Clarification on "clutch"

In a previous post I labeled certain Bucks "clutch" and certain other Bucks "not clutch". Now, when I did that, I wasn't trying to determine, to quote this guy, 'whose heart pumps kool-aid'. All I was doing was looking at each particular player's overall numbers, and then comparing those numbers to the specific set of numbers said player produced under a given set of circumstances defined by 82games.com as "Clutch Time". If the player's numbers went up at Clutch Time, or were reasonably similar to his overall numbers, I concluded that he was "clutch". If his numbers showed a significant decline, I said he was not.

I paid no mind to the player's personal fortitude, or whether or not he tended to rattle. You can have the heart of a lion and still not be clutch. In fact, it could very well be that a player was not clutch precisely because of that. For example, if some guy thinks he's Michael Jordan but has a game closer to Eddie Jordan's, and because of that inflated sense of self he puts in on himself to take all the big shots, and if most of those shots produce nothing but fresh cracks in the backboard, he is not clutch.

Similarly, by labeling a guy "not clutch", I in no way meant to imply that he never comes through in the clutch. I only looked at each player's overall production. Lombardi said 'You are what you consistently do'. I tend to agree.

Finally, this guy has an excellent elaboration on the entire concept.