It's your call

The date was June 11, 2009. The Los Angeles Lakers were up, 2-1, in the NBA Finals against the Orlando Magic and Game 4 held the key to the series. Another Laker win would push LA to a commanding 3-1 lead which has never been overcome in Last Dance history. An Orlando win, on the other hand, would square the series at two wins apiece.

The scene was the Amway Arena, the Magic’s homecourt. Under the Finals format of 2-3-2, the Lakers hosted Games 1 and 2 and if necessary, would play Games 5 and 6 at the Staples Center. Orlando had the privilege of hosting Games 3, 4, and 5.

The Lakers were down by 12 at the half and with 31.9 seconds left in regulation, Pau Gasol hit a basket to trim the Magic’s lead to three, 87-84. Orlando was in the penalty. Jameer Nelson committed a foul with 1:14 to go - only the Magic’s first team foul that period. But in the NBA (as in the PBA), “if a team has not committed its quota of team fouls (four in the NBA, five in the PBA) during the first 10 minutes of any regulation period, it shall be permitted to incur one team foul during the last (two) minutes without penalty.” The rule means the second team foul in the last two minutes will result in penalty free throws, regardless of the quota.

With 11.1 ticks to play, Kobe Bryant fouled Dwight Howard who trooped to the line for two free throws. Alas, Superman missed both. Trevor Ariza grabbed the rebound and called a timeout. The clock read 10.8 seconds.

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When play was resumed, it was obvious the Lakers would work to open up a three-point shooter. A Magic option was fouling to disrupt the Lakers’ rhythm and sending LA to the line for two charities. That way, the Lakers wouldn’t be able to set up for a three. In that possibility, the Lakers would try to hit the first foul shot and deliberately miss the second, hoping for an offensive rebound to give them a crack at sending the game into overtime or winning with a triple. Of course, another option was for the Lakers to hit both free throws, cut the Magic’s lead to one, foul on the next play to stop the clock and put Orlando on the line. That Laker option would depend on how much time was left in regulation.

But the first priority was the Magic had to guard against the Lakers burying a triple.

As it turned out, Derek Fisher knocked down a clutch triple off Nelson with 4.6 seconds to go. Orlando never fouled. The Magic got the ball back but failed to score as the buzzer went off. In overtime, the Lakers prevailed, 99-91. That sealed the Magic’s doom. In Game 5, the Lakers clinched the series via a 99-86 decision.

At the end of Game 4, Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy regretted not fouling. He tried to justify not fouling at first by saying it was “too early” to send the Lakers to the stripe because he didn’t want to get into a free throw shooting contest. What an absurd and lame excuse. There were 10.8 seconds to go – it was the perfect time to foul and throw off the Lakers’ flow. It wasn’t too early – it was, in fact, even too late.

Later, when Van Gundy realized he couldn’t wiggle out of admitting the mistake, he confessed that the error would haunt him forever. Clearly, he had only himself to blame.

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PBA chief statistician and basketball scholar Fidel Mangonon was curious as to how local coaches would react to that situation. So he sent texts to several PBA coaches, asking what they would’ve done if they were in Van Gundy’s shoes. The main question was - would you foul, with your team up by three, time down to 10.8 seconds, give up two penalty free throws and take away the opponent’s three-point option or would you take your chances on defense?

Here were the replies:

Rain Or Shine’s Caloy Garcia – “You foul, they go to the line and if they miss and get the rebound, they can win the game. I’d guard the three-pointer and let them score from the two and I get ball possession.”

Barako Bull’s Leo Isaac – “Magandang diskarte pero kailangan malaman ng players sa loob na ganoon ang gustong mangyari ng coach.”

Purefoods’ Ryan Gregorio – “Experience is the best teacher. I have lost games before because I did not foul, too.”

Talk ‘N’ Text’s Chot Reyes – “Foul, of course. Problem is there are blind refs (witness Dallas-Denver and TNT-Purefoods matches) who don’t call a foul even when you’re fouling. I’d foul rather than (risk) one lucky shot from the three, same shot by Kerby (Raymundo) against TNT.”

Sta. Lucia Realty’s Boyet Fernandez – “No foul. I have to stay with the shooters. No threes, switch everything, no double, if they make a two-pointer, ok, as long as we will not give up a quick two. Let them use some time off the clock.”

Alaska ‘s Tim Cone – “Ten seconds is too many. I’d foul if it was under five. Fisher misses that shot and Van Gundy is a hero or Howard makes a free throw. So is the life of a coach.”

What would you do if you were Van Gundy? Send in your reply to The Philippine Star sports section, Roberto Oca and 13th streets , Port Area, Metro Manila with the subject: “If I were Stan.”