by Micah Hart
After several GWBB jumpers to start the season, last night we got our first of the tip-in variety when Andrew Bogut deflected the lob pass from Luc Richard Mbah a Moute into the net as time expired to give the Bucks a 97-95 win over the Pacers.
We are keeping Robert Horry busy in the early goings of this season.
Once again, the Horry scale examines a shot in the categories of difficulty, game situation (was the team tied or behind at the time), importance (playoff game or garden-variety Clippers-Nets game), and celebration, and give it an overall grade on a scale of 1-5 Robert Horrys.
Let’s put another crawfish on the barbecue grill and see how this one rates:
Difficulty: Now we’re talking. Melo, Rudy, Mo, your shots were nice — but they were jumpers. With the Bucks only left with :00.5 left to play in the game, their options were limited. There was time for a catch and shoot logistically, but barely. Most likely, they were going to have to get a tip of some kind.
I gotta give it to Milwaukee here — the Pacers had to know that something around the basket was the Bucks’ best hope, yet Mbah a Moute was still able to find Bogut flying towards the rim. You can fault Indy some for not defending it better, but Brandon Jennings does set a nice back screen on Jeff Foster to give Bogut just the amount of separation he needs to get a hand on the pass. Any time you have such little time, there is little room for error. On this play, the Bucks executed to perfection.
Game Situation: The game was tied, but when there is only half-a-second left, the score of the game only matters if a team trails by three. There are no discussions of strategy with 0.5 on the clock, no conversations about waiting for the last shot or making your move early enough to get a rebound, you just do whatever you can to get a hand on the basketball heading towards the basket and hope for the best.
Importance: The Central Division is up for grabs, Carlos Boozer‘s return to the Bulls nonwithstanding. The Pacers are proving surprisingly feisty so far, and though Milwaukee hasn’t shown their form from the end of last season, they could still factor in the race. It’s early, but wins in December count just as much as ones in April.
Celebration: Obviously the home crowd erupts, and I especially like Bogut’s Euro-style two-hand fist-shake after the ball drops.
Grade:
4 Horrys. Very high marks for difficulty, and the division aspect of the game raises the stakes.
What do you think?
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no way it deserves 3 1/2 horrys, there is no way you can rank this one over fisher’s shot, yes he did have limited time but all he did was have to be near the rim and tip it in. Some can even say it was luck, what fisher did in my opinion was much harder; he had to go over two guys and lay it in. Bogut was virtually unguarded.
Fisher plays for the Lakers, nobody cares what he does.
Agreed. Absolutely. Good work, love it when our big Aussie throws down and shows us how good he can be.
raymond, everyone can tell you are a laker lover, so just be quiet. Bogut’s shot was great. I like the lakers too, but fisher’s was just a layup. okay?