Talib Zanna says "It was a lucky shot." However ... | Page 3 | Syracusefan.com

Talib Zanna says "It was a lucky shot." However ...

Talking about all of this is great, but I'd rather let my eyes feast on it!


On the replay you can see Ennis' point that they weren't going to give Cooney an open look.
 
even more lucky for zanna was that he didn't get called for the double forearm shove to cj's back to start the second half that threw him 4 feet out of bounds which would have picked up an extra foul.....and then not even being in the game as a result of fouling out to hit those 2 FT's to take the lead with 4.4....now that's F'im luck brother
 
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When preparation meets opportunity it gives rise to the phenomenon generally referred to as "good luck".

Luck or not, if I was in Dixon's shoes, nursing a 1 point lead with 4.4 seconds left, that shot would be better than I would've wanted to give up. Especially since Syracuse was inbounding the ball from their own baseline and were forced to dribble almost the entire length of their side of half court. How quickly Ennis penetrated past half court and spotted up for a nice clean jumper was suprising to me, especially with 1.2 seconds still on the clock. Not the forced heave at the buzzer I thought they may end up with.
 
Of course there was luck involved, I believe what folks are getting at is that he did display a bit of skill as well. He got close enough to the basket to take an actual form shot as opposed to just heaving it towards the rim. Even at a low percentage, I'll bet he would knock that shot down with higher frequency then lets say I would. That performance gap can certainly be attributed to skill - can it not?
What is the gold standard for luck based outcomes? The coin flip right? 50% chance. A 50% jump shooter in basketball is considered outstanding. A 50% hitter in baseball would break all records as the greatest to ever live or who could ever live. So what is luck in sports? If Ennis had thrown that from the ground or spinning and threw it behind his head (like Grant the other day), then yes luck. But he made a basketball move and took a legit basketball shot. It is no more lucky than any other difficult or deep shot.
You need to re-check the tape.

Ennis' footwork was excellent--got the left planted to lift. He squared his shoulders. In short, he used excellent shooting mechanics. And, he beat both defenders with a pair of crossovers.

There was clearly some luck involved, mostly because he launched from 36 feet, not 20. But, it was not a "heave" as the Pitt radio feed described it.


I stated how impressive it was that Ennis got that far up court. Did you guys completely ignore the part where I credited the skill needed to even get to that spot? Kind of sounds like it, lol.

If knocking down a 35 footer off the dribble, between two defenders, at the buzzer, regardless of form, etc, can't be categorized as having a high degree of luck, not sure what else to say.

Would love to hear the tune from many in here if Pitt had knocked it down. All I would hear- "the only loss we have is from a freaky garbage shot that Pitt jacked at the buzzer." Hell, every three Pitt made someone in the chat room categorized it as luck. Just saying.
 
What do you think that shot is, maybe 20% for Ennis? Just being on the run and everything. He did get squared up. That's kind of the # I was thinking of.

If the shoe was on the other foot, I'm sure we'd have called it a lucky shot though.
well yea because if anyone besides Tyler Ennis shot it, it would have been luck

also, there is no such thing as luck
 
One thing I've noticed is that for a team that hasn't beaten anybody noteworthy or accomplished anything this year, the pitt players and coaches sure seem to chirp a lot.

They really ought to and quit making excuses for their consistent pattern of coming up short.

Screw them. I hope we play them again in the ACC tournament, so we can beat them a third time.
 
Pitt senior forward Talib Zanna called it a "lucky" shot. Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim disagreed.

"It's a little lucky, but I didn't hear Duke saying they were lucky when they drove the length of the court and made an off-balance 3 to tie the game," Boeheim said, alluding an overtime victory for his team over the Blue Devils at the Carrier Dome on Feb. 1. "I didn't hear anybody say they were lucky. You have to do it. You have to make the play. The ball goes in. That's not luck. He took the shot and he made the shot. He didn't throw it up from half court or three-quarters court. He dribbled it up. He had a purpose. He got up in the air and took a good shot, and it went in. It happens sometimes, but he was poised to do it."


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Message for Zanna - you dirt-bags have 5 losses, count 'em out slowly. SU has none!
 
I am sure Jerami Grant would be more then happy to bring up his lucky block to end the first half as well :cool:
 
Luck is the residue of design" - Branch Rickey.

TE didn't just close his eyes and toss the ball into the air.
All of Tyler Ennis' skill and poise in handling, shooting and knowing the game is the "design" behind that "lucky" shot.


You beat me to the quote, Col. I like Thomas Jefferson's on luck:

“I'm a greater believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it”

Thomas Jefferson
 
I stated how impressive it was that Ennis got that far up court. Did you guys completely ignore the part where I credited the skill needed to even get to that spot? Kind of sounds like it, lol.

If knocking down a 35 footer off the dribble, between two defenders, at the buzzer, regardless of form, etc, can't be categorized as having a high degree of luck, not sure what else to say.

Would love to hear the tune from many in here if Pitt had knocked it down. All I would hear- "the only loss we have is from a freaky garbage shot that Pitt jacked at the buzzer." Hell, every three Pitt made someone in the chat room categorized it as luck. Just saying.

If Pitt had hit that shot it would have been luck. Because they suck.
 
“They lucked a shot in to beat us. They can say whatever they want: If they think that’s a skilled shot, I’d be surprised,” Boeheim snapped. “They threw up a prayer tonight it got answered.”
--Jim Boeheim, 1/30/03 at Rutgers after losing to a Herve Lamizana last-second heave.

He banked it though. That made it lucky.
 
He should understand luck. Not only were his made FTs luck, the fact that he was granted a foul on that last play was so lucky as to make one suspicious.

Edit: F Pitt
I yelled out on that foul "How did I not know that would happen"
 
took the words right out of my mouth. a 61% ft shooter going 8 of 9 and hitting two with 4 seconds left is lucky.
He was lucky he didn't get a foul when he came in and pushed CJ out of bounds in front of the ref with a big whack to the small of the back. He is one of the biggest goons I have seen in a while, at least since Gary McGhee.
 
Would love to hear the tune from many in here if Pitt had knocked it down. All I would hear- "the only loss we have is from a freaky garbage shot that Pitt jacked at the buzzer." Hell, every three Pitt made someone in the chat room categorized it as luck. Just saying.

I see your point, but I don't think I would characterize it as luck. Maybe in the sense that other people are alluding to with Zanna's free throws (66% guy hitting 88%) - the percentage for Enni making that shot is low, but certainly it's within his range.

When the three point clock gets down to zero mid-game, and people pop off a 35 footer I would say it's luck if it's Rak or Zanna, but Cooney or Patterson, no. Just a decent shooter going a bit outside of his comfort zone.

A running three from that distance isn't much effort - again, low percentage, but MOST people shooting a three are only going to hit 25-33% of the time.
 
When the three point clock gets down to zero mid-game, and people pop off a 35 footer I would say it's luck if it's Rak or Zanna, but Cooney or Patterson, no. Just a decent shooter going a bit outside of his comfort zone.

I would agree with that, but there were people on the board basically discounting how close the last game was because Patterson made 3 fairly long 3's in a 3 or 4 minute stretch. Like they somehow count less or something. (Also I don't think those same people were discounting our win against ND because Cooney made 9-12 3's)

A running three from that distance isn't much effort - again, low percentage, but MOST people shooting a three are only going to hit 25-33% of the time.

That particular shot you mean, or any 3? NCAA average on 3's in general is like 34%.
I think it was in this thread where I said this; that shot for Tyler at the end was probably something like a 20% of going in. Sound right?
 
Seems to be a pattern in that program, their coaching staff does too.
Think about it. Doris gave you a clue on Dixon, and why the players act like they do. Dixon ran them thru Marine Corp drills while browbeating them about the loss to us up here.
The message being if you worked hard, sweated more, were smarter, were not weak...they would have won. They are probably going to be subjected to hell again. Their coaching staff all looks like they are doing mouthfuls of Adderall.
But coach, we SHOULD have won!!!
 

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