Why I Should Be In Charge- Part 1

As you can probably guess by my needless sports blogging, I watch a lot of sports. One of the things that drives me the craziest about sports is when I can figure things out better than those in the game. Like, for example, how I can see immediately when a basketball player's shot is drifting because of the positioning of his feet. If I can figure that out, why can't they? Anyway, it's one thing when it's a player making a dumb mistake but it's an entirely different issue when I feel like I'm outsmarting a coach.

Take tonight for example. The Mavericks are playing the Oklahoma City Thunder. It's a one point game with 6 seconds to go. Dallas is inbounding the ball off a Thunder free throw so they have talked about what play they'll run and who they'll get the ball to in this situation. Like they seem to do every time, the Mavs go directly to Jason Terry. Terry steps to the line and promptly misses both free throws, giving the Thunder a shot to win the game with a desperation heave at the buzzer.

Giving the ball to Terry in this situation is a huge mistake and I'll give you two reasons.

1.) You have Dirk Nowitzki on the floor. Dirk is one of the 10 best free throw shooters in the league and at one point this year hadn't missed a single freebie in the 4th quarter (a ridiculous stat). He's also huge so in a situation where you know the other team is going to foul immediately and there's virtually no chance of a steal, all you have to do is lob the ball over the top of the defense and Dirk is going to get two points at the line.

2.) Jason Terry is a freaking terrible free throw shooter in the clutch. I don't know why because the guy has ice in the veins when he's shooting an important jumpers. But for some reason, he fails over and over at the free throw line when it counts. That's not a new thing, either. He lost a game for the Mavs in the 2004 playoffs with poor free throw shooting down the stretch. He also cost the Mavs a game against New Orleans earlier this year by missing two free throws that would have put the game out of range. It's happened A LOT.

What I don't understand is how a smart coach like Rick Carlisle continues to choose to get the ball into Terry's hands in these situations. If you're scrambling to get the ball in and Terry winds up with it, that's fine, you live with that. But you don't purposely run a play where the number one option is to get the ball to Terry. When he caught the ball I told my wife, "I guarantee he misses at least one of these shots." I wish that was some sort of a gamble but it's not gambling when you know you're going to win. Terry may be an 85% free throw shooter on the season but I would guess his shooting percentage is, at best, 60% in clutch situations.

If I, as a know-nothing fan watching every game on a TV in his home, can tell you Terry isn't dependable at the line in those situations, shouldn't a coach who gets paid two million dollars a year be able to figure this out as well? And that is why I should be in charge.

-BG