Championship Game Thread
- Thread starter NickRU714
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I hope Texas tech wins but Virginia has been playing on the edge for the whole tournament. Some of Culver’s decisions with shots has been questionable
Congrats to UVA...who truly had the courage to earn a championship ...forcing overtime at the buzzer just to get to the final four ...then having to hit three foul shots to get the the finals ...and then knocking down the three to force overtime in the championship
Perhaps the most clutch championship in NCAA tournament history
Perhaps the most clutch championship in NCAA tournament history
Perhaps the luckiest championship in NCAA history thanks to poor officiating
Yeah I know----the ref missed the FT in the Purdue game and backtapped it.
The ref missed the back end of the 1 and 1 in the Auburn game.
You want perfect officiating ? Go to reviewing every call-----games should only take about 4-5 hours. Guys miss calls----they don't miss them because of incompetence or bias. They just miss them-----to officiate is difficult.
TT lost last night because they had a Defensive breakdown with under 10 seconds.
You never leave the guy on the 3 line to double on a layup when you're up 3 with under 10 seconds to play.
If Jerome hits the layup TT still wins the game.
The ref missed the back end of the 1 and 1 in the Auburn game.
You want perfect officiating ? Go to reviewing every call-----games should only take about 4-5 hours. Guys miss calls----they don't miss them because of incompetence or bias. They just miss them-----to officiate is difficult.
TT lost last night because they had a Defensive breakdown with under 10 seconds.
You never leave the guy on the 3 line to double on a layup when you're up 3 with under 10 seconds to play.
If Jerome hits the layup TT still wins the game.
Was a fun and exciting game overall - I enjoyed it, and didn't really have a dog in the fight, so to speak. Would have slightly preferred Tech, but I'm fine with UVA winning it (and it makes for a dramatic story after last year's first round loss).
Couple of thoughts on the game, though:
- Dear lord Owens couldn't play with fouls. I was amazed at how aggressive he was being on defense, especially under the basket, while playing with 3 and 4 fouls. His 5th foul is just something you DON'T DO as a senior playing with 4 fouls - you let that layup happen, and you get it back on the other end. His 4th and 5th foul were both really dumb decisions on his part to get in the mix while he was in foul trouble. His team needed him for much more than trying to stop that one bucket each time.
- The Moretti out of bounds play was probably technically the right call, but entirely against the spirit of the game, imo. He got a fast break, the defender poked the ball away to stop the layup, and Tech should have gotten the ball to inbound - that's basketball. Going to high speed HD cameras to show that while being poked away it was every-so-barely in contact with his hand a microsecond after the defender hit the ball? Ugh. It's not like the defender tried to hit the ball back into Moretti or anything, he was swatting the ball away and successfully batted it out of bounds.
- Don't know how TTech didn't sell out against the three on the final possession of regulation. Let them get the 2 pts, and then inbound the ball - why risk letting them get an open look from the arc? I think their aggressive "stop all baskets" mindset worked against them there.
- Just phenomenal FT shooting down the stretch for UVA. That's the way to close out a game - just don't miss from the stripe.
Couple of thoughts on the game, though:
- Dear lord Owens couldn't play with fouls. I was amazed at how aggressive he was being on defense, especially under the basket, while playing with 3 and 4 fouls. His 5th foul is just something you DON'T DO as a senior playing with 4 fouls - you let that layup happen, and you get it back on the other end. His 4th and 5th foul were both really dumb decisions on his part to get in the mix while he was in foul trouble. His team needed him for much more than trying to stop that one bucket each time.
- The Moretti out of bounds play was probably technically the right call, but entirely against the spirit of the game, imo. He got a fast break, the defender poked the ball away to stop the layup, and Tech should have gotten the ball to inbound - that's basketball. Going to high speed HD cameras to show that while being poked away it was every-so-barely in contact with his hand a microsecond after the defender hit the ball? Ugh. It's not like the defender tried to hit the ball back into Moretti or anything, he was swatting the ball away and successfully batted it out of bounds.
- Don't know how TTech didn't sell out against the three on the final possession of regulation. Let them get the 2 pts, and then inbound the ball - why risk letting them get an open look from the arc? I think their aggressive "stop all baskets" mindset worked against them there.
- Just phenomenal FT shooting down the stretch for UVA. That's the way to close out a game - just don't miss from the stripe.
Agree completely. Also how was that not a foul on Mr Double Dribble who basically mauled him and almost tackled Moretti prior to the other defender swatting the ball out of bounds?
+1 to everything here. On the final possession of regulation they over played at the top to take away the three and let the player drive it seemed willing to give up a layup, which would've been the right idea. However, then 2 players collapsed down leaving them with a wide open 3. Maybe it is just natural instinct to help there, but they should have definitely stayed outside with their man, to not allow a 3.
It was a great game and very entertaining though.
Michael Lewis has a new podcast that is about referees. The first episode is about basketball, but I haven’t had the chance to listen yet.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/against-the-rules-with-michael-lewis/id1455379351?mt=2
Here's a great ref gem from a key point in OT...UVA player trips his own guy and ref calls foul on TT....
Agree with this, but at the same time, what is funny to me is that they did seem to allow the UVA player to drive to the basket and he was wide open for a layup but still passed it out so hunter could get that 3. You've got to wonder what was happening if they essentially had 5 on 4 and still let up a not overly contested shot.
Or maybe just get a good look at the basket?
They had 3 players not moving and one going from baseline to elbow. Quite honestly horrendous coaching coming out of a long time out. How do you not even have 1 screen in that situation?