March Madness

[akronzips71]

This guy Baker on Wichita sure reminds me of Steve Mcnees.

[w00t]

The Michigan bench picked up Burke's slack tonight... 34 min, 7-9 FG, 4-5 3P, 3-6 FT, 6 REB, 2 AST, 21 PTS between the four of them.

A big part of that was former OU commit Caris LaVert (a freshman)... http://www.ohiobobcats.com/sports/m-baskbl.../110911aaa.html.

[skip-zip]

The Michigan bench picked up Burke's slack tonight... 34 min, 7-9 FG, 4-5 3P, 3-6 FT, 6 REB, 2 AST, 21 PTS between the four of them.

A big part of that was former OU commit Caris LaVert (a freshman)... http://www.ohiobobcats.com/sports/m-baskbl.../110911aaa.html.

This guy was only 2nd team in his high school conference, and ended up playing at Michigan as a freshman? That's quite a leap.

[odhgibo]

This guy was only 2nd team in his high school conference, and ended up playing at Michigan as a freshman? That's quite a leap.

The article was written when he was a junior. He received higher honors as a senior; see here and here.

That conference also is where Aaron Jackson plays, as can be seen in the first of the two links.

[Dr Z]

Great national title game. Very entertaining. Great pace to the game. Two teams that wanted the ball, and wanted to score.

Siva was my MVP of that game. Hope coach enjoys his tattoo.

[GP1]

Great national title game. Very entertaining. Great pace to the game. Two teams that wanted the ball, and wanted to score.

Siva was my MVP of that game. Hope coach enjoys his tattoo.

The highlights looked great. Since I was in bed at 10 PM, I missed the rest of it.

I wonder when the ncaa is going to give the working man a break and play their national championship games on Sunday or Saturday nights so they can start at a reasonable time and the rest of us can watch the whole game.

The Atlantic

[GP1]

Dumb Shining Moment

[skip-zip]

The highlights looked great. Since I was in bed at 10 PM, I missed the rest of it.

I wonder when the ncaa is going to give the working man a break and play their national championship games on Sunday or Saturday nights so they can start at a reasonable time and the rest of us can watch the whole game.

The Atlantic

In some instances, it stinks to live in the Eastern time zone. If they played a game like that any earlier on a Monday, the people in the major West Coast cities would still be at work. That's why most of us never get to see the end of the Monday night football games.

I see two solutions:

1) Friday night semis, Saturday night final - Why not? These teams are used to playing two nights in a row at this time of the year.

2) Friday night semis, and Sunday afternoon final - I think they've never considered this because they'd rather be on weekday prime time nationwide for better ratings.

[legendofzippy]

Great national title game. Very entertaining. Great pace to the game. Two teams that wanted the ball, and wanted to score.

Siva was my MVP of that game. Hope coach enjoys his tattoo.

I agree - Siva seemed to be everywhere. Not a huge problem with Hancock getting it though.

Two great teams, but that officiating was brutal! I think Louisville wins no matter what, but the goaltending that wasn't called in the first half and the Trey Burke block in the second will have to haunt Michigan fans for years.

In the end though, Louisville was just too quick and too active. Great game to watch.

[GP1]

2) Friday night semis, and Sunday afternoon final - I think they've never considered this because they'd rather be on weekday prime time nationwide for better ratings.

Or, Friday semis, Sunday finals with tip off at 8:00.

I'll stay up late Friday and Saturday. Sunday, no.

[taxpayer]

A championship game on a Saturday night makes total sense; the players actually might get to a few classes, their families might be able to work and the fans might consider a trip if not for missing work the day off and the day after. Makes sense to start the game at an earlier hour on a weekend so the west coast isn't inconvenienced.

All the above is true but we are speaking of the NCAA...they could care le$$ about all the above. It'$ all about the $$$$ for them. If you buy into their student athlete mantra I have some Florida swamp land I'd love to see you. Consider this, the NCAA had the University of North Carolina sideways in a cheating scandal involving their football and basketball teams and did absolutely zip about it. Speaking of Zip....our athletic compliance office made typographical errors on some paperwork submitted to this fine organization and what happened. We had two (2!) players suspended for 3 games for something they had nothing to do with.

Guess this sounds like sour grapes and admittedly, I guess it is but the old line is still true that the NCAA was so mad at Alabama that they took 3 scholarships away from Arkansas Pine Bluff.

Oh, I almost forgot....NCAA approves Alford leaving his gig which just gave him a 10 year contract extension (to assist with recruiting) but little Jimmy and Jamal, who were recruited by Alford you can't go anywhere. Well, you can leave but you must forfeit 25% of your eligibility. Enough said.

[skip-zip]

Or, Friday semis, Sunday finals with tip off at 8:00.

I'll stay up late Friday and Saturday. Sunday, no.

That would work too.

They find a way to play the Super Bowl early on a Sunday evening, so why not the D-1 Basketball National Championship game?

[odhgibo]

Two great teams, but that officiating was brutal! I think Louisville wins no matter what, but the goaltending that wasn't called in the first half and the Trey Burke block in the second will have to haunt Michigan fans for years.

Not picking on you per se, LOZ, but you just happened to provide the best opportunity to address this issue.

Once again, CBS's color commentators (in this case Kellogg and Kerr) did not know a rule, flatly stated that the officials missed a call, and left the entire country with the impression that the officiating was inadequate. In fact, it was Kerr & Kellogg who got it wrong.

Let me state this upfront: the ball touching the backboard is completely irrelevant to determining whether or not goaltending has occurred!

This is Rule 4-34 (Goaltending):

Art. 1. Goaltending shall have occurred when a defensive player touches the ball during a field-goal try and each of the following conditions is met:

a. The ball is in its downward flight; and

b. The entire ball is above the level of the ring and has the possibility, while in flight, of entering the basket and is not touching the cylinder.

The ball that Dieng blocked might have been in its downward flight, but Kerr & Kellogg stated that goaltending should have been automatic once the ball hit the backboard. Wrong!

(That said, the Burke-on-Siva block did look clean from the angles that I saw.)

[Dave in Green]

@HS Stripes, your officiating input is always appreciated. But in this instance I think you stated only part of the NCAA rule on goaltending. Here's the full rule with my bolding on Art. 3:

Section 34. Goaltending

Art. 1. Goaltending shall have occurred when a defensive player touches the ball during a field-goal try and each of the following conditions is met:

Exceptions: Rules 10-3.6; 10-6.1.i

a. The ball is in its downward flight; and

b. The entire ball is above the level of the ring and has the possibility, while in flight, of entering the basket and is not touching the cylinder.

Art. 2. It is goaltending to touch the ball outside the cylinder during a free throw, regardless of whether the free throw is on its upward or downward flight.

Art. 3. When the entire ball is above the level of the ring during a field-goal try and contacts the backboard, it is considered to be on its downward flight. In such a case, it is goaltending when the ball is touched by a player.

[odhgibo]

Once again, CBS's color commentators (in this case Kellogg and Kerr) did not know a rule, flatly stated that the officials missed a call, and left the entire country with the impression that the officiating was inadequate. In fact, it was Kerr & Kellogg who got it wrong.

No, it was your's truly who got it wrong, at least with respect to college. Picture egg all over face here.

The college version of Rule 4.34 differs from the NFHS version in a key respect. It adds another article:

Art. 3. When the entire ball is above the level of the ring during a field-goal try and contacts the backboard, it is considered to be on its downward flight. In such a case, it is goaltending when the ball is touched by a player.

This difference is made explicit at the download available at the NFHS and NCAA 2012-13 Major Basketball Rules Differences link at this page.

Thus, if you see the Dieng-type play in a college game, it IS a goaltending violation. The same is not true for a high school game, however.

In the words of Roseanne Roseannadanna, "Nevermind."