It’s always the wrong decision if the last shot doesn’t go in. Or at least, that’s what the more reactionary corners of the internet will tell you any time a coach does or doesn’t take a timeout in a short-clock, game-on-the-line situation.
That’s the catch-22 Darko Rajakovic found himself staring down in the dwindling seconds of Monday’s OT thriller against a desperate Nuggets team.
“The decision there is on the coach,” said Rajakovic. “Do I call a timeout to try to get us organized or try to run in the flow?”
RJ Barrett, the man who launched the prospective game-winning pull-up triple after Rajakovic opted not to stop down made his agreement with the decision quite clear after the game.
“I don’t know what player would tell you that,” Barrett said when asked if he’d have preferred a timeout over a chance to end it within the flow, vociferous head-shaking providing emphasis.
“Everybody would rather have open court than playing 5-on-5 set defense.”
Darko Rajakovic: Player’s Coach.
No, Barrett’s pull-up over Christian Braun didn’t go down. But can you imagine what a genius everyone would have looked like if it had? Toronto goes home with an early signature win in one the most raucous home games its played in years, Barrett owns an all-time piece of Raptors regular season lore, and Darko scores a massive win for the “let the dudes play” school of late-game tactics, who will end up on the right side of history when all is said and done.
The frantic drama of that finishing flourish is exactly the kind of ending that game deserved. Any steps we can take toward eliminating the scourge of late-game stoppages — routinely the single-biggest complaint from any fringe or prospective hoops fan you talk to — is a step toward improving a product that most people seem to agree is in a bit of a waning state. Give super talented athletes agency to make decisions on the fly, unencumbered by timeout dependence and whiteboard sketches, and we’re all the benefactors.
Barrett’s evaluation of his near-heroics offer comfort to anyone who holds hope for this team producing more interruption-free crunch time dramatics.
“For me, I’m comfortable taking that shot, I’m happy with the shot I took... I’ll take the shot again. I dunno, that’s just who RJ Barrett is.”
Process over results has been a through line of Rajakovic’s public comments to start the year. Keep opting for the most noble of late-game processes, the results won’t just come — they’ll blow the damn roof off the gym.
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Today on the podcast, I dive deep into what went right, and wrong for the Raptors in their 127-125 OT loss to Denver, and dig into why that’s the type of loss you can live with all day. Enjoy the show!
