I am not throwing away my shot, I am not throwing away my shot, hey, I’m just like DeRozan, but younger and a better three point shooter, I am not throwing away my shot…
The Bulls were in DC on Wednesday night to face the Wizards; certainly a winnable game in any Bulls’ fans’ mind. However, the Bulls would be without DeMar Derozan. No worries, we have Zach Lavine. Zach came into this one red hot; we were finally seeing the Lavine we’d be waiting for. Against Philly and Utah last week, Lavine made a total of 17 three pointers! This was good for a combined 77 points and most importantly, 2 Bulls wins. Yes, there was the Celtics game… Look, they’re the best team in the NBA, and yes, we know there are no points for effort, but it was a good game, especially losing DD mid-game. So yeah, I did think Lavine would be enough to lead the Bulls past the Wizards. The Wizards, however, had beaten the Bulls earlier this year in DC; that was the 2nd game of the season, where the Bulls first revealed their performance against sub-par teams, falling flat after their surprising opening night win in Miami. That game was without Lavine though… In the next matchup at the UC, the Bulls took care of business, barely, but that’s all it takes. Splitting the season series thus far, would Zach be able to lead us to the W?
It was going well. The Bulls, lead by 20 points from Zach, went into the locker room up by 13 points; I was happy to see this. I was listening a bit on the radio, and then checking the score on my phone. Taking the loss at Boston in stride, hoping that the Bulls could continue their mostly winning ways. Then the 3rd quarter happened… I didn’t watch it, but I can guess by looking at the 41 points the Wizards scored that quarter (20 more than us) that the Bulls thought they had this game in the bag, and relaxed on defense, maybe took some poor, lazy shots on offense? This is what we’ve seen too many times from this Bulls team. We did get home just in time to see the exciting finish.
Bulls down 3 with the ball; Zach puts one up from deep…. swish! Tie game! Yeah, Zach! That’s what I’m talking about. Really the only option on the court for the Bulls without DD, Lavine came through and hit a big shot. Game wasn’t over yet… Kuzma hit an even bigger shot to put the Wizards back up 3…. but the game STILL wasn’t over. The Bulls would get one final attempt to tie this one up. This was it; another big opportunity for Zach. No DD meant our choice to take the last shot was crystal clear. I have had this running discussion with my wife and son, as well as, in these blogs, about the last shot. Obviously we can trust DD; he hasn’t hit as many big shots this year as last, but still… rock solid when it counts. I’ve been wanting to see Zach get his shot in the clutch. I know his history, of bad shot selections when it matters most; we haven’t seen Lavine come up big when it matters. I think he deserves another shot. This was IT. No DD. Zach’s been hot. Zach just hit a huge trey. One more, and this game goes to OT.
What happened next is mind boggling. You can’t even make this shit up. Zach did get the ball; OK, we knew that. But instead of raising up from 3 point land (yes, it would have been a tough shot, no doubt, but that’s what we needed), he takes a shot from within the 3 point line (yes, a 2 point shot… with 2 seconds left… and we’re down 3). It did look like the Wizards guy tried to foul him (they did have a foul to give); did he? Who knows. But to take a 2 point shot at that moment was inexcusable. I couldn’t have been more disappointed. Oh yeah, he missed anyways btw. But at least take a three pointer… give us a shot to tie the game; you miss it, fine, but to not even take a trey??? What the hell was he thinking??? I know what I’m thinking…
So, let the DD vs Zach drama continue basically. DD, who knows what to do when it matters most, who is able to hit the big shot, who still gets MVP chants at the free throw line at the UC…vs… Zach, who continues to make bad decisions late in the game, who hasn’t made the big shot, who gets ZERO MVP chants at the free throw line at the UC. I want Zach to succeed; being our max player… he needs to for us to be successful. I just don’t think he has IT. He’s a great player, no doubt, but… truth is, DD is still the man on this team, and however hard it is for Zach to accept that, he hasn’t done enough to prove that this isn’t the case. Is there more time? Sure, but this night… what a bummer for Zach, for the Bulls, and for us… Don’t worry though; next game Friday night at the UC. Another shot will come soon enough, maybe… Go Bulls!!!
Leave a Reply