Posts Tagged ‘Martell Webster’

Horry Scale: Crawford Sinks Blazers

January 22, 2013  ·  9:19AM

by Jeff Case

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We were getting a little worried around here, what with it being almost a full month since the Kings’ James Johnson delivered the last entry to the 2012-13 Horry Scale. Thank goodness (unless, of course, you’re a Portland fan) for Washington’s Jordan Crawford and his heroics in the Rose Garden on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

If you haven’t been paying attention to the Wizards — what with their 8-30 record entering Monday night — they haven’t had the best of seasons so far. Point guard phenom John Wall missed 32 of those games recovering from knee surgery, big man Nene has been in and out of the lineup with ailments and, with all that in mind, Washington not surprisingly started the season 0-12. (The team Washington beat for its first win? Portland.)

One of the few bright spots for the Wizards has been Crawford, who is the team’s leading scorer. It hasn’t been all awful for Washington lately — entering Monday night’s game, the Wizards were 3-2 in the five games since Wall’s return and notched a win at the always-tough Pepsi Center in Denver.

Portland has seen better days. The Blazers were in the midst of a five-game swoon entering Monday. Nicolas Batum recorded his first career triple-double, but that was of little consolation in a nail-biting loss to the Wizards. How did Portland lose this one? Blazers fans, pick the moment. Was it Damian Lillard‘s dunk over Nene that pulled the score to 91-90 with 2:21 left? Was it Wes Matthews‘ game-tying 3-pointer with 7.9 seconds left that tied it at 95? Or was it Crawford’s game-winner that crushed any hopes of victory? We’ll get into all of this soon.

For those that are new around these parts, the Horry scale examines a game-winning buzzer-beater (GWBB) in the categories of difficulty, game situation (was the team tied or behind at the time?), importance (playoff game or garden-variety Kings-Pistons game?) and celebration (is it over the top or too chill? Just the right panache or needs more sauce?). Then we give it an overall grade on a scale of 1-5 Robert Horrys, the patron saint of last-second daggers.

How does Crawford’s shot Monday night stack up? Let’s take a look. (more…)

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Martell Webster Has A Merkle’s Boner Moment

February 21, 2012  ·  6:25PM

by Micah Hart

Martell Webster, you’re going to be kicking yourself for this one for awhile:



Everyone makes mistakes, so I don’t want to be too hard on Martell, but this little faux pas is particularly grating to basketball fans, because we like to think the players should be aware of the time and score at all times. Scoring two when you need three is infuriating (I’m still angry at Texas player Darren Kelly for making the same mistake against Arizona in a college game in 1999), just like when you give up an unexpected onside kick in football because your blockers turn their backs before the ball is kicked. Like the boys scouts, athletes should always be prepared.

Obviously Webster didn’t mean to do it, and he showed the requisite contrition over the flub on Twitter this morning. But one has to wonder if this mistake could end up costing the Timberwolves in the long run*.

Minnesota came into last night’s game trailing Denver by one game for the 8th spot in the Western Conference, and had they won would be tied today. Instead they are two games back, and as we all know, every game has added importance in this shortened season. Obviously, his mistake didn’t specifically cost them the win. There is no guarantee he or any of his teammates would have made the game-tying three, or that they’d win in overtime even if they had. But it was a wasted opportunity, and if the Timberwolves end up missing the postseason by a game they may remember this one. Or at least Martell will.

*If you are not a baseball fan, you may not get the reference to Merkle’s Boner in the headline. Fred Merkle was a rookie with the New York Giants in the National League back in 1908, and in a game against the Cubs forgot to run to second base on what was should have been the game-winning hit. Instead he was tagged out, the game ended in a tie, and ended up being replayed after the season when the Cubs and Giants finished the same record and tied for first. Had Merkle simply touched second, the Giants would have won the pennant. Instead the Cubs won the replay and went on to win the World Series, which isn’t a big deal because they do that all the time. Kidding!

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