He has always been a choker when it comes to making clutch free throws, so no shocker at all that he missed both freebies. Expected it. More disappointed that FVV has recently been missing free throws. That’s not who he is. Udoka had an off night by not having his team foul at the end of regulation and calling a stupid challenge for the fourth game in a row. He has regressed on his challenges and late game fouling.
Ime said they always foul in that scenario, he has told them to do it all year in that scenario, and told a few of the guys they are fouling, they should have known or communicated better on the floor.
I am not sure if that was supposed to have a comedic effect ....lol but I had to chuckle .....Bari going to visit his Guru.
He's too good of a ft shooter to miss both of them but you can't let 2 misses erase an entire season of growth.
Jabari's missed free throws in this Dallas game and the San Antonio game at the start of the season stand out. But there's been plenty of other games this season when Smith made crucial free throws with the game on the line. And there's been other times when other players missed free throws that could've put games away.
Except they DON'T always foul in that scenario. They keep refusing to and it's cost them at least 3 games this season(and nearly a 4th in OKC). The Rockets could be 41-37 right now and at least in the picture for the last play-in spot.
The thing about missing clutch FTs though is that unlike other things - having a great game 7, hitting a game winning shot etc - there's lots of other factors like the other team, the referees etc that affect the outcome that the player has no control over FTs is just you vs your inner demon trying to do the thing you've done a million times before - I feel pretty bad for Smith its an awful experience.
Ya that's a lot of pressure for a 20 year old. It can really cause mental health issues if he really internalizes stuff like this. Hopefully his teammates just encourage him to forget about it.
Tbf - and im not off the Bari ship or anything cause of end of game free throws (though might be for other reasons lol) - making free throws is part of his job. And everyone's. That's how it goes - you make them, it should be applauded but not really that much. You miss them, spectacularly, like this, more than once.... you're going to take ****... sorry.
yeah that's fair. And I guess that's part of the job for NBA players. He just seems to take a little more flak than others for not being clutch, when he's also shown he can be. Anyway, i'm still pretty confident Jabari's going to keep improving in the next two or three seasons. The only thing that can hold him back is his lack of physical presence in the paint. But then again, if he bulks up too much to compensate, he might lose a lot of the advantage that he has now.
Everybody on this team has blown big opportunity free throws this season. What’s the big deal about a meaningless game at the end of a long season?!?
