After last night, Fizdale said:
?He and that kid [LeVert] went to college together and they were going at it,? Fizdale told reporters on Saturday. ?So he was really trying to win that battle. I commend him for that. That?s why there was no way I was taking him off that kid on the last possession. I?m trying to make Timmy into a complete basketball player. He needed to go through that and take that challenge.
?Hey the kid scored, but he learned from it and he knows I believe in him as a defender now.??
?I want you guys to look at it like this,? he said. ?There was a day I played. If I was in a game playing against a college teammate, and we?ve been going tit for tat ? 28, 29 (points), back and forth, back and forth. And the last play of the game, coach goes ahead and says, ?I?m gonna put him [somebody else] on LeVert], I might lose Timmy. That could crush him.?
Instead of switching defenders, Fizdale said he let Hardaway learn the hard way. It?s trial by fire for a player he wants to turn into a capable defender.
?This is a development year. That?s part of Timmy?s development. He?s gotta take that challenge,? he said. ?I can?t hide him. He?s gotta dig in and get that stop. And he didn?t get it last night, but he knows I believe he can. And we?re gonna keep working at it. It was just a personnel breakdown. He knew that kid wanted to go right. He let him get right. We?ll fix that issue. Next time, we?ll get the stop.?
?So that?s what it?s about. It?s not about me trying to manipulate a situation to hopefully win a game. The areas that I?m trying to get these to be better at when it comes up in a game, I gotta let them go through that. I can?t hide em from it.?
Fizdale is walking on a tight rope. On one end, he wants this basketball team to compete for as many wins as it can string together. On the other end, he wants to develop his guys into complete players, even if it means giving up a game-winning basket.
??//
Tonight, same situation and same result. Not THjr?s fault tonight, for Tatum sunk a tough fade-away... but, coach, how about sending a double and forcing JT to give up the rock and let somebody else beat you!