looking at the game stats

[dasher]

it's pretty clear we wanted Allen shooting 3's. 3 for 14. And some here were upset that Howard didn't get out on him more. That would have opened up the foul line more. That would have been bad.

 

[SUintheVille]

True, but Allen missed some wide open shots that he might otherwise knock down. I guess until he proved he could make those shots from deep, no need for Howard to come out farther and open up the middle more so, as you said.

 

[Cusefan0307]

I’ve said this in other threads, but he shot 30% from 3 in ACC play. We crucified Cooney for shooting 35% his senior year. At this point Allen is living off his reputation. Trent is the better shooter.

 

[Ghost]

I’ve said this in other threads, but he shot 30% from 3 in ACC play. We crucified Cooney for shooting 35% his senior year. At this point Allen is living off his reputation. Trent is the better shooter.

Yeah, Trent getting hot is the bigger danger. I thought the defense was okay - honestly I was more concerned about all the open looks Michigan State got. They just flat out missed a ton. I thought with Duke, you have to give them something, it might as well be deep threes from Grayson Allen.

 

[DonLightfoot]

It was also interesting to learn our FG% was higher and we had more "overall" rebounds. Having done that you would think the game would have been ours. Turnovers obviously hurt us.

 

[jdubs30]

You could tell we were worried about Trent and Bagley only. We have Carter Allen and Duval a lot of room

 

[rrlbees]

it's pretty clear we wanted Allen shooting 3's. 3 for 14. And some here were upset that Howard didn't get out on him more. That would have opened up the foul line more. That would have been bad.

I don’t remember if we started that way or made the decision in game but we did let him have those long 3’s. Nobody got out on him, particularly Frank. But it’s obvious it was intentional and played a role in Frank getting 8 rebounds. He dropped to the foul line a lot instead of flying out at Allen which allowed him to help on the boards by collecting those longer rebounds. But some will tell you it was just Frank being lazy.

 

[44cuse]

There are so many crap threads right now on the board with 5+ pages of nonsense, and then there is this good one with like 8 posts.

Go figure. Net net...they had the right game plan. Played one of the better games they played all year. Played with their same characteristic high energy. Got baskets from Marek. Battle was a factor. They hit the boards. The percentages worked in their favor. The OFF was run pretty darn well. Just turned it over a bit too much.

Some will say this was the real team all season, I don't personally believe that. I think they overachieved in the tournament which is a compliment and a credit to coaching.

44cuse

 

[dasher]

There are so many crap threads right now on the board with 5+ pages of nonsense, and then there is this good one with like 8 posts.

Go figure. Net net...they had the right game plan. Played one of the better games they played all year. Played with their same characteristic high energy. Got baskets from Marek. Battle was a factor. They hit the boards. The percentages worked in their favor. The OFF was run pretty darn well. Just turned it over a bit too much.

Some will say this was the real team all season, I don't personally believe that. I think they overachieved in the tournament which is a compliment and a credit to coaching.

44cuse

Why, thank you!

 

[Marty McFly]

Out rebounding them & shooting a higher FG percentage usually equals a win. Unfortunately for us, the refs were in Duke's pocket in the first half, with all the non-calls on them while calling everything on us... I'd fully expect that at Cameron, but in a sweet 16 game, its even tougher to overcome. Hard to beat a stacked Duke team as it is, throw in the overall poor officiating job and its nearly impossible, yet somehow we almost did it, just a couple buckets shy... which if you think about it objectively is quite a feat!

 

[721Comstock]

Out rebounding them & shooting a higher FG percentage usually equals a win. Unfortunately for us, the refs were in Duke's pocket in the first half, with all the non-calls on them while calling everything on us... I'd fully expect that at Cameron, but in a sweet 16 game, its even tougher to overcome. Hard to beat a stacked Duke team as it is, throw in the overall poor officiating job and its nearly impossible, yet somehow we almost did it, just a couple buckets shy... which if you think about it objectively is quite a feat!

Indeed! And those "couple of buckets" were on us - 2 missed dunks, missed late FT's. However...

I STILL can't get over 2 of the non-calls:

• Bagley MUGGING Chewie over the back, knocking off his goggles. HOW is that NOT a foul? It's literally the definition of "over the back"
• Bagley lowering his shoulder into Chewie, blasting him out of the way, then gathering and dunking. With all the BS "push-off" fouls, flops, and other crap we've had called as O-fouls, HOW is bulldozing a 7'2" guy out of the lane w/ your shoulder, NOT an offensive foul??

The 2nd half reffing seemed more reasonable, even if every Duke player and coach seemed incredulous that they could ever be called for a single foul, ever.
But - the damage had been done; that 10-0 run when Marek sat w/ his 3rd, turned out to be the decisive segment of that game.

 

[Dcuse]

Indeed! And those "couple of buckets" were on us - 2 missed dunks, missed late FT's. However...

I STILL can't get over 2 of the non-calls:

• Bagley MUGGING Chewie over the back, knocking off his goggles. HOW is that NOT a foul? It's literally the definition of "over the back"
• Bagley lowering his shoulder into Chewie, blasting him out of the way, then gathering and dunking. With all the BS "push-off" fouls, flops, and other crap we've had called as O-fouls, HOW is bulldozing a 7'2" guy out of the lane w/ your shoulder, NOT an offensive foul??

The 2nd half reffing seemed more reasonable, even if every Duke player and coach seemed incredulous that they could ever be called for a single foul, ever.
But - the damage had been done; that 10-0 run when Marek sat w/ his 3rd, turned out to be the decisive segment of that game.

I screamed the same thing about Bagley lowering the shoulder and blasting Chuk out of the way but he absolutely HAS TO LEARN to go down on his back on that ala Fab Melo. It will never get called if you’re still standing there after the contact. Hopkins taught that beautifully to Melo and Griffin needs to teach it to the big guys now.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

I screamed the same thing about Bagley lowering the shoulder and blasting Chuk out of the way but he absolutely HAS TO LEARN to go down on his back on that ala Fab Melo. It will never get called if you’re still standing there after the contact. Hopkins taught that beautifully to Melo and Griffin needs to teach it to the big guys now.

Two things about this and flopping in general. You're right. And that is terrible. Not that you're right, but that a defensive player has to sell a call to get it.

That was absolutely a charge.

 

[cuse10]

I screamed the same thing about Bagley lowering the shoulder and blasting Chuk out of the way but he absolutely HAS TO LEARN to go down on his back on that ala Fab Melo. It will never get called if you’re still standing there after the contact. Hopkins taught that beautifully to Melo and Griffin needs to teach it to the big guys now.

It's on the referee to make that call, flop or no flop. You could clearly see that he bulldozed him.

With that said, if you look at the stat sheet they should have won. However, if you look at the turnovers, that's where they lost. This is a game that'll probably bother me for some time. I could quickly move on from getting the doors blown off. When the game was within reach, all you can do is wonder what if.

 

[81South]

I am always amazed at what is allowed for contact initiated by the offensive player in the low post...it’s like the rules don’t apply anymore.

 

[cuse10]

I am always amazed at what is allowed for contact initiated by the offensive player in the low post...it’s like the rules don’t apply anymore.

Selective enforcement and no unanimous take on what a foul is. I see big men hook the opposing player to clear them out (Kansas' Azubuike does this a lot) or in Bagley's case literally throw their shoulder into an opposing player's chest to make room, and there isn't a whistle.

The officiating being as poor as it is gets highlighted for everyone to see during the tournament. The West Virginia loss Friday was a clear example of that. West Virginia was completely taken out of their game six minutes into the second half while Nova was allowed to stiff arm, go over the back and initiate an egregious double technical foul which Spellman initiated. The latter took out West Virginia's best big man with his fourth foul.

Only in college, do the referees put themselves before the game and have as much influence over a game as they do. They'll let them play in one half and then call the game tight the rest of the day. It's why we know guys like John Higgins and "TV" Teddy. Your favorite team's only hope in situations like this is to put more balls in the basket as they can, because 8 on 5 is a very real reality in the NCAA.

 

[longislandcuse]

Duke board even mentioned this after the game. Someone talked about all the open threes they missed but other posters pointed out that the only open looks they really had were those from Allen 5 feet beyond the 3 point line.

 

[tbonezone]

I screamed the same thing about Bagley lowering the shoulder and blasting Chuk out of the way but he absolutely HAS TO LEARN to go down on his back on that ala Fab Melo. It will never get called if you’re still standing there after the contact. Hopkins taught that beautifully to Melo and Griffin needs to teach it to the big guys now.

not a fan of the FLOP . corrupts the game. and want no part of acting class taught here . let the big boys bang.

 

[Marty McFly]

not a fan of the FLOP . corrupts the game. and want no part of acting class taught here . let the big boys bang.

The problem with that is, you don't get rewarded playing good D, and this thread is proof of that. Until reffing is fixed, you gotta flop, otherwise you're playing at an innate disadvantage that'll be tough to overcome in one and done situations. It is what it is.

 

[Cowtown]

Indeed! And those "couple of buckets" were on us - 2 missed dunks, missed late FT's. However...

I STILL can't get over 2 of the non-calls:

• Bagley MUGGING Chewie over the back, knocking off his goggles. HOW is that NOT a foul? It's literally the definition of "over the back"
• Bagley lowering his shoulder into Chewie, blasting him out of the way, then gathering and dunking. With all the BS "push-off" fouls, flops, and other crap we've had called as O-fouls, HOW is bulldozing a 7'2" guy out of the lane w/ your shoulder, NOT an offensive foul??

The 2nd half reffing seemed more reasonable, even if every Duke player and coach seemed incredulous that they could ever be called for a single foul, ever.
But - the damage had been done; that 10-0 run when Marek sat w/ his 3rd, turned out to be the decisive segment of that game.

To your second point, yes, it should have been called an offensive foul. Now to the first, when I saw Chukwu's glasses get knocked off I was bugged. But on the replay, for as much as I wanted a call there, I didn't see anything I would have called. It was more toward incidental than a foul. From the angle I saw, first there were a lot of bodies all pushed in together. They were both shoulder to shoulder in a scrum, both reaching toward the ball, both with about an equal line. That said, I was about 4 beers in so I might see it differently in somewhat more clear light, LOL!