Wait – what did you just do?

by UK American Sports Fans

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Most of the time I think I understand basketball.

A lot of the nuances may be lost on me, but when I watch an NBA player make a play, I think I mostly comprehend what’s happening. Sometimes, I imagine myself pulling a similar move (albeit a less athletic, less coordinated, slower, ground-based version).

But sometimes a player makes a move I can never imagine recreating. Here are two examples:

1.

When I see an amazing image, a part of my brain often tries to deny its existence. That must be Photoshopped, don’t believe it, this little mind-piece says. When I watch the above pass, that same rational piece of grey matter kicks in. That’s surely not what he wanted to do. He meant to throw that pass around Norris Cole, not beneath his knackers. Eventually, though, that brain-bit sees sense. Which means that the following must be true:

  • Manu Ginóbili deliberately threw a pass through a defender’s legs
  • This defender’s legs was eight feet away and moving quickly
  • This pass not only made it through the defender’s legs, but was a fundamentally-sound bounce pass that landed right in Tony Parker’s hands
  • Ginóbili decided that throwing a pass through a defender’s legs was a good idea
  • Ginóbili decided that throwing a pass through a defender’s legs was a good idea in the NBA Finals

The level of difficulty here is off the charts. The pass had to sync up with Cole’s feet moving apart as well as Parker’s cut to the hoop. Too little bounce and Parker can’t catch it in shooting position, too much bounce and Cole catches it between his buttocks. LeBron’s great defensive read may be the reason the Spurs didn’t score on this play, but I also think Parker was so surprised to catch the pass that he couldn’t regain his composure in order to finish.

Imagine a Sports Science-type simulation, in which you replace Manu. The play is the same, and you try to make that pass. How many attempts does it take you to make it? Tens, hundreds of attempts? In my mental reconstruction, the only way my pass reaches Parker is after Cole dies from accumulated bruising to his back, legs, and ass from my hundreds of failed attempts.

To pretty much any other NBA player, trying a pass like that is a massive risk. Ginóbili accomplished it on basketball’s biggest stage.

BREAKING NEWS: Manu Ginóbili is better at basketball than I am…

2.

This Danilo Gallinari pass to Kenneth Faried blows my mind into little, chewable bits. My inner-cynic rears up good and proper when I watch this clip. Maybe he thought Brandon Bass was stepping away from Faried. Perhaps he thought Faried was about to cut towards the ball. Maybe this was Gallinari airballing a new behind-the-back shot he’d been working on in practice.

This pass has such a small window of success. Throw it too far right and it caroms off Bass’ face. Too far left and it ends up on the Nuggets bench. Too slow and Bass probably reels it in. This would be difficult enough to make as a chest pass. But throwing it behind the back? Clearly some sort of witchcraft.

And to turn that difficulty rating up another few notches, look what happens before the pass. Making that assist from a stationary position would be tough enough, but Gallinari leaks out on a Boston jumper, chases down a flying outlet pass, tiptoes the baseline and works back out to the perimeter. He’s still regaining his balance when he throws the ball, which has to follow a precise line to get to its intended target.

These clips of Ginóbili and Gallinari show how incredibly coordinated and hyper-aware NBA players can be. Luke Skywalker could bullseye womp rats in his T-16, but he’s got nothing on these two.