My mind is officially boggled

[Chuck Taylor]

Why was Andre Miller selected over Rudy Fernandez to shoot the technical with 6:54 to go in the 2nd quarter?

Rudy FT shooting: .857 season / .844 career
Miller FT shooting: .817 season / .803 career

At the time, I remember thinking, "I hope we don't lose this game by one point, because Rudy should have shot that".

I'm not blaming the whole loss on this....but seriously, does anyone know who selects the player to shoot? And does anyone know why anyone in their right mind would select Andre over Rudy?

 

[The_Lillard_King]

Interesting point you bring up. I didn't give it a second thought that Miller took it . . . a vet going to the line to drain it. Seems like a PG/leader thing to do.

But again, you bring up an intersting point.

 

[The Other Guys]

Pretty interesting. But then again, if we hit a FG in the last 3 minutes, or we have Brandon Roy, we probably win that game, and non of these conversations would be happening.

 

[Chuck Taylor]

Pretty interesting. But then again, if we hit a FG in the last 3 minutes, or we have Brandon Roy, we probably win that game, and non of these conversations would be happening.

Sure, which is why I said I wasn't blaming the loss on this. But it doesn't take away from my point, either. No matter what the score is, and what the final outcome turns out to be, why wouldn't you have your best free throw shooter on the court take the technical?

I'm just wondering who made this dumb decision.

 

[The Other Guys]

Sure, which is why I said I wasn't blaming the loss on this. But it doesn't take away from my point, either. No matter what the score is, and what the final outcome turns out to be, why wouldn't you have your best free throw shooter on the court take the technical?

I'm just wondering who made this dumb decision.

Yeah I see what you mean, it was definitely frustrating. I hope it wasn't the same person who decided to put Steve Blake in at the end just because.

 

[Tince]

I get the impression that on some teams, players just step up and shoot FT's while other teams look over to the bench. I remember Blake saying last year that he wasn't going to take technical free throws anymore (by his choice) and Roy started shooting them.

Either way, Miller's FT was WAY short. Rudy seems to be a horrible technical FT shooter as well (given his high FT percentage)>

 

[Chuck Taylor]

I get the impression that on some teams, players just step up and shoot FT's while other teams look over to the bench. I remember Blake saying last year that he wasn't going to take technical free throws anymore (by his choice) and Roy started shooting them.

Either way, Miller's FT was WAY short. Rudy seems to be a horrible technical FT shooter as well (given his high FT percentage)>

You might be right that the players have a role in deciding. Which, in my opinion, is ludicrous. The team spends so much time and money scouting players, looking at pre-draft measurements & stats, etc., yet they can't have one of their assistant coaches keep track of who their best free throw shooter is? Maybe if the player with the best free throw percentage got to actually shoot the technical, it would motivate the other players to work on their free throws.

 

[VanillaGorilla]

Rudy misses more technical free throws than he makes, or so it seems.

 

[THE HCP]

It's a veteran thing. He is the vet, and the leader on the court right now, so he took it. Nobody is gonna argue with him taking it honestly. Wish he would have made it though.

 

[Chuck Taylor]

It's a veteran thing. He is the vet, and the leader on the court right now, so he took it. Nobody is gonna argue with him taking it honestly. Wish he would have made it though.

I'm arguing with him taking it! I say put your best free throw shooter at the line.

 

[Minstrel]

Why was Andre Miller selected over Rudy Fernandez to shoot the technical with 6:54 to go in the 2nd quarter?

Rudy FT shooting: .857 season / .844 career
Miller FT shooting: .817 season / .803 career

At the time, I remember thinking, "I hope we don't lose this game by one point, because Rudy should have shot that".

I'm not blaming the whole loss on this....but seriously, does anyone know who selects the player to shoot? And does anyone know why anyone in their right mind would select Andre over Rudy?

Sure, Rudy probably should have taken the shot (if he's physically right), but the percentage difference is pretty insignificant when it comes to one free throw. For the sake of shooting a technical free throw, they're about equally likely to hit it. Over the course of a season, Fernandez's slightly superiority might add up to a few extra points taking all free throw opportunities into account.

In other words, other than Fernandez's back being tweaked, I don't have any good reason why Miller should shoot the free throw over Fernandez...but I also don't think which of them shoots it matters, really.

 

[rocketeer]

andre miller has attempted more free throws this season than rudy has in his nba career.

i really don't see how this can be a complaint. it's fine if rudy takes it, but it's also fine if miller takes it

 

[Tince]

andre miller has attempted more free throws this season than rudy has in his nba career.

i really don't see how this can be a complaint. it's fine if rudy takes it, but it's also fine if miller takes it

Well said...

 

[Chuck Taylor]

Sure, Rudy probably should have taken the shot (if he's physically right), but the percentage difference is pretty insignificant when it comes to one free throw. For the sake of shooting a technical free throw, they're about equally likely to hit it. Over the course of a season, Fernandez's slightly superiority might add up to a few extra points taking all free throw opportunities into account.

In other words, other than Fernandez's back being tweaked, I don't have any good reason why Miller should shoot the free throw over Fernandez...but I also don't think which of them shoots it matters, really.

I agree it probably didn't matter...but I don't understand why you wouldn't alleviate any doubt and just put your best free throw shooter up there.

 

[Chuck Taylor]

andre miller has attempted more free throws this season than rudy has in his nba career.

i really don't see how this can be a complaint. it's fine if rudy takes it, but it's also fine if miller takes it

So when deciding who should shoot, we should throw out who has the best percentage and just look at attempts? I don't understand this logic.

 

[Minstrel]

So when deciding who should shoot, we should throw out who has the best percentage and just look at attempts? I don't understand this logic.

I think he's making an argument about experience. That Miller is a more experienced, proven free throw shooter. Obviously, if there's a significant difference in skill, that matters more. But there wasn't one here.

I'm not sure that experience is really key but, on the other hand, when it's otherwise pretty close to a toss-up, I don't mind going with experience.

 

[Chuck Taylor]

I think he's making an argument about experience. That Miller is a more experienced, proven free throw shooter. Obviously, if there's a significant difference in skill, that matters more. But there wasn't one here.

I'm not sure that experience is really key but, on the other hand, when it's otherwise pretty close to a toss-up, I don't mind going with experience.

Yeah, throughout his career he is more experienced at missing than Rudy is!

 

[Tince]

I wish they kept stats on technical ft shooting percentage. I would guess Miller is higher than Rudy.

Either way, I think we're splitting hairs, it's not like Shaq took the FT over Rudy...

 

[rocketeer]

So when deciding who should shoot, we should throw out who has the best percentage and just look at attempts? I don't understand this logic.

i didn't say that attempts were more important than percentage. percentage is obviously very important in the situation. the difference in their free throw shooting is 3%. that's nothing significant.

and while i really don't think the experience matters, it's there. as is the possibility of rudy not being 100%.

would you have been pissed if roy was healthy and taken the shot?

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

Why was Andre Miller selected over Rudy Fernandez to shoot the technical with 6:54 to go in the 2nd quarter?

Rudy FT shooting: .857 season / .844 career
Miller FT shooting: .817 season / .803 career

At the time, I remember thinking, "I hope we don't lose this game by one point, because Rudy should have shot that".

I'm not blaming the whole loss on this....but seriously, does anyone know who selects the player to shoot? And does anyone know why anyone in their right mind would select Andre over Rudy?

Maybe because he's a proven veteran.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Alternatively: why did Blake have his foot on the line when shooting that three at half-time?
Or: why did the Blazers cough up a nine point lead in the closing minutes?

 

[Chuck Taylor]

Alternatively: why did Blake have his foot on the line when shooting that three at half-time?
Or: why did the Blazers cough up a nine point lead in the closing minutes?

zero relevance. Neither can be decided when the clock is stopped, like who shoots a free throw.

 

[Nikolokolus]

I get the impression that on some teams, players just step up and shoot FT's while other teams look over to the bench. I remember Blake saying last year that he wasn't going to take technical free throws anymore (by his choice) and Roy started shooting them.

Either way, Miller's FT was WAY short. Rudy seems to be a horrible technical FT shooter as well (given his high FT percentage)>

It's like who does the jump ball, it's just a role, and when you have designated guys (especially guys who don't get bothered by pressure) there's no question when the time comes whose responsibility it is.

I have no problem with Dre taking taking technical fouls as a career 80%+ free throw shooter.

 

[Chuck Taylor]

Maybe because he's a proven veteran.

Again, all he's proven is that he misses more often than Rudy.

 

[Chuck Taylor]

It's like who does the jump ball, it's just a role, and when you have designated guys (especially guys who don't get bothered by pressure) there's no question when the time comes, whose responsibility it is.

I have no problem with Dre taking taking technical fouls as a career 80%+ free throw shooter.

This is a good theory. The role idea makes some sense.

Of course, I think it should be Rudy's role, but its the best answer I've heard.

 

[Nikolokolus]

This is a good theory. The role idea makes some sense.

Of course, I think it should be Rudy's role, but its the best answer I've heard.

Maybe it would be if Rudy hadn't missed a month and a half of games

All I'm saying is that sometimes certain players are better in that particular situation (standing there all alone) than others, regardless of their career or season FT%. I wish I could find statistics for it, but I'd be willing to bet his technical FT% is probably higher than his career 'regular' FT%

 

[Kaydow]

I was at the game and a few people mentioned this. Andre is an 80+% guy, so I didn't give it much thought. I was boggled with replacing Rudy at the 1:42 mark with Blake. Rudy was having one of his best games as a Blazer. He looked more comfortable out there than maybe I've ever seen him. He made the right passes, he was getting to the basket (which we haven't seen much) and he was getting rebounds/loose balls like crazy.

I'm not banging on Blake, and this isn't a hindsight 20/20. At the time Rudy came out for Blake I said "What is he thinking?" to my buddy. Rudy seemed to have it all going last night. Blake seems to excel when you have a Roy or Bayless who can break down a defense forcing Blake's defender to leave him open. Last night, that wasn't happening. Miller couldn't get a step on anybody all night, and Bayless wasn't even in the game. They just didn't have any playmakers out there until they put Bayless in the 3 seconds left. It was just ugly to watch. Every possession was a struggle to even get a shot off.

 

[hasoos]

Why was Andre Miller selected over Rudy Fernandez to shoot the technical with 6:54 to go in the 2nd quarter?

Rudy FT shooting: .857 season / .844 career
Miller FT shooting: .817 season / .803 career

At the time, I remember thinking, "I hope we don't lose this game by one point, because Rudy should have shot that".

I'm not blaming the whole loss on this....but seriously, does anyone know who selects the player to shoot? And does anyone know why anyone in their right mind would select Andre over Rudy?

Because Nate is the coach.

 

[Minstrel]

Yeah, throughout his career he is more experienced at missing than Rudy is!

No, he's proven to be close enough to Rudy in making free throws that it literally doesn't matter who takes one free throw, between them. You're obsessing over a decision that didn't matter, because the percentage difference is so small as to be essentially irrelevant in one shot.

 

[hasoos]

No, he's proven to be close enough to Rudy in making free throws that it literally doesn't matter who takes one free throw, between them. You're obsessing over a decision that didn't matter, because the percentage difference is so small as to be essentially irrelevant in one shot.

I disagree. He shoots well enough better that he hits one out of 20 more than Miller, which, when your in a tight game, you put on the line. You play the numbers. The Celtics have guys that shoot in the 80's too. Do you ever see any of them put on the line when Ray Allen is in the game? He shoots 90+ percent but is only about .050 better than them. But according to you, that is splitting hairs.