McConnell does something no other NBA bench player has done in the finals

[WILD]

https://x.com/statmuse/status/1932999929674313935?t=0yksuU0Ks_MBBLVP_Ky9hg&s=19

[FOOS]

No one works harder !   BEAR DOWN, TJ !!

[arxpert]

No one works harder !   BEAR DOWN, TJ !!

I think people write guys like TJ off because they are 6'2" 180 and "the little white guy", but 6'2" is not short. Ask Jalen Brunson... It ends up to TJ's advantage as he is underrated. He has a lot of grit and heart. He has had some moments that I felt he was doing too much and making mistakes, but he rectified them by sticking to it and finding those Steals and then converting it into Pace and finally into those Assists.

TJ made himself a problem for OKC. They have to mark him now.

This is what Superior In-Game Coaching can do for a team too (Tommy???). Miller used to be the guy that could coach In-Game situations better than anyone wants to admit by making sure his guys (like TJ, Zews etc) stuck with it, leading to some great comebacks and games down to the wire overall never going quietly into the night.

Carlisle is throwing everything he has at OKC and I respect him for it. If anything the variety of talent has been getting in the head of OKC's Coach. This Indy Team is comprised of the genetic makeup of the Dallas team Carlisle coached that won it all. Just a 2025 era version where "Dirk" is "Siakam" and "Kidd" is "Haliburton". There are so many comparable players involved.

Obi Toppin / Shawn Marion
Myles Turner / Tyson Chandler (3pt shot era 2025)
Nembhard / Caron Butler
Nesmith / Peja Stojakovic
TJ McConnell / JJ Barea
Mamba Mathurin / Jet Terry

and so on...

At first, I felt it was over-coaching to put some 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th type guys in for extended periods of time, but they have been out-performing OKC's even deeper bench somehow and also keeping OKC's bench on the floor longer too where Maybe Indy has some advantages... then when OKC puts the starters in vs Indy's 2nd Unit, we see guys like THE Mamba Mathurin stepping up like the True Starter he is and actually being able to hold onto the rope long enough to at least match what OKC's Big 3 or Big 5 really is able to produce. Then Indy's starters come in and have a bit of an edge.

I think the 2 day layover from Game 1 was really to OKC's advantage. The shorter turnaround from G3 to G4 tomorrow keeps some momentum for Indy. It definitely won't be easy, but we have a real series going on now. I hope Indy can pull it off tomorrow night, but won't be shocked if OKC goes hambone all in and goes back to OKC 2-2.

[KansasCityCats]

Of course you'd write off TJ's efforts and credit Miller's in-game coaching. TJM's career is a result of being the hardest worker on and off the court.

If Miller were a true in-game coach, he would have more than one point guard in the league after 12 years in Tucson.  He was a PG and couldn't get another ball handler drafted because we couldn't even break a zone defense. TJ couldn't crack the first round of the draft.

Hoping that TJ's career is long and successful. Love his fighting spirit. 

[arxpert]

Of course you'd write off TJ's efforts and credit Miller's in-game coaching. TJM's career is a result of being the hardest worker on and off the court.

If Miller were a true in-game coach, he would have more than one point guard in the league after 12 years in Tucson.  He was a PG and couldn't get another ball handler drafted because we couldn't even break a zone defense. TJ couldn't crack the first round of the draft.

Hoping that TJ's career is long and successful. Love his fighting spirit. 

So the players play the game, but you blame the coach for a player not being able to break a zone? Interesting. Oh well. Haters be hating. I love to watch the revisionist history when it meets the recency bias of some people.

[KansasCityCats]

The players play the game but the coaches game-plan...and every coach learned to game-plan against Miller.

It was frustrating to see zones from schools that rarely deviated but they had our number, which sucks because Miller's pack-line was effective and a fast-paced offense would have been deadly, if combined with his tenacity on the other side of the ball.

[arxpert]

The players play the game but the coaches game-plan...and every coach learned to game-plan against Miller.

It was frustrating to see zones from schools that rarely deviated but they had our number, which sucks because Miller's pack-line was effective and a fast-paced offense would have been deadly, if combined with his tenacity on the other side of the ball.

Nobody had Miller's number. That is a depressive comment from anyone that just couldn't handle a tough close loss. For example, Miller had Oregon's number 3 times over many times, but could Josh Green make a layup or Free Throw? Could Koloko hit Free Throws? I mean, devastating losses don't mean that the coaching is bad nor wrong. People just expect competitors to roll over for Arizona. Why? What have we done as a basketball institution to invoke that level of fear? So no. I don't buy you comment. No one had Miller's number. The team lost close games that were winnable due to his coaching and game management, scouting, and game planning. Aaron Craft hitting a buzzer beater doesn't mean Ohio State has Arizona's number. Wisconsin winning 2 years in a row in 1 possession games de facto (we miss our "go ahead shot", then have to foul is still a 1 possession loss because we controlled our own destiny in that moment). That is not having anyone's number. The Pack line excuse is just that, an excuse. All games were winnable that you are trying to expose. Oregon losses.. Josh Green comes up with steal, misses layup, misses free throws. Don't blame Oregon for putting players on the FT line making them earn 2 points on 2 shots. Koloko misses Game Winning FTs. Again, play is drawn up by Miller, Play Works. Player doesn't execute. Derrick Williams vs UConn. Player of the Year basically gets the ball down 2 and has a wide open 3 after Dominating Duke in the Sweet 16. Thoroughly Punishing the Big Bad Wolf of Duke. No Credit for that. Just the remembering of a missed wide open 3pt shot by the best player who earned the right to that moment.

Pack Line, Pack Line... Big excuses is all I hear. Players are the ones who make the moment. Coaching gets you to the moment. If you want to continue to cry about losing to Xavier, which had a DAMN good team very underseeded then go ahead. If you want to cry about Wichita State when Arizona was a 6 seed? Continue on. Those are 50/50 games and that team was not full of Himothy's. Buffalo, a team that proved itself as a 30 win team that had Nate Oats coaching them to take infinity 3pt shots vs everyone... again, just a matchup nightmare for a team that boasted 2 starting 7ft'ers in the middle of a FBI Scandal, a PED Ostarine Situation with Trier, and the REAL issue that was covered up in the story which was all on Rawle Alkins who had a Foot injury he was playing through. So the MESS of that year has no merit to the conversation. The Pac12 Champion earned a 4 seed. Weak Conference. Weaker attempt by the press to go after a program like burning a Witch at the Stake now that we see what has come from that moment in the NIL Era.

All of those Excuses are pathetic to me. Miller is Coach 1B in Arizona Basketball History.

[KansasCityCats]

I don't think you read the post. I was saying that Miller's pack line was impressive...and one of the reasons that the Cats should have been successful.

Nobody "had Miller's number" by winning close tournament games. They owned him by making our talented offense look like an average D-1 program because we couldn't find an open shot, despite having some of the best players in the country.

Everybody that watched Arizona basketball from 2014-2021 saw the consistent struggle. Even Bill Walton regularly commented on it (when he paid attention to basketball).