The Essence of Clutch

You can’t do it can you?  You can’t imagine those players giving up the rock at that time with that much on the line…nor would you, or I, or any knowledgeable basketball fan for that matter, want them too.

For when the game is on the line, the ball belongs in the hands of your team’s best player, PERIOD.

That’s what they get paid for. Taking that shot is their responsibility and no one else’s; not because the numbers say so, but because their talent demands it.

Crunch time calls for more than the typical offensive sets which most opposing teams can defend in their sleep. It requires more than the average player has the skill to deliver. Crunch time calls for the spontaneity and creativity that only the best in the world can provide. It demands that the person with the ball be able to get off a clear look at the basket no matter how daunting the circumstance.

That is why the statistics must be ignored. Because being clutch, or delivering in the clutch, is not about the percentages, nor is it about guaranteeing success, or wins. It’s about giving your team the best opportunity for a basket when it absolutely must have one. That is, the essence of being clutch is the ability to get off a game-winning or game-tying shot where a lesser player would not be able to.

Beyond skill, beyond talent, beyond athleticism there lies another attribute that only the best can tap into. It is a level which only they can reach. They must have these other skills too, for sure. But, to be clutch they must go to another place; one that is not affected by pressure, blurred by distraction, or hindered by the lack of self-confidence.

And I’m sorry, but there’s no way Shawn Merion, or Vince Carter, or any of those other guys on the list can get there better than Bryant. The guy can hit any shot, at any time, under any circumstance and because of that he is one of the most clutch performers ever.

There’s an old saying in the numbers game that, “if you torture the numbers long enough, you can get them to say anything.” In the case of this article, the author used the numbers to dabble once more in his network’s favorite NBA pastime: the art of Kobe Bashing.

It even pulled out the old “Ball Hog” card when referring to Kobe’s end of game performances. In the final seconds Kobe would be better off running the offense and hitting teammates that are left wide open, the article concludes. My reply would be that when your data delivers such bone-head results, that it might be time to ditch the numbers rather than to draw conclusions from them!