Poor Free Throw Shooting Which Changed Hisotry

[Stringer Bell]

Pretty much every year you see a team eliminated from the NCAA tournament because of poor free throw shooting. Derrick Rose missed out on a national title in 2008 because Memphis had an epic collapse due to atrocious free throw shooting.

Of course there the infamous Nick Anderson 4 missed FTs. Although that put the momentum in Houston's favor, I really don't think that would have changed the result. Houston would have won anyway IMO.

I'm thinking more of examples in which there would have been different champs if not for poor free throw shooting.

1995- Houston came back from a 3-1 deficit, without HCA, against Phoenix. Game 5 would have wrapped it up and eliminated Houston. Phoenix's poor FT shooting really hurt them. Barkley missed 3 of 4 free-throws in the last 2 minutes of regulation. For the game, Houston shot 17-22 (77%) at the charity stripe. Phoenix went 20-34 (59%). Phoenix loses in OT and then loses the next 2.

2002- obvious choice in game 7. After the infamous game 6, Sacramento still would have won game 7 if they could make their FTs. LA went 27-33 (82%) at the foul line, Sacramento went 16-30 (53%). And the game went to OT, showing how close it was.

There's no guarantee that Magic's missed FTs in game 4 in 1984 in OT, with the game tied and about 35 seconds left (and then Worthy going 1-2 later which would have tied), would have guaranteed a win. It sure would have helped their chances though. If they go up 3-1, things would be really rough for Boston.

2013 NBA Finals Game 6- obvious choice.

[Im so nba'd out]

cliff notes please

[L.Kizzle]

LeBron and Gilbert Arenas in 2006.

[kennethgriffin]

for every action there is a reaction

if embiid doesnt break his foot. the cavs take him #1

and hes an untradable asset if hes 100%. which means lebron might not go to cleveland for a rebuilding process since he wouldnt have the love deal in place to look forward to

then maybe lebron goes to chicago or back to miami. who knows

little things change history all the time

[Marchesk]

little things change history all the time

Would any change make Kobe the GOAT?

[imnew09]

Dwight Howard choked at the FT in the final.

Kwahi missed a FT to seal the final game against the Heat. Lebron would've been 1*/5

[Stringer Bell]

little things change history all the time

Yes, such as missed free throws, which is what I am talking about.



Kwahi missed a FT to seal the final game against the Heat. Lebron would've been 1*/5

Ginobili also.

[oarabbus]

Would any change make Kobe the GOAT?


MJ, Bill Russell, etc's parents were infertile.

[MP.Trey]

LeBron and Gilbert Arenas in 2006.
LOL "if you miss these, you know you gon lose right?" Proceeds to clank two free throws and choke away the game. :oldlol:

[Proctor]

MJ, Bill Russell, etc's parents were infertile.
:roll:

[kennethgriffin]

Would any change make Kobe the GOAT?


easly. i made a thread on it a few months ago


if in 2003 horry doesnt go 3 for 50 in the playoffs. lakers win 4 straight titles

if in 2004 malone plays in the finals. lakers win 5 straight titles

if in 2006 tim thomas doesnt get that rebound. lakers go to atleast the finals ( kobe owned the clippers and mavs that year )

if in 2008 bynum plays. lakers win the title

if phil jackson is hired instead of d'antoni. and nash/howard/gasol all stay healthy. thats a possible title or 2

if chris paul trade isnt veto'd.. him kobe/dwight dominate the next 3-4 years



if eddie jones isnt on the lakers his 1st 2 years. his career average is 28ppg instead of 25ppg


if in 2003, 2006, 2007 kobe won mvp the same way jordan won mvp in 1988.


then after all this. we're looking at a career of all time epic ring counts, mvps, finals mvps and stats


but little things change history and our kobe has to settle with top 5-6 instead of goat

[millwad]

A lot of people claim that Nick Anderson was the player who had the biggest choking moment in FT-history in the NBA, they are wrong.

Wilt in '69 gave away a ring due to being an awful FT-shooter, they lost after a 7 game series in the finals and Wilt just flat out choked from the FT-line.

Game 4 of the '69 finals the Lakers and Wilt lost with 1 point against the Celtics, Wilt choked big time from the FT-line and only made 2 out of 11 FT's.

In game 7 of the '69 finals the Lakers and Wilt lost with 2 points against the Celtics, Wilt in that game only made 4 out of 13 FT's.

Wilt made Anderson look clutch..

[dubeta]

easly. i made a thread on it a few months ago


if in 2003 horry doesnt go 3 for 50 in the playoffs. lakers win 4 straight titles

if in 2004 malone plays in the finals. lakers win 5 straight titles

if in 2006 tim thomas doesnt get that rebound. lakers go to atleast the finals ( kobe owned the clippers and mavs that year )

if in 2008 bynum plays. lakers win the title

if phil jackson is hired instead of d'antoni. and nash/howard/gasol all stay healthy. thats a possible title or 2

if chris paul trade isnt veto'd.. him kobe/dwight dominate the next 3-4 years



if eddie jones isnt on the lakers his 1st 2 years. his career average is 28ppg instead of 25ppg


if in 2003, 2006, 2007 kobe won mvp the same way jordan won mvp in 1988.


then after all this. we're looking at a career of all time epic ring counts, mvps, finals mvps and stats


but little things change history and our kobe has to settle with top 5-6 instead of goat

LOOL so many ifs for Kobe to be GOAT :oldlol:


The only if for LeBron was if Wade was healthy in Miami

That would be 4 rings by now and LeBron would be eventually be GOAT

[SouBeachTalents]

LOOL so many ifs for Kobe to be GOAT :oldlol:


The only if for LeBron was if Wade was healthy in Miami

That would be 4 rings by now and LeBron would be eventually be GOAT

Wade was healthy in 2011

[SouBeachTalents]

easly. i made a thread on it a few months ago


if in 2003 horry doesnt go 3 for 50 in the playoffs. lakers win 4 straight titles

if in 2004 malone plays in the finals. lakers win 5 straight titles

if in 2006 tim thomas doesnt get that rebound. lakers go to atleast the finals ( kobe owned the clippers and mavs that year )

if in 2008 bynum plays. lakers win the title

if phil jackson is hired instead of d'antoni. and nash/howard/gasol all stay healthy. thats a possible title or 2

if chris paul trade isnt veto'd.. him kobe/dwight dominate the next 3-4 years



if eddie jones isnt on the lakers his 1st 2 years. his career average is 28ppg instead of 25ppg


if in 2003, 2006, 2007 kobe won mvp the same way jordan won mvp in 1988.


then after all this. we're looking at a career of all time epic ring counts, mvps, finals mvps and stats


but little things change history and our kobe has to settle with top 5-6 instead of goat

What if

The Trail Blazers don't choke in the 4th quarter of Game 7

Horry doesn't make that 3 against the King in Game 4

Game 6 isn't the most rigged game in NBA history

The Kings don't miss 14 free throws in Game 7

KG doesn't get hurt in '09

Artest doesn't make that buzzer beater against the Suns

Perkins doesn't get hurt in 2010

Artest doesn't make that 3 in Game 7


Or, biggest ones of all

Kobe doesn't get traded to the Lakers

The Lakers don't sign Shaq

[talkingconch]

what if lebron doesnt go to miami?

0 rings

[Psileas]

A lot of people claim that Nick Anderson was the player who had the biggest choking moment in FT-history in the NBA, they are wrong.

Wilt in '69 gave away a ring due to being an awful FT-shooter, they lost after a 7 game series in the finals and Wilt just flat out choked from the FT-line.

Game 4 of the '69 finals the Lakers and Wilt lost with 1 point against the Celtics, Wilt choked big time from the FT-line and only made 2 out of 11 FT's.

In game 7 of the '69 finals the Lakers and Wilt lost with 2 points against the Celtics, Wilt in that game only made 4 out of 13 FT's.

Wilt made Anderson look clutch..

Wilt was missing FT's all the time, but he doesn't have any such moment when he had to shoot 4 FT's as significant and crucial as Anderson's and missed them.
Forget 4, which are the single 2 most important, "make them or lose", FT's that Wilt has ever missed?

[Stringer Bell]

A lot of people claim that Nick Anderson was the player who had the biggest choking moment in FT-history in the NBA, they are wrong.

Wilt in '69 gave away a ring due to being an awful FT-shooter, they lost after a 7 game series in the finals and Wilt just flat out choked from the FT-line.

Game 4 of the '69 finals the Lakers and Wilt lost with 1 point against the Celtics, Wilt choked big time from the FT-line and only made 2 out of 11 FT's.

In game 7 of the '69 finals the Lakers and Wilt lost with 2 points against the Celtics, Wilt in that game only made 4 out of 13 FT's.

Wilt made Anderson look clutch..

No way should the Celtics have beaten the Lakers in 1969. I don't know if to say LA gave it away or Boston stole it...probably both. LA put themselves in a position for Boston to steal it, and Boston took full advantage. Same with 1984.

The one Laker you definitely cannot blame is Jerry West though, who had an epic series while playing with injuries. I never liked how Wilt threw West under the bus and blamed him for the 1970 finals because he got outplayed in game 7 (it's not like West had a bad series). How about the previous year where West played out of his mind, and the Lakers lost very close games which wouldn't have been as close if Wilt didn't have his brickfest at the charity stripe?

[LAZERUSS]

Wilt was missing FT's all the time, but he doesn't have any such moment when he had to shoot 4 FT's as significant and crucial as Anderson's and missed them.
Forget 4, which are the single 2 most important, "make them or lose", FT's that Wilt has ever missed?

It's interesting, but most recaps that I have read, in which Wilt was at the line late in a "must-win" game....Chamberlain MADE ALL of the FT's. In game seven of the '62 EDF's, Wilt made a three-point play, which tied the game, with 16 seconds left. BTW Wilt was 8-9 from the line in that game, too. And in game seven of the '65 EDF's, Chamberlain scored six of Philly's last eight points (which cut Boston's lead from 110-101 to 110-109), including 2-2 from the line with 36 seconds left.

And...

:roll: :roll: :roll:

the idiots blaming WILT for the '69 Finals loss.

Game four? While Wilt went 2-11 from the line, his counter-part, Russell went 2-12 from the field (and 1-2 from the line.) Oh, and his teammate Baylor not only went 2-14 from the field in that one-point loss, he also shot 1-5 from the line. Furthermore, the Lakers had the lead, 88-87, and the ball, with only a few seconds remaining. How brilliant of a coach was Van Breda Kolff? Instead of having West handling the ball, he had Johnny Egan with it, and of course, the rest was history. Egan was stripped, and Sam Jones, while falling down, hit the game-winner for Boston.

Game seven of the '69 Finals. True, Wilt went 4-13 from the line. However, subtract Wilt's 7-8 from the floor, and Russell's 2-7 from the field...and Russell's teammates outshot Wilt's from the field, by a .477 to .360 margin (and once again, Baylor contributed heavily, ...shooting 8-22)...in a two point loss (and Wilt was not even in the game in the last five minutes...thanks to the genius of "the Butcher" Van Breda Kolff.

But, yes, let's just blame Wilt.

[LAZERUSS]

Wilt was missing FT's all the time, but he doesn't have any such moment when he had to shoot 4 FT's as significant and crucial as Anderson's and missed them.
Forget 4, which are the single 2 most important, "make them or lose", FT's that Wilt has ever missed?

We should start a topic with GOAT players who shot poorly from the field in close playoff game losses, which cost their team's playoff series, in their post-season careers...

Hell, you could even include games in which they shot poorly in wins, but were obviously carried by their teammates.

[T_L_P]

if in 2003 kobe won mvp the same way jordan won mvp in 1988.


I asked you before and, to no surprised, you had no response.

What case does Kobe have in 03? Stats? No. Intangibles? No. Record? No. Ability to win games without the reining Finals MVP? No.

You skew everything. :oldlol:

[LAZERUSS]

BTW, Chamberlain shot .626 from the field overall in his nine game seven's...

and in his two game seven's in his Finals' career combined... .708.

[LAZERUSS]

How about this...


Game Seven's cumulative FG% in their NBA Finals career...

Kareem: .480
Magic: .478
West: .467
Russell: .430
Duncan: .400
Hakeem: .400
Baylor: .356
Bird: .333
Kobe: .250


Wilt: .708

[NZStreetBaller]

easly. i made a thread on it a few months ago


if in 2003 horry doesnt go 3 for 50 in the playoffs. lakers win 4 straight titles

if in 2004 malone plays in the finals. lakers win 5 straight titles

if in 2006 tim thomas doesnt get that rebound. lakers go to atleast the finals ( kobe owned the clippers and mavs that year )

if in 2008 bynum plays. lakers win the title

if phil jackson is hired instead of d'antoni. and nash/howard/gasol all stay healthy. thats a possible title or 2

if chris paul trade isnt veto'd.. him kobe/dwight dominate the next 3-4 years



if eddie jones isnt on the lakers his 1st 2 years. his career average is 28ppg instead of 25ppg


if in 2003, 2006, 2007 kobe won mvp the same way jordan won mvp in 1988.


then after all this. we're looking at a career of all time epic ring counts, mvps, finals mvps and stats


but little things change history and our kobe has to settle with top 5-6 instead of goat

I thought the lakers lost the 2008 finals because the ref was rigged??

[Marchesk]

but little things change history and our kobe has to settle with top 5-6 instead of goat

You never give up the fight, do you?

Let's compare all those what ifs to:

What if Aurebach hadn't traded with St. Louis for Russell's pick, and instead waited two seasons to get Wilt's pick from Philly? He knew about Wilt back in high school, and tried to convince him to go to college in New England so that the Celtics could get him with a territorial pick.

We can do something simple for Hakeem also:

What if Sampson wasn't injury prone?

Walton:

What if Walton wasn't injury prone?

Oscar:

What if he was born later and started out his career with Kareem like Magic did?

Magic:

What if he didn't get HIV?

Bird:

What if he didn't have back problems?

OR:

What if Len Bias didn't OD?

Kareem:

What if he had prime Oscar to start out his career with?

Hakeem again:

What if Houston traded Sampson for Portland's #2 pick and Drexler (which they would have done)?

Lebron:

What if he wasn't 2/5?