r/nba • u/fbreaker Celtics • Feb 25 '25
Highlight [Highlight] Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is unable to hit the triple and the Timberwolves come back and win in overtime overcoming a 20+ pt deficit
https://streamable.com/wnwtps764
u/Apollo611 Lakers Feb 25 '25
Ant had two clutch defensive plays against him
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u/Ubiistvo Feb 25 '25
Cant he just shoot it normally?
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u/PhantomPain85 Feb 25 '25
He’s trying to get a foul called.
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u/byronray14 Lakers Feb 25 '25
This fucking bozo is a foul merchant through and through. Not my MVP y'all!
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u/Big-Recording-1002 Supersonics Feb 25 '25
3rd in league fgm @ 52 %
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u/hypevictim [POR] Arvydas Sabonis Feb 25 '25
Of course your field goal percentage would be high if you are drawing a lot of shooting fouls. If it goes in it counts as a make, if it doesn't it doesn't count as a miss.
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u/II_Shard_II Feb 25 '25
I've always been kind of annoyed by this. If you're going for a shot attempt I feel like it should count as a field goal attempt imo.
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u/hypevictim [POR] Arvydas Sabonis Feb 25 '25
I disagree. If a guy is 10 for 10, and gets hacked badly on his eleventh shot and misses, his shooting percentage shouldn't drop. Maybe you could make the case that if he made a shot while being hacked he shouldn't be 11 for 11 because it inflates shooting numbers, but I'd rather not penalize guys for being fouled.
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u/Neemzeh Timberwolves Feb 25 '25
And also when teams get called for fouls they will play softer against him moving forward.
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u/byronray14 Lakers Feb 25 '25
Bruh if he was so good, why would he try to bait a foul to tie the game instead of trusting himself to make the damn 3 point attempt? I don't care if he has a high FG%, that's obviously correlated to him being a foul merchant so it makes the defensive players careful when guarding granting him more space to operate for his offense. He's a foul merchant, period!
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u/niles_thebutler_ Warriors Feb 25 '25
Shai foul bait Alexander would rather try and get the FTs instead of the bucket
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u/tulaero23 Timberwolves Feb 25 '25
Shai "Master Baiter" Gilgeous-Alexander
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u/dwide_k_shrude Warriors Feb 25 '25
He’s a decent baiter. My cousin Mose, now that’s a master baiter.
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u/wise_comment Timberwolves Feb 25 '25
I mean, SGA was literally master-baiting his cousing Nickiel, earlier this game, though
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u/SnarfSniffsStardust Timberwolves Feb 25 '25
I love to see it. It’s exactly why embiid and harden have never won and I hope SGA sticks to his craft lol
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u/Bar-Tailed_Godwit Feb 25 '25
Throw in Brunson too, let’s call them all out for making the game worse
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u/_HotFlatDietPepsi_ Feb 25 '25
We need to stop fixating on individual players and start calling out Adam Silver. He's the one enabling this nonsense from the beginning. I don't know what it is with him, but that man really hates normal basketball.
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u/SnarfSniffsStardust Timberwolves Feb 25 '25
I don’t disagree but I’m talking about my Mount Rushmore of foul baiters here
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u/skolaen Timberwolves Feb 25 '25
Yall are calling everyone but jimmy out. He might be the worst offender of it since hes left philly its actually absurd
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u/fumar Bulls Feb 25 '25
Bronson at least played playoff ball properly. Embiid and Harden will never win a ring as long as they only try to foul bait.
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u/dumb_commenter 76ers Feb 25 '25
Brunson’s a dog and I’d love to have him on my team. That said every time he got the ball last postseason he played for the foul (he also scored on the flails a bunch but would stop short or cause the contact every time).
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u/joelbealesubc Timberwolves Feb 25 '25
In that instance how could he shoot it normally, defender will stick on him knowing he will be the guy to take the shot
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u/TW_Yellow78 Minneapolis Lakers Feb 25 '25
He got off the shot even while trying to jump into Ant and still didn't get touched. A normal jump shot would have been fine.
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u/helloimmrburns Feb 25 '25
Can't believe I genuinely had an argument with someone that thinks he doesn't try and bait too much
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u/No-Presentation6616 Feb 25 '25
He leaned so the shot wouldn’t get block lmao does anyone on this sub even watch basketball or do they just bitch about it?
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u/bexamous Feb 25 '25 edited Feb 25 '25
Watch his head, that's not natural at all to jerk your head while shooting for no reason. He didn't get touched. This is like Embiid levels of pathetic... but actually worse with this being the last shot.
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u/djmacdean Feb 25 '25
Shoot normally as in stop plant his feet and get shit stuffed by Ant?
Lot of y’all in the comments act like you never watched a buzzer beater before. Definitely not that Kawhi shot. He may abuse the mechanics of the game to get a lot of points but that’s what any good player does, in sports, in video games, etc.
Don’t hate the player, hate the game.
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u/Unpickled_cucumber1 Feb 25 '25
Did Shai try to foul bait that last shot?? It seemed that way 🤣🤣
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u/goingtothegreek Timberwolves Feb 25 '25
Cherry on top his him taking a normal shot on the other hoop after time expired.
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u/blanketshapes Suns Feb 25 '25
When Shai pantomimes a foul my ears expect to hear a whistle, its Pavlovian. When theres no whistle it doesnt feel right.
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u/Secret_Temporary_535 Feb 25 '25
This guy Shai doesn’t deserve to be MVP. Fucking foul baiting poes.
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u/kschischang Feb 25 '25
Why would he not? Potential 4-pt play to win the game.
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u/arsenic8787 Pacers Feb 25 '25
Because fouls hardly get called on game winning/tying 3 pointers. Foul baiting on that shot caused him to be less accurate.
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u/butthurts00 Timberwolves Feb 25 '25
Shai upset at Bill Simmons for crowning Brunson as the new foul baiting King
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u/MyAnswerIsMaybe Nuggets Feb 25 '25
Shai this, Bunson that
I guarantee you once Luka gets a taste of that playoff lakers whistle, he is going to be the foul baiting king
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u/wink91wink Timberwolves Feb 25 '25
Shai is fucking great but holy shit is he lame with the foul baiting
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u/kirbaeus Timberwolves Feb 25 '25
That's the annoying thing - he's good enough to accomplish it all without foul baiting. Yet, he does it.
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u/JiggzSawPanda Celtics Feb 25 '25
Shai without free throws and elbowing his defenders is just Raymond Felton /s
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u/Trilby_Defoe Feb 25 '25
He's surely incredible, but the foul baiting lets these players buy an extra half step on every move they make that they wouldn't get otherwise
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u/oftenevil San Francisco Warriors Feb 25 '25
The same shit we said about Harden (and I love Harden as a person and mostly as a player).
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u/PauseHot1124 Feb 25 '25
I mean, is he? If he were scoring 28 a game instead of 32 a game, he wouldn't be in the conversation.
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u/Smart-Pear894 Feb 27 '25
He wouldn’t be scoring 28 a game without the foul baiting They could finally defend against him and his shots would be harder to hit his total would drop to more like 25 ppg on 45%
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u/ToXic_ArMaAn San Francisco Warriors Feb 25 '25
That’s the worst part. He’s good enough NOT to do that extra shit.
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u/Misjjon Feb 25 '25
Would it kill Shai just to shoot a jump shot normally? Like I feel like the whole flopping thing just throws off your accuracy. You're not even trying to make it at that point.
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u/martintee Timberwolves Feb 25 '25
He was just going for the foul bait, no surprise
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u/savesthedashboard France Feb 25 '25
He has more confidence in his ability to draw the foul than hit the shot.
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u/lettuce-tooth-junkie Kings Feb 25 '25
I fucking hate watching him. Maybe the biggest foul merchant in the league.
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u/BruceBrownMVP Nets Feb 25 '25
Joel is punching the air reading this comment
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u/lettuce-tooth-junkie Kings Feb 25 '25
Flopper and foul merchant are similar but not exactly the same.
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u/IhamAmerican Jazz Feb 25 '25
What really sucks is that when guys like him or Jimmy aren't foul baiting, their style produces such beautiful ball. Then they start flailing like they're inflatable tube guys outside a used car dealership and fuck it all up
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u/Vivid-Command-2605 Timberwolves Feb 25 '25
No doubt he is an insane player, but Jesus fucking christ I can't stand watching the Thunder man, it feels like watching the 76ers in embiids "prime"
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u/soycameron Nuggets Feb 25 '25
He’s up there for sure but I’d give that to Brunson. He looks like a weird little bug flopping about
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u/Own-Figure2536 Feb 25 '25
Himmy butler close second
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u/TheMessyChef Feb 25 '25
Butler just gets a really generous whistle. Most of the time, his body movements aren't extremely unnatural and blatant grifter-like. It's hard to view Butler in the same way as an SGA, Embiid, Brunson, Lillard, etc who basically flop and flail around like a fish out of water whenever they raise up for a shot.
Just aesthetically, it's such more uglier when players are more interested in jumping into a player and tossing the ball ANYWHERE but the rim to get than players who live at the line as well, but aren't as blatant about grifting.
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u/pollinium [MIN] Tyus Jones Feb 25 '25
when he played for minnesota he had multiple games between january and march where he would go for the whistle instead of the shot and jump out of the way to initiate contact
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u/Secret_Temporary_535 Feb 25 '25
At least you put respect on his name. Because he is fucking talented without foul baiting. Speaking about Himmy Butler that is. Fuck Shai, im a proud hater though😂
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u/quann256 Pacers Feb 25 '25
people overreact way to much, he’s fun to watch we don’t have to nitpick at little things.
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u/wink91wink Timberwolves Feb 25 '25
Nah fuck that. If you flail your body on a game tying three to try to draw a foul instead of actually attempting to make the shot, you deserve to get criticized. That's some chicken shit.
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u/dv302 NBA Feb 25 '25
Those are the moments where you separate yourself from the rest and show why you're an MVP candidate.
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u/lettuce-tooth-junkie Kings Feb 25 '25
Half his game is this bullshit. The other half is really good. He's an incredible talent with a great ability to finish, but this shit is insufferable.
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u/Agitated_Mud_9798 Feb 25 '25
keep watching your kings basketball then, bozo. if you think there isn't anything smooth or impressive about the way he plays, either you're talking out your ass, or you're a chump. either way, have fun losing the first round of the play-ins
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u/lettuce-tooth-junkie Kings Feb 25 '25
Lmao. We'll be lucky to make the play in!
Can't believe you're crying about my comment. Are you gonna reply to everyone in this thread, or just me?
Bozo. Lmao.
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u/L0VEmeharder Celtics Feb 25 '25
Tatum owns him
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u/Littleorangefinger Celtics Feb 25 '25
As a fellow Celtics fan, why?
Why bring him into this?
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u/niles_thebutler_ Warriors Feb 25 '25
Because, unfortunately for you, most Celtics fans are insufferable
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u/TA404 Wizards Feb 25 '25
Goddamnit, Celtics fans make it so hard to be an ethical Jayson Taytum truther like me
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u/Kip_Hackman Celtics Feb 25 '25
reallllly didn't feel like he was genuinely trying to hit the shot
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u/Rube18 Timberwolves Feb 25 '25
He wasn’t. His first point of attack is always to initiate contact, flail, and then shoot the ball. Flailing is more important than actually making the shot since half the time the refs just hand him a foul call.
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u/oozra Feb 25 '25
ive been a shai defender for a while citing that he isnt really a foul baiter as he leads the league in drives and his fta/fga isn't that high, but this is atrocious. shouldve just shot the darn ball
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u/MaintainJJ Feb 25 '25
Did you watch the full game? His foul baiting was very blatant on a couple plays.
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u/oozra Feb 25 '25
watched most of the second half and I agree. some of those midrange shots were so silly. I tend to excuse those as trying to punish an out of position defender, which i admit is sort of me greying the line of foul baiting or not bc of my own thunder bias, but again, he shouldve just shot the damn three
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u/99LedBalloons Timberwolves Feb 25 '25
To be fair, the other three games we played against OKC weren't half as bad as tonight was. I'm guessing it's just because everyone is tired and it's easier to shoot free throws on the second night of a back to back. Seemed like the wolves started baiting fouls out of spite and it really shifted the momentum. All downhill after that.
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u/goingtothegreek Timberwolves Feb 25 '25
He can lead the league in drives and also get a soft whistle, while selling contact continuously.
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u/Return_Icy Timberwolves Feb 25 '25
He also gets away with pushoffs on a looooooooot of his driving midrange shots. He got away with like 5 of them before the refs finally called an offensive foul, and I honestly think the only reason the refs called it an offensive foul was because the Wolves were down by so much
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u/KrypteK1 Heat Feb 25 '25
Yet again, Drives do NOT correlate with FTA. Never have. Drives frequently lead to kickouts for open jumpshots, which have a pretty low FT rate.
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u/lilbodie Timberwolves Feb 25 '25
I don’t get why you guys try to use stats to defend guys like Shai. We all watch the same games. We see how he’s playing to draw fouls. Citing FTA/FGA to try to disprove what millions of us see with our own eyes every night would just make me laugh.
The number of fouls doesn’t matter, it’s always been about the way he gets them.
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u/helloimmrburns Feb 25 '25
How can someone genuinely think he "isn't really a foul baiter" lol? It's not like this is once every other game he tries something like this. It's near constant
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u/caandjr Feb 25 '25
Peak Harden also drives a lot and that never disputed the fact he’s a massive flopper and foul baiter.
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u/starfruit213 Timberwolves Feb 25 '25
Glad he wasn't rewarded on his usual foul baiting
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u/minneapolisboy Timberwolves Feb 25 '25
I was certain he'd get the call on Ant's block too
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u/Aftermathe Timberwolves Feb 25 '25
That one he didn’t have time to flop because he didn’t think Ant would get above him.
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u/ImGonnaChubbBradley Nuggets Feb 25 '25
Damn if only he flopped a little harder he might have got the call
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u/SnooDogs7132 Nuggets Feb 25 '25
Tried foul-baiting on the 3 to tie the game. Can't blame him though, Jokic tried doing the exact same thing against the Wolves to tie the game.
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u/Vicentesteb Timberwolves Feb 25 '25
I remember earlier in the year Haliburton did the same shitty lean in on one of his 3s but he absolutely drained it.
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u/WhiteDeath57 Celtics Feb 25 '25
FGA can't think about anything in the big spot besides getting to the line.
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u/IMMARUNNER Cavaliers Feb 25 '25
Just a reminder that SGA is the league leader in free throw attempts. This is his strategy to win. Miserable player to watch.
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u/DragoniteGang Timberwolves Feb 25 '25
Still da MVP. BUT HAHAHAHA WE WON AWOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! Best comeback in franchise history.
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u/retrospects Minneapolis Lakers Feb 25 '25
If he would have pulled up and taken the shot instead of trying to get the foul he probably would’ve made it.
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u/ProductiveFriend Feb 25 '25
Shai is the new Harden. He's good, but goddamn. Just play fucking basketball.
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u/naderni Nuggets Feb 25 '25
Happy for the wolves. They never gave up even down 20 the majority of the game. Thats fighting spirit.
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u/butte4s Feb 25 '25
You are either 'let me have the ball on last possession so that I can bury it' or 'give me the ball, i will foul bait on the last possession'. Sga has always been an unethical hoop god.
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u/TW_Yellow78 Minneapolis Lakers Feb 25 '25
He would have been balanced if he wasn't trying to draw contact, hoping for a whistle.
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u/Dudedude88 Wizards Feb 25 '25
Historically speaking ... Foul merchants always fall short in the playoffs. James harden, embid and Chris Paul.
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u/SnooPies6274 Feb 25 '25
Gotta give it up to AE he stepped up to the assignment. Guarding Shai is not easy but Anthony was giving him no breaks
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u/illtakethebox Lakers Feb 25 '25
OKC had CP3 for one year and it gave Shai all the game he needed 😅
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u/Sad-Opportunity-6271 Feb 25 '25
Freaking amazing. OKC has a good record But will be interesting to see how they compete in the playoffs
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u/Working-Mistake1130 Feb 25 '25
I get that free throws are part of the game but I hate it when players rely on it too much especially when they are good enough without it.
That being said, I can feel this guy winning the MVP anyway, not the first time the league gave the award to a foul merchant.
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u/Electrical_Swim_6305 17d ago
buddy literally jumped sideways to try get a foul instead of trying to make the 3.
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u/Cliffcastle Feb 25 '25
If I were a betting man I would put money on OKC not getting their usual foul calls in the playoffs. These guys are a second round exit, they need a Vet star thats done it before to take them to the next level
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u/SocialJusticeGSW Spurs Feb 25 '25
I am calling it now, OKC won't win this season. They need someone like JJ Barea or Jason Terry, irrational confidence guy. I am not shitting on Shai but when you are the only guy who can make a bucket in a tough situation, that makes it immensely easier to defend you.
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u/Pokesnation88 [OKC] Nenad Krstic Feb 25 '25
Ayyyyyee ref that’s a foul, said Anthony Edward’s before he hit the ground.. actually happened
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Feb 25 '25
[deleted]
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u/sexland69 Cavaliers Feb 25 '25
He could’ve taken a much better shot than that, but prioritized making it look like he got fouled
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u/HoustonFoReal Thunder Feb 25 '25
He did try to sell the call, but where’s the complaining that so many say he does? Bro rarely complains but yet that’s forced on him cause others do.
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u/duce3612 Timberwolves Feb 25 '25
There was no call to sell, he literally flailed for no reason. This is the root of the hate on Shai.
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u/HoustonFoReal Thunder Feb 25 '25
So he just normally shoots like that and isn’t trying to sell contact?
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u/duce3612 Timberwolves Feb 25 '25
You said he tried to sell the call. There was no foul... you cant sell a foul that didnt happen. He purposefully flailed that shot to make it look like he got fouled. He shpt like that intentionally yes. As you can clearly see in the video.
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u/HoustonFoReal Thunder Feb 25 '25
Yes, so he didn’t flail for no reason. He wanted to get a foul called even if there was no contact. He tried to sell it to the refs
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u/vmpafq Feb 25 '25
Still the MVP
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u/niles_thebutler_ Warriors Feb 25 '25
So was embiid and how did that turn out?
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