We had an article defining choking, that, in the last paragraph, acknowledged that choking could just be a sign of a player’s flaws.
When a player has bad playoff performances, we call them a choker. We imply that the moment is too big for them, but it may be more accurate that they simply get exposed in the playoffs.
For instance – and it sucks to pile on James Harden here, but he’s just too good of an example to use – Harden has a lot of really bad shooting games in the playoffs, as we all know. But again, is this him just being a low intangible player? Or is it that certain things he does in the regular season are less effective in the playoffs?
Possibly. It is a fact that his game has flaws. He relied a lot on flopping to draw fouls in regular season (which don’t always get called in the playoffs).
The changing in refereeing can throw him of his game, potentially. Additionally, Harden has a great first-step, and a good handle to drive to the rim, but his finishing has never been on the level of his guard contemporaries like Kyrie, Curry, Westbrook, etc. And lastly, Harden is not an impact defender – he has the potential to be good defensively but it comes and goes.
Lastly, Harden has had his conditioning questioned. Harden doesn’t typically run without the ball, and he has his moments where he gives up on plays.
So in a game where his shot isn’t falling, and he isn’t getting the calls.. he may feel like he has no answers, and thus he may check out.
We can use the early 1990s Bills – you know, the ones who lost four straight super bowls – as an example.
When people reference the Bills… they usually just bring up how they choked. But they don’t really tell the whole story or go into detail.
Technically, there was some “choking”. If you watch and skim through their super bowls, you would notice several instances where they just… failed to execute and looked nervous.
In the video below, in the Washington Commanders and Buffalo Bills Super Bowl, Madden frequently points out how erratic and nervous Kelly has been. Missed throws, and even dropped catches from Reed.
Even against the Giants in 1990… they messed up in crucial moments. Early in the game, Kelly – with a clean pocket – underthrew a deep ball intended for Lofton that… luckily was caught after the Giants defender tipped it in the air. But he got tackled short of the endzone – and guess what? They settled for a field goal. As where if Kelly – who, again, had a clean pocket – hit Lofton in stride (he had a lot of seperation), they would have socred a touchdown here.
The main point though is that the Bills did have some flaws that may have explained why they performed like this. The biggest culprit was their offensive system – the K-Gun – was designed and built to catch defenses off-guard by going no-huddle and uptempo, and relying on making audibles to attack the defense when they were unprepared. But this system ended up biting them in the big games, as their opponents (who actually played them in the regular season) were able to disguise their coverages, and effectively bait Kelly and the Bills into playing right into their hands. As a result, this may have thrown off the Bills, who relied on such a scheme, and they ended up being rattled.
This is overall an interesting and fascinating topic – as again, one could argue their very scheme is actually a product of them choking – they needed the K-gun to help them maintain their poise and not screw up.
Although, in either way, flaws – whether it’d be tangible, or intangible – tend to itneract with each other.
