Inches from Immortality: How Gordon Hayward and Butler Almost Toppled Duke

[Monkhouse]

Watch the video, and read his Players Tribune. Not saying both are 100% correlated, but you can sense from both CBS and Hayward how they felt after the end of that game. You can tell Hayward was killing himself inside after missing that shot, and how they both looked like they wanted another run at it.

And I guess it’s pretty crazy. Because seven years later, I had to make an even tougher decision — and again, Coach Stevens and I found ourselves at a crossroads together. And again, he was the person I knew I could count on the most.

And now I’ve decided to sign with the Boston Celtics.

There were so many great things pulling me in that direction. There was the winning culture of Boston, as a city — from the Sox, to the Pats, to the Bruins. There was the special history of the Celtics, as a franchise — from Russell, to Bird, to Pierce, and it goes on. There was the amazing potential of this current Celtics team — from ownership, to the front office, to a talented roster with Isaiah, and Al, and everyone else. And of course, there was Coach Stevens: Not just for the relationship that we’ve built off the court — but also for the one that we started building on the court, all of those years ago, in Indiana.

And that unfinished business we had together, back in 2010, when I left Butler for the NBA … as far as I’m concerned, all of these years later, we still have it:

And that’s to win a championship.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuL81v10jLM

[manl_lui]

wow that was a good watch, especially towards the end

-after Gordon hits the shot against the Celtics he went to Steven's office
"that's the shot i should've made against Duke!"

gonna love that reunion between the two!

[Monkhouse]

wow that was a good watch, especially towards the end

-after Gordon hits the shot against the Celtics he went to Steven's office
"that's the shot i should've made against Duke!"

gonna love that reunion between the two!

Yeah I used to play semi-pro for WC3/SC. Gordon Hayward was actually very high on e-Sports, and was declarative about the potential of e-Sports. He was actually one of the ambassador at the time for WCG, and had donated some money for aspiring youngsters that were interested in cyber games, and I remember seeing this guy, and I was like, "he's a basketball player? Lol."

You can tell at the end that Hayward and Stevens never forgot that shot. They never forgot how important that meant to them. Which is why after I watched this video, when it first came out around the 29th? That Stevens and Hayward may have a possible reunion with the Celtics.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EcfYB8WDOk&t=10s

Basketball break down, Coach Nick does an excellent job breaking down the schematics behind his excellent post-season.

[Onslaught]

I'm a DUKE fan. And that shot is burned into my brain because I was 100% sure it was good. Until it wasn't. And for the first time ever I really felt bad for the team I wasn't pulling for because I really, really respected Butler after watching them play that night. And when we got Brad Stevens I was happy because I knew that guy was good.

[droopdog7]

I'm a DUKE fan. And that shot is burned into my brain because I was 100% sure it was good. Until it wasn't. And for the first time ever I really felt bad for the team I wasn't pulling for because I really, really respected Butler after watching them play that night. And when we got Brad Stevens I was happy because I knew that guy was good.

I'm A UNC fan (the reigning champs), and that shot is 100% ingrained in my brain.  God how I wish it had gone in.

But no way Hayward should be killing himself over missing a half-court shot.

[Bucketgetter]

I'm a DUKE fan. And that shot is burned into my brain because I was 100% sure it was good. Until it wasn't. And for the first time ever I really felt bad for the team I wasn't pulling for because I really, really respected Butler after watching them play that night. And when we got Brad Stevens I was happy because I knew that guy was good.

I'm A UNC fan (the reigning champs), and that shot is 100% ingrained in my brain.  God how I wish it had gone in.

But no way Hayward should be killing himself over missing a half-court shot.

When I have heard Hayward talk about the game it sounds like he beats himself up not over the half court shot, but over the missed fadeaway midrange a couple possessions earlier. He said its a shot he hits all the time, and actually hit a game winner against us with the exact same shot if you remember that a couple years ago.

[NHHillbilly]

I think that Steven's coaching of Butler to an inch of a championship was forgotten with the Hayward free agency.  Gordon Hayward is probably not as good as Kevin Durant:  so in a league with Kevin Durant, how does he win a championship?  Find a coach who can win with less talent.