Trae Iverson . . and other great small guard Game 7 performances

[TheNorthCydeRises]

I've been calling Trae . . "Trae Iverson" all year, specifically when he tries to put the team on his back.  Even through some of his struggles, he's come through.  We've seen that time and again during this playoffs.

While this is from our opponent, this is one of the great moments in Iverson's career.   The determination he showed in this game reminds me of Trae so much.  Even his post game comments are Trae-like.

Trae . . . don't be afraid to be truly GREAT today.  This little guy did it.

 

 

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Isiah Thomas vs Washington

At one time, this guy owned the basketball world as the ultimate underdog.  He almost . . ALMOST . . made the Celtics likable.  It was performances like this, that had him in the running to get a max contract.

 

 

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Tim Hardaway vs New York

The Heat were down 3 - 1 in this series, but Hardaway put his guys on his back to win the next 3 games.  This was his virtuoso performance in the series.

 

 

[bleachkit]

Trae has been so good, but I feel like a W tonight will require an overall team performance. 

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Kevin Johnson vs Houston

KJ really brought it on this day.  An epic 46 points and had made 21 straight FTs at one point in the game.

 

 

 . . . but he missed FT #22 . . and this happened.  The "great" Danny Schayes got caught in the ultimate "no man's land".  Do you leave one of the greatest centers of all time under the basket for a possible layup?  Or do you run to the corner to prevent a game winning 3 pointer?   He played it about as well as he could.   I still don't know why Phoenix opted to do a half court trap in that situation.

Robert Horry is known for his game winning shots.  But he made a game winning cross court assist on this play.

Still . . a great performance by the small guard KJ.

 

 

[TheNorthCydeRises]

10 minutes ago, bleachkit said:

Trae has been so good, but I feel like a W tonight will require an overall team performance. 

 

The "team" has proven in this series that it can't be trusted.  And the M.O. for this team playing winning basketball, is for Trae to score at a high level.  That's been the mantra even in these playoffs.  And normally, playoff series are won by the superstar, even if the role player makes a big shot toward the end.

That Mario Elie "kiss of death" 3 pointer was only his 8th point of the day.  Yet, he was ready to make and take the shot when it came his way.

What I want the "team" to do, is provide timely scoring, if they can't fully help Trae.  Trae needs to be prepared once again to put up 30 shots, especially if he has it going.  Yes, he still needs to facilitate.  But if he sees that his teammates aren't helping him, he must try to put the game in his hands from a scoring standpoint.

If I'm Nate, he's going the full 48 minutes tonight, unless they can build an early lead.  

It's incredible that Trae was +7 in that game on Friday, yet, we still lost by 5 points.  That means we were -12 in the 8 minutes he sat out.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

20 minutes ago, bleachkit said:

Trae has been so good, but I feel like a W tonight will require an overall team performance. 

 

This is what you want to see

 

Robert Pack vs Seattle

In what is still the biggest upset in NBA playoff history, the Denver Nuggets . . a young, rag tag bunch that didn't have a superstar player, but played extremely hard, upset the Seattle Supersonics in 1994, in the decisive Game 5 in the 1st round.

Pack was a 6th man on this team, who took over the game in the 2nd half with hard drives to the basket and timely 3 point shooting.  When you talk about epic playoff road wins, this ranks right up there.

 

 

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Isiah Thomas vs Chicago

In what would be Detroit's 2nd trip to the NBA Finals, Isiah Thomas was 2 rebounds shy of a triple-double in Detroit's decisive win over the Bulls in 1990.

This would also be the next to last playoff series that the Michael Jordan led Bulls would ever lose. ( 1994 vs Orlando would be the last one ).

 

 

[Spud2nique]

KJ and Zeke my fav. Let’s go Trae!

[NBASupes]

1 hour ago, bleachkit said:

Trae has been so good, but I feel like a W tonight will require an overall team performance. 

This