effects on the overall game should apply to Lou Wills hot hand and some of the shots he made in the 4th. And yes, Tristans perimeter help D is excellent and did contribute to the 3 point shooting getting cutoff.
In the 6 minutes, before TT entered Toronto hit 4 three pointers as well as the 2 fouls on Williams that resulted in 6 free throws.
In the final 5:50 of the game with Tristan in, Toronto made 2 three pointers, one of which was with 30m seconds left and a Cavs 9 point lead.
Since 3 pointers count more than 2 pointers, and the 3 pointers are mainly what got Toronto back in the game, perhaps the Cavs decided that a strategy that resulted in less good looks from three at the expense of easier looks in the paint was a necessary one to employ in winning this game? Mozgov simply can not do some of the perimeter switching and pressure traps that TT can.[/QUOTE]
