Preface – Poor Oliver Purnell. Now he knows how Rick Barnes felt. And, we just happen to have a great little reminder for him of how Frank Haith felt last year that you can see by clicking here.
We are updating what was once the ‘open entry’ for Sunday with more fallout from Sunday’s Clemson-Carolina basketball game.
I’ve been swamped with work and and just haven’t had any time to be focused on the blog…so, it wasn’t until I went home for lunch and heard everyone on sports radio talking about the officiating last night until I realized that it really wasn’t just me who saw what I thought I saw on Sunday night. (You know, sometimes I worry).
Until now, we had limited our quick comments on the officiating with just a few quick points, but in light of the reaction that is out there it is definitely worth elevating some things including Micky Plyler’s rant that can be seen here.
If you are tired of hearing about people bitching and moaning about the officiating from last night’s Clemson-North Carolina game then you probably need to stop reading now and get back to whatever you were doing.
Simply stated, Ted Valentine, Bernard Clinton, Tony Greene ought to be ashamed of themselves! They should return their paychecks from last night so they would not feel that guilty.
See, this should not be a surprise to anyone. It has happened for years and will continue to happen.
DUKE AND NORTH CAROLINA PLAYED HOME BASKETBALL GAMES THIS WEEKEND AND THE BLUE DEVILS AND TAR HEELS COMBINED TO SHOOT 69 FREE THROWS WHILE THEIR OPPONENTS SHOT 20. DUKE AND NORTH CAROLINA COMBINED TO MAKE 51 FREE THROWS AND THEIR OPPONENTS MADE 10.
The outcome has been pre-determined so why even make the trip. Here is my suggestion:
Since we know they won’t let us win, I ask, “Why even go up there?â€
We had originally limited our comments to the following quick observations…but there is so much more!
Somehow UNC-CH can trap without fouling and Clemson cannot. Strange?! Must be the coaching!
UNC takes 36 free throw attempts
Clemson takes 7 free throw attempts^ This DESPITE Clemson’s consistent attacking the basket with dribble penetration and balanced offense that didn’t ignore James Mays and the post.
What is sad is that we ALL knew it was going to happen. One of best friends is a Clemson graduate and he was at the game. With the Tigers lead around 10 points in the second half I sent him the following, “This is going to be even more painful. You know that the officials simply aren’t going to allow this, don’t you?”
I guess I just got lucky.
At least this time Tyler Hanbrough wasn’t allowed to basically tackle Clemson’s shooter on the final play of regulation like was allowed in LittleJohn earlier in the year.
Folks, what you saw last night was a CLASSIC example of why Rick Barnes no longer coaches at Clemson and left the ACC. Unfortunately, it is a no-win situation for most programs. A couple of other observations made by the SFN team of authors:
* In 50 minutes of play, Clemson got only 7 free throws versus 37 on the other side. In other words, about every one and one-third minute UNC was getting a free throw, and Clemson had to wait over 7 minutes for one.
* Not one player on UNC had more than three fouls including Hansbrough who played 47 minutes. Have you ever seen a double over time game when a team did not have a single player in foul trouble?
* I remarked to my wife last night that the ACC doesn’t even try to hide their bias any more — the foot-stop-and-kick “fast break” being the worst example we’ve faced this year. I find it harder and harder to watch any ACC contests the worse this gets.
* In the first half last night KC Rivers picked up two back to back tacky fouls – one on offense and one on defense. I immediately remarked to my wife that is the kind of little stuff that goes unnoticed and completely changes games especially in light of the amazing way that Tyler Hansbrough literally runs over people and ‘plays so physical’ and yet NEVER…I mean NEVER even remotely gets in foul trouble.
