4. A missed field goal without a block
So maybe let’s look at a shot that wasn’t altered midair by a defender. After all, blocks are cheap. They’re basically goaltending, but legal, and goaltending is illegal, so it’s bad.
Here Fultz shoots a shot from a couple feet away, and it rolls on the top of the backboard for a bit. It didn’t go in the hoop hole.
There was a tip-in and all was well, but come on. That should have been a foul. Not necessarily because it was but mostly because I wanted it to be.
You see, there were a few jumpshots and nifty layup-y things on display during this game, and that was all nice to see and whatever. But the thing that was making Fultz’s shot infamous prior this season were the free throw clips that would leak out every now and again. I wanted to see that in action in game. Would the form be janky again? Would it have recovered slightly? How about that shoulder? Is that still doing work?
We never got to find out, and this is as close as we came. That would have made my day about six times better. As it stands, the day was bad.
That said, the footwork there was nice. He caught the ball and had an excellent burst to the basket. If points were tallied by really fast body movement on a basketball court rather than basketball balls going through a basketball net, Fultz would have probably had about eight points on this play.
But it isn’t. And he doesn’t. And that’s on him. This possession can only be deemed a failure. It’s unfortunate, really.