Take your pick. On the last play of the game, everything that makes J McNeal the mystery that he is was on display.
1) Instincts...Great steal...
2) Speed to the hoop...
3) Not seeing the floor...
4) Missing the wide open dish for an easy 2...
5) Running smack into a defender...
6) AND...athletically scoring and winning the game...
On this occasion, the fact that refs don't like to call blocking or charging with the game on the line saved us in regulation...Run out of South Florida with this game in a burlap bag...
He consistently plays hard and he is the motivation for the whole team.
I agree with all the points except number 4. If Mcneal had dumped the ball off to james the clock would have ran out and the game would have went to overtime
I agree about the clock running out, looking at the video clip that was put on this site, and watching, I dont think McNeal could have passed it and James get a shot off... but lets face it, as much as McNeal is good for the team, he tends to dribble with blinders on
i disagree, james had already passed mcneal and stopped under the hoop before the ball had even left his hand. he gives up the ball at the free throw line and it's a much easier lay-in. i hate arguing about this though. we have a guy hit a game-winner and people still find something negative to bring up...
edit: the best angle to see what i'm talking about is NOT the espn clip, but the feed from USF...
Jerel is second in on the team in assists, only 17 behind DJ, I think his passing is just fine.
Also in his post games comments, he said he saw DJ, but that the defender wouldn't commit to him, so he took the ball to the rack himself instead of passing.
Quote from: Djgoldnboy on January 29, 2007, 11:41:53 AMAlso in his post games comments, he said he saw DJ, but that the defender wouldn't commit to him, so he took the ball to the rack himself instead of passing.
I heard him say this too. If you watch the clip, you can see that the USF defender did a pretty nice job. He stayed a step off of McNeal and didn't commit to him until the last moment. This discouraged the pass and forced a more difficult, well-defended shot. It
almost drew a charge. If the defender would have comitted one step earlier, he may well have drawn the charge.
But, if he'd comitted one step earlier, McNeal may well have made the pass to DJ. I think it was pretty good defense, and it almost worked. McNeal just made a nice contested shot.