On Tyrese Haliburton, Channing Frye and shooting for the win

Pacers All-Star Tyrese Haliburton was trending much of the day on Wednesday. His reaction to Golden State Warriors guard Jordan Poole’s deep three-point attempt that missed in the waning seconds of the Dub’s loss to the Lakers on Tuesday brought back a sharp rebuke from former NBA forward Channing Frye who couldn’t believe Poole took the big shot on a team with Steph Curry and Klay Thompson.

First of all, this whole video is awesome since it captures the raw, live reactions, just like everyone else watching at the time, to the critical missed shot. Secondly, you gotta love Haliburton. The kid is so comfortable talking ball and you could almost see his mind digest and analyze the situation based on putting himself in Poole’s shoes.

Yep, if that’s Tyrese, the shot is going up. Obviously, it wasn’t the playoffs, but we saw a similar shot during the season in Chicago. To quote Quinn Buckner: “YEAH…YEAH…YEAH, BABY!”

That’s the mindset of a killer and exactly how I want the lead dog on the Pacers to react in that situation. Besides, Curry and Klay were locked up. Poole was 6 for 10 from three in the game and that deep open look is in his repertoire. Unfortunately for GSW, he was not ready for that shot with those high playoff stakes on the line.

When I initially saw this, I thought Haliburton was being a solid teammate when Frye hit him with the “That’s why you’re here with us" comment. A lesser man, like me possibly, would’ve snapped back with a shot at Frye’s journeyman career. Instead, Hali laughed it off and vowed to remember this moment when he hits a game winner in the playoffs next year. Man, does that sound good.

But back to the reaction, I realized that Frye would’ve had an ace up his sleeve to rebut any slander Haliburton could’ve thrown his way for shooting clutch shots. A visual memory pop into my head that recalled being at the Fieldhouse when Channing Frye hit a game winner to beat the Pacers. Sure enough, on Feb. 27, 2011, the Suns beat the Pacers in OT, 110-108 when Frye hit a deep two at the buzzer. I vividly remember hearing the buzzer as the ball was halfway to the hoop, then watching it splash through the net to hush a manic Fieldhouse. He caught it high and let it fly.

Not only did Frye make that game winner at then Conseco Fieldhouse, but the next night in New Jersey, he did it again in OT. Although this time he let it fly with nine seconds remaining, which was part of his criticism of Poole’s shot. The early shot gave the Nets a few seconds to work with, but Deron Williams missed a short shot around the rim, so Frye’s make held up for a 104-103 win for the Suns.

Regardless, thinking about these moments added a little more flavor to the live analysis both big shot makers had on Tuesday. Great stuff!