Originally posted by RU-JMM78:
Officials are often the scape goat when a team loses.The reality is that Wisconsin lost because they failed to score down the stretch while the Duke guards made big shots.
In most cases I would agree with you, but not in this case. The refs put Duke on the foul line almost immediately in the second half, because Coach K. is one of this biggest whiners in the game and the officials are intimidated by him. I watched that entire game, and the calls that weren't called against the Badgers in the first half were suddenly called in the second half and it wasn't even subtle. Yeah, the two kids on Duke drove more to the basket, but they initiated the contact. The Wisconsin players stood straight up just like they did in the first half, but this time those were called fouls, where in the first half, it was either a non-call or a foul on one of the Blue Devils.
Also, there were so many missed calls. It seemed every time Wisconsin brought the ball up the court and Duke player was hacking him up and to half court. I counted at least five of those blatant fouls that weren't called. Second, Okafor should have fouled out of the game on several occasions long before the closing minutes of that game. One call that wasn't called in particular was when he hacked Kaminski across the arm with about 4 minutes left in the game. Kaminski should have gone to the FT line for 3. Instead the refs missed the call and Duke quickly rebounded the ball and threw it to the other end for an easy layup. How they missed Winslow stepping on the line is beyond puzzling when the ref is looking down at that area of the floor. Also, how they missed Hayes' layup AFTER the 35 second clock had expired is a real head scratcher. And to not get the call right with the ball going off of Winslow's fingertips is nothing short of disgraceful especially at the crucial point in the game. And another call when it was when I believe the kid Grayson on Duke drove down the LEFT SIDE, initiated contact and threw up the ball with no intention of trying to score and then getting two FT's.
Stats don't lie and Bo knows stats. The Badgers gave up the fewest fouls of ANY team in college BB. But when they play Duke suddenly the fouls are lopsided in favor of Duke? Why is that? We know why. Coach K. is royalty and whines like a little pussy-boy and gets the calls. That's why Duke is so HATED by all of the other schools and coaches. Sure they respect Coach K.'s program, but it's one thing to play 5 on 5. It's another having to play 8 on 5 and that's why Bo was right to criticized the piss poor officiating. I really hope that Delany gives the NCAA committee an earful today because they deserve it for allowing such shitty officiating in the Final Four and frankly in the entire tournament.
And yes I give credit to the two freshmen guards in the second half. They came up big when it counted, and Dekker for Wisconsin came up small and IMO one of the real reasons this game ended up so close. If Dekker played even 80% of what he had played in the entire tournament, Wisconsin wins this game going away.
I HATE THE ONE AND DONE PLAYERS, SO I HATE THE NBA RULE. That rule needs to be changed. If kids want to go straight to the NBA from HS then fine. But if they make a commitment to college, the rules need to change that they stay in school at least 2 years and preferably 3 years.
As for the piss poor officiating, which it was, I think the NCAA needs to hire the officials full time; they need a head official; and in tournament games whether in conference or the NCAA tournament they need a separate official in a booth who is impartial to call the instant-replay. I also think that just like college football, each coach should have one challenge and if they're right, they keep that challenge and if they're wrong they lose that challenge.
This post was edited on 4/7 5:56 PM by RU MAN
