Dear Dion...

[RF2044]

Look at it again, I just watched it a half dozen times. His foot may touch before the ball hits the rim, but it is literally milliseconds difference. His foot is getting ready to hit when the ball hits the rim. It's much closer then you think if you just pay attention to his foot and listen for the ball hitting the rim. Not nearly as cut and dried as you folks are making it out to be.

I disagree--because I think the rule is that you're not allowed to cross the line, not just step down. I might be taking a literal interpretation of that if it is indeed about the foot coming down. I'm pretty sure I'm right, though.

 

[A Clockwork Orange]

I disagree--because I think the rule is that you're not allowed to cross the line, not just step down. I might be taking a literal interpretation of that if it is indeed about the foot coming down. I'm pretty sure I'm right, though.

If it's in the lane from the side I know the foot has to come down, honestly I never thought it was different for the person at the line, but maybe I'm incorrect on that.

 

[rrlbees]

I didn't think the clock starts until someone touches it.

i believe you are correct.

 

[orangehomer]

you don't want them to be able to set something up and want the ball to clang around a bit and someone have to chuck it. nothing says he will make both. chances of us losing in OT are better than their chances of scoring on a full court chuck. of course dion going in for the rebound negated all that. that shouldn't have been done.

so you think waiters missed the free throw because he was coached to?

 

[upperdeck]

the rule is you cant cross the plane of the line floor to ceiling with anything other than your shooting hand.. players violate the rule all the time but its never called.. technically when guys shoot and lean in its a violation..

its the wilt chamberlin rule though its not called that any more..

 

[A Clockwork Orange]

the rule is you cant cross the plane of the line floor to ceiling with anything other than your shooting hand.. players violate the rule all the time but its never called.. technically when guys shoot and lean in its a violation..

its the wilt chamberlin rule though its not called that any more..

Well I'll go ahead and say that it has never been called in that way since Wilt then. I literally have never seen someone called for a lane violation without coming down in the lane first. I've seen guys hover their foot in the lane trying to maintain balance so they don't fall into the lane and not once have seen that called. If it's the rule, it's the rule but I've never seen it enforced in that way.

 

[Frozen]

It seemed like the UL players did not know that it was a 1 and 1.

 

[LennX6]

I would have bet money that Dion would not blow our final two possessions and then miss the front end of a 1-and-1 to nearly cost us the game. Wowowow. I am now convinced this was the worst performance this team has put in all year, including the ND mess. Absolutely expected frankly given the spell that Pitino seems to have over us. I expect an exact replay in the dome. Awesome win though. Absolutely huge!

This game convinced me more than ever that if Melo was around, we beat ND in a game like this.

 

[Chip]

Absolutely the right decision to miss with just a 1 point lead. I have no doubt JB told him to miss. Wrong to go for the rebound but right to miss.

That's the scariest part though. Did JB not finish the sentence or did Dion stop listening. Thank god we finally beat that team. Would have officially been a curse to lose like that. Even the refs wanted the streak to end, gawd love them.

 

[upperdeck]

they don't call the rules on walking why bother with rules on the foul line.. they don't call the rules on box outs on free throws either.

silva double step hop step is a walk that was never called, but many guards do it as well..

 

[RF2044]

Well I'll go ahead and say that it has never been called in that way since Wilt then. I literally have never seen someone called for a lane violation without coming down in the lane first. I've seen guys hover their foot in the lane trying to maintain balance so they don't fall into the lane and not once have seen that called. If it's the rule, it's the rule but I've never seen it enforced in that way.

It's enforced on shooters--I think that's the point upperdeck was making. Shooters can't cross the line. They are more lenient with guys on the endlines of the lane because they are jockeying for position, trying to anticipate when the shooter will release the ball, etc.

Definitely an uncommon / obscure call, but I've seen guys called before who throw the ball up and then jump into the line trying to catch the glass ball offensive rebound.

 

[Knicks411]

Yeah the clock doesn't start till the ball is touched. Still think 1.1 was too much, though I am guessing they gave it to them when the TO was signaled for, not when the TO was granted.

I guess if you tell Dion to miss, you are basically giving them the ball down 1 under the basket with about a second left, where they can't run the baseline. I'd still rather be up 3 (or even 2) with them with the ball wht 1.6 left.

 

[Flacusian]

When the Ref held up 1 finger on each hand to signal 1.1 seconds I thought for sure he was saying that it was a foul and Louisville would be shooting a 1 and 1. Of course when your heart is jumping out of your throat it's easy to be a bit confused at the end of the game. Incredible that we won with as many boneheaded things that were done to give it away. KJ losing the ball out of bounds in the exact same spot as several games ago had me pretty much apoplectic! Thankfully he made up for it with an incredible defensive take away several plays later.

Sheesh! But in the end... FREAKIN AWESOME WIN!!!!

 

[HoustonCuse]

KJ losing the ball out of bounds in the exact same spot as several games ago had me pretty much apoplectic! Thankfully he made up for it with an incredible defensive take away several plays later.

Sheesh! But in the end... FREAKIN AWESOME WIN!!!!

I'm with you there. Knowing how precious every defensive rebound is to us, I was just losing my mind over that one.

 

[Flacusian]

I'm with you there. Knowing how precious every defensive rebound is to us, I was just losing my mind over that one.

My wife dove under the blanket on the couch. At that point she was no longer capable of watching.

 

[Jasoncuse]

Absolutely the right decision to miss with just a 1 point lead. I have no doubt JB told him to miss. Wrong to go for the rebound but right to miss.

Absolutely not. There is ZERO chance JB instructed him to miss that shot. Not the front end of a 1 and 1. Not with the way he went after the rebound. Not with him already saying on twitter that he needs to knock down his FT's. There was no reason for him to miss the FRONT END. That makes absolutely no sense.

 

[orangepassion]

Absolutely not. There is ZERO chance JB instructed him to miss that shot. Not the front end of a 1 and 1. Not with the way he went after the rebound. Not with him already saying on twitter that he needs to knock down his FT's. There was no reason for him to miss the FRONT END. That makes absolutely no sense.

I agree-I think Boeheim would feel better w/ a 3-point lead

 

[rrlbees]

Absolutely not. There is ZERO chance JB instructed him to miss that shot. Not the front end of a 1 and 1. Not with the way he went after the rebound. Not with him already saying on twitter that he needs to knock down his FT's. There was no reason for him to miss the FRONT END. That makes absolutely no sense.

So he makes the front end, what does he do on the 2nd one?

 

[Jasoncuse]

So he makes the front end, what does he do on the 2nd one?

Anything can happen. Why give up at least one free point there? The way Dion went after the miss and the fact that there was no reason to miss the front end other than to not prolong the agony, so to speak. I'd like to hear JB's thoughts on this.

 

[orangehomer]

So he makes the front end, what does he do on the 2nd one?

make it.

 

[rrlbees]

Anything can happen. Why give up at least one free point there? The way Dion went after the miss and the fact that there was no reason to miss the front end other than to not prolong the agony, so to speak. I'd like to hear JB's thoughts on this.

Here are the 2 scenarios;

1. Make both FT's. 3 pt lead. Lville gets the ball with 1.7 secs left and can run the baseline. Long pass down court with the chance that a player can catch, turn and shoot. If he makes it, it is OT.

2. Miss the FT. The ball is rebounded by Lville and the player has to turn and throw it the length of the court at the basket and hope he makes a 90 footer.

I'll take my chances with #2. Dion gave them some life by going for the rebound and losing it out of bounds.

 

[Knicks411]

I'll take my chances with #2. Dion gave them some life by going for the rebound and losing it out of bounds.

Dion didn't lose it out of bounds; Lville got it and called a TO. Which is what they would've done had he missed no matter what; if they were out of TO i could see your point. But no matter what, Louisville is going to be taking the ball out of bounds under their own basket. The key is by missing you lose a little bit of time, Lville can't run the baseline, but you lose with a bucket.

 

[HoustonCuse]

Bottom line on this one: You can see the UL big guy was not ready for the shot. He was looking away towards the benches with a kind of What type gesture when Dion was preparing to shoot. It looks to me like Dion noticed this and attempted to take advantage with a quick shot miss/rebound. It almost worked but it was an incredibly Paul-Harrisian plan that could have backfired like a mo-fo.

 

[Jasoncuse]

Here are the 2 scenarios;

1. Make both FT's. 3 pt lead. Lville gets the ball with 1.7 secs left and can run the baseline. Long pass down court with the chance that a player can catch, turn and shoot. If he makes it, it is OT.

2. Miss the FT. The ball is rebounded by Lville and the player has to turn and throw it the length of the court at the basket and hope he makes a 90 footer.

I'll take my chances with #2. Dion gave them some life by going for the rebound and losing it out of bounds.

1. Isn't JB's thought process in that situation to foul before they can shoot a 3?
2. That's great, but that's not what happened, nor would it have happened if he missed the first or second. L'ville had TO's and if Dion hadn't tipped the miss, they likely call a TO with 1.5 left. If their guy had caught the in bounds pass, he gets a 35 footer for the win off. I just don't see how that was in JB's plans.

Dion didn't lose it out of bounds either.

 

[CorduroyG]

Here are the 2 scenarios;

1. Make both FT's. 3 pt lead. Lville gets the ball with 1.7 secs left and can run the baseline. Long pass down court with the chance that a player can catch, turn and shoot. If he makes it, it is OT.

2. Miss the FT. The ball is rebounded by Lville and the player has to turn and throw it the length of the court at the basket and hope he makes a 90 footer.

I'll take my chances with #2. Dion gave them some life by going for the rebound and losing it out of bounds.

You absolutely, 100%, no doubt about it try to make both free throws in that situation. There is NO WAY jb told dion to miss. Lousiville has a timeout, why would dion miss on purpose? He misses, lousiville gets the rebound and calls timeout, they have 1.1 or whatever to throw a length of the court pass to beat us. He makes both, lousiville has 1.7 seconds to throw a length of the court pass and all they can do is tie us. Which situation would you prefer? Its not even debateable.

You try to make both in that situation every single time.