This Will Probably Be Semih Erden’s Biggest Play of 2010-11

Posted by Zach Lowe on Sep 11, 2010 97769 commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fcelticshub.com%2F2010%2F09%2F11%2Fthis-will-probably-be-semih-erdens-biggest-play-of-2010-11%2FThis+Will+Probably+Be+Semih+Erden%27s+Biggest+Play+of+2010-112010-09-11+22%3A02%3A57Zach+Lowehttp%3A%2F%2Fcelticshub.com%2F%3Fp%3D9776

I don’t expect Semih Erden to contribute very much to the Celtics this season. He’s going to spend considerable time on the inactive list, and his chances of making the post-season active roster are basically nil. 

But you know what? This block to preserve Turkey’s insane win over Serbia in the FIBA world championship semi-finals will be remembered forever. We’ll never know if Serbia would have converted that last-gasp alley-oop from out of bounds—a play the Celtics know well—but we know this: you can’t ask for a better look inbounding the ball from the halfcourt sideline with 0.5 seconds left. And to block that shot without fouling? That’s a great play, one that will never be forgotten in Turkey. 

Fast forward to about the 4:30 mark of this video (thanks Jose 3030) to see Erden’s work, and hit the jump for some other famous last-second alley-oop tries.

Here’s the famous McHale-Dee Brown lob play from the first round of the 1993 playoffs, with Charlotte ahead 2-1 in the series and 104-103 with 0.4 for seconds left in Game 4. I was convinced in ’93 that Kendall Gill goal-tended Brown’s lay-in attempt. Was I right? Fast-forward to the 4:30 mark of the video for the play:

Many of you probably remember this crazy sequence from a random January game against the Heat last season:

And this last one has nothing to do with the Celtics; I just wish it had gone in.