KLAMarine said:
burninmylight said:
I didn't say flail, I said flare. Flail would suggest he was waving his limbs around like a Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Tube Man. By "flare", I meant that he extended his legs out on his way down from the FG attempt at the goal. Watch the replay one more time. Look at his left leg. That's not a natural landing motion. It would be one thing if he was attempting a dunk or layup off of a fastbreak, where momentum can cause you to do some unusual things in trying to gather yourself, but he was essentially shooting a jumper right at the basket. Some people think that Irving was trying to draw contact by kicking his leg out. I'm not convinced of that, but it's still not a natural motion, and coming straight down with both legs would have made more sense.
https://youtu.be/fXBttjSVF3o?t=40
Also, look at where Giannis is focused during the entire play. Notice how he's not looking at Kyrie at all, especially his lower body. He's solely focused on squaring up for a potential rebound. Eyes are intently on the goal. How would he be able to slide his foot under a man that is slightly behind him that he can't even see? If he wanted to hurt Irving, wouldn't he need to at least be looking in his general direction to see where he would land to get his foot in the right place? If anything, Irving would have been better off if Giannis WAS trying to hurt him, because then Giannis would have guessed wrong due to Irving's weird kick-out of his left leg.
Also also, the Zaza rule only applies to jump shooters beyond the arc. The defender has to slide his foot under the defender in an unnatural way. This play happened right at the rim, and as anyone can plainly see, Giiannis wasn't closing out on the shooter, he was positioning for a rebound. Giannis didn't do anything dirty. Freak injuries occasionally happen in basketball.
If you think that play is dirty, then tell me if you think this play is dirty:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_I89VejE0c
Looking forward to your honest answer.
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Dunno, surely Giannis has a general idea of where Kyrie is and where his legs are thus has an idea of where his feet are coming down. And I see Giannis extending the leg: I don't need to look at my own feet to know where I'm putting them.
Whatever man, I don't like it but what can I do about it? Nothing.
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Yes, Giannis has a general idea of where Kyrie is. But how is he supposed to know exactly where Kyrie's legs are when Kyrie is 1) behind his right shoulder 2) where Giannis can't see him while he's focused on the rim because he's going for the rebound 3) in mid-air, so he has no idea where Kyrie will land, other than assuming Kyrie will come straight down from a jump shot 4) Kyrie is kicking out his left leg?
You don't need to look at your own feet to know where you're putting them. Do you need to look at mine to know where I'm putting mine if I'm not in your line of sight? How much more so when you're not focusing on me, but on something else?
Also, you never answered my question from my previous reply. Tell me if you consider this a dirty play:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_I89VejE0c
Spoiler!
I don't think it was dirty at all. I don't like it either, and I hope it doesn't have any long-term ramifications on Irving's career, but it's basketball. I stopped playing in 6th grade when the exact same thing happened to me and I wound up with a broken nose.
Last edited by burninmylight - on 22 June 2021
