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Basketball: Duke game thread
By Jeff Faraudo
Sunday, March 21st, 2010 at 1:51 pm in Basketball, Gameday, NCAA Tournament.
FINAL SCORE: Duke 68, Cal 53. Bears finish with a season-low point total — previous was 62. Boykin led Cal with 13 points. Randle (12), Robertson (10) and Christopher (2) combined for 24 — got to be their combined season low. Bears finish 24-11. Duke goes to Houston and the Sweet 16.
1:00 2nd H: Monty is letting his five seniors, including Knezevic, play it out.
4:29 2nd H: Sanders-Frison has fouled out. Max is in. MSF finished with seven points, equaling his best. Zoubek hit one of two and it’s 62-45, Duke’s biggest lead. Gutierrez is back in.
4:50 2nd H: MSF just got his fourth PF. And he’s the only Cal player to score in the past 5 minutes.
5:53 2nd H: Christopher just got his third foul. Singler gets three shots: FT, FT, miss. It’s 58-45.
6:35 2nd H: Duke leads 56-45. Sanders-Frison has Cal’s last seven points and has seven for the game. Cal is battling but cannot get over the hump because offense comes so hard. Christopher has two points, Robertson has four fouls and time is running down on the Bears. The Blue Devils are maintaining their hold on things despite the fact that Scheyer and Singler are a combined 2-for-14 from the 3-point line. Robertson is coming back in.Why not?
8:36 2nd H: Gutierrez just went down hard — seemed a bit out of it for a few seconds. He’s come out for Knezevic.
9:26 2nd H: Foul No. 3 on MSF — he’s trying, but he just can’t help it. Duke leads 54-40 after two FTs by Scheyer.
10:42 2nd H: Robertson just picked up No. 4 and is out for MSF.
11:32 2nd H: Duke just extended the lead to 48-37, thanks to a tipin by 7-1 Zoubek, then a layup by the Duke center. Singler and Scheyer are not making shots (each just 1-for-6), but Duke has too many ways to attack you, and the Bears are finding too few.
13:10 2nd H: Robertson just got PF No. 3.
13:41 2nd H: Duke has missed six straight shots but Cal cannot make a move and still trails 44-35.
15:02 2nd H: Duke leads 44-35 after back-to-back 3-pointers by Randle and Robertson. Gutierrez drew his third foul on what appeared (on the replay) to be a charge.
HALFTIME GUEST: Roxy Bernstein has ex-Cal player Solomon Hughes on his halftime show right now on 1550-AM. Hughes is attending Georgia, working on a PhD in educational psychology and playing golf. A good guy.
HALFTIME SCORE: Duke 37, Cal 24. It’s not over, but Duke is doing pretty much what it wants. Cal’s first-half point total equals its lowest of the season. Duke is shooting 50 percent and has a 17-9 rebounding edge. New, official halftime stats have Duke with a 17-14 rebounding edge, and show Cal with three offensive boards, instead of just one. Bears have seven turnovers. Randle has nine points, but Christopher and Robertson are each 1-for-4. Cal does not win when two of those three are off their games.
3:04 1st H: A couple other numbers that are telling — Cal has one offensive rebound and is 1-for-6 from 3-PT.
3:25 1st H: Duke leads 31-19 and is taking charge a bit. These next 3 1/2 minutes are critical for the Bears. They can hang tough or let Duke pull away before the half. Bears have missed five straight shots, two of them by Christopher, who has come up short on three attempts. Very few open 3-point looks, just as Montgomery predicted. Duke has a 16-9 rebounding edge. Gutierrez, MSF back in for Randle, Max.
7:52 1st H: Duke leads 22-17. Randle has seven points for Cal, but Christopher has missed the only shot he’s taken and Robertson has two points. Cal is shooting 57 percent (8-for-14) but trailing because it has six turnovers. Nolan Smith hurting Cal with nine points, including a couple strong, quick drives to the hoop. Max Zhang is checking in for MSF.
10:12 1st H: Gutierrez came out with 10:22 left after getting his second personal foul. The refs just warned Monty about something.
11:51 1st H: Duke leads 16-11. Cal is shooting 5-for-9, but has four turnovers . . . and played most of the first 7-plus minutes without one of its best players. Duke is shooting 7-for-13 and has three offensive rebounds.
12:44 1 st H: Christopher at the scorer’s table, waiting to come in. Apparently suffered a cut above his left eye.
15:21 1st H: Duke jumped out to a 6-0 lead and was killing Cal on the offensive glass. But it’s 6-6 now and Cal has the ball after Gutierrez forced a turnover. Still no sign of Christopher, who went to the locker room, apparently to get some medical attention. Markhuri Sanders-Frison is coming in (for Gutierrez) to provide a little muscle. Duke is brutally physical, especially Zoubek, who nearly separated Knezevic’s head from his body with a wicked pick.
19:24 1st H: Christopher just came out because he is bleeding. Nikola Knezevic in.
STARTING LINEUPS: No surprises. Cal goes with Jerome Randle, Patrick Christopher, Jorge Gutierrez, Theo Robertson and Jamal Boykin. Duke will start Nolan Smith, Jon Scheyer, Kyle Singler, Lance Thomas and Brian Zoubek.
THEY’RE ON THE FLOOR: Both teams have just taken the floor for warmups. The PA man has informed the crowd that tipoff will take place at 5:25 p.m. EDT. So 2:35, if you’re scoring from home.
GREETINGS: Back here at Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena, watching the final few moments of Cornell’s very impressive dismantling of Wisconsin. Final score: 87-69, and it wasn’t that close most of the second half.
Here’s something you probably did not know — heck, I didn’t know it until checking a few minutes ago: If Cal beats Duke this afternoon, it will become the only school to have an unbeaten record (with more than one game) against the Blue Devils in NCAA Tournament. The Bears would be 2-0 vs. Duke if it happens.
There was an Artis Gilmore sighting in the arena a few minutes ago — the 7-foot-2 former All-America center for Jacksonville is one of history’s most underrated college big men. Along with Omar Samhan, of course. (Omar and the Gaels are featured on AOL’s Fan House site: “Coolest Cinderella Ever.”)
I’ll be back in a few minutes with lineups and other stuff you simply cannot live without.
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March 21st, 2010 at 2:41 pm
5 on 7. As expected.
March 21st, 2010 at 2:41 pm
They never showed a replay of Patrick getting hurt. Let the conspiracy theories begin . . .
March 21st, 2010 at 2:42 pm
jeez, these guys are huge. but so far at 6-6 we appear to have better basketball skills. GO BEARS!
March 21st, 2010 at 2:44 pm
Rewound the DVR, Shire’s first tip on the first rebound attempt had his straight arm going right into Patrick’s head. Can’t use a “no blood, no foul” defense for it. Gee, Duke doesn’t get any breaks.
March 21st, 2010 at 2:54 pm
Is there a foul on Duke yet?
March 21st, 2010 at 2:58 pm
you can blame the refs if you want, but they’ve got more size and they’re using it to their advantage.
March 21st, 2010 at 2:59 pm
Duke doesn’t foul, c’mon now. That’s the refs’ story and they’re sticking to it. The Jorge 2nd foul, the ref threatening him and then telling Monty to get in the box. I think the refs have told Cal their place in the world.
March 21st, 2010 at 3:00 pm
Especially over the back. That first foul on Jorge was crap and now he sits out the rest of the half. Cal getting pushed around on the rebounds and needs to start doing the same.
March 21st, 2010 at 3:00 pm
Bias? no stinking bias…. Bears will need to beat both duke and the refs today
March 21st, 2010 at 3:03 pm
they are getting away. if we are going to pull this upset we got to say close, then maybe down the stretch a combination of pressure and nerves on the devils side may combine to level this match up a bit, cuz these are big. but we got to stay close, and they are getting away.
March 21st, 2010 at 3:05 pm
A lethal combination of rebounding indifference by the bears, poor shot selection, and horrendous officiating. Refs took Jorge out of the game, and we can’t win without him.
March 21st, 2010 at 3:06 pm
Aside from the obvious ref stuff, Cal is giving way too much respect to Duke.
And Duke is so big everywhere. It is time for Cal to creep back in or it could be a blowout. We are missing too many shots. Need to get hot.
March 21st, 2010 at 3:07 pm
Can we go in 10 or less? If not, things will be tough in the 2nd half.
March 21st, 2010 at 3:09 pm
I don’t think the refs are the problem, Duke is just bigger than Cal. Our big man, Max, is not athletic enough to match up with their bigs. Give Duke some credit. Monty needs to use some quickness to overcome that size.
March 21st, 2010 at 3:09 pm
The blocking call on Sanders-Frison, instead of a charge, completely changed this first half.
March 21st, 2010 at 3:10 pm
Ok, the refs missed a foul on Randle there at the end of the half.
March 21st, 2010 at 3:11 pm
@eric +1
March 21st, 2010 at 3:11 pm
One major with Max, which was a problem with Louisville, is that he gets caught up high on screens and then fails to stick with the Duke big man slipping down low. When Max stay in the paint, he is intimidating; let the guards stick with the three-pointer shooters.
March 21st, 2010 at 3:13 pm
No one is questioning how good or how big Duke is- noone is taking anything away from Duke- they’re good, ok?
But the refs clearly favor Duke and Duke gets treated like an NBA superstar- the rules are different. Even if the refs were fair so far, Cal is playing lousy and Duke would have a lead going into the half, but this would be closer and and Cal would have a better shot going into the 2nd half.
Right now, the game is teetering.
March 21st, 2010 at 3:14 pm
I feel raped. That was weak. Patrick taken out of the game for 8 minutes, out of his game for the rest of the half because of the lockerroom visit and the stitches. Add the pretty blatant unbalanced reffing. I mean, at least call it both ways! Favor Duke’s playing style to give them an advantage, but you can’t call fouls on Cal for the exact thing Duke gets away with. Such an unlucky start for us to need to use Knez for 5 minutes early and Patrick being thrown off his game. We’d be down, still, but by under 10.
March 21st, 2010 at 3:16 pm
It’s tough to knock Max- he just hasn’t gotten to play enough and didn’t get consistent game action, even when it seemed he had earned it with his game performance.
Monty had plenty of opportunity to play Max more this season and chose not to. So you risk suffering in game like this if Max struggles.
March 21st, 2010 at 3:16 pm
I don’t like the calls either, but it’s not the main reason we’re losing. Besides, did you really expect any different treatment for a #1 seed? It comes with the territory, they’ve earned it.
March 21st, 2010 at 3:16 pm
if u guys need any evidence of the kind of mental logjam Cal is in right now, look no further than Randle’s choice to try to go inside on that last position. he knows that there is only a few seconds left so he is not going to make a pass but take it himself, except everybody is a foot taller than him so his best shot is to take it from the outside where he actually had a slight opening off of the screen. but he didn’t. any other day that is a 3 point attempt. point being they have completely taken us out of our game (granted part of the game plan today is to dribble inside and use our speed advantage).
March 21st, 2010 at 3:20 pm
Duke gets more calls than any team in the country, and it hurts more when it’s against us.
We should count on them playing well in the 2nd and continuing to get no calls.
The two fouls on Jorge were awful and the block on MSF was as well. Lots of contact to our dribblers when driving and no call.
The gave Duke one touch foul towards the end of the half to ‘even things out’.
We need to push back down low on rebounds and go up hard to the basket on offense. We are doing neither of those and that’s why we’re losing.
March 21st, 2010 at 3:21 pm
Abe’s right- the Dukies have gotten in Cal’s head. Our Bears are pressing and that never works.
Will- I expect fair and good ref-ing in the NCAA tournament. #1 seeds don’t need or deserve favorable officiating. It happens a lot, but that doesn’t make it right. Duke didn’t deserve an unfair advantage.
March 21st, 2010 at 3:26 pm
We are not losing this game because of the refs, we are being outplayed. Let’s see if we have something to show for the 2nd half.
March 21st, 2010 at 3:29 pm
the over the back on gutierrez that HE got called for AWFUL
the elbow to the face that gutuerrez took AND picked up a foul for AWFUL
the no call for traveling on duke, that was called a jump ball AWFUL
the block call on msf AWFUL
the no call on the laceration of PC AWFUL
the no call at the end of the half AWFUL
but cal standing around after every 3, instead of following their shots was also awful. nikola knezevic coming in for his patented immediate turnover, also awful. and our shot selection has been awful. the refs got into our head, and we have given up. ben braun’s boys are out there now. let’s hope it turns around in the second half. we have to take and hit, open 3s. that’s our only chance.
March 21st, 2010 at 3:31 pm
JF is right – when two of PC, TR, or JR are off, we’re in trouble. Theo has not shot that well, but he hasn’t taken poor shots. PC, on the other hand, shot very poorly, particularly in the last 10 minutes. Randle is not going to get many looks under any circumstances, but if the other guys are cold, he will get hammered.
March 21st, 2010 at 3:35 pm
They’re just choking. Boykin open in the key by the basket, drops ball twice, open shot gone, gets pass to Jorge who badly misses layup. Boykin has been terrible and is pressing. They have played this way the whole game.
March 21st, 2010 at 3:37 pm
Ok, so dook wins the game because of their size but c’mon the refs are really making bad, one-sided calls for no reason. Such BS.
March 21st, 2010 at 3:38 pm
okay, this second half officiating is irritating me.
March 21st, 2010 at 3:39 pm
Jorge is getting screwed- such crap. Cal would be in this game if it wasn’t for the bad reffing.
March 21st, 2010 at 3:40 pm
I guess the officials hate mexicans.
March 21st, 2010 at 3:41 pm
Right now I see it as a 3 point game if it weren’t for the refs.
March 21st, 2010 at 3:41 pm
Second that. Jorge and Cal may have been a victim of and egregious refing, (did u guys see a block on the foul number 3 on Jorge?) but Jorge has also missed two relatively open lay ups in this half already. we are mostly beating ourselves right now. but the refs need to be ashamed of themselves.
March 21st, 2010 at 3:42 pm
Everybody in the arena agrees Cal is getting jobbed. There aren’t 10,000 Cal fans there, just hoop[s fans pissed at blatant bad, unfair officiating. This is worse than the Pac 10 refs.
This makes me hate Duke. Jorge was hit from behind shooting the 2 footer, no call? Duke gets that call 10 out of 10 times. The whole nation sees this. Even Jim Nantz and Kellogg are begrudgingly admitting these are bad calls.
March 21st, 2010 at 3:43 pm
Boykin is really stinking- he is missing wide open looks he’s made all season.
March 21st, 2010 at 3:44 pm
Boykin is chokariffic today.
March 21st, 2010 at 3:47 pm
Duke has missed the last 7 shots and our response? 0 points. Boykin missed a shot he makes any other day. Randle dribbled the ball into 3 front court players, all of them at least a foot taller and lost the ball, no idea what he was trying to do. dont blame the stinking refs, regardless how much they stink. Man, we can beat these guys, like I said in my first comment we are better than these guys.
March 21st, 2010 at 3:48 pm
give it up for the Bears, they are still fighting to get back in it.
March 21st, 2010 at 3:51 pm
You just can’t coach nerves. N Iowa’s got ‘em. We don’t.
March 21st, 2010 at 3:52 pm
We could be winning this game if the calls are even. Duke goes dry and we don’t score but Jorge gets fouled and no call? We just want a fair game and see how it falls, right now the game has changed with the fouls called on us and the no fouls called on Duke. Hard to be aggressive when you might get whistled for a foul.
March 21st, 2010 at 3:52 pm
Again, waaaay too much respect for Duke. All these missed layups and open looks is simply thinking too much about Duke instead of focusing on shooting their shot. They do indded look like Braun’s Bears today.
How much would Monty love to have some of those long, strong big men he had at Stanford today. He’d have a fighting chance. The thing that bums me out is that we don’t have any of those types coming in next year either.
March 21st, 2010 at 3:53 pm
ref’s do have impact, without the crystal ball it’s tough to know exactly what the score would be — but clearly the Bears are playing tight waiting for the whistle on defense and unable to get calls on O for clear fouls.
Patrick, if you are going to foul then don’t let him score.
March 21st, 2010 at 3:57 pm
love that – ball kicked on the break, randle picks it up, ref wants it but randle throws it in the opposite direction
March 21st, 2010 at 3:58 pm
Honest question. You can’t go over the back to get a rebound, but the Duke center just went completely over MSF to block Randle (Boykin collected and got a 3 point play). Shouldn’t that be a foul? Anyone know?
March 21st, 2010 at 3:58 pm
The issue with refs is that kills any momentum. Any time we can a little bit of a run, we get a no call on offense or Duke gets a call. Fouls stop the game, and get into players’ heads. When the CBS announcers are saying the calls are questionable (the “blocking” foul or Jorge, the next play down the court) you know it is bad.
Now, Duke #2 is definitely solid.
March 21st, 2010 at 3:58 pm
usually yes, but not today apparently with this crew.
March 21st, 2010 at 3:59 pm
time to start jacking 3′s
March 21st, 2010 at 3:59 pm
uh oh
March 21st, 2010 at 4:04 pm
I cat believe we’ve only taken 10 3s against this team of tree trunks.
March 21st, 2010 at 4:06 pm
You gotta play your a game to be a sweet 16 team. We’re just not doing it. Come on bears. Just once, surprise somebody.
March 21st, 2010 at 4:08 pm
Singlar looks like a ghost.
March 21st, 2010 at 4:12 pm
Did the announcer really just say msf is at fault for “the extra chest?” eff this whole tournament.
March 21st, 2010 at 4:13 pm
Great season Bears! Unfortunate Harper was out this year and Jordan didn’t come back. Also too bad all the other injuries we had earlier in the season but for the most part Cal was a great team lacking some inside size. They definitely worked hard to get where they are.
Jeff, thanks for your outstanding coverage and insight all year. Go Bears!
March 21st, 2010 at 4:13 pm
Also, we’re in the penalty early. If we can the right guys to the line, we score with the clock stopped.
I’m sorry, Boykin, though stinking alot, is at least working his tail off. The “Big” 3 are the little 3 today. Bad way to end their careers. A loss isn’t the end of the world, but at least go out playing well.
I guess we shouldn’t be surprised- this team laid plenty of eggs this season- UCLA, @$C, @OSU, etc.
March 21st, 2010 at 4:13 pm
Well lads, Duke is good. Cal got shafted on the un-called foul to Christoper in the opening play. That stole any momentum needed.
Still, Cal had a great season.
Go Bears!
March 21st, 2010 at 4:15 pm
Anyone watch the ref count to six while Jorge was all over the Duke PG. No 5 second call. I usually don’t buy into the crap east coasters say, but, my god, Duke is treated like spoiled princes by the refs.
March 21st, 2010 at 4:15 pm
Oh, well- a LOT of work to do to get ready for next season. All these returning uys need to improve a LOT. I also hope the incoming freshmen are really good.
March 21st, 2010 at 4:17 pm
rollon, that “extra chest” was into an extended elbow, no less. Duke is a better team, but that doesn’t mean the refs didn’t screw us.
March 21st, 2010 at 4:19 pm
CBS just mercifully saved us from watchiong more of the implosion.
You know, those bad losses hurt becuase you only get an 8 seed. If we won a few more and hadn;t gaaked the Pac 1- Tourney final, maybe we are a 5 or 6 seed, maybe we are in San Jose. We definitely don’t have to play a 1 seed like Duke this early.
St. Mary’s, with their lower seed, definitely got the better draw. But they also showed up and played their game, they have some some big guys. and their guys didn’t wilt under the pressure like Cal did today.
But Duke is sure good, but why wouldn’t they be? They get anybody they want, kind of like SC in football- but you have to actually go to class at Duke, and they don’t pay the kids.
March 21st, 2010 at 4:20 pm
well, CBS and the NCAA get their team into the next round.
March 21st, 2010 at 4:21 pm
we need size. we need depth. we have a one dimensional offense and that is too easy to defend. we need interior presence. so Mike go get some big bodies.
March 21st, 2010 at 4:25 pm
Cal’s 5 seniors are total class!
March 21st, 2010 at 4:27 pm
Thank you Jamal, Jerome, Nikola, Patrick and Theo. Class acts who have brought basketball back to Berkeley. Next year will be tough, but with the great recruits coming in, I fully expect to be in contention within 2 or 3 years. GO BEARS
March 21st, 2010 at 4:28 pm
thanks Bears, quite a ride this season
March 21st, 2010 at 4:37 pm
I’m proud of my Bears. This is a good foundation for a new Mike Montgomery Era! We’ll be better in the next few years. We do need a solid big or 2, but Cal had a good season. I wish we could have beat Duke and gotten to the sweet 16, but overall, this season was a success!
Now, let the football season begin!
GO BEARS!
March 21st, 2010 at 4:40 pm
a great season for the bears. 24 wins and beating slick rick in the tourney.
great job staying classy and fighting hard in a very unfairly called game.
March 21st, 2010 at 4:40 pm
Oh yeah, thanks Jeff.
March 21st, 2010 at 4:43 pm
We were so outclassed and outsized today, and the 3 other Duke participants in the zebra stripes just made it all the more frustrating. We looked like a bunch of munchkins out there today. Who would have believed that Duke would shoot 3 of 17 on threes and still dominate us? Oh well.
I suppose we will have to listen to St. Mary’s talk smack now. I hope they aren’t as bad as the tree or the cheater$.
I’m sorry the seniors went out this way, but they have much to be proud of. They will forever be remembered and appreciated for doing what no team in 50 years could do at Cal, and they made hoops relevant at Cal for the first time in many years.
I’m not sure how we will stack up next year talent-wise, but I choose to be optimisitic and I know we have a pretty good coach- so much better than Braun. It’s been a lot of fun and satisfaction this year. Looking forward to more next season.
Go Bears!
March 21st, 2010 at 6:09 pm
Everyone refers to the 5 seniors but did Amoke play at all?
We lost to a better team. Dan is correct we got that seed because we lost games we shouldn’t have. Still it was an ok season. I’m not concerned with St Mary’s, in fact I’m never concerned with colleges that have worse academics than we do .. and that’s about every college.
Over the next ten years Cal will get to the NCAA’s way more than St Marys’ or whoever is the fad team this or next year.
March 21st, 2010 at 6:37 pm
Amoke is a soph. Nikola is the 5th senior.
The only game that really impacted our seeding was New Mexico. That was a game we could have won with Theo or the other guys who were out with the flu. Winning that game would have put us in lock status earlier and possibly the rankings which would have influenced the selection committee. Losing to UCLA and Oregon St. didn’t hurt much because we still won the Pac 10 by two games and our RPI was very high anyway but not reflected much in our seeding. If we won more Pac 10 games I don’t think we would have moved up since the Pac 10 was considered “weak” by the committee.
I don’t think there were any other games we “should” of won that we didn’t that would have helped our seed.
March 21st, 2010 at 6:39 pm
This is only the beginning. Monty will build Cal into a power over the next few years. Yes, we need big men and we will get them.
Total side note: only wishful thinking but if Kamp played this year and Ryan Anderson never left for the NBA, Cal would have been a top team. Cal will get there.
Thanks JF for great coverage this year. Look forward to next season.
Go Bears!
March 21st, 2010 at 6:57 pm
Steve – where ya been?
Amoke was suspended for breaking a team rule. Didn’t travel.
Stay tuned.
March 21st, 2010 at 7:01 pm
Read a lot of the comments – they said what I would say.
Duke is WAY bigger and played well, getting easy looks inside and easy looks outside. The better team won.
However, the refs totally had a bias and Cal was kinda sunk from the get go with that. I mean, if we stood a chance in this game, we needed to have the refs call it even.
That 2nd foul on Gut? The guy squashed him like a giant to a child. Come on!
March 21st, 2010 at 7:19 pm
Uh oh I knew Amoke was suspended before the first NCAA game I just didn’t know why and I mistakenly thought he was a senior. Sorry.
I do think if we didn’t have a horrible losses to UCLA and OSU that we might have been seeded higher, but who knows. Joey didn’t we lose to UNM because of the refs?
March 21st, 2010 at 7:23 pm
I posted this eslewhere but it has to be said, even though I am certain we when no more than 3 out of 20 against Duke regardless.
I never bought into the conspiracy theories about Duke getting calls until today. I always thought it was biased eyes, even thinking so of my own eyes through the first half. Then, I watched Jorge completely cover the Duke PG for what seemed like forever with no 5 second call. I rewound the DVR twice. The ref counted off 6 seconds and was moving his hand for number 7 before the Dukie got rid of the ball. Sad.
March 21st, 2010 at 8:05 pm
Steve: Oh, we definitely would have been seeded higher without losses to any of the teams we lost to. The one UW game in the Pac 10 Tourney file probably cost us a 6 seed.
The UCLA and OSU games cost us, as did NM, Ohio St., etc….
Yes, Wisdom, I have heard people complain about Duke favoritism and today I side with them.
March 21st, 2010 at 8:27 pm
Duke has the better bball success, bbLL grad rate and btter looking women, but we can kick their *** in football.
March 21st, 2010 at 8:33 pm
If we didn’t lose any games we would have been a 1 seed but the only game we could have won with our missing players was NM which would have been a big help in seed. The only games that were bad losses were UCLA and OR St. The rest of the losses were what they were. If we could have won great but weren’t games we shouldn’t have lost.
March 21st, 2010 at 10:29 pm
I think the refs are all all hard core bball fans, and the problem is, they get starstruck. They’re mesmerized by the talent on the court. Happens in every sport, at every level. The sad thing is, they’re paid to be indifferent. I don’t think they’re fixing games. Maybe a few do, but they just get caught up in the action. Still, it’s unacceptable, and the fact that the NCAA stands idly by is proof that to them, it’s all about $. Also sad. Just look at how they do sec football.
I am so proud of my bears. They played with such class. I couldn’t have done it. I would have walked off the court and said eff it. Robert Morris coach almost did when they got hosed, repeatedly. I just wish more coaches would speak up. It’s ruining the game. Hoops is too influenced by officiating. Golf and bowling are about the only things you can warn these days without worrying about officials. Sad. Go bears.
March 22nd, 2010 at 3:04 am
Rollon.
Did you copy and paste one of my prior rants from years ago? Just Kidding, but yeah, I LOVE basketball, but completely agree that refs play too big a role in the outcome. There are too many bodies flying, arms hitting people on the eyebrow, causing them to get stitches and miss the first 7 minutes, just too much going on to call everything correctly. Same in football, where it’s been said you could call holding on every play.
So, the sport is what it is.
How do you think Ireland feels, by the way, with the Thiery Henry had ball goal that got France past Ireland and into the World Cup. What a ripoff.
You make a good point about the refs being fans and thus subconsciously affected.
The better team won yesterday – that’s for sure. But it would have been nice to see it called 50-50. We needed 50-50 if we were going to be able to give it a serious go. Nolan Smith was pushing off big time. Zubek squishing Gut on the rebound. Whatever. At least it wasn’t a 1 pt game.