By Brian Cassella
With a very tight game between the Bulls and Nuggets clearly coming down to the final possession, I decided to stay at my position on the court next to the Bulls bench and opposite the goal they were shooting on. The Bulls had trailed most of the game, so I knew if it came down to a game-winning shot by them they would likely have their back to me, but I usually like this wider view for a final shot because it puts full scene on the court into context. Also, players usually react (good or bad) to a play as they head back toward their own bench, so it seemed like a good bet to be on the side of the court the Bulls would head towards after the game. (See the photo after the jump.)
With a very tight game between the Bulls and Nuggets clearly coming down to the final possession, I decided to stay at my position on the court next to the Bulls bench and opposite the goal they were shooting on. The Bulls had trailed most of the game, so I knew if it came down to a game-winning shot by them they would likely have their back to me, but I usually like this wider view for a final shot because it puts full scene on the court into context. Also, players usually react (good or bad) to a play as they head back toward their own bench, so it seemed like a good bet to be on the side of the court the Bulls would head towards after the game. (See the photo after the jump.)
With 0.3 seconds left and the Bulls trailing by one, Joakim Noah grabbed a rebound and called timeout. I knew the most likely play would be near the basket for a tip-in; with less than half a second a catch-and-shoot is very tough to pull off in time. I prefocused and composed the frame on the lane, watching Kirk Hinrich out of the corner of my eye for the inbounds pass and ready to fire. When the pass went to Brad Miller at the top of the key I was surprised, and had to quickly refocus because Miller in that location is quite a bit closer to me than the area in the lane I had set my focus on. This extra tenth of a second or so delay left me a little late on the shot, my first clear frames show the ball already out of Miller's hand with the red light on. So for today, we'll have to stick with the video replay.
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This is a really sweet shot, but journalistically, it was very misleading to readers of both the Chicago Tribune and Denver Post. The pic was splashed across the front page of the sports page here in Denver, and readers who knew no better just assumed that the 0.0 on the clock must mean that the shooter clearly got the shot off in time, when he didn't. Fact is, once the clock reads 0.0, any still photo becomes irrelevant in terms of evidence, one way or the other. I appreciate the way the picture is being presented here, but it did not but further confuse things in print.