Official 2007-2008 College Basketball Thread

[Groundhog]

I'm pissed at Texas because I played them last night in CH 2K8 and was up by 10 with 10 minutes to go, and ended up losing by 18. Damn that Clint Chapman fellow who, by his senior year in my universe, has grown to 7'0 and 280lbs and scored about 12 straight points on me.

[Wolfpack]

Originally Posted by Radii

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=3240984

Oh, bitch, bitch, bitch!

[cmp]

Villanova just got screwed.

[JonInMiddleGA]

And on the women's side, Tennessee survives Rutgers at home as 60% FT shooter Nikki Anosike calmly hits a pair with 0.2 seconds on the clock to give the Lady Vols a one point win.

I swear, I think I had one of those regular season perfect moments when a freshman guard buried a three in the final minute to give Tennessee a temporary lead, their first in a long time during a miserable second half - her dad in the stands, playing her first game with a broken nose, not shooting well - and she just drilled it "cooler than a two dollar steak" (not completely sure what the hell that means but that was the pbp line). Most purely enjoyable sports moment I've had in quite a while.

Naturally, there's a clock controversy at the end as the clock appeared to hitch as the foul was taking place (although the announcers never mentioned the possibility, my guess would be that the clock stopped on the whistle & that the officials arm came up slowly, making it look as though the foul came after time expired) but the bottom line is Rutgers goes back north with another L in Knoxville.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by gold101

Villanova just got screwed.

Was a cheap call, but it was hard to see if the bump forced Wallace to step OOB. If that was the case then the ref had no choice but to call a foul and he did wait until the foot came down near the OOB line before blowing the whistle so I'll assume it was either call a foul or call OOB. Also, as cheap of a call as that was I would prefer the game to be called the same way for 40 minutes rather than having a ref swallow his whistle down the stretch.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

And on the women's side, Tennessee survives Rutgers at home as 60% FT shooter Nikki Anosike calmly hits a pair with 0.2 seconds on the clock to give the Lady Vols a one point win.

I swear, I think I had one of those regular season perfect moments when a freshman guard buried a three in the final minute to give Tennessee a temporary lead, their first in a long time during a miserable second half - her dad in the stands, playing her first game with a broken nose, not shooting well - and she just drilled it "cooler than a two dollar steak" (not completely sure what the hell that means but that was the pbp line). Most purely enjoyable sports moment I've had in quite a while.

Naturally, there's a clock controversy at the end as the clock appeared to hitch as the foul was taking place (although the announcers never mentioned the possibility, my guess would be that the clock stopped on the whistle & that the officials arm came up slowly, making it look as though the foul came after time expired) but the bottom line is Rutgers goes back north with another L in Knoxville.

Jon, it wasn't a hitch. The thing completely fuckin stopped. And it stopped long enough for me to say "the clock just fuckin stopped" in between that point and when the foul was called. That was complete bullshit, not like I really care about my school's women's team.

Oh, and gotta love ESPN...god forbid they ONCE show a replay in regular speed and with the audio so you could hear how long it took for that whistle to come.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Logan

Oh, and gotta love ESPN...god forbid they ONCE show a replay in regular speed and with the audio so you could hear how long it took for that whistle to come.

I picked the word "hitch" because I liked it better than their description of "hiccup", since it didn't stop & restart. Absolutely no question it stopped, the question was/is why. Then on the final inbounds play the clock never started for the final 0.2, which does make me at least wonder whether there was some sort of mechanical issue.

Anyhoo, ESPN's ability to handle any in-game controversies on the spot is really a weakness that stands out to me in all of their live coverage. Not once did they mention the possibility (that I figure is the probability) that the stoppage was due to a whistle that we didn't hear in the live audio. Whether that's what happened or not, and surely we can both agree that it's at least a possibility, it never seemed to dawn on them that replaying things with the audio enhanced would at least be worth a try. Another obvious thing we never saw (AFAIK) was an angle from under the basket looking back inbounds toward the foul, although I suspect they were working with fewer cameras than usual tonight so there might be a fairly legitimate reason they didn't at least try that to see if it revealed anything.

They do the same sort of thing with college football, beating something into the ground for ten minutes without ever mentioning some obvious possibility (which seems to frequently turn out to be the case when we hear more several days later).

[Logan]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

I picked the word "hitch" because I liked it better than their description of "hiccup", since it didn't stop & restart. Absolutely no question it stopped, the question was/is why. Then on the final inbounds play the clock never started for the final 0.2, which does make me at least wonder whether there was some sort of mechanical issue.

As someone said on our Rivals' board...it probably didn't start on the final play because the operator was still laughing his ass off at the scam he just got away with .

Anyhoo, ESPN's ability to handle any in-game controversies on the spot is really a weakness that stands out to me in all of their live coverage. Not once did they mention the possibility (that I figure is the probability) that the stoppage was due to a whistle that we didn't hear in the live audio. Whether that's what happened or not, and surely we can both agree that it's at least a possibility, it never seemed to dawn on them that replaying things with the audio enhanced would at least be worth a try. Another obvious thing we never saw (AFAIK) was an angle from under the basket looking back inbounds toward the foul, although I suspect they were working with fewer cameras than usual tonight so there might be a fairly legitimate reason they didn't at least try that to see if it revealed anything.

They do the same sort of thing with college football, beating something into the ground for ten minutes without ever mentioning some obvious possibility (which seems to frequently turn out to be the case when we hear more several days later).

Fair point about the whistle, and yeah I'll say it's certainly possible it could have come...but I did hear the whistle late, and I strongly doubt he blew his whistle twice. We'll see, I'm sure...ESPN seemed to indicate that they were gonna break it down at this halftime show.

edit: Just saw it in full speed...that whistle was really, really late.

[cartman]

WOOT!!!! Texas wins by 3!!!

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by cartman

Although I'm a Texas homer, I don't see them keeping within 15 of Kansas tonight. They have had horrible first halves the past four or five games, and they can't afford to get down to Kansas early.

Guess that wasn't your best prediction but you're pretty happy. Nice win tonight.

SI

[Groundhog]

Managed to "refill my water" here at work enough times to catch most of the Texas-Kansas game. Very nice win for Texas, especially with Augustin shooting something like 1-12 (though his one make was a nice one).

And after watching the Georgetown-Villanova game before hand, I've now got another player to spend 75% of the game wondering why his team doesn't feed him the ball every possession; Roy Hibbert. That second half (hell, the whole game, but especially the second half) was ugly and with the way both teams were shooting from behind the arc, well, might be an idea to try and work it inside lads, especially Georgetown with that 7'2 Hibbert fellow.

[sterlingice]

KU has kindof lost their swagger since losing to K-State. They're now just going through the motions until the tourney. If they sleepwalk through too many more games, they're going to lose at A&M and lose in the Big XII tourney, probably costing them a #1 seed.

SI

[cmp]

Originally Posted by Atocep

Was a cheap call, but it was hard to see if the bump forced Wallace to step OOB. If that was the case then the ref had no choice but to call a foul and he did wait until the foot came down near the OOB line before blowing the whistle so I'll assume it was either call a foul or call OOB. Also, as cheap of a call as that was I would prefer the game to be called the same way for 40 minutes rather than having a ref swallow his whistle down the stretch.

You just don't make that call in that situation. All that was was the ref taking the game into his own hands and not letting it be decided on the court. You have to swallow your whistle in that situation.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Logan

As someone said on our Rivals' board...it probably didn't start on the final play because the operator was still laughing his ass off at the scam he just got away with .

Turns out there is no clock operator.

It's all electronic & controlled by the referees, used throughout the SEC and most of the major conferences. Apparently the whistle has a chip & microphone which are read by a device on their belt pack, which in turn sends a wireless signal to the clock. The only way the clock could stop was either a whistle or a malfunction, no possibility of human error or homecooking at the scorers table (although human error by the refs, such as an inadvertent whistle, is always possible). The only clock controlled at the scorers table is the shot clock.

FWIW, I had no idea such a thing even existed much less had become commonplace.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Turns out there is no clock operator.

It's all electronic & controlled by the referees, used throughout the SEC and most of the major conferences. Apparently the whistle has a chip & microphone which are read by a device on their belt pack, which in turn sends a wireless signal to the clock. The only way the clock could stop was either a whistle or a malfunction, no possibility of human error or homecooking at the scorers table (although human error by the refs, such as an inadvertent whistle, is always possible). The only clock controlled at the scorers table is the shot clock.

FWIW, I had no idea such a thing even existed much less had become commonplace.

Just saw that too...interesting. Although it couldn't have been an inadvertent whistle because the clock restarted again shortly after the foul call, so that wouldn't make any sense. And if it was an inadvertent whistle, the game should have been stopped at 0.2 as a result, with Tennessee inbounding the ball.

ESPN timed it out and said 1.3 seconds elapsed before the clock restarted.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Logan

Just saw that too...interesting. Although it couldn't have been an inadvertent whistle because the clock restarted again shortly after the foul call, so that wouldn't make any sense. And if it was an inadvertent whistle, the game should have been stopped at 0.2 as a result, with Tennessee inbounding the ball.

ESPN timed it out and said 1.3 seconds elapsed before the clock restarted.

Not to drag this out any further but at the same time to be fair, the manufacturer of the device says that human error (including an operator) is still a possibility.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncw/news/story?id=3243053

Just guessing from the various accounts, I suspect what happened is that an official other than the one we see in the replay blew a whistle -- either intentionally as a late call on one of Parker's attempts or before the shot when Anosike first got the ball or even inadvertently -- but then someone, either referee or timekeeper mistakenly or accidentally restarted the clock.

I'm actually more confident of the last bit after seeing the phrasing of the SEC statement, which sort of read to me like the door was left cracked for some sort of human error of that type. It wouldn't be "improper" in at least one sense of the words but doesn't entirely eliminate some human error in restarting the clock which caused it to run from 0.2 to 0.0.

[JetsIn06]

Wow, another GREAT game tonight. UNC up by 2 with 51 left. But I'm sure anyone in this thread probly knows that

[JetsIn06]

fuck. that hansbrough shot was unreal

[Groundhog]

It's halftime and Vanderbilt are up 40 to 11 over Kentucky. Youch.

[Karlifornia]

Lol...Kentucky now down 52-14....Ashley Judd showed up at halftime...now that's a true fan.

[DeToxRox]

Originally Posted by Karlifornia

Lol...Kentucky now down 52-14....Ashley Judd showed up at halftime...now that's a true fan.

Ping Jeeber

[Groundhog]

While it's great to finally get a chance to see Ogilvy play, jeezus, what a slaughter this is.

[INDalltheway]

How about them boilers?

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by INDalltheway

How about them boilers?

Mizzou fans have taken note. Purdue looks like our best win on the season.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Another women's note, as I've just watched one of the strangest games I can recall.

Tennessee opened the game in Knoxville by taking a 21-2 lead over LSU.
After swapping a couple of short runs each, LSU followed with a 21-2 run of their own late in the half & took a one point lead before UT answered to lead by three at the half.

Final score:
LSU 78 - Tennessee 62

Second largest home loss in UT history, 3rd largest comeback in NCAA women's history.

[rjolley]

Did Parker play for UT?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by rjolley

Did Parker play for UT?

Yep, had like 11 points in the first 4 minutes, something like 18 at the half and finished with 26. Her & Anosike were pretty much the only UT players who did anything all night.

[rjolley]

Ah, glad to hear that knee injury wasn't a major one.

[SFL Cat]

Tuff to be a Kentucky fan nowadays....

[Karlifornia]

Stanford just gagged against ASU, losing in OT....Couldn't hang on after a 25-2 run in the second half...Just bad.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by Karlifornia

Stanford just gagged against ASU, losing in OT....Couldn't hang on after a 25-2 run in the second half...Just bad.

It's the same thing we discussed Sunday after the Bruins' loss to the Huskies. This is just a damn good conference. It's very difficult to get far without picking up a loss or two somewhere.

[SnDvls]

Originally Posted by Karlifornia

Stanford just gagged against ASU, losing in OT....Couldn't hang on after a 25-2 run in the second half...Just bad.

it was a great comeback win and much needed for ASU...now if we don't go beat Cal on Saturday it dosen't mean much either.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I still don't think there's much in life more repulsive than UGA, but their game with Tennessee this afternoon has been a damned show. Vols by 3 with just over 2 minutes left. Sundiata Gaines has been the Georgia show, and him & Lofton just had a fun several minutes going back & forth with both just bombing away from three.

edit to add: Tennessee hangs on 74-71 in Athens but I gotta tell you, I almost feel sorry for Gaines. Other than his choice of schools, he's really a good enough player to deserve a better fate than to be on an otherwise pretty poor team.

[Radii]

Anyone watching Baylor/Texas? This is wild as hell.

[Radii]

Texas holds on to win 81-77.

Texas led by 12 with 2 minutes to go, and by ~10 with 1:20 left. Baylor hit a 3 to cut it to 7, stole the inbounds pass, hit another 3 to cut it to 4 with 1 minute left. After cutting it down to 1 with ~35 seconds left, Baylor's full court press trapped Texas in the corner and forced another turnover, Baylor ball with 30 seconds to go down by 1. The man inbounding the ball can't find anyone and pulls a Chris Webber, calls a TO when Baylor was out of them already. Texas only hits one of the free throws on the technical though, but Baylor couldn't get anymore shots to fall, and couldn't ever grab the lead. Texas missed the front end of 3 1 and 1s in a row and baylor's press in the last two minutes was stifling, they were everywhere, but couldn't quite pull off the comeback/upset.

[GoldenEagle]

Memphis is in trouble at UAB. We are down by 4 and am not feeling good about this. Our D is not as tenacious as it has been and we are playing at tough place at UAB, where we lost two years ago.

[GoldenEagle]

Memphis was down 77-70 with 1:23 to go. Memphis comes back to with 78-77.

After the game, the UAB fans threw trash on the Memphis players and UAB students jumped into the tunnel to pick fights with the Memphis players. Hopefully they are heavily fined.

[GoldenEagle]

Latest is that U of M player Shawn Taggert got his nose broke by a flying whiskey bottle.

[JeeberD]

UAB is nothing but class. We've had run-ins with them as well...though with the players, not the fans.

[Chief Rum]

We should get Oregon, UAB and Illinois fans in a rumble war old school-WWF style. Need a 4th fan base, though, to balance it all out, or have a tourney!

[Karlifornia]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

We should get Oregon, UAB and Illinois fans in a rumble war old school-WWF style. Need a 4th fan base, though, to balance it all out, or have a tourney!

Hey, Chief....whose quote is that in your sig?

EDIT: Please don't tell me it's Mel Gibson's character from Braveheart...I don't want anyone to know that I've never seen that movie.

EDIT, part deux: "edti" is not a word, and I will not allow it to scar the the unblemished beauty that is one of my posts.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by Karlifornia

Hey, Chief....whose quote is that in your sig?

EDIT: Please don't tell me it's Mel Gibson's character from Braveheart...I don't want anyone to know that I've never seen that movie.

EDIT, part deux: "edti" is not a word, and I will not allow it to scar the the unblemished beauty that is one of my posts.

Ha! Don't worry, considering the source of that quote, I doubt greatly that the anti-Semitic Mr. Gibson would have ever said it (at least not as the original meant it anyway).

That was written by reknowned 19th century abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, in his abolitionist newspaper Liberator, in 1831, and, of course, he was speaking out against slavery, which he felt was an issue that one should not accept with moderation.

While I completely agree with him on that specific point (of course), I put the quote in my sig because I feel its passion reflects similarly with my own on a good number of topics.

[MrBug708]

Karl, are you dancing in the streets that the refs kept you from falling two games back behind UCLA in the race? That was an atrociously reffed game

[Karlifornia]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

Karl, are you dancing in the streets that the refs kept you from falling two games back behind UCLA in the race? That was an atrociously reffed game

I think anyone worth their salt on the UofA squad would say that they shouldn't have let it come down to that. Stanford outplayed Arizona, albeit slightly, throughout the game. I'll gladly take the win, as getting swept in the desert probably would have sent Stanford back among the 4 seeds. Now they just need to take care of biz at home against the Washingtons and Cal, hopefulle get at least a split down in Smogville, and they should have a 3 seed locked up.

[miami_fan]

Wake Forest 67 Duke 62 6 mins left in the game.

[miami_fan]

Down go the Dookies! 86-73

[Young Drachma]

James Johnson..too bad he had to go to the ACC to shine. He would've blown the roof off of the A-A had he stayed at home. Not that I'd wish that on anybody...just saying. He'll be great in the NBA.

[MrBug708]

Well, UCLA gets their revenge on USC and will probably move up two spots to #4

[Groundhog]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

Well, UCLA gets their revenge on UCLA and will probably move up two spots to #4

The UCLA vs UCLA rivalry is one of the best in the nation IMO.

[MrBug708]

The ownage says so