No, No, No…Yes

June 7th, 2013 | by Scott Stevens

As I sit and watch these Playoffs — with these 16 other teams not named the Utah Jazz — I can’t help but envy the rosters. Especially with the Heat and Spurs. It seems like 1-12, these guys each bring something unique and important to the table. An obvious, yet important, observation explaining why these teams are in the Finals, and the Jazz are not.

More than anything, I realized a small difference between Playoff rosters and the one we follow: I don’t cringe when these Finals players touch the ball. Also, I don’t cringe when these players actually shoot the ball. [Editor’s note: I cringed when Chris Bosh shot that three-pointer at the end of Game 1 on Thursday.] There are far fewer “No, No, No… YES” players.

Help me rank this close-to-home list of NNN…Y players:

Earl Watson – I can’t think of another person whose jump shot makes me more nervous. To make it worse, he always seems to get caught with the ball at the end of the shot clock.

Jamaal Tinsley – The man is practically an And1 mixtape all on his own. But he never learned to put the ball in hoop. His set-shot “jumper” doesn’t exactly inspire confidence.

Mo Williams – Mo is known for being more of a shooter than a traditional point guard. He can get hot with the best of them, but might be the king of the ill-advised shot early in the shot clock.

*Sidenote – It’s never a good sign when all three of the Jazz point guards are at the top of this list.

Last but not least, Marvin Williams – I think his membership on this list boils down to the weird jump kick thingy he does with his legs.

It’s not just current Jazzmen, we’ve seen a number of “No, No, No… Yessers” in the past.

CJ Miles? Always high on the list.

Ronnie Price? Yeah, him too.

Ronnie Brewer? I still have nightmares of Kobe standing three feet off, daring him to take his crazy-form jump shots in the Playoffs.

But it hasn’t been all bad, either. We’ve also seen players like Kyle Korver and Jeff Hornacek, who had shots so pretty, it felt like every attempt was going in.

It’s also exciting and frustrating to face another team with a NNN…Y All-Star. Think of the Shawn Marions, Metta World Peaces and even Rajon Rondos of the league. I’ll let those guys take a jump shot any day — but it makes it sting even more when it actually goes in.

Give us your finest “No, No, No… Yes” players in the comments.

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